Michael's Ross Island Table: From your captain and first mate

The Arca de Vida looks pale and empty since its excursion to Ross Island Lagoon--without its cargo of 21 passengers and 21 tons of support hardware. After that trip, boat rides and picnics will seem dull by comparison. What a wonderful table Michael made! Tim and I had a great time breaking bread with you, while the lightning and the talent flashed around us.

What we didn't say at the table was that our floating home community--where our boat ride began and ended--will soon be adding its own "spoils" to the moonscape we saw above the beach. Ten thousand tons of sand and silt that will have accumulated under our homes and docks will be removed, barged to Ross Island, and deposited either on the island itself, or--if the materials pass strict DEQ standards--in the lagoon, at a cost of many thousands of dollars. Ross Island actually makes it possible for us to go on living on the river, and we are grateful.

We hope you will all come this way again and take another boat ride with us.