Count Down Begins

Just a couple days left until we start. Tomorrow we load the Arcturus (our crew boat) full of food, gear, water and fuel. This will be our home for the next couple weeks. It’s going to be nice to settle in once we start.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland is my home town) wrote an nice article on the swim. I was impressed with how well the writer (Donna Iacoboni) was able to capture the environment here as well as the issues surrounding the swim.

The article put me in touch with some old friends – in particular, my first swim coach Dave Abineri. His website (http://www.goeasyware.com) has photo’s of recent LRSC reunions (my old swim team in Lakewood). Very nostalgic to see names and faces of people I grew up with 25 years ago.

Alaska Pork - Unplugged
The energy bill passed through congress yesterday. This means millions of pork money for Alaska road projects. One project is the Ketchikan bridge which is being built to connect Ketchikan (pop. 16k) to its island airport. The $275 million bridge will be as long as the Golden Gate and taller than the Brooklynn Bridge. This replaces the publicly favored ferry that takes only 10 minutes to get to the airport.

So the question is why? Why build a more expensive road to replace an already existing transit system? Can you believe these politicians call themselves representatives of the people? We say improve the ferries and spend wisely. They spend millions on redundant projects that the people don’t want. Wouldn’t you like to know who their lobbyist are?

How can they sleep at night knowing that they sucked millions of dollars away from our soldiers safety, our health care, our social security and our education. Alaska will have some of the best roads (not to mention least traveled and most dangerous) in the country that will lead to the most outdated, dilapidated schools and hospitals in the North America. Yeah, that’s the way to represent the needs of the people… just who are your lobbyist?

Taking a Stand
Funny that the only way to make a dent in the political agenda of a tired-of-hearing administration is by NOT doing what they say (writing letters, speaking at hearings, calling your representatives, etc). When asked what they thought of my swim, Governor Murkowski’s spokeswomen said, “If we had a road, we could drive down and watch him."

Doesn’t that just sum up their attitude. No mention of the issues - the millions of dollars it would cost, the bulldozing of endangered sea lion habitat, the 60 avalanche areas and the public outcry against the road. Nope, just a flip remark ignorant of the sincere concerns of the people. Cute.

I have no choice but to swim.