Today is election day, November 4, 3014. Two years ago when I posted on this site I was sitting outside in nice warm weather next to the Original Tiki Bar, at the City Marina, Fort Pierce, FL. If all goes well, Margaret and I will be in Fort Pierce the first of December. WINDSONG which is currently out of the water at Riverside Marina has to be put in and taken south to K-Dock at the Fort Pierce City Marina. The Sock Monkey is looking forward to the trip south.

This picture taken today, April 7th at Tom's Place on the Ontonagon River were we keep s/v VIKING in the summer Both the river and Lake superior are frozen over. What a difference a few years make! This is going to be a LATE boating season.

On April 7th in 2011 the ice on the Ontonagon River had already gone out ...and I had a dinghy in the water.

Snowing and blowing. 6 foot snow drift in front of the living room window, blocking view of Lakeshore Drive and Lake Superior. A good day to sit by the upstairs fireplace and read. Book of the day: The Boy, Me And The Cat by Henry M. Plummer. A classic story of of the passage of the catboat MASCOT (LOA 24-6, LWL 23, Beam 10 and Draft 3-6) from New Bedford to Florida and back, October, 1912 to June, 1913. On board: Henry M. Plummer, Henry M. Plummer Jr. and Scotty. I should note that they arrived at the Indian River Narrows on the morning of Feb. 20th. And later that day got gas in Fort Pierce.

We had nearly a foot of heavy wet snow last night ... and maybe more is on the way. Once thing is clear ... I am going no where until we get plowed out.

VIKING's new cover had held up good during a hard winter. Despite the fact that along Lakeshore Drive the snow nearly covers the light poles ... there is not much snow around VIKING. With a few days of warm weather the cover can probably come off. In theory the marina opens May 1st. Maybe!

After a three day drive from Fort Pierce, Florida ... i'm home in Ontonagon, Michigan My first day home and it is snowing and blowing. I am sitting on a 5 foot drift of snow right out the front door. Behind me, which can not be seen through the blowing snow is Lake Superior. More snow is expected on Friday!!

Big incident of the week was when a large power vessel near WINDSONG hit a day marker for the channel coming into the City Marina. This is a fixed marker ... a telephone pole driven into the bottom with a sign on top. A police boat pulled the floating pole in and we tied it up across from WINDSONG. The next day a large barge and small tug showed up to put the marker back up. Coast guard came by and took a look and said "not ours" and left.

Here is where WINDSONG will be kept on the hard for the summer. It's a VERY interesting marina. One of a kind, really.

It had to come! Tomorrow morning at high tide I will take WINDSONG up the Intracostal Waterway to the Riverside Marina where she will be hauled and covered for the summer. Then it's a long drive north to SNOW country. The Sock Monkey is in shock!

I am looking forward to getting our Allied Seawind 30 ketch THE VIKING ready for sailing on Lake Superior.