Proud Flesh

Chris Balzano was a man I knew in NYC. I worked with him, although we did not work together, we worked at the same place. Chris was always spouting off a colloquialism to fit the moment and was a "Badda Bing" kind of Italian guy. The kind you find in big cities. A real stereotype. The phrase he loved to say the most for almost every situation was", If the queen had balls, she'd be king...but she doesn't." This would be met with laughter from his cronies and was at times funny when it had nothing to do with the conversation at hand.



At this point in my life I was fully immersed in professional photography and was shooting magazine assignments as well as working in restaurants. Chris came to me one day and said," Hey John, you want to see a pitchure of sometin gross?" Being at a point in my life where I was particularly voyeuristic, I said", yeah, only if it is not a photo of a child or something really disturbing." "It is a pitchure of my son's back, just after an operation." Chris pull out a series of photographs where a boy about 10 years old is laying on his stomach and his back seems to filleted open. The cut was about 10 inches long by four inches wide and had the overall shape of a sword handle. Apparently the boy had a bad abscess that had to be removed and the excavation was only about two inches deep. The thing that blew my mind was that the doctor did not stitch it all back together. It was left open. The wound would heal from within. I learned later from a veterinarian that in the equine world of medical procedures this is called", Proud Flesh!" The flesh fills itself in or the flesh is proud and covers the wound. A strange phrase that has many meanings and can be associated with all types of behavior. Pride is rarely a good thing, although I was never taught that. I was taught that you had to have pride, had to have backbone.



My friend Paul, actually he is more than a friend, he is a brother, told me to stay humble", Stay humble man, stay humble out there on the seas." These are great words of advice, for one who has proud flesh on the ocean will be punished. Today I sailed in very tough conditions with a seasick mate, although I had just the right combination of sail up and the motor clicking over slowly moving toward my destination at seven knots. Ten foot following seas and thirty knot gusts of wind made the boat a carnival ride you could not get off. I think I did everything right today, except for the decision to leave the marina in Portsmouth, NH. It would have been a good idea to stay put, but I was in an area that I did not like, nothing to see except the ostentatious facade of a beautiful, yet mediocre hotel. Hotels need to have great service and food as well as nice rooms and a view. I could not afford to go to the bar and that made the place that much more undesirable. I admit I feel smug that I negotiated a dangerous bar at the entrance to the harbor. I cannot deny the proud flesh of sailing in harsh conditions and surviving. I will try to be humble. as an individual I like to believe I'm humble, although my wife does not think so at times.



Tuesday, October 27

South Port Marina, South Portland to Manchester by the Sea Marina, Portsmouth, NH

Crew: Angel Silva and Ethan Smith

Conditions: Cold with wind out of the southeast. Sailed to windward for 6 hours averaging 51/2 knots. Motorsailed for 4 hours and entered into the mooring field with no problems.

Problems: Ran aground again at South Port Marina on the ebb tide at 10pm. Boat was practically on its side when the water bottomed out at 3 to 4 feet. We all recovered, but with very little sleep.

Knowledge: I learned that when my body hits the wall and is telling me to stop, I should listen.



Wednesday, October 28

Portsmouth, NH to Newburyport, Mass

Crew: Jonathan Paff

Conditions: Small craft warning issued by the Coast guard. Heavy following seas with two medium boarding waves. Crew was seasick and vomiting, but held it together. I felt find and was not scared, the boat was great and handled the conditions well. 15 to 20 knots of wind with higher gusts. Sailed with medium genoa sail only and engine. Speed was 6 to 8 knots going southeast.

Problems: Conditions to get into the Merrimack river were highly dangerous with the ebb tide pouring into a nor'easter. If the diesel stopped for any reason, I would have lost the boat.

Once in the Merrimack river, I should have persisted in picking up a mooring, but I wanted to dispatch the crew. I ended up creaming the dock and chipping some paint off of the bow.

Knowledge: Sail with seasoned crew when possible, or go really slow with only easy conditions. Always dock against the current and be careful when taking advice from other sailors. The advice I received came from the owner of a Hunter! Huh...