Glen Cove, New York 19:15 hrs - June 30, 2007 The wonders of Glen Cove Well whoever said that sailing round the world and back again was the ONLY plan?  How about, go for a nice 2 week local sail, then go right  back to where you started, see everything again one last time, (and while you’re at it, take care of one last little office thing) then sail off round the world and back again?  And anyway I’m almost sure we haven’t seen everything that is truly fascinati ng in Glen Cove? and now we’ve been offered this unexpected opportunity to explore its many splendors one more time!  Secretly I’m just happy to have a car again for a while!  as I have discovered much to my astonishment just how significantly heavy groceries actually get the further you carry them! and how surprisingly perilous they turn out to be, balanced on a folding bike going down a hill, rather faster than is practical!  But I digress, the wonders of Glen Cove, we went ashore with Harry (monkey/member of crew – see photo) to visit a very old, land locked ship called Regina Maris.  So sad to see a ship like that trapped on land, but certainly one of Glen Coves treasures to be sure, and something we wouldn’t have seen if we had stayed on our original course!  So there is something to be said for changing plans after all! Glen Cove, New York 21:40 hrs - June 29, 2007 Reunited and it feels so good... Honey, I'm home! Well, you'll be interested to know that we're back in the Brewer Yard in Glen Cove New York! It occurred to us last night, as we watched a DVD of Discovery's Planet Earth, that we can see the whole world much easier on the telly without having to leave the comfort of our home. We've ordered the whole box set, and will spend all day tomorrow doing a virtual circumnavigation of the globe - it'll be quicker, cheaper and safer than sailing that's for sure! Anyway, we proved we have the mettle - after-all we made it all the way to Oyster Bay and Stamford, a nautical feat that rivals the greats - Columbus, Slocum, Magellan. Actually, don't be alarmed, everything is just fine. We haven't given up after just two weeks, the boat is in perfect working order and our marriage is still very much in tact. As you probably know, I'm still working and my i&D "land-based crew" are doing exceptionally well without me, almost too well (that's something that my ego will just have to deal with). The business is growing, they're working on exciting new projects and have lots of very cool opportunities and ideas. We've popped-back so I can have a quick brainstorming session with them before we head-off again and get too far out-of-range. Stamford, Connecticut 23:58 hrs - June 28, 2007 Snazzy Stamford Well I knew the Connecticut crowd were all rather grand, but really!! They are altogether a very grand lot indeed!  well around here anyway.  I took a stroll around the marina and I have to say a girl could get to feel a little inadequate!  They appear to have more snazzy boats per capita here than the average state.  And I don’t just mean snazzy, I mean some truly extraordinary and beautiful and some seriously competitive and then the completely (at least for one family, as this one was) gratuitously gigantic! But I wanted to peep in every window to know how a boat like that costs to run, looks like inside and feels like to sail/drive.  I decided that we are much better off on our little environmentally friendly sail boat, and  that I was sure I was learning really valuable lessons about something, not sure what but I’m sure they’re valuable!  And anyway what would I do with all that superfluous storage space? Dream Time: Had local sail loft stitch new slides on our storm trysail. Added forward grommets to cockpit rain canopy to lash around boom. First Propane tank empty today. Stamford, Connecticut 23:51 hrs - June 26, 2007 Tough day at the office! If you're wondering what it's like to live and work on a boat, here's a brief outline of what I accomplished today: Checked emails at 7:30, wrote proposal for new project in California, refined brochure designs, emptied out the side storage locker in the cockpit, checked sail inventory, washed and scrubbed boat and inflatable with Catherine, checked more emails, fixed B&G wind vane wiring at mast-step, flushed galley sink hoses, had lunch, checked emails, removed old fridge wiring, had conference call with i&D office, ordered a cab to West Marine to purchase correct gauge wiring for fridge, ate ice cream with Catherine, took cab back to the boat, fixed fridge wiring, loaded locker with sails, showered, finalized proposal, had dinner with friends, checked emails. Dream Time: Forward water tank empty today after 12 days of only relatively conservative use. Swapped-out old 16 AWG wire with new 10 AWG wire to fridge compressor. A splice in the wiring was probably responsible for the compressor shutting-down (compressor draws as much as 10 amps when starting). Checked mast-step wiring for B&G wind - bad connection was causing wind direction error on LCD display. Galley sinks not draining so we flushed and cleaned galley hoses. Checked slides on storm tri-sail realized they will not fit the new mast track. When we get to Huntington I'll have North Sail change slides. Oyster Bay, New York 22:14 hrs - June 25, 2007 Bonanza's Before casting off from Oyster Bay (and in the process being told off by a Nassau County Harbor Policeman for not displaying the appropriate registration signage on our inflatable, because Neville thinks it interferes with the aesthetics of the dinghy) we stopped to savor a taste of Oyster Bay - the Best Italian Ices in the world!! Bonanza’s of Oyster Bay is the absolutely the last word in Italian ices, no one has ever come close in my (highly tuned in to great Italian ice) opinion, and the friendly service with a smile simply adds to the experience.  So if one day, you happen to find yourself in Oyster Bay (also known for one of its esteemed residents, Theodore Roosevelt the 26th President of the United States) on a hot summer afternoon, make your way to Bonanza’s (beside the post office) for a summer Italian Ice treat you will not soon forget!  They also do hot dogs and the like, and I’m sure they're good too, but I’ve never got any further than the fabulous chocolate Italian ice!! P.S. We made safe passage to Stamford CT today, more on that to follow…… Oyster Bay, New York 20:56 hrs - June 22, 2007 "Green Time" Sailors, by the very nature of how they travel, are an environmentally friendly bunch. Unless you have a huge yacht, generators and a large supply of fuel (and money), you have to be - offshore sailors especially, as it could be weeks or months before you can top-up the diesel tanks, get a fresh supply of water and stock your cupboards with tea and biscuits. You become self-sufficient. You find ways of surviving. Now, I know we've only been gone for 6 days, and I understand we're anchored only about half a mile away from a gas station, running water, restaurants, Starbucks, a shopping center and up the road is a power plant, but today I feel just a little more independent. We used the variety of fixed and portable solar panels to charge all of our portable electronic devices: PDAs, cell phones, flash lights, iPods and a handheld GPS. Even with our fridge cycling on all day our house batteries actually charged a little thanks to our Ampair wind generator. The best part - it's all free! (Except of course for the thousands of dollars we spent buying and installing all this stuff). But, one day, perhaps by 2010, we would have saved a few bucks. A quote I read today in The Week magazine: "A goal without a plan is just a wish." Author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, quoted in The Book Reporter. Oyster Bay, New York 20:20 hrs - June 21, 2007 No room for visitors I'm almost feeling like I know how to do this now!, of course I have control over pretty much nothing really, but my confidence level is high and that goes a long way when you live on a floating 41 foot apartment that moves whichever way the wind and current decides. What I maddeningly know I have no mastery of, is storage & space, and how to fit the requisite number of items into it, or not, as the case is turning out to be. I wake each morning with renewed optimism, laying out all the currently homeless items feeling sure that today I will conquer the cupboards!! No longer will they defy me with their filled to capacity fullness, but yet each evening I find myself once again putting all the homeless articles back in piles in the aft cabin to be dispossessed for yet another day! I have however mastered the dinghy and I am very mobile and independent as I dash across the water to go into town to get yet more things that will not fit into the blasted cupboards……… woe is me! Dream Time: Must check Heart Interface - the amp hours don't appear to be accurate. Oyster Bay, New York 22:33 hrs - June 19, 2007 The commute Every day is an adventure! Today, in order to get into Manhattan for a 2:00 pm meeting, I had to leave the boat at 9:45 am! The commute started with a 20 minute ride across Oyster Bay in our inflatable dinghy, a walk to the train station, a 1hr 35 minute train ride into Penn Station, then a cab to 19th and Park Ave South. The meeting lasted for an hour and a half. Catherine picked me up in the duck just before it started to get dark. The winds had picked-up (storms forecast for tonight) so she brought over a giant Ziplock bag with a pair of shorts and an old shirt. As I changed in a public bathroom, Catherine was washing her face (with warm water) in the ladies public bathroom. Dream Time: Installed new chain-grabber with double-snubbers. Winds picked up to around 30-35 knots. New system snubbers work great. Tightened hose clamps on new Seagull water filter to stop drip. Glued medicine cabinet door knob back on. Oyster Bay, New York 16:12 hrs - June 18, 2007 The natives We spent a couple of hours ashore today, meeting the natives and settling into our new lifestyle. We bought postcards in an old fashioned variety store, the lady behind the counter, after guessing we were tourists, suggested we take the Oyster Bay MPEG tour. For a very reasonable $4, you get a map of town and an MPEG player. When you reach a historical landmark, you hit "play" to learn all about the towns exciting history (President Roosevelt lived here you know!). She said we could each rent our own MPEG player or, after quickly looking us up and down, said we could also share one - do we look that needy already?! She later confessed, with a hint of pride, that she was the voiceover talent for the high-tech tour. I asked for her autograph. On the way back to the boat we had two Italian ices each at "Bonanza's" and as we boarded our little 8' AVON inflatable, met a real Old Salt. "My name's Corsair Tom. I was named 'New Tom' once, but then another Tom came around so I had to change it!" he said. "How long you guys been cruising?" Catherine and I, for some reason, were proud that even on our first day ashore, we had already been identified by the locals as needy cruisers. Corsair Tom invited us aboard his black, ferro-cement Schooner for "some rum". It's anchored on the outer edge of the mooring field "just far enough away from town to go skinny dipping." Dream Time: House batteries low today because of extended laptop use - had to run engine for a few hours. Noticed flashing LED light on fridge compressor around 21:00, fridge had shut down due to insufficient volts. Our Yanmar 50hp diesel engine has 551 hours on it.     Glen Cove, New York 14:51 hrs - June 16, 2007 We did it! After almost seven years of preparations, projects, planning and dreaming we finally left today! Our journey around the world started with a rather anticlimactic, gentle 2-hour sail to the neighboring Oyster Bay - what, did you expect us to head straight for the Horn?! It does raise an interesting question though: when does an around-the-world journey really begin? Does it start with the idea, or perhaps the physical preparations of planning the details? Is it the first leg? Or do you need to enter International or unfamiliar waters before you can really claim to be on your way? We've launched the zeroXTE site with minimal content but promise to add more pictures, blogs and information in the weeks ahead.