Sampaguita. Sam′pə gē′tə. What a beautiful name that no one can understand on the radio, at least here in the States. It’s not any better on the telephone, or in person, for that matter.

All of the Harbor Patrols encountered so far are at a loss with it. It is also noted they have all been white. I mention this because Spanish speakers do not have any trouble with it. Nor Filipinos. In Friday Harbor, at San Juan Island in the Pacific Northwest, I encountered a customs official of Filipino heritage who lit right up when I told him the name of the vessel. “Ah, Sampaguita, that’s the national flower of the Philippines,” he said with obvious pride. For my fairer skinned readers who don’t think to “Google” it, it is known in English as arabian jasmine.

I can’t be credited with giving her the name. I inherited it when I purchased her over ten years ago. While I’m not the superstitious type, I also couldn’t be bothered with changing it either. In fact, the name was invisible until only this past August when I decided, for the ease of formalities, to re-paint it. This, I deem, was a good call. People have trouble wrapping their head around a boat with no name. So I gave them what they needed. And most still can’t handle it. But it becomes their problem, not mine, and is a good conversational ice breaker.

Sampaguita presently sits at anchor in the Dana Point anchorage. Previously known as Capistrano Bay, it was renamed after Richard Henry Dana, Jr., the author of Two Years Before The Mast. He spent time here with the merchant ship, Pilgrim, collecting cowhides from the local Spanish cattleman in the late 1830s. It’s a recommended read. I assume Pacific Seacraft’s Dana 24, the bigger stepsister of the Flicka 20, is also named after him.(Most Flicka owners have Dana envy, I am not excluded. However, that 20% more in length, costs way more than 20% more in dollars.)

It was a short day of travel here from Newport Beach, though it still took Sampaguita seven hours. We left early knowing the NW breeze would take a while to fill in. We sailed through and out of the harbor with a light southerly, so it required some tacking. The water was flat and the sails remained full, with just enough pressure. Once out of the harbor, we motored up for a while until the NW wind filled in. We got just enough to keep the boat moving downwind at 2-3 knots. However, once in the Dana Point Harbor, the local wind was considerably more, and on the nose. It seems to come in over the west facing cliff. It’s a small anchorage and we were lucky to get the last spot. We were visited and counted by the Harbor Patrol, who in this case, is the Orange County Sheriff. “How do you say the name of your boat?”

Observation: I woke up a little after midnight on October 21 in the Newport Beach anchorage. I brushed my teeth and sat in the companionway enjoying the quiet evening.

I happened to be looking north when I saw a strange thing. “Is that a shooting star?” “No, that is too bright and is visible for too long.” “What am I seeing?” I watched it for a few minutes as it passed overhead and out to sea. As it went, I recognized the vapor trails I used to see on TV in the 80s with the space shuttle launchings. Then I saw a bright light descending straight down from it out near Santa Catalina Island. After it was gone, I “Googled” something like “Did I see a rocket over Newport Beach tonight?” Sure enough, that was exactly what I saw. My first ever in-person rocket viewing. The descending bright light must have been the first stage booster.

October 21 Falcon 9 • Starlink 7-5
Launch time: 12:47 a.m. PDT (3:47 a.m. EDT, 0747 UTC)
Launch site: SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of 21 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean

Updated: October 20

I often see the Starlink constellations streaming through the night sky. I am not enamored by The Elon Musk. However, I recognize that his vision and the human appetite for consumption have made him Emperor of The Western World. It is all much bigger than I or Sampaguita. It is easy to be caught up in day-to-day survival and not realize how fast we are rocketing(pun intended) into the future.

Two more things that have driven me to sea. One, “positive progress” is open to interpretation. Two, the world is changing so rapidly, I decided to go before I was not allowed to.