Time to head home....

[alsantini]

Well, I will begin the process of getting Off the Wind ready for her 1360 mile trip back home to Northern Illinois.  Usually by this time I have been sailing 20+ times over the winter but not this year.  I experienced the medical system down here first hand with prostate cancer.  Diagnosed in January and needed 44 radiation treatments for a bit of an aggressive cancer.  I am down to 5 treatments and will be done next week Tuesday. After resting a few days we will start the trek home SLOWLY!  My final comment is I had no symptoms!  A routine PSA test revealed an extremely high level (13.74) and then the fun began.  Moral guys - get that PSA checked often.  It might just save your life....  Do it so we all can Sail On friends,
Al

[archimedes]

Have a safe trip back.  Hope you're back to good health soon.

I also had an issue with an elevated PSA and was introduced to the research connecting animal protein consumption (particularly dairy) and prostate cancer risk.  Luckily for me it hadn't progressed to cancer.

I used to eat quite a bit of dairy, esp. cheese (I'm of Italian descent and it was always a big part of our diet).  My PSA had been rising steadily for years and luckily a friend introduced me to this research (my doctor never mentioned it)

I stopped eating all dairy and most meat and my PSA is now 1.00

Just some food for thought.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2391107/

Best wishes on a rapid recovery.

[rogerschwake]

  Good to hear that things are going as good with the medical thing. You could wait another month to head north, we had snow Sunday and more coming on Thursday or Friday. Check those trailer tires to make sure they have plenty of air in them. I've had a couple of blown tires and the only thing I can figure is low air pressure. Maybe this summer our paths will cross. Take your time traveling home and be careful.

ROGER

[waterwheels]

Glad to hear you are on the mend. Safe travels heading North.
Don

[captronr]

Best wishes to finish the treatment, rest, and drive safely heading home.
Ron

[alsantini]

Off the Wind is now floating in Pistakee Lake in Bayview Marina slip 25.  Normally I do it all in one day but my fatigue is still a bit of an issue, so I did it in two and had a bit of help from a fellow sailor, Bob with setting up my 5 lines in the slip.  We got everything set up, launched and motored the 1/4 mile around the point to the marina.  After pulling into the slip, Bob held the boat and I set the 2 spring lines.  Back and forth between all the lines making sure the boat cannot hit the dock.  Once we had them set, we went out for a short sail on a virtually deserted Lake, BUT sailing across was a West Wight Potter 19 (I think).  We got close enough to wave and I asked him where he kept the boat.  He yelled back "Bayview!"  So apparently he pulled out as we were pulling in and was hidden behind the island.  Cool.  Great to have another sailboat in the marina.  I have never sailed alongside a WWP19 before but we tacked across a few times before heading in.  He is across the docks from me.  Nice guy.  He was really interested in the Eclipse because he said, "I could not keep up with you!"  We were not racing, just loafing along....  Oh well.  Sail On     Al - Looking forward to a summer of sailing to make up for the lack of sailing during the winter.

[slode]

Great to hear you're back on the water!

I sailed a WWP19 before deciding on the Eclipse.   Speed, stability, cabin comfort, setup, all went to the Eclipse hands down.  Only thing the Potter had over it was price tag...