I�m not a farmer, and I don�t pretend that I know anything about the production of agricultural goods. But without ground cover and moisture, the soil is just as likely to blow away this year. The cold is required, in this region at least, to produce naturally frozen grapes for the production of Icewine. Laugh if you like, but a successful year of Icewine production is the difference between profit and loss for a lot of these grape and wine operations.

Still, I do like these temperatures. The wind is blowing pretty hard today and it�s making me think of a lifelong dream I�ve had.

For years now, I�ve wanted to join the ranks of ocean going vagabonds who sail around the world in thirty to forty foot sloops. I know it�s a pretty romantic wish but I�d really like to do it some day and before I get too old.

When I was a kid, my father built a thirty-foot houseboat. It was just a big box on pontoons and wasn�t very romantic at all but it introduced me to boating. The boat was anchored on the Ottawa River and it was what we spent our summers on � wandering from beach to beach, island to island and one mountain to another. I�ve wanted to be on the water ever since. My father became an alcoholic on that boat (for other reasons, I�m sure) so he sold it in 1968 when he quit drinking.

I was a Canoe Ranger in the early seventies in Algonquin Park. I spent those summers in a canoe. I�ll write about that sometime but suffice to say that I would have made that my career had the lakes not frozen over in winter.

I had a canoe right up till the mid-eighties but I lost interest and it sat under a cottage for a couple of years before I sold it.

I never lost the lust for sailing, though. From when I was wee tike, I used to watch movies about pirates and tall ships. There were some sailboats on our little river and, even though they were tiny little things, I thought they were the most graceful and elegant boats on earth. My mother thought they were evil because they�d tip over. The closest she got to the water was the inside of that houseboat.

So I didn�t really get my butt onto a sailboat until about 1993. We were visiting some friends in my old hometown and they had a 26-foot sloop. We spent the day on it. It was late fall and the weather was a bit chilly, but I loved it. Turned out, Luvofmylife had the makings of a pretty good sailor, especially as captain. She�s pretty good at barking out orders.

Then a few years later, we decided to take lessons in sailing. While I was away on business, she booked us on a one-week holiday on the Lake-of-the-Woods�on a thirty-foot sailboat. The owner was a certified instructor. I like holidays like that - learning something while relaxing and enjoying life on the water.

So all my life, I�ve had encounters with sailing and had a real thirst for it. I keep tabs on the sport of racing � America�s Cup, The Volvo Around the Word Race, like that. I�ve read about people who spend their lives on their sailboats, cruising around the world. William F. Buckley, of all people, wrote a whole series of books on that. I�ve seen umpteen documentaries. And, even though there are a lot of negatives (those times of boredom, the confined space) and dangers (Pirates, storms, mechanical failure, and�did I mention pirates?), I�m just crackling to embark on such an adventure.

That, Luvofmylife is not willing to do and that�s a problem. To her, it�s just a bit hair-brained, a completely unrealistic dream that she just doesn�t even want to entertain.

Well maybe she�s right. It�s not like I�m passionate about it. And I think you need a lot of passion for a project like that.

Someday though......

Arc