I’m not a huge Rolling Stones fan, but it turns out they were on to something when they said “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you’ll find you get what you need.” Another small boat delay, but some good comes out of the delay.
Supply chain issues and COVID led to production delays that pushed back our delivery to the first of June. Given the world condition, it is hard to complain about delayed delivery of a luxury item, but it remains a disappointment. On the other hand, some good comes from the delay.
Decompress Work/Life Issues
Back when the departure was set to May my work calendar for April was fairly clear. But then, of course, a court set a hearing date for April 28 in Atlanta. As a result, I was going to fly to Atlanta for the hearing, then fly back to San Francisco later that day, and then depart on April 30 for South Africa. The travel schedule was simply awful.
The departure date was causing me stress in addition to the terrible travel schedule. First, I was very concerned that the court would push back the hearing by a week or two. With the May departure, if the hearing was delayed I would no longer be available to represent my client at the hearing. And, while we have other (and probably better) qualified lawyers to take my place –this is one of those few hearings where my gray hair is a plus and my experience is a requirement. If I miss the hearing a non-issue becomes a hissy-fit by opposing counsel for sure.
Secondly, and more importantly, I was going to miss Sam’s graduation from Bridgton Academy, where he did a post-graduate year on his way to college. With the delay, I can now fly to Maine with Teresa and Ella, be there for his graduation, and help move Sam out of his dorm. I am pretty sure that although Sam claims he can fit all of his stuff in his car, it will be a shit show.
Crew Get To Meet Their Granddaughter
The most significant advantage of the delay is that two of the crew will now get to be in town for the birth of their granddaughter. Dinna’s daughter will be giving birth in May (absent production delays on her end (Bernard’s joke)), so they will get to meet the baby before leaving for this grand adventure.
Explore South Africa
Due to the hearing, I was not going to be able to visit South Africa before arriving to accept the boat delivery. Now, I should have a couple of weeks to join Stacey and Eric in some exploration of Africa before the mad rush of boat prep, provisioning, training, and departure kicks in.
More Blog Posts To Come
The additional time also relieves a bit of pressure I was feeling and will allow me to do several blog posts I was going to skip. There will be a follow-up on the recipes and provisioning post, and I can now work out how to post our GPS position to the blog once we are traveling – I think. So stay tuned.
It’s only a small delay – we saw our 3rd sister to yours in Nelsons Dockyard yesterday – Our Time ? or Time Out, can’t remember which !
Sounds like a much more relaxed schedule–and how great you’ll be able to make it to Sam’s graduation! As it turned out, two of the six students on this year’s Ethics Bowl team are from South Africa–let me know if you’d like me to pick their brains regarding must-see places–I think one of them will be heading back to South Africa at the end of the semester.
So excited about your impending adventure–thanks for keeping us posted!