Just got home from a full day sailing the upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay. The winds were perfect until about 3 p.m., then died out completely - the calm before the storm. While my two friends and I were sailing, I grilled some sweet Italian sausage on the boat's gas grill, and sauteed some sweet Vidalia onions and peppers in the galley, baked some fresh biscuits in the boat's oven, mixed up some garlic butter and served everything to the crew piping hot. It has always amazed me as to just how much better those meals taste when you're out sailing.

Shortly after getting back to the marina, the wind kicked up to about 35 MPH, which made me glad is was safely tied up and the boat was buttoned up tight for the night. My friend, Piotr, who is from Poland, invited us over to his boat where he prepared supper, which was fantastic, smoked Polish Kielbasa and red cabbage sauteed in a special sauce that his mother taught him how to cook when he was a youngster in Poland. He also served up some fresh, Polish bread. Oh my that was a sumptuous dinner, washed down with some dark rum over ice.

Though it was difficult for me to climb around the boat, I was able to accomplish everything that needed to be done, including raise an 80-pound sail up the mast and dock the boat under windy conditions against a strong tide. By the time I finally got into the van to drive home, I had to fire up my portable oxygen generator.

Now, as I sit here typing this, I'm sipping on a glass of Jim Bean Honey Bourbon over ice and loving life.

Live life to the fullest my friends, you only get to go around once,

Gary