It’s raining here in San Diego, which sounds unusual, I admit, but we do receive, what, 8-inches of rain a year? It’s at times like this that I play either Enya or Loreena McKennitt on an endless loop, smoke cigars and drink single malt whisky and place otherwise unused coffee cups, mixing bowels and assorted, mismatched glassware under every known downspout that appears inside the cabin. It’s a boating thing that it doesn’t phase nor surprise me none the least just as I am sure it doesn’t surprise my fellow liveaboards.

It’s 57° F, the barometer has dropped two-points to 1010mb and the wind is up to 10.3 knots out of the south west. For Southern California, this is a good storm, not damn-big, but damn needed. It’s raining about a tenth-of-an-inch right now, and there is a chance of 25-knot gusts and thunderstorms later tonight, New Year’s Eve.

I escaped down to Sine Metu this afternoon so that I could enjoy the weather, a cigar and said single malt whisky. Other than the last two weeks, rain is a rare event here, so I grab up as much foul weather time as I can. I enjoy escaping from everyone as I really, really need the alone time from time to time. Let’s not talk about the holidays and leave it at that.

Anyway, I am cranking the electric heater and running the cabin fans to circulate the dry air a little before I leave: I will turn everything off and disconnect the shore power before I go as an electrical fire is my biggest fear while I am away. With the boat safely tied to the dock these days, projects are easy to put on hold while I go off and do other things…

Damn, I really need to cut the dock lines and go offshore for a day or three!