MISC

Jim Favors and Tom Conrad

A Simple Sailor Man

Tribute to a Friend, Tom Conrad: We lost a good friend. Tom Conrad passed away recently and the boating community lost one of its best. We met Tom and Patsy Conrad many years ago through AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association). If the Great Loop boating adventure did not exist, we probably would never have met – with the Conrads living in Florida's Panhandle and us living in northern Michigan. What a loss that would have been for us. Because we shared a passion for boating and this…

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Hoppies Needs Your Help!

Plan on doing the Great Loop boat trip someday? Please think about signing AGLCA's petition to help Save Hoppies. Hoppies, located on the Mississippi River at Kimmswick, MO, is an important part of American river history. For several decades they have played a major role in helping boaters transverse the mighty Mississippi, by providing the last available fuel stop on the Upper Mississippi River. Fern and Hoppie also provide a valuable educational resource for boaters unfamiliar with the particulars of…

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Our Favorite Links – Weather, Cruising & Navigation

Weather Wind Mapper Passage Weather Sail Flow Ikite Surf Weather Underground Grand Traverse Bay Weather Buoy Old Mission Point Weather Buoy Little Traverse Bay Weather Buoy Lake Michigan Surface Wind Nowcast Lake Michigan Surface Wind Forecast Grand Traverse Light Weather Data Mackinac City Weather Data NOAA Weather Broadcast Stream This is a Downloadable Broadcast Stream NOAA Lake Michigan Weather Portal NOAA Hourly Weather Forcasts Great for predicting winds on GTB NOAA Great Lakes Text Forecasts Canadian Weather Forecast Ship Tracking…

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Dinghy Exploration of Riviera Canal

Because we’re docked on Stock Island without a car we have to either take a cab ride ($20 each way), ride the bus (50 cents each way with the senior discount) or take the dinghy into town. It’s about a 4.5-mile one-way trip and we’ve taken all of these transportation options, mostly the bus, but today we wanted to explore a suspected shortcut by dinghy and make it an excursion.After looking over the charts we headed out from the marina,…

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A Little Bit of Greece – Tarpon Springs, Florida

Today was my mother Barby Targal's birthday and we celebrated with a big breakfast while still on the island. After we got to Tarpon Springs we went for a walk downtown and came across a harpist playing on the waterfront. Who would ever have thought to see a harpist playing on the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs. Jim and I have been here many times before and never saw a harpist on the waterfront. We think it was destined to…

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