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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Journal - 11/09/2008

For the last two months I've been elbows-deep in my ship's engine... when I'm not in front of my computer playing poker. My lifestyle is not the greatest at the moment (I have zero social life here in Florida); but hard work is the yeast that raises the dough--so I tell myself.

Let me rewind a bit for those friends I haven't spoken to in awhile. Firstly, I just bought a sailboat with money I've made playing poker (glorified word for working in front of a computer). And for those friends I haven't spoken to in a really long time, I am currently working as a poker player-- a professional poker player, if you will... if you must.

The plan is to sail around the Caribbean from January until May and live off the seas! A pretty idealistic and shoddy plan but a plan nonetheless. When the trip is over my crew and I will sail triumphantly into New York City where I will dock for the Summer season (May 1st to Oct 31st). We will celebrate into the night armed with tales of wild adventures and thick beards to boot... on. That is, if the plan goes accordingly.

I'm not quite sure where this idea of sailing came from. But one day, while sitting in my apartment in Boston, I started looking at sailboats online. I glanced up at the brick-wall-view from my window, and for some reason, the idea wouldn't leave me alone. A long dormant dream had awoken.

So before I set sail I need to take care of a few details: First, I had to find a boat. Basically, I got lucky. After an unsucessful month of seaching online; e-mailing contacts; and a few games of phone tag with hard to contact sailor-vagabonds; I decided to walk around a local marina two blocks away as a last-ditch effort.

I see a boat with a 'for sale' sign on it. My first thoughts: no way I will be able to afford this boat--too nice, too big. I called the number listed and the broker said the owner's of the boat had been trying to sell for over a year. Their asking price was already relatively low, but still pretty damn expensive. So I took a chance and made an offer: 65% of their asking price. Two days later, I received a call back from the broker: "the owner's accept your offer..." Shit. Now I actually have to go through with this!

I will write more about the last couple months, but to give you an idea of what I've been up to... A good friend recently asked me, "Do you even know how to sail?" To which I replied, "There's only one way to learn."

-Ian Graham, November 9, 2008


"Who is staring at the sea is already sailing a little."

-Paul Carvel