Jon T. Howard - North Atlantic Gyre Blog #6

I feel like I am playing catch up after missing most of the week due to illness but luckily I have some very productive last few days. My priorities have been to continue to reach out to possible sponsors and gathering my gear for the trip. I still need to figure out my return flight from the trip too. I will either need to get a hopper flight from Bermuda back to St. Thomas or I will need to book a one way from Bermuda. Either way it will probably work out to be about the same if I had booked one ways to and from each destination. On the gear front I am excited to have Hybrid Lights "Solar Lite" along for the voyage. They have offered to give all the crew one of their super cool, water proof solar flashlights. I used a smaller version camping over the summer and they are great. They hold a charge for up to 3 years and are super bright. Thank you Linda Aguas for making that happen. I also went to Sports Authority to get some basic gear since so much is on sale for the holidays. One thing I am focused on is making sure I am as comfortable as possible on the trip regardless of conditions. We have been told to expect every kind of weather so warmth is key. I picked up some Pepper long johns, a Columbia fleece jacket, a pair of fleece pants, an Asics Thermopolis long sleeve shirt, a couple of The North Face beanies, 2 pair of thick WigWam socks and 3 different type of gloves for various conditions. It's a start and over the next week I will gather a few more things especially socks. I also picked up a small Martin Guitar for the trip. I was leaning towards taking a Ukelele but I gave into a guitar. I didn't want to take any of my expensive guitars that I use for recording or touring so I got the Martin. I have wanted one for a while and since I had a $50 off coupon at Guitar Center and it was on sale I couldn't pass it up. So that means I will be making music on the high seas and I hope I am inspired to write some new songs too. Stay tuned......