Winter Hiatus

We are comfortably ensconced in Lake Worth, Florida, for the next few weeks. It is a nice respite from the severe weather that the Copper Country has been experiencing lately.

Granddaughter Miranda, who lives and works in Copper Harbor, reports that reservations for the 2007 season of the Isle Royale Queen IV are coming in steadily. Of course this news makes us very relieved.

Since the Tigers were playing their spring training opening game on Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, we decided to drive up there and take in the game. Here is the opening pitch by a youngster who wants to make the regular team. Unfortunately, with the arms they already have on the roster, there is very little chance for that.

For the record, the Tigers beat the mets 5-4. Most of the big-name Tiger players such as Pudge, Sheffield, and Ordonez were left back in Lakeland but those that did make the trip--Granderson, Perez, Casey, Thames, among others--played hard and well. For this 77 year old Tiger fan, that was good to see.

I have an interesting series of articles planned about our experiences from 1981-1983 when we owned a small coastal oil tanker, the M/T MacVie, in Curacao. We operated there under a time-charter from Shell Oil to deliver gasoil, gasoline, and propane fuel tanks from the Shell refinery in Curacao to the island of Bonaire, both being in the Netherlands Antilles.

But that will have to wait until we get home to Copper Harbor. Meantime, check out www.copperharbor.blogspot.com for a blog about Copper Harbor posted by one of my sons, Capt. Ben Kilpela.