16 December - Day #14. Before the day even begins we hear a rap on the hull. It's Captain Asa Gatlin, a Tow Boat U.S. skipper and boat mechanic who has worked for Deaton Yacht Service, here in Oriental N.C., for 25 years. Ten years ago he spent 9 months doing a major refit on an LNVT named Piteraq. His recollections are amazingly clear as he discusses each job: a new Yanmar engine; an Aquadrive; new wall laminate; and on and on. Asa remembered Piteraq's owner, Robert Gannicott, too. It seems that Robert, a geologist by training, ran a fleet of helicopters which serviced oil companies in northern Canada. On one memorable day he saw what looked like a meteor crater and set the helicopter down to check it out. The ore samples he took revealed that the site was a proverbial diamond mine--one of the largest in Canada. According to Forbes Robert is now the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Harry Winston Diamond Corporation. Which goes to show, only the luckiest people get to own LNVTs ;-) At the free dock in Oriental, NC. 0nm today and 297nm total. DBH
