On the Move

This is going to be short and sweet. We are currently in Frankfort, MI. That is about 1/2 way down on Lake Michigan. In the morning we will make the crossing over to Wisconsin. So far the trip has been rather uneventful. The wind has been on the nose, but light. Today was the strongest winds we encountered at about 15 KN on the nose.

We left Bruce Mines on Monday, 25 Aug. arrived in Drummond Is and cleared customs. When there we got to see Peggy (Snyder) Seaman. I taught with her for about 20 years. She is what a teacher should be, tremendous!

From there we went and spent our first night in the Le Cheniouxs (SP)Islands. From there we went to St Helena Island just west of the Mackinac Bridge. The water was so clear we could see 25 feet deep in the water.

The next place was a 50 mile trip down to Charleviox where we connected with another one of my ex teaching friends, Chris Sobak and her husband Dick. They are in the process of building a new log cabin house. All I can say is that it is beautiful. We spent 2 nights anchored out in front of there new place. Chris gave us a ride to West Marine so we could buy a new Chart Plotter. It is a GPS for the boat. What a great piece of equipment. If you have a GPS in the car and think it is great, you should see what it can do for you on the water.

After leaving there we headed further down the Lake Michigan coast to Lealand Michigan. A nice little harbor, but we were just happy to stay the evening on the boat on the hook. (At anchor.)

We came into Frankfort today, Saturday. Of course Saturday is Michigan Football. We connected with Gary Harris, who I taught with, who keeps his boat here. We watched a less than a perfect performance from UM. Glad I have other things on my mind.

We head across the Lake in the morning.

Speaking of other things on our minds, our 5th wheel is currently in Louisiana, thanks to our friends Andy and Sue. Unfortunately it has a big bull's eye painted on the side and Gustav is headed directly towards it. Obliviously we are concerned for our own RV, but we are more concerned about our friends on Grand Isle.

When I get smarter I will figure out how to post our position on a map. Until then you will will have to just get out the atlas and find us.

On a couple of other notes, Amanda is no longer pregnant, she lost the baby last week, 2 1/2 months into the process. She is physically fine and working on the emotional part. I think I took it harder then her.

Thought I would also include an other picture of the Republican nominee for Vice President. I will say two things about her, she is an honest politician and the best looking Governor in the country.

Rob

We're Homeless

We closed on the house yesterday and now we are homeless. So what happens on our first day on the boat, pouring rain!! We are sitting at Val's house drying out. Tomorrow we will put the car and truck in storage. Depending on time, we may get out of here Sunday or Monday. While in the Sault yesterday we visited a few stores and couldn't think or find anything else that we could stuff into the boat. Even the cat has found her hiding places have gotten fewer and smaller. Oh well we heard there are stores in different parts of the country where we will be traveling.

Dealing with tax issues in a foreign country can be trying. The Canadian tax man has taken a rather healthy share of our proceeds with the promise of getting about half of it back in a couple of months, with the remainder back in a year! Of course, there will be no interest paid on the funds. Oh well, it is only money, we can always make more. That reminds me, I need printer ink.

It does look like that we will have a favorable weather window for the next few days. Hopefully this will allow us to get down to Charlevoix right away. The sooner to Chicago, the happier we will be.


We had a nice gathering last night in Thessalon. Val Netherton made her world famous pasties and Dave Mann made one of his infamous desserts.This was a last visit in the north land with with many of our sailing friends. Class Act, EZ Baby, Scampi, and new friends Outward Bound, arrived by boat, Kahlua III, Dunn Over, Gang 'awa, and Danny's Fault all arrived by car. No sense paying for dockage when Thessalon is only 10 miles down the road.


Rob and Jude

Grandfather's Coffin

What stress. There is no stress in moving. Just because Jude and I are ready to kill at a moment's notice I though it might be a good idea to be prepared!

Actually the box is for our grandfather clock, which fits in there rather nicely. We hired a couple of high school boys to help us move and the look on Will's face was priceless when he saw "Grandfather's Coffin" on the floor and ready to be moved.

We have all of the furniture moved out of the house that we are taking but there is still a lot to do. The nice thing is that I know it will all be done by 22 Aug, because that is when we close on the house. Not only that but we are running out of room in our storage area. We will have to see how it all goes.

For those who have not been able to figure out our plan, let me try to restate what we are up to.

Andy and Sue will be taking our 5th wheel and the new truck to Grand Isle next week.

In two weeks we will be taking Danny's Fault down Lake Michigan towards Chicago and the Illinois River. From there we will head toward the Mississippi River, up the Ohio River to the Tennessee River, then into the Tommbigbee waterway that empties out in Mobile, AL. We will then hang a right and head to Grand Isle, which will be Danny's Fault new home.

We will be leaving our belongings, including Jude's car and our "Alaska truck" here in Canada in storage until next spring. At that time we will be driving up a U-Haul truck, with a trailer for Jude's car, and our Alaska truck with a camper trailer, which we still need to buy.

Yes, we still have some logistical issues to work out, such as how do we get from Grand Isle back up to Canada to receive our belongings, and oh yes, the fact that we need to buy a house in Alaska! At least on the 6-8 weeks on the boat will give us time to come up with some plans.

Anyone want to come down to Grand Isle in the spring and give us a ride north? We would be happy to show you around Grand Isle and New Orleans!

Rob

Good News X 3

We have had three wonderful pieces of news this week:
1 Andy and Sue Galliano, our friends from Grand Isle, are flying up to Detroit to take our 5th wheel down there for us. This solves one of our logistical problems.

2 We have sold the house. We close on 22 August and will begin our sailing journey south on 23 August.

3 In our last post there was a comment as to Amanda and Julius being in the Detroit area for a little R&R. Well, it must have been successful. They are due with there first baby in April of 09. Unfortunately Julius will be deployed with the Army at that time. There are, however, discussions of her sister hosting her in the Seattle area for the birth. Army hospitals and what not.

The sale of the house is a rather melancholy event. We love it here but it just doesn't fit into the plan anymore. We will be leaving lots of great friends but we now have opportunities to meet many new ones. It is a corner piece in the puzzle of our life at this point. Now all we have left to finish in the puzzle is the sky. The pieces are all there, we just will have to fit them together. More on that on the next post.

Rob