Book about Spidsgatter Pax underway

Another 2000 words hit the page before lunch today. December was packed with family and friend time, all precious and well worth the break, but now it's back to writing! Check Facebook for daily updates, Twitter weekly and the blog every week or two.  Finding Pax, literally, is the full time focus every day. Correspondence, calls, meetings and an upcoming trip to California for a "deep dive" into Los Angeles scene 1960-74 should round up the last of the real life details about Pax. Will the book be fiction or non-fiction?  The jury's still out. Depends on what I find in California and how comfortable, as publication gets closer, old owners and I'll be with disclosing stories that are sometimes stranger than fiction, certainly more sad when known to be true.  Ok, back to the book!

Unintended Singlehander: Day 2, the grounding

Updated on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 09:46 by Kaci Cronkhite

This story continued from Day 1, next blogpost down!

We motored east as the tide began to ebb. Flipped up the fenders, one at a time. Not cool to keep them trailing, like fingers skimming patterns in the sand. Dawn was warming black into blue and the monolith islands ahead looked like construction paper silhouettes.

Nervous, excited energy made my stomach queasy. The tide carried us right on course, so I hopped below to start the propane stove for tea. One one-thousand, two one-thousand, click. The flame burst into the darkness and the red light came on. All good. Back in the cockpit, wood smoke signaled the start of the day. Cocks crowed, answered, crowed again.

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Never Give Up: A dog tale

by Kaci Cronkhite, November 2011

Every time there’s a story about a lost dog, read it.  Every time there’s a poster with a lost pet,  try to remember the face and pay attention.  Watch for it wherever you go.  

A month ago, the owner of a big Rhodesian Ridgeback/Mastiff cross dog posted a photo on the Roman Nose State Park Facebook page.  A dozen people commented or reposted. Hearts paid attention and for the next few days and weeks, people looked everyday, taking care to walk dogs in different areas of the park hoping that maybe, just maybe they’d see a sign.  No luck.

Gone two weeks for a research trip (that’s another story), a neighbor left a note with a pack of mail saying there’d been a “big cat” near the faucet where she watered the plants.  There it was. One big paw print, maybe three inches wide. 

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Unintended Singlehander: Day 1, the decision

Updated on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 09:48 by Kaci Cronkhite

When a Thai official decided to push it, to insist that that the letter stating I was officially Captain of the vessel while the owner was out of Thailand and that the money we'd already paid for extending our visa wasn't enough, I called his bluff. "If you do not pay, then you must leave Thailand", he said. "Ok," I replied, calm and determined not to pay the bribe. "Alone?" he said. "Yes," I replied, less calm and mind awhirl with an adrenalin rush.

Officially checked out of the country and with 24 hours to leave, the sweat making my shorts stick to the taxi seat were, this time, not just due to the tropical heat.

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When a Cowgirl Goes to Sea

This is the story of how Kaci Cronkhite, an Oklahoma cowgirl, four generations from the ocean, found her way to sea, then sailed around the world. More than just a trip about one sailing circumnavigation, this book tells the story of how life on a windy cattle ranch in middle America spurred a young woman from decades on horses to decades on boats. At times poetic and humorous, often salty and detailed, When A Cowgirl Goes to Sea illustrates the paradoxical connections of rural ranch life and a life at sea. In the wind, you'll recognize the raw smell of fear while facing pirates or the death of a parent. You'll feel the nightmare pounding of your guts during a Tasman storm or on a runaway tractor. You'll wake to hear a tornado or the scream of winds at a Cape or the sound of electricity arcing and your mother's ankles popping. You'll laugh when your boat becomes a "birdie bed & breakfast" and cry when the smoke that causes it, chokes you and forces you to a terrifying all-night dodge in the busiest shipping lane in the world. Progress on this book continues into 2012.