Legacy Sailing
 Photo Gallery 32  
Summer 2005
Florida, Alaska, the East
Unlike 2004, the first part of this summer has been characterized by rushing from place to place on the interstate system.  Not the best way to see things, but you can cover the miles.  We blasted from San Carlos to Florida in 3 1/2 days stopping for a week with Heather's dad, Hank.

We then dropped the dogs off with Minnow's breeder in Fort Pierce and headed for the Orlando airport where we caught a flight to Juneau.  A week of doctors and dentists while we visited with Mary and Kurt Fredrickson and Heather judged a Rally-O trial for the CKCOJ.  The time flew by and we caught a flight to Anchorage to visit our friends Jon and Linda Kumin.

Jon's illness made a long boat trip impossible, but we did take the opportunity to share four days on Williwaw in beautiful Resurrection Bay. 

Back on an airplane to Florida we retrieved the grrlz from Fort Pierce and headed to the home Russ and Lu (Heather's brother and sister-in-law) in Palm Harbor, Florida.  We had a great visit including a pleasant sail on Russ's boat, Esprit.  After too short a time we had to drag the grrlz away from Russ and Lu's pool and get back on the road.

We blasted north to Hightstown, New Jersey with stop near Jacksonville to visit John and Kathy McGhee and their new home.  In Hightstown Heather judged a Rally-O trial and Chris hung out in the shade.  Then a long days drive to Lexington and the home of Chris's mother.

We got busy on the long to-do list of household chores and a flurry of parts ordering for the boat while our address is stable.  We made a 5 day trip to the Chesapeake Bay region to look over moorage possibilities and to trail at a Rally-O show in Maryland.  Back in Lexington we continued on projects.  Chris headed off to New Hampshire with John Meyers and George Havorka for a weekend of hiking in the White Mountains.

We made a side trip to visit our cruiser friends Marike, Karen, and Elizabeth along the shore of Nova Scotia east of Halifax.  It is a beautiful area, with probably the last inexpensive waterfront land in North America.  Worth a look.

After a last few days in Lexington we hit the road back toward Mexico.  We made a few tourist stops on our way to Fort Worth where Chris attended the International Association of Law Enforcement Planners conference.  A delay leaving for car repairs put us in the path of Hurricane Rita, but we scooted out before any weather arrived.  Stops in Tombstone, Arizona, and with our friends Bill and Fran Cassidy in Sierra Vista put us on target for return to San Carlos.

We arrived back find the boat in good shape, though working in the 100+ degree temperatures was no fun!
At Fort Meyers the Tardif clan gathered to celebrate Hank's birthday.  Hank, Chris, and Russ hang out around the table. Russ, Heather's brother looks as dashing as always.
Our nephew, Isaac, and his partner Gretchen flew over to the party from the east coast of Florida. Jon Kumin at the helm of Williwaw in Resurrection Bay.  Williwaw is a beautiful new Finngulf 41 with a deep keel and carbonfiber rig. 
Linda Kumin enjoys the large wheel which makes steering Williwaw easy from either side of the cockpit. Jon, Chris, and Linda watch the wind and water ahead as we sail up the Bay.
After a cool, cloudy first day or two we had great weather for the last two days of the trip.  Bulldog cove looks great! Sailing from Bulldog cove to Thumb Cove we flew the great red asymmetric spinnaker and really zoomed.
Chris trims the chute from atop the cabin house while the sun beats down. Jon, the gadget freak, enjoys the integrated instrumentation on Williwaw.  Lots of great information available at the helm.
Back in Palm Harbor, Florida we were treated to new blossoms on the landscaping. Aboard Esprit, also known currently as "old no-name" due to the lack of name on the transom, Russ and daughter Kristin enjoyed the sailing in the shade of the sails.
Okay, this is out of order.  Here Heather judges a Rally-O trial in a covered playground in Juneau. Rally-O also happens in the grass as it did here where Heather judged in New Jersey.  A tree in the course provided shade for the judge.
While Heather judged, Chris and the grrlz hung out in the pleasant shade in a grove of nearby trees. On arrival in Lexington we were faced with moving software and data from old computers to new computers.
One of the items on the "to-do" list in Lexington was to find storage solutions for the art materials.  Chris build this cabinet with frame storage at the bottom and paper storage on top. We also removed a wall in the basement studio area and rebuilt another equipped with rails for displaying and examining my mother's production of watercolors.
We met up with our friend John Meyers and climbed Mt Wachusett dogs.  It was hot and steamy and the dogs were delighted by the pond at the summit. The next weekend Chris teamed up with John Meyers and George Havorka for a climb of Mt Lafayette.  We had a great cool clear day for our hike.
The air was unusually clear in New Hampshire for our hike, though towards afternoon clouds started in. The next morning we woke to heavy clouds and had an easy romp up Mt Wilcox.  Clouds on top, rain on descent.
Crossing over to New Brunswick we saw again Isle St Croix (site of the earliest settlement) from the Canadian shore.  See Gallery 19 from last year for views from the American shore. Along the coast a number of beautiful small towns.  St Andrews has a great waterfront which features this blockhouse left from the time of the American Revolution.
Kira and Minnow were a hit with the park docents and made quick friends. St George is well known for it's spectacular gorge.  A number of mills and structures crowd the canyon to take advantage of the water power.
Constructed for the War of 1812 the Carleton Martello Tower commands a great view of the harbor approaches and the city beyond. The St. John to Digby ferry raises it's snout to board cars from the front as it arrives in St. John.
Chris and the grrlz hung out on a convenient picnic table while waiting for the ferry to arrive and load for the three hour trip across the Bay of Fundy to Digby. From Digby to Halifax we followed the shore road with a stop for lunch in Chester.  The view from the quayside restaurant was great with much racing and sailing action to be seen.
Peggy's Cove is famous for its much photographed light and rocks.  Not wanting to miss such a hot tourist spot we stopped for a ramble and a photo too! Near the visitor's center at Peggy's Cove is a fisherman's memorial carved into an exposed granite ledge.  This is a detail of one of the figures in this work by DeGarth.
In Halifax we toured the Citadel.  It is staffed with bagpipers, guards, and various other period characters, mostly in wool! On the eastern shore at Taylors Head we met up with cruisers Karin, Marike, and Elizabeth (Quoddy's Run) for an afternoon at the beach.
Karin and Elizabeth confirmed the insanity that runs rampant in  Nova Scotia when they plunged in for a swim! Marike, Karen and Elizabeth share this great house near West Quoddy.  Great anchorage and acreage.
Upon our return from Nova Scotia we helped Chris's aunt Barbara replace her very old TV and 60's vintage stereo. We had great fun picking out and setting up this 32" HDTV and an accompanying Bose sound system.  Sublime!
Just offshore from Erie PA is the long Penninsula of Presque Isle.  In the War of 1812 Oliver Hazard Perry commanded the Great Lakes squadron and defeated the British.  This is his monument and Misery Bay. From Presque Isle, which is mostly a State Park with walking and biking trails and beaches, one can look back across the protected harbor at downtown Erie, PA.
In Dayton, Ohio we stopped at the Wright Brothers memorial which is perched atop a hill overlooking the field where they continued their work after returning from Kitty Hawk. In downtown Dayton one of the buildings that housed they Wright Brother's bicycle shop is preserved at the Aviation Heritage Trail park visitor center.  There were several bike pattern bike racks in the area.
When Heather was born her maternal grandfather was the pastor of this Methodist church in Hannibal, Missouri. The historic district of Hannibal is devoted to Mark Twain and especially to his characters from the Tom Sawyer series.
We toured Hannibal in the early morning fog before the other tourists had arrived for the day.  The fog along the banks of the Mississippi was so thick you could barely see the water. Tom and Huck are memorialized by this great statue at the base of the hill walk to the lighthouse.  The grrlz appreciated the chance for a long walk dragging us up the hill.
At the top of several long sets of step is the lighthouse.  Undoubtedly the view of the river is inspiring, but despite a little sun breaking through we could see naught but clouds. At the George Washington Carver birth-place park near Joplin, Missouri a wooded trail with inspirational quotes winds around the property and past this statue of Carver as a child.
Fort Worth is proud of its cow town heritage.  These three amigos work on the city cattle herd at the Stockyards. Twice each day the herd of longhorns is driven through the streets of the stockyards district for the tourists.
Farther west in Arizona we stopped briefly in Tombstone where they keep their western heritage alive with period decor and action. They stage several shootouts each day, an event the grrlz would have been glad to miss.  These are the losers.
At the historic Boot Hill Cemetery the Clanton's lie together amidst many other unfortunates.  
 
Updated 11/14/2006