Hardship on land and sea.

After five days of living onboard a sailboat I finally ran out of ice and decided to head back to shore for a day. Sometime in the last month the boat must have been struck by lightning as I found several systems and electronic components dead or burnt out. It does not appear to have been a direct strike but enough to distrupt plans for some extended cruising. The problems are nothing compared to the hardships and disruptions faced by the people in the Gulf coast left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Though being a sailor makes one better prepared for such disasters. A sailor at sea can not always depend on help from governments and must prepare for things going wrong and hopefully have backups. A prudent sailor knows there is risk when one steps off the land and heads out on the water. But, what is disturbing after watching and hearing about the tales of New Orleans is that one can not depend on the Government on land too. Sail on sail on Sailor!