Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

It isn't every year in Chicago we go to the beach for Saint Patrick's Day. Here are my feet in the cold Lake Michigan water. The boys and I are at the beach in New Buffalo while Karen is shopping in Michigan City.

New Blog: Cycling, Health and Fitness

Last October I took an interest in cycling and I've started commuting to work as often as I can.  I started a new blog, Cycling, Health, and Fitness, to share my experiences.

I write about why I'm doing it in the first blog post, Why This Blog?  In short, it's to improve my physical health and allow me to continue to do the things I love, including sailing, well into old age.

I'm finding similarities between cycling and sailing.  I'll be sharing my ideas here and in Cycling, Health, and Fitness.  I hope you enjoy!

First Post of 2012

October was my last entry.  It doesn't seem like almost 4 months ago.  Strictly Sail started to rekindle my excitement for sailing again.  This year I was able to contribute to the boat show!

I had the opportunity to help my friend, Matt Gallagher, in one of the seminars:  Your First Mac - A Cruiser's Perspective.  The purpose was to answer questions and continue to grow the Cruising Division.  We presented to an audience of around 20 with 3 or 4 cruising sailors interested in participating.

My other sailing-related activity has been resuming work around continuing to grow the Verve Distance Race.  You can read about last year's race on this blog, linked here.

I'm not planning major projects for Donnybrook this year.  Spring work will primarily be cleaning, waxing, and maybe some wood refinishing.

As the days get longer and weather turns to spring I'll be thinking more and more and sharing my thoughts on sailing Donnybrook on beautiful Lake Michigan!

Last Sail of 2011

This is the Sunset over Chicago from Lake Michigan tonight.  The lights of Wrigley Field, to the left, are out as they typically are in October.

This was a fantastic boating weekend!  I had a "boys night" Saturday night with Conor and Emmet.  Today our friends Mike, Kelly, Rob, and Zoe joined us for one last lazy sail.  We covered almost 15 miles and spent about 4+ hours on the water followed by dinner at dock.

Chicago from Lake Michigan

I don't live near mountains, but I live near one of the world's most beautiful skylines. There are only one or two other boats on the lake so it is safe to say Karen and I are only two of a handful to be seeing this sight right now.

October Sail, or Four Hours of Peace

It's over 80 degrees in Chicago today! It's perfect on Lake Michigan with the temperature in the low seventies on the water. This is the skyline from Donnybrook reaching on southerly winds on the lake.

Today is a great example of how kids change your life. Before kids, Karen and I would have taken today off then gone somewhere together. Maybe we would have sailed to Michigan City or New Buffalo. Maybe we would have driven to a bed and breakfast somewhere gone to my parents for a long weekend.

Today, we dropped the kids off at school, had breakfast (M Henry on Clark near Ashland, very good!), ran a few errands, and will be on the boat for four hours before we have to pick the boys up again. Karen is reading. I read a little, am writing this entry, and otherwise am doing what I like to do.

We'll be back on land by 2:30, will be with the kids again by 3:10, and our peace will be over.

Sarurday I'll have a boys night on the boat with Conor and Emmet, watch the Marathon Sunday morning, then go on a family sail. Next Saturday Donnybrook will return to her winter home at Crowley's.

Rainbow At Belmont Harbor!

This morning's rain turned into something special, a rainbow! I was hoping I'd see one after sitting in the rain with blue skies directly overhead, and I got my wish.

It's been a long time since my last post. School has started so I'm up early taking boys to school (which makes going to the boat after work harder). The days are shorter--it's dark at 6:30 now. It is easy to let other activities compete for my time, plus it's been cooler than normal for September.

I plan to get at least one more good sail in before Donnybrook goes to her winter home at Crowley's mid October.