November 28, 2024
Con and I arrived in Toronto for a quick visit with Doug and Merrilee, and then carried on to the cold prairies to see the rest of our family.
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Above: Grand daughter Amy 6, flying into our pool.
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After 14 years of sailing, our beautiful Big Sky Nauticat boat was sold in 2021.
We bought our house in Portugal and renamed renamed it "Casa Céu Grande" "Big Sky" in Portuguese.
See our August 2021 video below.
Our house in Carvoeiro, Lagoa, Portugal
Thank you Big Sky for the most incredible adventures and a bucket full of memories to last the rest of our lives. She now belongs to a new family.
We moved into our bungalow casa in Carvoeiro, Portugal, September 2020.

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Big Sky safely escorted us through the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Black Sea, and up and down the Atlantic Ocean as we explored more than five dozen countries soaking up the beauty of the world and her people. In a word, it was magical. Waking in the morning at anchor surrounded by calm blue waters is my version of heaven. I’ll be homesick for the hundreds of chattering, leaping dolphins who greeted us over the years, the occasional whale, and dozens of flying fish. I’ll miss the ease of waking in one country, and having dinner in another. Changing languages with our greetings like changing socks. We will miss the sailing community, perhaps the most friendly community out there.
Con’s realized dream, “To Sail in Retirement” began for us in 2007 and has been quite possibly his greatest dream for our retirement.

My message for those with a similar dream, “Don’t put it off for tomorrow, as there are no guarantees in life. Do it now while you have your health and youth.”
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My article: The Inspirational Philosophy of Sailing Through Life: https://www.nauticalmind.com/blog/2012/02/sailing-through-life/
Below: View of Sintra from Castle dos Mouros; Erice amphitheatre in Sicily; Gulfo di Castelemmarre, Sicily; castles in Erice; Paxos in the Greek Ionian, and the northern end of the island of Milos.
09/22/19