Windseeker Travel Log with Joe and Libby

The Grand Tour has concluded at least for this year. We left the Thousand Islands in upstate New York concluding the 2016 sailing season in late September and slowly made our way across country making a few extended stops along the way. We have finally arrived home (right). We will celebrate the holidays and catch up with things at home, and then in January, I'll begin making plans for knee surgery in early 2017 which will put a crimp on future travel plans, at least for a while. We'll put the coach in storage and decide what happens next by spring. For now, though, 'tis good to be home! I've posted some more holiday photos on our gallery page.

We drove back into Oregon yesterday, making it through the Siskiyou Mountain passes a day or so before snow storms were set to arrive. Whew! We overnighted near Medford and then today we drove through the winding passes by Grants Pass and pulled into Eugene which is just a couple hours south of Portland. This billboard greeted us along the Interstate. Wow, how times have changed! While in Eugene. we wanted to pay a visit to Fernridge Lake while we're here and maybe make a plan for spring. Tomorrow we'll drive up to Portland and pull into our familiar Fairview RV Park for a few days while we unpack the bus and get her ready for winter storage.

Homeward Bound... I wish I wuz Homeward Bound... thanks for mem'ries, Simon & Garfunkel. Today we begin the final leg of the trek home. We're making a direct shot with overnight stops in Bakersfield, Dunnigan near Redding, and Medford, Oregon, we expect to arrive home in the Portland area on Tuesday, Nov 15, wrapping up a two year tour on the road. Mixed feelings... sad to be letting go of the travel bug, at least for now, but happy to get back to our beautiful home in time for the holidays.

Taking a break today from post election day exhaustion, we drove out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area about 30 minutes west of Las Vegas. A one-way loop road, 13 miles long, provides vehicle access to many of the features in the area like the striking red rock and tan sandstone formations pictured at the right. With rock walls up to 3,000 feet and the high point La Madre Mountain, at 8154 feet, in the distance, it is a very scenic area providing some much needed mental relief from the stress of the last few days. More photos on our gallery page.

Today we drove the 275 miles from Phoenix to Las Vegas where we'll be staying for the next week visiting friends and checking out Lake Mead and the environs. We pulled into Oasis RV Resort around 2:30 in the afternoon after making excellent time on the road. Oasis has an impressive entrance (right) - It's a relief to be back where there is some grass and the temperatures are a bit cooler. Corey is greatly relieved :-)

Today being our last day in Phoenix, we drove over to Turf Paradise Race Track for the afternoon, just ten minutes away from our RV Park. It is actually a very nice track but draws nothing close to the kind of crowds we saw at Keeneland in Lexington. But entry for seniors is just a buck and I was able to use my account at DRF Bets Online once again to bet from our seat. We bet 6 races at $5/race, won 3 and wound up $25 dollars up on the day again. So no complaints. We had a lot of fun studying the stats on the horses and making our picks. The highest purse race here was a $25,000 purse so nothing close to the million dollar purse races we saw at Keeneland or the $6 million dollar purse Breeders Cup Classic we watched on NBC yesterday at Santa Anita, where Arrogate edged out the mighty California Chrome in a heart-stopping finish.

Today we drove up to Apache Junction about an hour or so SE from our RV Park here in Phoenix. Located in the spectacular Superstition Mountains, the quaint Goldfield Ghost Town was created by the rush that followed the discovery of gold in the region in 1892. The community reached its maximum of about 4000 residents with a general store, hotel, saloon, post office, school and bordello just up the street on the left. When the mines ultimately played out the town was deserted. Along with the spectacular mountain backdrop it served as a filming location for many westerns until it mostly burned to the ground in the middle of the 20th century. The town was later rebuilt and revived as a faithful reproduction of the original town. It opened to the public around 1980 and remains a popular tourist attraction.

We celebrated the evening by going out with friends Dennis and Myra Bailey, who live here in the Phoenix area, to a local location of the Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant. Some tasty brewskis and dinner were enjoyed by all.

Today we drove the 2.5 hours over from Tucson to Desert's Edge RV Village in Phoenix arriving in time for Halloween. We'll be here for the next week. We have stayed here before. Also nicknamed 'The Purple Park', it is a good place to stay when visiting the city in an RV. We'll be visiting some friends while here and want to take in a few sights like The Superstition Mountains, home to the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine and other legends.

Sunday morning and because of the stifling heat all week we decided once again not to attempt anything too strenuous, so we just decided to go out for brunch. Friends had told us we should visit Bisbee, Arizona, a quaint and historic artist's colony about 90 minutes from Tucson. We decided it was too far to go for a day and we're not much into browsing art galleries anyhow. Since about 50% of what people tell you when they recommend a place is all about places to eat, we decided, OK fine, a local establishment called the Bisbee Breakfast Club was the perfect choice for Sunday Brunch. An excellent choice it was, too, with superb omlettes, home fries and biscuits.

In the eastern foothills of the Santa Catalina mountain range, Sabino Canyon just outside of Tucson Arizona is a spectacular park-like oasis offering stunning vistas juxtaposed with the tranquility of running creek water, and abundant wildlife. Here we are standing at the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center, awaiting a tram ride up into the canyon. Sabino Canyon is too magnificent to cover in depth in the travelogue, so when we visited this spectacular spot in the winter of 2013, I created a special Sabino Canyon Photo Collection page where you can see more great photos of the canyon in a little larger format. You can also see a few more photos from this year's visit on this year's photo gallery.

Well we made it to Tucson, AZ where we'll be for the next week. Five days of driving after leaving St Louis, averaging 300+ miles per day. The trip has gone very smoothly - just outside of Tucson we stopped at a rest stop in a place called Texas Canyon (right) with some very interesting rock formations. We're happy to be back in Tucson, a place we very much enjoyed when we were here in January 2015 and again back in 2013. You can also visit the Tucson section of our 2013 blog for 15 photos and details from our ten days here. We'll probably pay another visit to some of our favorite places like the Biosphere2, Saguaro National Park, and Sabino Canyon. We'll just relax for a week before we move on to Phoenix and then Las Vegas for a week in each spot.

Today we left St Louis after yesterday's storm cleared. We have it planned to travel the 1650 miles to Tucson & Phoenix, AZ in 5 days stopping overnight in Miami, OK; Wichita Falls, TX; Midland, TX; and Las Cruces, NM. Since we will be traveling together in the coach now, towing our Chevy Suburban after placing the sailboat in storage, we can switch off driving and it should not be too daunting. We'll be cruising on Interstate Highways or 4 lane State Highways the whole way. When I am not driving, I can sit in my recliner and my verizon jetpack gives me full wifi internet most of the time.

Today we prepped our sailboat for storage and took her to a local facility and locked her up under cover on her trailer where she will remain for the winter. Tonite we joined our friends Scott and Laurie at Blueberry Hill, a trendy pop culture-themed burger and brew joint located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood in University City, a suburb of St. Louis. We all had dinner together Sunday, Monday and tonite. It has been a great opportunity to catch up on our respective lives over the last half century.

Our friends Scott and Laurie gave us a brief driving tour of St Louis which included a drive around Forest Park in the heart of St Louis, This public park is a prominent civic center and covers 1,371 acres. The park, which opened in 1876 has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and the 1904 Summer Olympics. It features a variety of attractions, including the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center. We'll save those for a future visit, but we were astonished at the magnificent Gilded Age Architecture of some of the fabulous mansions which border the immense park.

We spent Sunday afternoon with our friends Scott and Laurie and visited the Missouri Botanical Garden of which they are members. Founded in 1859, it is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States and a National Historic Landmark. It an oasis in the city of St. Louis, with 79 acres of horticultural display and important conservatories like the Linnean House Greenhouse, the Shoenberg Temperate House and the Climatron geodesic dome conservatory at right. Named one of the 100 most significant architectural achievements in U.S. history, the Dome features an impressive tropical rain forest theme with 2,800 tropical species of plants in an array of dense green foliage, a small native hut, sparkling waterfalls, rocky cliffs, a river aquarium with exotic fish.

Today we pulled into Casino Queen RV Park, one of a growing number of US Casinos which offers very nice RV Accommodations. Notice the iconic St Louis Gateway Arch in the background. The RV Park is located in East St Louis, Illinois very close to my friend Scott's home just across the river in St Louis, Missouri. We'll be here 5 nights before we continue our trek west. We will also leave the Anne Marie, our beloved Catalina 22 sailboat, here in St Louis in covered storage and proceed on across country together in the coach while towing our car. Sailing season is over and we'll make a decision next year about what our next move will be.

After leaving Lexington we headed just 75 miles west to pay a quick visit to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville. The track is not in season right now... it will hold race meets again in November, but they offer a very informative half hour walking tour to learn some of the history of this most famous of race courses, the most hallowed ground in all of Thoroughbred Horse Racing. Here's Libby and I standing by the statue of Barbaro in front of Churchill Downs. The heroic race horse is best remembered for his win at the 2006 Kentucky Derby which he dominated by 6 1/2 lengths. The huge sculpture depicts the horse with all four of his feet off the ground.

Our last day in Lexington, it was appropriate to pay one last visit to Old Friends Equine - A Retirement Home for Thoroughbred Race Horses. We visited here in the spring and were touched to visit a place whose mission is to provide "a dignified retirement to Thoroughbreds whose racing and breeding careers have come to an end." Some great stallions and other fine race horses have lived out their days here "just being horses". Currently there are a number of famous Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, Breeders Cup and other G1 stakes winners... names like Touch Gold, Alphabet Soup, Game on Dude and my personal favorite, Silver Charm.

Today we visited the Thoroughbred Center of Lexington, a race horse training facility including outdoor dirt and turf tracks, a 5/8-mile track with a metal roof, two main barns that can house up to 260 horses each plus 40 tack rooms and a state of the art, 920 seat sales pavilion. In 1998 The Kentucky Horse Center was purchased by Churchill Downs out of Louisville and then in 2000 when it was purchased by Keeneland. The main offices and pavilion make an impressive entrance to the facility.

We went back to Keeneland Race Course for a second day today... a pretty big day in Kentucky racing with several Grade 1 Stakes races including the $400,000 First Lady, the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and the $1,000,000 Shadwell Turf Mile. I continued wagering with my account at DRF Bets Online on my laptop and by day's end betting $5 on most races either to win or to place, I wound up the two day period $25 ahead. Not a big winner, for sure... but we had a lot of fun and didn't lose any money!

We bought admission tickets for Opening Day at legendary Keeneland Race Course, one of the most famous race tracks in the country. Here's Libby standing out front of the stadium. Good thing we got tickets in advance as the place was sold out! The technology is amazing nowadays... I took my laptop and our jetpack wifi (preferring our own secure network to the public wifi there), so I could bet using DRF Bets Online. I funded it with a credit card or paypal, and then made my wagers online. And when I won (I won 4 races) my account was credited with my winnings. No longer do you stand in line to place your bets, or take your winning paper tickets up to the window cash them. Simply Amazing!

Tonite we attended a benefit performance of the dramatic documentary film, "Dark Horse". this the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a working men's club in Wales who decide to take on the elite 'sport of kings' and breed themselves a racehorse named Dream Alliance who went on to win the Welsh Grand National Steeplechase in 2009. This heartwarming film was the winner of both Sundance and Toronto Film Festival awards in 2015. This showing was a fundraiser for the Secretariat Center, the Lexington Thoroughbred Horse adoption facility which we visited yesterday.

Our first day here in Lexington we went to the Kentucky Horse Park to attend the first day of the United Professional Horseman's Association Chapter 9 Kentucky Fall Classic Horse Show. This is a 3-day show for saddle/gaited horses and a benefit for the American Saddlebred Museum. We also visited the Secretariat Center, a Thoroughbred adoption facility at the Kentucky Horse Park. We took a tour, made a generous donation, and I bought a T-shirt and baseball cap with the logo. I will be posting many more photos from the current visit to Lexington on our gallery page.

We had such a rewarding visit this spring, we have come back to Lexington, Kentucky for another week... to visit some more horse farms, return to the Kentucky Horse Park and take in a Equestrian show, and attend the opening days of Keeneland Racetrack. Back in the final home of Secretariat, the 1973 Triple Crown Winner who is considered by many to be the greatest Thoroughbred racehorse of all time. We fell in love with this legendary sports hero when we visited in the spring.

We decided to sell the C-Dory before heading back to the west coast. I ran ads on Craigslist and had more than half a dozen seriously interested parties. So today on the first leg of our trip home, we stopped briefly in Syracuse where we delivered our little C-Dory motorboat to the new owner, a fellow by the name of Bill, who met us at a Walmart where we had plenty of room to park the coach briefly, as I was towing the sailboat with it. A little sad to see the little guy go, Libby gave Dory a hug and thanked him for providing some fun adventures this summer. Now he moves on to a new life in upstate New York. And after some 2 years full-time on the road, we're headed home.

Since my sailing days are over for the immediate future as we begin our trek westward, I spotted this commercial on the TV for Ralph Lauren Polo Blue fragrance featuring exciting sailing action. I found the Polo commercial on youtube and downloaded the video to my laptop using Keepvid. Now when I need a sailing fix I can watch this or one of the sailing videos we made this summer.

Today we pulled the boat out on the trailer at the City of Clayton Docks and launch ramp. We had tried to do it yesterday at our Bayside Marina boat ramp but the water is too low this fall, and we could not approach the launch ramp. Fortunately the Clayton City Docks are in much better shape, so this morning I pulled out of Bayside and headed across to the City Docks where Libby was waiting with the trailer. The town is so quiet now, we had no problem pulling out and parking along the road in front of the Antique Boat Museum and derigging the boat. Tonite we'll suffer thru the first presidential debate, and then tomorrow we make final preparations for hitting the road. Next stop Rochester, NY.

Today was probably our last day sailing in the Thousand Islands, at least for this year. Rain is due tomorrow and Saturday, Sunday and Monday all look pretty calm. We'll probably pull the boat out Monday and get her rigged for the trek home, as we have decided to make our way back out west and be home for the holidays this year. But today was a nice send off... we had good sailing wind and pleasant temperatures most of the afternoon... About 5:00 some ominous clouds started to appear on the horizon and by 5:30 we turned tail and headed back to the marina, getting in before the rain started. Looking over my shoulder, I guess THIS is why the boating season here ends the end of September.

This is our last week in the 1000 Islands. We should be able to get out sailing a couple more times. Today was excellent as usual. We had 12-15 mph winds out of the SW. It had a little more southerly component so we were able to sail longer reaches heading westward. We made 8 tacks all the way out to Cedar Point State Park, which was further west than we have ever sailed. About 5:00 we turned and sailed downwind making only one gybe all the way to Barrett Point off our marina. Heading downwind in the long shadows of late afternoon, that is Cedar Point State Park over my shoulder and Linda Island at the right edge of the photo.

Today we drove across the Thousand Islands Bridge once more to Brockville, ON to see the Tall Ships festival which is on this weekend. Hard to get a good photo of the event from land so I borrowed this one from their website. We were able to go aboard several of these Tall Ships at the dock including the Black Jack and the elegant Fair Jeanne. And we watched as the Empire Sandy set sail with a host of tourists aboard. More photos on our gallery page.

Today we launched our C-Dory motorboat out of Keewaydin State Park in Alexandria Bay. They have a nice boat ramp there with plenty of parking, and the entrance gate is unmanned this time of year so no charge to launch there. We cruised around some of the islands near Alex Bay, down Millionaire's Row where many wealthy industrialists like George Pullman built their fabulous summer 'cottages' and then tied up at the day use docks at Boldt Castle. That's Libby and Jil standing on the dock by the C-Dory with George Boldt's remarkable boat house in the background. After our tour of the castle we cruised across and tied up at the boathouse to ogle some of the marvelous antique wooden boats housed there.

Friends for 40 years, across multiple marriages, it has been a long time since we met up with Los Angeles friend Jil Gotlib for more than dinner or drinks. So it was a distinct pleasure for all of us when she flew in from L.A. to spend a week in the Thousand Islands, staying right nearby in a VRBO at Fisher's Landing. On her first full day here we had excellent winds so we took her out sailing. She and Libby enjoyed girl talk as we sailed west out toward Cedar Point State Park. She even took the helm for a bit.

Today was our second day out sailing, a week after we got the boat launched and sailed our first day. In the interim we have had low wind doldrums or stormy gusty winds. We had excellent conditions... very steady 12-14 mph winds, clear, warm and sunny afternoon with a high around 80 degrees. Once again, I have to say this was absolutely as good as it gets... and we were almost all alone out there, except for a couple freighters that came through. And a milestone... our Garmin GPS chartplotter ticked off our 2000th mile today! In our favorite sailing locale, the Thousand Islands! What a treat!

No wind right now with a big high pressure system sitting over the area, but perfect for for launching our little C-Dory at our marina launch ramp where we tied up briefly next to our sailboat. At the right is thumbnail of the cruise we took this afternoon.. probably about 25 miles heading east all through the islands in this part of river and then over to the Canadian side, culminating with winding our way through the Admiralty Islands over by Gananoque before heading back across, past the tip of Grindstone Island and back into Clayton Harbor. I've also made a little larger map of the route. This is exactly why we bought the motorboat... no way we could make this same cruise in the sailboat in an afternoon if at all.

Ah it is just glorious to be back here sailing again. I have such fond memories from last summer and was wondering how this would stack up to some of the other places we have sailed recently. It surpasses the best of them. We had marvelous weather with light to moderate north winds, not the typical direction, so we were able to work our way downriver to the east past the end of Grindstone Island and past Pine and Bluff Islands as far as Fisher's Landing where we turned and took a straight beam reach most of the way home past Calumet Island and the iconic water tower (over my shoulder in the photo) and back into the marina.

Today we pulled back into the Thousand Islands region of upstate New York where we spent a couple months last summer. We're back again for the month of September. We had such a great time here last year and it promises to be more of the same. Weather was sunny and windy when we arrived... perfect for sailing. We'll get the sailboat launched in the next couple days and pick up where we left off last summer. You can see the special page I made up for this very special place or visit the section of last year's photo gallery with over 70 photos dedicated to the Thousand Islands.

Well we have been in Ontario, Canada some ten weeks this summer... Lake Simcoe, Lake Muskoka and Georgian Bay. After our brief visit with friends in London, today we crossed the Peace Bridge back into the states. That is of course our bus towing the sailboat as photographed by Libby who was behind me iin the car. The trip went easily and smoothly and with little traffic on a Sunday morning, so we breezed around Buffalo and hopped on I-90 to Rochester. We're here for just two nights while I visit a dermatologist and Corey takes advantage of the Banfield Veterinary Clinic here. These are some of things we have been missing while in Canada, as well as US Amazon Prime, our regular cellular service, etc. See the full list here.

London, Ontario, that is! On our way back to the states from Georgian Bay, we stopped over in London to visit my long time friend and business associate Haim Gelfenbeyn who has just moved there from Kelowna, B.C. where we visited him 4 years ago. He and his lovely wife Vika and their three charming boys, Arie, Benjie and little Daniel, have just bought a new home there so we took the opportunity to pay them a brief visit. More photos on our gallery page

Today was a gorgeous, windy day once again out sailing on Severn Sound on Georgian Bay. A little cooler as summer draws to a close, we sailed over to Quarry Island on the east side of the sound. It tends to be a little smoother on windy days than over on the west side. It was a sensational wrapup to our month at Georgian Bay. We probably won't get to sail tomorrow as the forecast is for higher winds, and the Sound just gets too rough when it is gusting above 20 mph. So I think we'll probably end it on a great day and call it good. With rain due Thursday, we'll need to pull the boat and derig it on Wednesday as we are due to head out Friday morning. Georgian Bay will linger in our memories for a long time to come!

Today we drove about an hour up the eastern side of Georgian Bay to a place called King Bay where we could launch our C-Dory at the marina there and cruise around a few more of the 30,000 Islands. Up that far, and away from more populated areas, the islands are much more natural than where we sail down on Midland Bay. Up around King Bay it is classic Georgian Bay landscape... rock outcroppings with trees and the occasional house. Very beautiful and serene and only the occasional boat, at least on a week day. Once again with our Garmin GPS Chartplotter we were able to stay clear of the many hazards and shoals up there.

The Midland Rotary Waterfront Bike Trail is a very nice paved bicycle trail which runs all along the Midland Harbor waterfront starting at Gawley Park all the way around to the Martyr's Shrine (right) where it joins the Tay Shore trail. We rode about 5 miles out, and then back again, and on the return ride we stopped for a tasty lunch on the outdoor patio at the Boathouse Eatery, a popular harborfront restaurant in downtown Midland.

Today we trailered the C-Dory up to the Big Chute Marina, launched her and rode the Big Chute Railway up over the marine rail system which traverses Lock 44 on the Trent-Severn Waterway. It's quite an experience. From there we navigated the Waterway down to what is called the Gloucester Pool and then over to the Severn Lodge (right) where we had lunch down by the water's edge. The image at the right is actually a screen capture of their webcam showing Libby and the C-Dory down at the end of the dock. See the live webcam to compare. Most enjoyable stop. From there we cruised all throughout the Gloucester Pool threading our way thru some of the 30,000 Islands which make up the greater Georgian Bay area. We got back to the Big Chute Railway in time to ride it back over the Lock to the marina, concluding a very pleasant afternoon. Many more photos on our gallery page.

Well after some super sailing days on the 8,9 & 10th, today, we are getting some much needed rain. It has been exceedingly dry up here in Ontario this summer, good for sailing but not so good for the region, especially the farmers and ranchers. Serious thunderstorms are predicted most of the day with up to 2 inches of rain predicted. We're hoping it materializes. We've already sailed 6 days this month and wind predictions and suitable weather are back in the forecast for tomorrow, so we welcome the precipitous respite.

Here's Libby at the helm on a downwind run back to the marina at the end of the afternoon. She is a little tentative about taking the tiller when we are heeling way over. But she really enjoys it either in lighter winds or on a downwind run like here. In stronger winds on a close reach she prefers to leave the tiller to me. When I was at the helm, she also took this excellent one minute video of the sailing action as we sailed out of Midland Bay, across Severn Sound and around Snake Island.

With winds climbing to 16-18 mph this afternoon, we braved the open waters on Midland Bay for a couple hours today, but it was just too rough. Heading into the chop, our bow was rising and falling as much as 6' at times. We saw more than 20 other sailboats out, mostly all a good bit larger than ours. On a bay this large, as the sea state builds in higher winds, you're better off on a larger, heavier sailboat... it was a bit much for our little trailer sailor. Winds are predicted to be back down in the 9-10 range tomorrow which should be more to our liking. That is my new Benetech Anemometer around my neck... a very accurate little gauge.

The wind is back and today was a perfect day out sailing on Georgian Bay. Hard to beat this place, that's for sure. Temps in the high 70's. blue shies with some puffy white clouds, as many as 20 other sailboats visible at one time out sailing in the huge bay, steady 12-15 mph winds which built to 14-17 by mid afternoon. As near perfection as this sport gets! More of same predicted for tomorrow! Not only is the sailing superb here, but the sailing community is wonderful as well. We were invited to attend a Friday night social and dinner with the Midland Bay Sailing Club which has several hundred very active members with their docks and clubhouse right across from the docks at Bayport Marina where we have our boat docked.

As much of the US is sweltering, so are we in Canada. There is a southerly flow and temps will be in the 90's again today for the third day in a row :-(. It is supposed to break tomorrow with some rain due and then cooler temps on the weekend and next week. And with it the wind should return as well. For now we're taking care of chores, relaxing in our air-conditioned coach, watching a few movies including SECRETARIAT (what a wonderful movie), and, of course, playing with the blog :-)

Well the long awaited day arrived. We got the sailboat rigged and launched yesterday and secured her in her slip at the Bay Port Yachting Centre on Midland Bay at the south end of Georgian Bay. Then today under overcast skies we motored out of the marina, then sailed out onto Midland Bay. We had decent easterly winds and enjoyed the afternoon sailing Severn Sound with about a dozen other sailboats. Here we are sailing on a downwind reach back into the harbor, with downtown Midland ahead and the Great Lakes Cruise Company's flagship, the Pearl Mist currently tied up downtown enroute from Chicago to Toronto. And beside it is the iconic mural on the grain silos which depicts a Huron Native and a Jesuit Priest looking into the nearby village of Sainte-Marie, as it would have appeared in 1640.

Well another dream realized... sailing Georgian Bay. Georgian Bay on the east side of Lake Huron is a world class sailing destination. Hundreds and hundreds of sailboats are docked here at multiple huge marinas on Midland Bay, a tiny little nook in the enormous Georgian Bay which covers 5,792 sq mi. Yes that is not a misprint... We enjoyed sailing Lake Monroe in Florida last winter which covers 15 sq mi. Georgian Bay is 400 times larger! We have taken a slip at Bay Port Yachting Centre which features accommodations for over 700 boats up to 100 feet in length. BIG marina... and a first class facility. Tomorrow we will launch our Catalina 22 and plan to get out sailing this weekend!

Today was our last day in the Muskokas... tomorrow we head down to Georgian Bay to resume our sailing adventures. With the weather forecast a bit questionable today we opted to take a cruise on Lake Rosseau, one of the Muskokas, aboard Sunset Cruises' Peerless II riverboat. Lake Rosseau lies just north of where we boated on Tuesday. The lake is connected to Lake Muskoka by the Indian River and the lock system at Port Carling. Like Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau is a popular place for summer 'cottages' and resorts. And we passed many beautiful places and countless lovely islands in our 2.5 hour riverboat cruise. You can see many more photos on our gallery page.

We launched the C-Dory over at George Rd/McVittie Island Landing, Bracebridge, ON about 20 minutes drive from our RV Park. A very nice uncrowded public launch - no charge and with plenty of free parking! We headed almost due west, passing between Eilean Gowan Island and Browning Island, to the west shore of Browning to visit a friend of a friend, Frank Sloan. Frank has an amazing 'cottage' and we enjoyed bloody marys on his deck enjoying the gorgeous west view out towards Old Woman Island. Frank just listed his place for sale, and if we had a couple spare mill, we would love to take it off his hands :-) The house is hidden in the trees but the boathouse visible in the photo at the right would be all we need! Of course the real moneyed folks might want to buy the sprawling estate which is Old Woman Island which is for sale for a mere $13.9 million. Many more photos on our gallery page.

Today we pulled up stakes and headed north on the next leg of our route, Lake Muskoka. This is not a name that rings very familiar with many Americans... well not with US residents, anyhow. But to North Americans as a whole, in particular Canadians, the name is synonymous with summer paradise and opulent wealth. The Muskoka Region which includes Lakes Muskoka, Rosseau, and Joseph - a.k.a. 'cottage country' - is the world's second-fastest growing recreational real estate market after Cote d'Azur, France, according to Christie's International Real Estate. Countless celebrities including the likes of Tom Hanks, Goldie Hawn, and Steven Spielberg, all have summer cottages in this 'Malibu of the North'. These mega mansions that have spring up here have been dubbed McCottages. We'll be here for 4 days, and there will be many more photos on our gallery page.

We had our last day of sailing out on Lake Simcoe yesterday. The wind was a decent 10-12 with some ups and downs. No wind today so we elected to pull the boat out and derig her for the trip to Georgian Bay on the next leg of our summer adventure. Libby leaves tomorrow AM to fly home for a visit and when she gets back in a week or so, we'll prepare to head north again. I am staying behind to be with Corey and will be able to sail with some friends I have made at the marina while she is gone. These friends all have their own boats, so I am unlikely to find anyone to go out on my boat with me. And since I don't make a practice of sailing alone, there's no sense paying for another week's slip fees. We've had an excellent month here... we sailed 10 of 21 days we had the boat in the water!

Today is July 4th, American Independence Day! It doesn't really mean much up here in Canada... they already celebrated their equivalent on the 1st. Winds are forecast to be weak today, so we're going to take the C-Dory motorboat over to the marina and put her in for the day and take a relaxed motor cruise around the lake. I don't imagine we'll see any fireworks tonite so I thought I would put on a display here!

Today is a stormy day... not the best for folks celebrating Canada's equivalent of the 4th of July. Certainly not for boating. We went out for brunch to our favorite local eatery Hot Stacks, a friendly little restaurant in nearby Cookstown. We shared a delicious omlette and pancakes. Their Reuben sandwiches for lunch are irresistible as well. We got back to the coach just before the skies opened up in a torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightning . As we opened the door we were greeted with the familiar sight. I just LOVE this photo. Classic Corey, the recliner monster. Other than pee breaks and food, this guy would be content to spend his entire life in this position.

Monday and today, Wednesday, offered more great sailing on Lake Simcoe. And yesterday Tuesday, I sailed again with the local sailing club for the Tuesday night beer races. More fun and sailing comradery! Today with NW winds in the 12-14 range and beautiful blue skies and comfortable temperatures, Libby and I sailed up out of Cooks Bay as far as Snake Island at the mouth of the bay, about 7 miles as the crow flies from our marina. We had superb sailing out on the main part of lake and very few other boats. That's Snake Island with the iconic watchtower on the point. It took us several hours to tack our way out there, contending with wind changes as we passed through the mouth of the harbor. But we were able to sail a single one-hour reach back to the marina.

We've just come off three days of the doldrums... little or no wind. We attempted to take the C-Dory out one day, only to discover that the steering cable had seized up. Sigh.... Fortunately our marina has a repair shop and the guy there ordered a new one for us and should have the C-Dory back up and running next week. But today the wind returned and so we once again had superb sailing,.. almost as good as the excellent day we had last Wednesday, June 22. With fairly steady SW winds in the 14-18 range this afternoon, we sailed out towards the north end of Cook's Harbor in the company of 6-8 other sailboats and a number of kiteboard sailors for a Happy Belated Father's Day. As the winds began to pick up to 20 or so in anticipation of some storm activity tonite, and the windsurfers appeared, we headed in.

Rigging our boat at Lake Simcoe has been a comedy of errors (almost a tragedy at times). Our last booboo was not securing the jib halyard so as we began rigging our sails after finally getting the boat launched, we realized we had no way to get the jib halyard down. We were able to borrow a bosun's chair and this morning, using the main halyard, I hoisted Libby up the 25' mast to grab the halyard and bring it down. Brave Girl! Then we finished rigging the sails and went out for a very pleasant afternoon sail. More photos on our gallery page.

Happy Dad's Day to my dear ole Dad... wish he were still with us to celebrate. Corey is my son these days and sent me this little fathers' day card to wish me well. Or click on the one at the right to watch a cute little animated father's day card which captures my life in the present... hopefully how we'll be spending the afternoon if the weather cooperates.

Eastern Canada is in the midst of a hot spell right now, as is most of the U.S., and there's not much wind. Change is due Monday with some rain, then Tuesday is much cooler and windy again. So we are avoiding the heat of the day to get our boat ready for sailing. Last evening around 7pm after it cooled down, we took the boat over to the friendly little Cook's Bay Marina, stepped the mast and got her ready for launch. This morning early we launched her at the marina boat ramp and motored around to our slip and got our mooring lines & fenders set up. Then we came back to the KOA to cool off and will return again this evening to setup the boom, the sails and get all the fine points ready for sailing, hopefully tomorrow, when there is a call for modest wind mid day according to Windfinder.com.

Today we took a drive up through the city of Barrie 20 minutes north of our KOA campground and then drove on to Georgian Bay (right), on the eastern side of Lake Huron which we have selected as our second summer destination. We went up to check out the campground we selected online for that part of our Canadian visit and also the huge Wye Heritage Marina and the Bay Port Yachting Centre on Midland Bay, two huge marinas where we can take a slip for our sailboat for the time we spend there. Georgian Bay is a huge body of water, but Midland Bay on Severn Sound is a small corner nook of Georgian Bay, nicely tucked back from the big open water and should be perfect for our Catalina 22.

After a somewhat unnerving drive north thru downtown Toronto on the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way) today, we pulled into Cookstown near Cook's Bay, the southernmost bay of Ontario's Lake Simcoe, our first planned summer sailing stop. We are planning to spend a month here staying at the local KOA and renting a slip at Cook's Bay Marina, a popular sailing marina. We're about 15 miles south of the lovely city of Barrie, which we also look forward to exploring over the next few weeks. And in July when we move on to Midland, Ontario for another month on Georgian Bay, we're less than an hour away!

Well we cruised up from Chautauqua Lake this morning, passed thru Buffalo, NY and ran some last minute U.S. errands, and then drove across the Peace Bridge into Canada. We pulled into Jellystone Park, in Niagara Falls, Ontario about 3 in the afternoon with pleasant weather around 70 degrees... that's Fahrenheit, eh? The photo at the right is from our trip to Niagara Falls in 2003, when we here for a software conference and brought our son Patrick, then 11 years old. We all took a helicopter tour over Niagara Falls which was pretty spectacular. No need to try and top that this trip. See our gallery page. We'll head on to Lake Simcoe tomorrow.

This morning we pulled out of the KOA Campground near Cuyahoga Valley National Park and got to All Seasons RV in nearby Streetsboro bright and early to get our new hydraulic jack installed. We were back on the road by noon and headed up to Chautauqua Lake just an hour south of Buffalo, NY. Because we had to wait for the part to be delivered, we're behind schedule by several days, so we're only going to stay here at Chautauqua Lake for 2 nights. Unfortunately strong T-storms are expected tomorrow so we won't get to take the C-Dory out on the Lake, this time but we can drive around the lake a bit anyway and get an idea of the area.

After a couple of stormy days, today was a beautiful spring day and we took the opportunity to drive through part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park enroute to the 65-foot Brandywine Falls, one of the most popular attractions. You walk through a forested wooden boardwalk and down a series of stairways to descend into the gorge where the falls is located. This time of year, the forest is alive with an almost surreal symphony of Cicada's song which is almost as loud as the waterfall!

Today we took a joyride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, one of the oldest tourist excursion railways in the country. The train travels northbound and southbound through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park from Independence, Ohio through Akron, Ohio with stops at smaller stations along the way. The roundtrip is approximately three hours long, but the purchase of an All-day pass allows you to hop off the train for a couple of hours, explore the park or nearby attractions and reboard to return to your starting location. We had to leave Corey at home so we just did the roundtrip, but had headsets which transported us back in time with an entertaining and informative Mark Twain style narration for the whole trip.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is our next stop on our way to Ontario, Canada for the summer. Cuyahoga Valley is a national park which encompasses the rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland in NE Ohio. Picturesque 65-foot Brandywine Falls is one of the most popular attractions in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The 1.5-mile Brandywine Gorge Trail lets park visitors explore beyond the waterfall.

Secretariat was arguably the greatest racehorse of all time. As a three year old, he won the 1973 Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmost Stakes, making him the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. He set records in each race, two of which still stand today! Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a phenomenal 31 lengths, the greatest margin in the history of the race, and was still accelerating in the final quarter-mile of the race. No other horse had won the Derby in less than 2 minutes before! This powerfully built, gorgeous chestnut Thoroughbred, nicknamed Big Red by his owners, stood at stud at Claiborne Farms and is buried here. You can watch this brief edited footage of this great horse's last romp before his death in 1989. ‹SNIFF› . I just love this magnificent horse... his edited story is here.

Today we took a guided tour of Claiborne Thoroughbred Horse Farm, one of the oldest and most successful horse farms in the Lexington area. Our tour took us around and through both stallion bams where we met a number of champions and got to feed them peppermints. Fully half of all the Triple Crown winners in history were bred here. Secretariat, the greatest Triple Crown winner (1973) of the last century, stood at stud here and is buried here. I took a photo of his stall which also housed other greats like Unbridled, Easy Goer and Bold Ruler, the sire of Secretariat. More photos on our gallery page. Later we cleared the dust away with a visit to The Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery in nearby Versailles, KY.

Today we celebrated Memorial Day with a visit to Old Friends Farm, a retirement home for racehorses in Georgetown, KY near where we are staying. Pictured at right is owner and founder Michael Blowen feeding a carrot to one of his favorite horses of the 110 here at this facility... War Emblem, a famous stallion who captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2002, but stumbled coming out of the gate in the Belmont Stakes and missed his bid at the Triple Crown. War Emblem was then sold for $17 million to Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido, Japan where he entered stud in 2003. He was pensioned in 2015 by the Yoshida family who paid $50,000 to transport this superb Thoroughbred to Old Friends. More photos on our gallery page.

Today we went back to visit both the International Museum of the Horse and the American Saddlebred Museum at the Kentucky Horse Park. Both are very interesting with many exhibits, videos and educational displays. Man o' War, who some have called the greatest Thoroughbred race horse of all time, lies at rest here at Kentucky Horse Park along with several of his offspring. This bronze statue stands as a memorial to this most memorable racehorse. Foaled in 1917 Man o' War won 20 of 21 races as a three year old in 1920 and had a pace of 24', greater than Seattle Slew or any other famous Triple Crown winner. Later at stud, Man o' War was a top sire who produced more than 64 stakes winners and various champions including Triple Crown winner War Admiral, also named Horse of the Year in 1937.

Our first day in Lexington was a beautiful early summer's day. We drove the 15 minutes to spend the day at the renowned Kentucky Horse Park, a working horse farm and an educational theme park opened here in 1978. A marvelous life size mechanical horse stands in front of the visitor's center... push a button and watch it run. Kentucky Horse Park is also a retirement home for aging race horses, and some derby winners live here. This is a photo of Libby and me by a bronze statue of Secretariat, the beloved American Thoroughbred racehorse who, in 1973, became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years with an astounding win of the Belmont Stakes in record breaking time by a phenomenal 31 lengths. Many more photos on our gallery page. Secretariat's phenomenal story is here.

We pulled into Whispering Hills RV Resort just north of Lexington, Kentucky today to spend a week enjoying the Bluegrass State and visiting horse farms and other sights in the area. As we drove through Lexington we passed a lot of horse property with the classic 3 and 4 board fencing. Libby and I have both spent a lot of time with horses in our past and have been looking forward to visiting the ground zero of Thoroughbred Horse Racing. With our great love of horses, we expect this visit will be most rewarding.

Just a short hop heading northeast from Nashville is Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. It is billed as the world's longest known cave system, with more than 400 miles explored (and potentially hundreds more still not found and surveyed). We thought we would make a brief stop and celebrate the Centennial of the National Park Service and take advantage of free entry to yet another National Park using our America the Beautiful Senior Pass. We'll tour the famous cave tomorrow and view some of its breathtaking formations, and then drive around the park a bit, before we continue north to Lexington, Kentucky on Friday.

Today was another sunny warm day, our last day here in Nashville, and perfect for taking our little C-Dory out for a spin on the beautiful Cumberland River. The Cumberland is a large river which runs right thru the heart of Nashville. We launched at the Rockland Recreation Area near the Old Hickory Lock and Dam in Hendersonville, just east of Nashville. We cruised down aways, enjoyed a picnic lunch out on the water, then continued on for 15 miles or so to where the river narrows before turning back. On the way back we pulled into the Harbor Island Yacht Club briefly before cruising back to the boat launch.

This afternoon we took our C-Dory motorboat over to Long Hunter State Park on J. Percy Priest Lake just east of Nashville. The park has a nice free boat launch ramp and no crowds on a Monday. We dropped the lil Scamp in the water and tooled around for several hours, running from the Park over to the widest basin of the lake up towards the north end and over to Hamilton Creek Sailing Club. Lotsa sailboats there, but it's kind of a small area and I am not sure the wind is too reliable here. Very pretty lake, but I don't think we would ever come here for a sailing sojourn. Better lake for pontooning... matter of fact this was the location for the filming of the video for the great song Pontoon by Little Big Town.

Sunday was a nice sunny day, and low traffic in the city, so we took the opportunity to drive downtown. We had a tip from someone to park up around 7th and Broadway near the church where parking costs 1/3 what it costs down in the honky tonk "District" and it's only two blocks up from where the "District" begins at 5th and Broadway (photo at right). The "District" has several dozen bars or honky tonks, all lit with their signature neon signs, all with live music blaring out the open windows. We stopped into the notorious Tootsie's for a couple beers and some good live county music.

Tonite we made our pilgrimage to the Grand Ole Opry to see Carrie Underwood and a whole lineup of other well known Country Music performers. We sprung for good center seats in the front of the mezzanine - we were fortunate to get them as Carrie is doing 5 performances and Saturday night was the only one which had a few tickets available. Winner of the 2005 American Idol award, Carrie Underwood is one of those rare performers that cuts across music genre lines. Ya gotta love Carrie.

Today we took a Grayline tour of Nashville and learned a bit about the history of this iconic city and got a good overview. We stopped at the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry before it moved to its new location, drove down Broadway past all the Honky Tonks, thru Music Row where so many of the famed music recording studios of Nashville are located, and made an hour and half stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Nashville has long been on my bucket list. I love country music... I had my own country band for several years back in Oregon in the 90's. Everyone says "You'll love Nashville" and from all we have read, I expect that will be true. We have a nice roomy space at Lazy Acres RV Resort just north of the city in Goodletsville. Watch the blog and photo gallery for lots of interesting posts over the next week.

After visiting the Titanic Museum, yesterday in nearby Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, today was earmarked for a river cruise along the Tennessee River which forms Lake Tellico. We launched the C-Dory at the nearby Yarberry Recreation Area Boat Ramp in a pretty state park along the river. We cruised around the point under the Highway 321 Bridge and down the river, past several marinas and homes along the Tanasi Golf Course. We passed many beautiful lakefront and hillside homes along the way. A marvelous way to end our brief visit to this beautiful part of Tennessee. More photos on our gallery page.

We've moved on to Tellico Village, a lovely community on Tellico Lake... visiting some friends for a few days and seeing the area. Today we visited Cades Cove, a broad, green valley surrounded by mountains and one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It offers some great opportunities for wildlife viewing in the park. With our friends we drove the 11-mile, one-way loop road which circles the cove. Rich with history, there are three old log churches, a working grist mill (under renovations), barns, log houses, and many other faithfully restored eighteenth and nineteenth century structures. We did spot a small black bear right by the roadside foraging in the forest.

We had our final day of sailing yesterday on Lake Murray. The wind was not stellar... kind of up and down, although we did hit speeds about 6mph at one point (hull speed is about 8mph). But the sunset more than made up for the lack of wind. Lake Murray is a marvelous lake and I have a feeling we will be back. This morning, we got over to the marina early as threats of t-storms were in the forecast. We hauled the boat out at the dam boat launch, dropped the mast and got her all ready for our road trip... we leave Friday for beautiful Tellico Lake in eastern Tennessee just west of the spectacular Great Smoky Mountains.

After a wonderful week in Charleston when wind forecasts were on the weak side for Lake Murray, we got back to our Lexington SC RV park day before yesterday. Yesterday there were T-storms around so we stuck close to home and took care of a few projects. But today the forecast was perfect, caling for 12-15 in the afternoon and that is exactly what we had. Winds picked up late and with Libby at the helm we actually hit a speed of 8.1 mph on the GPS on a broad reach! We came in because the winds were picking up, and we don't really like gusting over 20. We sailed way out to Counts Island across the lake and had perfect conditions.

Today is our last day in this fair city... the weather cleared up beautifully and we headed into downtown Charleston's Museum Mile one more time, this time to visit the historic Edmondston-Alston House located on East Battery, on the Charleston harbor waterfront. This historic residence was built by shipping merchant Charles Edmondston in the 1820's and sold in 1838 to Charles Alston, a successful South Carolina Lowcountry rice planter. Alston's descendents still maintain residence on the third floor of this gracious old mansion. We took a guided tour of the house and learned about its history and the families who lived here in the past two centuries. Tomorrow morning we'll head back up to Lake Murray.

We attended a dinner theater / cabaret performance of "Lady Legends of Song" by sister act Gracie and Lacey at the North Charleston Center for the Performing Arts. Two very lovely and talented ladies, singing and dancing and evoking much of the glamour of yesterday which has all but vanished in modern music.

Today we visited the Charleston Tea Plantation located on historic Wadmalaw Island in the heart of the Lowcountry of South Carolina, just about 12 miles from where we're staying in our coach on John's Island. Neither is technically an island anymore, as they are interconnected with roads and bridges. We took a brief narrated old time trolley tour of the plantation and a video tour of the plant where the tea leaves are processed to make nine their special flavors of tea, including their original American Classic Tea. More photos on our gallery page.

Today, Sunday, we took a very informative hour and a half narrated cruise aboard General Beauregard, a small cruise ship in the Spiritline Cruise Fleet. We toured all around the harbor, past White Point Gardens at the southern tip of the Charleston peninsula across the harbor and out thru the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge to Fort Sumter at the harbor's entrance then back around by Mt Pleasant. More photos on our gallery page.

After passing by it yesterday in our boat cruise along the Ashley River, today we drove back and toured Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. The gardens at Magnolia Plantation are of great beauty and variety - they were opened to the public in the early 1870s shortly after the end of the Civil War. Although the home was destroyed during the Civil War, the beautiful gardens were spared. Some parts of the gardens are more than 325 years old. Many more photos on our gallery page.

Today, we toured Magnolia Plantation which was originally a rice plantation built by Thomas Drayton for his wife Ann. The original plantation home, located along the Ashley River, was destroyed by fire, and the fully restored plantation house is based on what was built after the Civil War. Magnolia is best known for its English style gardens with their azaleas, camellias and live oak and bald cypress trees. You can also watch a nice video tour and introduction to the home and gardens.

Today we drove over to the WO Thomas Jr. Boat Launch, a.k.a County Farm Landing, and launched the C-Dory for the afternoon. We headed up the Ashley River away from downtown Charleston towards Middleton Place, Magnolia Plantation and Drayton Hall, which was really the only one visible from the river. The water on the Ashley River is slightly brackish due to the tides from Charleston Harbor. Up beyond Magnolia Plantation, we encountered a pod of Dolphins playing in the river and following our boat.

Today we took a historic city tour aboard an air conditioned tour bus with Charleston's Finest Historic Tours. The hour and half guided tour drove us all around downtown Charleston pointing out many of the historic districts, homes, government buildings, restaurants and parks. We got out of the bus for a brief stop at the Charleston Harbor Waterfront at the Battery, a landmark defensive seawall and promenade which was named for a civil-war coastal defense artillery battery at the site. The Battery and its large public park stretches along the lower shores of the Charleston peninsula, bordered by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, which meet here to form Charleston harbor. Some beautiful historic homes line the shore here. More photos on our gallery page.

Charleston is one of those legendary cities you hear about all your life... and we are finally here to see it live and in color. Should be an exciting week. Tomorrow we're going to take a historic city tour aboard an air conditioned tour bus. We'll also visit some plantations, sample some of Charleston's fabled cuisine, and do some touring on the Ashley and Wando Rivers with our C-Dory. Should be a fun week. Then we will return to Lake Murray for a final week of sailing before we begin our trek north.

Here I am back out sailing in the middle of Lake Murray, this time in 14-18mph winds. It was another excellent day, the best yet here at beautiful Lake Murray. It backed off at times and sometimes we only had 6-8mph for a little while, but it was mostly at least 10-12 or better, out of the northwest. You can see Corey down in his little cubby at the back of the cockpit. He'll nap for a while and then he wakes up refreshed and comes back up on deck, especially if "in flight snacks" are served! See some more cool photos on the photo gallery.

Today was our 8th day here in South Carolina and our 3rd day sailing on Lake Murray... and the best day so far for wind. It was 15-18 at times out there... from the south and southwest - a bit gusty at times but very enjoyable. We sailed about 3 1/2 hours and covered about 15 miles as shown by the dotted line on the chart at the right. After coming out of our Marina and Yacht Cove, we sailed on a single reach over five miles more or less due west all the way out past Counts Island and around Lake Point before turning back. A great sail! You can explore this phenomenal boating lake yourself in this detailed hi res chart of Lake Murray.

Happiness for a Septuagenarian is to be out sailing on a new lake on his birthday. Sailing out of our slip at Windward Point Yacht Club, we took the Anne Marie out for several hours this afternoon on Lake Murray. Winds were a little up and down... we had 10-12 mph at times and only 5-6 at others, but it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and a dozen other sailboats were out enjoying the breezes with us. Lake Murray is a beautiful lake indeed. We're looking forward to spending the next month here and exploring all South Carolina has to offer.

Like the great Jim Croce song goes... "Moving me down the highway. Rolling me down the highway. Moving ahead so life won't pass me by." Six months and a week after we arrived in central Florida, we're finally movin' on! After a brief interim stop in Brunswick, Georgia, we're headed for Columbia, South Carolina and beautiful Lake Murray for a month of great spring sailing. With our 'entourage', we'll make quite a 'splash' when pull in now... Truly 'ship faced aquaholics'.

Today was our last day of sailing Lake Monroe for this season. We sailed close to 40 days during our stay here and had many excellent days... like today. Lake Monroe does not disappoint. We had a nice steady 14-16 in the late afternoon for several hours under mostly clear sunny skies.. A great way to finish out the season. That is the old Mayfair Hotel, one of the prettiest spots on the lake, one which hails back to the glory days in the first half of the 20th century when wealthy northerners flocked to the area for winter sunshine. We'll pull the boat out of water Friday as we prepare to head north to our next stop on the 2016 tour... Lake Murray, South Carolina. It's a little hard to tear ourselves away from the great conditions here, but adventure awaits!

The Windseekers were honored by Time Magazine as Persons of the Year for their unwavering dedication to RV living, travel and fun. Traveling in their mighty Allegro Bus, with their trusty Catalina 22 sailboat, The Anne Marie, in tow, and their intrepid Westie, Corey Courageous, they have covered the west coast, east coast and points in between, in search of the finest sailing lakes in the USA. In spring of 2016, their 'Glorious Quest' continues, as they go beyond borders to explore some exotic sailing locales in Ontario, Canada.

Well as our stay in Florida comes to a close, I guess we can count ourselves lucky we have had no encounters with bears or gators. Gators are everywhere in Florida... but tend to lay low in the winter months. We saw a few gators on the boat tours we took, but never saw one sailing. But Wekiva Falls is right next to a wild bear preserve, and bears are plenty active year round around here. So everything around here is "bear proofed" to keep the big critters out. Well we won't complain we haven't had any "close encounters". Still it pays to be cautious.... stay "alert for signs of fresh bear activity" like the humorous sign at the right says.

I am actually 1/4 Irish... me grandmother's name was Sweeney on me father's side... and Libby also has Irish blood on her mother's side. So we celebrated with some green beer and a toast to Irish Spring soap, one of the more successful commercials I did many years back in 1979 while I was an actor in Hollywood in the 70's and 80's. You can watch the 30 second commercial on youtube... or watch a whole collection of my television commercials HERE.

Today was our maiden voyage on board our new C-Dory... we've dubbed the lil guy C-Scamp. We had the pleasure of going out on nearby Lake Dora with a local C-Dory afficionado, Cliff Harbin, from Mt Dora. Cliff was able to show me some of the subtleties of operating the C-Dory. The boat handles very well and the Honda 50 motor purred like a champ. We were out running for 3 hours and burned just 4 gallons of fuel. We launched at Gilbert Park in downtown Mt Dora, cruised across Lake Dora, and took the Dora Canal to Lake Eustis and then up the Haines Creek Canal to the Haines Creek lock. It's a very pretty ride.

We have long been considering the option of bringing a little powerboat with us in our travels. The idea is that while we live for sailing... and that remains our main focus... we can only over so much ground in an area in the sailboat and there are many cool little lakes or rivers we would love to explore for a day or two. But we are not going to expend the time and effort necessary to rig and unrig the sailboat for that. And perhaps the lake doesn't have good wind for sailing. So this way while we are camped in an area for a month or more for sailing... we can mix it up a little and trailer our little powerboat to other boat ramps to explore distant parts of the lake or river. Today we picked up this cute little C-Dory boat in the Tampa area and brought her back over to Wekiva. Read all about our new baby on her own website.

Today we took the day off from sailing, even though winds were once again excellent, and took a cruise down the St John's River which feeds Lake Monroe and flows north to Jacksonville. We boarded the Barbara Lee at the marina for a luncheon cruise to travel 12 miles down the scenic St John's River and back to experience some of the quieter parts of central Florida only reachable by boat. The Barbara Lee is an authentic sternwheel paddleboat owned by a local family which has been taking visitors up and down the St Johns for decades. The luncheon was excellent... surprisingly elegant with most enjoyable live entertainment. A very pleasant afternoon.

Sailing Paradise for sure. Every day this month is just great. After 3 days sailing in a row this week, we took yesterday off and went to the gym... and were back out today in solid winds in the 14-18 range. You can see by the heel of the boat to starboard and the spray over the bow, it was a rousing day on the lake. This is the kind of day I just love! We had one other sailboat out today to play with.

Found this photo online and had to post it on the blog... Anyone who is an avid sailor can probably relate! And anyone married to an avid sailor can definitely relate! My wife certainly knows this only too well!

March is shaping up to be another perfect sailing month at Lake Monroe just as it was last year. Ah Spring and the month of March. In like a lion, out like a lamb. Today was perfect 12-14 mostly with some periods of higher wind. Consistent all afternoon. The ten day forecast on Windfinder.com shows plenty more of the same in store. Today the skies were mostly clear with the occasional patch of clouds... Libby likes to look for Westie heads in the clouds and we spotted this profile today!

Today we celebrated Leap Year with a quick trip up to Ormond Beach for the day to visit my sister and her husband Jim. Libby and I took Corey for a walk on the beach and then went out for dinner with Jim and Cecilia to a local Mexican eatery for some tasty food and drink. Olé!

We drove about an hour and a half up to Marion County, Florida, often referred to as "Horse Capital of the World." There are more than 70,000 acres of Thoroughbred breeding and training farms in Marion County. Both of us horse lovers, we visited several of the most famous ones. We drove around the 4500 acre Live Oak Stud Horse Farrm owned by Charlotte Weber, heiress of the Campbell Soup fortune. And we received a pass to drive all through the magnificent Bridalwood Farm (right), recently purchased by Leslie Malone and her husband John, Chairman of Liberty Media Corp. We also visited Ocala Stud, another famous Thoroughbred stud farm just outside Ocala, where we were permitted to wander through the horse barns and admire all the magnificent studs, brood mares, and race horses in training.

Today was a very gusty wind day and we had family visiting, so we got together and all had lunch at St. Johns River Steak and Seafood Restaurant in Sanford right at our marina. We all sat in the protected screened patio lakeside, protected from the winds and enjoyed some fresh fish and other epicurean delights. From left to right it's me, Libby, Angela and her significant other Paul Lettieri, my first cousin, my sister Cecilia and her hubby Jim. You can see the reflection of the lake in the windows behind us. A good time was had by all!

We were out on Lake Monroe all afternoon today in 70 degree sunshine with the wind blowing a consistent 12-15 out of the north. A bit much for Corey so he stayed back in the coach and relaxed for the afternoon. Libby took a one minute HIGH DEFINITION video with her Iphone which I uploaded to Youtube. You can watch full screen on your computer by clicking on the thumbnail at the right, or CLICK HERE.

We returned from south Florida on Monday, and spent Tuesday getting settled back at Wekiva Falls RV Park. Today we took the boat out for some excellent sailing late afternoon in the 8-11mph range. Here I am at the helm with Corey, enjoying the warm Florida February breezes.

Today we drove over to the nearby Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. Nicknamed the "Gateway to the Everglades" the park is run by Broward County and offers reasonably priced airboat tours which take millions of tourists annually zipping across the "River of Grass" every day all day, leaving every 20 minutes. The hour long tour includes narration including the history and lots of info about the Everglades by an experienced 'Gladesman'. We saw lots of wildlife including birds, large iguanas, and as you might expect, alligators in the wild. Your ticket also includes a free professional photo (right) and a ticket to see the Gator Boys alligator 'wrestling' show which was very entertaining. More photos on our gallery page.

We drove once again thru horrendous traffic, to the Marlin Park Stadium shuttle station. The Boat Show offers free shuttles in big air conditioned luxury coaches down to the marina. There were hundreds of power boats and mega yachts at the Virginia Key location but we caught the water taxi over to the Bayside Marina where the sailboat were on display. Every size and model of Jenneau, Bennetau, Catalina, and many other makes of both monohull and big Catamarans were at the docks open to walk aboard and inspect. The trafffic back to the RV Park was exhausting... 1:45 hours to go 20 miles. That did it for us. We're done.

We are on our way in the coach to the big Strictly Sail Boat Show in Miami for the next few days, held at the beautiful Miamarina at Key Biscayne. This show is one of the premier sailboat shows in the country and includes everything from entry-level day sailors, cruising sailboats, race boats to mega-catamarans, with something for every taste and every budget. We're not interested in a new boat at all... our Anne Marie is the perfect sailboat for our lifestyle - we just like to look. We'll also meet up with my old friend Jesse Briggs from my Key West days in the early 70's... he lives in nearby Ft Lauderdale. We're hoping the spring sailing weather will settle in by the time we get back.

Well after a dearth of good sailing weather over the past month, it is good to be back on the water. We haven't been sailing since I was out with my brother last on Jan 2. Most of the time weather was either too chilly and no wind... or rainy... or just too much wind. And we had the boat out of water for repairs for about 10 days as well. We got her back in the water on the weekend, and today, Tuesday, the weather was again cooperative with pleasant temps and good wind in the 12-14 range earlier building 14-16 by 4 pm or so. We hit speeds on a beam reach above 7 mph. Now THIS is why we're spending the winter here in Florida. Hope to get many more good days before we leave April 3. Today was Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil hitched a ride (right). Apparently he didn't see his shadow back in Pennsylvania, so it looks like we'll have a welcome early spring.

So our boat repairs have been completed. Another clear indicator of what B O A T stands for... "Break out another thousand!" Ah well she has been a good vessel and this mast step issue was my own fault. And we got a good solid repair. We took her back down to the marina, rigged her in the parking lot and launched her on the marina boat ramp. Here I am stepping the mast, the most challenging part of the process. It's actually easier than it looks... Libby is on the other end of the line leading from the top of the mast, hoisting it with a block and tackle pulley system anchored to our car roof rack... I am just guiding it and keeping it on center.

Back to reality, El Niño is having its way with us right now with over two inches of rain predicted here for today and more tomorrow. It was a good time to have our boat worked on. Unfortunately, a couple times in stepping the mast this summer, we didn't follow proper protocol and as we were hoisting the mast, it slipped and fell off to the side, exerting undue upward leverage on the mast base. This damaged the mounting area and we now have some discomforting cracks in the overhead of the cabin under the mast base. While there is no damage showing on the topside as yet, I decided to have it repaired and reinforced by Bruce Crane, an experienced local sailboat repair guy. We should have her back in the water on the weekend.

We're having some work done on our sailboat right now. It's a good time to do it, since the central Florida weather isn't particularly conducive to sailing at the moment. For most of January the weather has vacillated between sunny cooler weather and little or no wind, to stormy weather with extremely high winds. Perhaps El Niño is to blame. Anyhow we are busily making all our plans right now for a summer in Canada at Lake Simcoe, then on to Georgian Bay on Lake Huron (right), then back to the Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence Seaway, and finally at Lake Champlain in Vermont. More photos on our gallery page.

Today we drove over to Melbourne Harbor on Florida's east coast and met up with some old friends we knew from Oregon, Caroline and Larry Lewis, who are now embarked on a parallel lifestyle, of sorts, to our own... living aboard their 40' Passport Sailboat, Thalia, and cruising the east coast, heading for the gulf coast. We had a scrumptious lunch at a local Melbourne eatery, Grill's Riverside, and then rode out in their dingy to have a look at their beautiful yacht. We shared a few beers and listened to stories of their adventures over the past couple years. Click here to read their blog of their travels all the way from Maine to Florida and the Bahamas.

I was mustering up the energy to wash the coach this morning, something I normally do myself, but as Libby and I were taking Corey for a walk, Topo's Detailing was driving along our road. I talked to them and struck a very reasonable deal for them to wash the whole coach including scrubbing the roof, something I don't relish doing. They also told me they could polish the alloy wheels and make them look like new, so I let them do that and may as well wax the coach while they were at it. Corey and I just sat and watched. I drank my morning coffee and Corey mooched! They did a terrific job. I gave them a nice review on their.facebook page.

This is the reason we're in Florida this winter! Saw this photo of a car taken in an ice storm in Syracuse, NY, not far from the Thousand Islands, showing what they call the "lake effect" up there near the Great Lakes. Not the kind of lake effect we go up there for... it's where we spent last summer and where we'll be headed again in June. But not now! Yikes!!! Ok now THIS is a shot of me in winter a couple years ago in my car! Which one would YOU choose?!?

My brother Frank and I had the pleasure of sailing together on New Year's Day and again today... several hours each afternoon on Lake Monroe in pleasant winds in the 8-10 range and comfortable weather in the 70's. Corey was excited (sort of) to go along too. Frank is also an avid sailor and has owned several large sailboats in the past. He just purchased a new Seaward 26RK which he will be keeping on Lake Champlain next summer. We'll be stopping off there early summer to sail with him before we head on to the 1000 Islands. Today evoked memories of sailing together last summer on Lake George (photo at the right with Libby). We had no one aboard to catch a photo of the two of us sailing this time around so I resurrected this great photo of Frank sailing our Catalina 22 with Libby taken last summer.

I only stayed back home in Vancouver a week, as we left Corey here in Florida with a pet sitter. We were not sure how well he would handle it and didn't want to leave him too long. He seemed to get along fine but I think he missed his home on wheels and his routines. Here he is asleep communing with his Gracie pillow (our other westie who passed away in 2014 at age 16) and with his stuffed toys. That's his snooze buddy Roger Rabbit. Cute stuff!

Happy New Year to all our friends out there across the continent. After a brief visit home to wet and cold Vancouver, we are pleased to be here in Florida with our beautiful Tiffin Allegro Bus 43QRP Motor Coach. There just isn't a better place in the US to spend the winter months if you want to stay warm and go sailing. We'll be here until April when we'll start heading north on the first leg of our planned 2016 Windseeker Eastern US Tour. Please be sure to bookmark our blog and check in often. I send an email reminder every month or so when we are underway, but I update the blog much more frequently.