Today i was to comfortable to actually do anything other than sta wrapped in the blankets and snooze all day. I will probably pay for that thiseveningonight and not be able to sleepa wink allnight.

The sail race is keeping me busy as I am with in 500 miles of the finish line and making 0v 26 knots and hour. Islands and stuff pop up faster than expected at that speed and you need to be around to avoid going aground. It was alos minus 36 or worse and a day inside seemed morepleasantbthan the walk. Did the walk yesterday at that temp. and it does take much of the fun out of it. better check on the boat and I will be back later. Cheers for now, Greg

Today started off at -39 or so and by the time I returned home it was up to -29C. To some that may not seem like an improvement, however if you spend your days outside you will notice it is a lot warmer and you can feel it. The sun was bright and is now offering warmth as well. You can feel the extra heat right off the bat when you walk from the shade into the sun. The headwind today cooled things off as well.

The sailing is doing well and considering we are sailing through a frozen strait heading for a frozen bay. Winter is not the time for a sailing race in Hudsons Bay. However perhaps we can play with some virtual polar bears.

My friend Rick is off to Africa again lucky fella. He spends a lot of time in Mozambique. Since the Mercury started to drop when the sun went down I wish I was travelling with him.

Spring according to the text books is only a couple of months away but that does not mean it will be warming up anytime soon. I however look forward to open water every yer from freeze up to break up and am considering a move to an ocean.

Time for a move to the bunk and the warmth of the sleeping bag and a good book. Thanks for dropping by, Greg

Personally I like a short month as it means we are few days closer to spring. Just 8 weeks roughly until the Reel Paddling Film festival. March 31st at the northern United place in Yellowknife is where you want to be if paddling is up your alley. This is the sixth year that we have hosted this festival which means every year since it started except year one. We ran the Waterwalker Festival before that for  3 years. This is year nine for spring paddling films.

We have also been hosting the Annual summertime Paddlers Sociable Affair for about the same length of time. This is our 3 or 4 day event held at the Yellowknife River Bridge. At this event we try and feed the guest at some pointbduring the day and to make sure everyone gets to go for a paddle, great event for new paddlers as it is free and we have a good selection of boats  to try. A nice event and folks seem to appreciate it  we get some very nice compliments in the guest book. we have had folks from across Canada and the USA stop by and some german folks came to play one day. It is a very open affair and anyone is welcome that wants to play.

The day was great for walking and I managed to knock off 13,000 steps along the trail to the Rock. Took a good tumble on the ramp behind the old Saans store. The snow builds up into a very high centered path and one foot slipped off the packed part, shot out side of the railing and that caused my left leg to give from the load and down I went landing solidly on my left hip. Not fun but nothing broken.

 Sailing my way NW along the coast of Labradour and making round 19 knots. I am over 100 miles ahead of two of my friends but they are making goodtime and have bette winds at the moment. I am past the halfway point and the Strait between Baffin Island and the mainland is a tricky poassage that I will wandt to be at the helm for. Tiring work at the computer and would be nicer but hard on the boat.

Today I resumed my stroll to the Rock and have added some new pole movements. I have added in the two step double pole style of Nordic walking. It varies the work out and is fun. Now I do the normal stride for a few minutes and then switch to the double pole style. I could feel a difference right off the bat. I think I will work up to where I go half way with one style and return home with the other and the switch back and forth every other day. There are about 3 more variations that can be added but the pole running I will give a miss.

I am 12,000 steps closer to the rock and liking it.

I am regaining much lost water in the East Coast sailing race and have regained half of the places that I lost in the wind slump. Gaging the speed of the weather systems movement is a critical skill in this game. My south African friend is now 300 miles ahead of me and that I am still trying to figure out. In this race we seem to be able to use the spinnacher in much more head winds that the other races. I am wondering if this is because this boat is a triamarans instead of a monohulls. Anyway back to the race. 

I just got a note from my South African friend woke up just in time before he hit the rocks of Labradour. To bad for me as I could have really picked up a few mileswhile he was aground. I invited back to where I am for a Braii (South African BBQ) but he declined.

I have to get back to the race as some tricky turns are approaching and the eye odf the system is close by and bears watching. thanks for dropping by.

 Warm inside and nice outside, for the 21st; of January in the Knife that is just what we like to see. I have yet to check the temperature but it would be around -20 or a bit warmer. Managed to squeeze in 5,000 steps so far today and will do some more. I am doing really well in the East Coast race to the bay and hate to leave the helm if I can avoid it. From my low point on day one of 8,000 and something I have worked my way up to 765 or less by now. There are just over 18,000 virtual boats in ths one at the moment, so much can change in a few hours it is hard to leave the helm. You can be smoking along great guns come back and hour later and be near dead in the water. This happens when the weather system moves through faster than you were expecting and you get caught. You drop positions in a race usually much faster than you can regain them. I have discovered this by losing many thousands of places over the years of computer race.

The race is going well and I am 408 places from the front at the moment. however this can change as there are still over 3,100 miles to race. I did however pass my South African friend. Drank all his wine on the way by, that will teach him to snooze. Getting close to the lead is always nice but staying there is not always that easy. Thanks for stopping by and I am heading back to the race.

Not sure what the problem is but today even thought the house is warm and it is 10 degrees warmer than yesterday I am freezing.  Spring will be 2 months away as of tomorrow but here that does not really mean much. February 2nd or Ground hog day will tell us for sure if we have 6 more weeks of winter. I can pretty well be sure of that regardless of what the Ground Hogs shadow has to say. Ground hog day is a big event in many towns, many of which have an offical ground Hog.

Sailing race is going well, I have moved up to 1400 position out of over 18,000 virtual boats. Florida is to my stern and I am heading NE towards the south eastern tip of Newfoundland. Winds are light and shifty at the moment so you need to keep an eye on things. doing much better than those than have gone to far and crashed into Cuba.

Didn't go anywhere today but have raced the boat all day and am doing well.

All day I was freezing in the shack and now it seems all right. I like being warm and things are usually good. The shack was warm and the stove working good and so it must just be me .

I managed to get hold of Christna today ad she and the Furlongs arrived safely in Kelona. It is a long lonely drive with two seniors that require alot of assitance. Glad to see that she got there and everyone is well.  They will call or e-mail me tomorrow and I am sure they will be busy house hunting for the next little while.

Back to the race for me.thanks for stopping by, glad that your liking the blog. Cheers, Greg.

Sailing from New Orleans  to Ft. Albany in Manitoba in a virtual maxi triamaran. A different route to be sure but should have interesting winds and conditions and ice bergs are possible.

Just heading out for the "Walk to the Rock." Backlater with the gory details, LOL

I was just out pulling in some buffalo meat and the wind out there really sucks. Could be a very miserable walk I am thinking.

The sailing race is going well and I am gaining some position at the moment. This changes alot in the early stages and we are about 50 miles into the race now. Average speed is well over 20 knots and so some ground or should I say water is getting covered.

I managed to do about a thrid of my normal route and then decided to come home and race the boat instead. However now 4,500 steps closer to the rock and slowly but surely I will get there. My plan was just to add up the steps I take normally everyday and not go out of my way to get there. Everyday we get closer sometimes in huge leaps other days a kilometer or two but always in the right direction. I ordered a dvd about bouldering in Newfoundland and I have now watched it. A great dvd and a very active bouldering community on the Rock. Best 5 bucks I have spent in a while. They have done an excellent job editing the dvd and the bouldering there is great by the looks of things. Job well done and thanks.

The image above is the Trans Canada Trail Pavilion in Tuktoyuktuk, NT. The Paddlers for Parts have their URL www.paddlersforparts.ca inscribed on a pavilion in every capital city in Canada. This evening it would be buried by the storm that is in the area.

The morning started off almost as cool as yesterday. I did head out and hit the trail and managed to get about 12,000 steps closer to the Rock. I am now directly north of the western end of Lake Nipissing in Ontario and heading almost due east. The trail swings south once east of the lake and begins some N/S wanderings. Looking foward to hitting La Belle Province, Quebec. Been years since I was in Quebec and I like Montreal.

I got home around 1000 hrs and it was warming up nicely, probably 10 degrees warmer than when I went out. Suits me fine I will take 20 below over 30 below anytime. Sun was out and that is always nice needed shades on the walk around the trail. Wind was cold and from the south pretty much made for a cool walk up the hill. Once among the trees and buildings etc, it was fine and the wind was behind me on the home stretch.

I need to check Virtual Regatta as I enter in the eastern seaboard race from New Orleans to Ft. Albany, Manitoa in Hudsons bay. This is a different race we are sailing maxi triamarans around Florida up the east coast and into Hudsons Bay.