Adventures, travels, ruminations, photos, Mike O'Connor, Bucketlist adventures
For several years now Jana Kristin and I have been talking about sailing our boat A Mi Manera from the Thousand Islands down the St. Lawrence to Montreal. For us this would be the second leg of the so-called golden triangle: cruising down the Rideau Canal from Ottawa to Kingston, down the St. Lawrence from […]
More than a week has passed since the final fireworks of 2015 exploded in front of the Grandstand at Stampede Park. The midway is gone. The infield is silent. The house guests have evaporated. The rough stock have returned to Stampede Ranch, and the employees and volunteers are sighing with the knowledge that after August […]
As a young easterner, I had dreamed of coming west to attend the Calgary Stampede. I fantasized about stepping into pointed boots and donning a real cowboy hat. I imagined myself riding a horse in the parade, waving back at all the pretty girls. In 1967 I finally got my chance, and once on […]
Hello World! Welcome to my first ever blog. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Or more properly put, I’ve always envisaged myself as a writer. I also love photography, especially photojournalism. Having flirted with a few Facebook posts which combined the two, I thought it was time to put the photography and the writing […]
Wonderful! Another fantastic journey! And you are in one piece. Hurrah. Well done to Admiral Jana and her steely-nerved captain.
Here’s to more bucket list adventures! (AND I am just a little bit jealous about all you Old Montreal fun!)
I’m laughing out loud as I read this – love your humour Mike and can totally see Admiral Jana at the helm lol
Delighted to read about your latest adventure Mike. World travel is wonderful, but travelling in Canada is awesome!
So cool! You two are the best! <3
Hey Mike, got to the link! Thank you so much for lunch yesterday, was awesome to finally catch up and see you and Jana. 🙂 You two always have such great stories and are such a pleasure to be around. Hope to see you two again very soon! Dinner at my place when you have time! Let me know when is good for you two. 🙂
Great narrative Mike/Jana…..yup….sailing can have it’s moments. My Admiral only had to wave (pun intended) the divorce papers twice this summer after we left you in Gan. During one such trying moment ( actually 6 hours ) my Admiral prayed to have a helicopter pick her off the back of the boat. Instead a rather large fish hawk (Osprey) followed us, (glided in our wake – an appropriate use of the term at the time) long enough for the Admiral to go below, get her camera and then take a photo before the Osprey dipped a wing tip and swooped away. The waves were still 3 meters high but the Osprey’s spirit restored confidence with captain and crew. The helmsman’s wheel still travelled knot to knot but a “wake” did not need to be planned.
Great story, MIke. Love your writing and your photos. Keep them coming. And so envious of your visit with the Lafleurs.
Cheers, Bob