Thank you all for your suggestions. I am thrilled with activecaptain.com. What a great website. It has a wealth of information. It will be nice to explore new cruising areas where I haven't gone before. I will post my travel exploits with pictures as I go. Newell, I will e-mail you as my departure a...

I am about a month away from a four to six week cruise along the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway. I am looking for any suggestions for a launch facility with secure parking for my truck and trailer in the Galveston through Port Arthur, Texas area, or Lake Charles, Louisiana. It is a concern to leav...

Hello Steve, Kimo, and Newel. First, I have to announce that as of Friday, January 23 I am officially "RETIRED" from the City of Los Angeles. 30.5 years of government service is complete and now it is time for me to coastal sail all over both coasts of the US. I am working on some home pro...

Hello Captain Kimo. I am attending the Fall Floatilla. As always, I will show up several days early to unwind and will hang around Callville on Friday while waiting for the usual suspects to arrive.
Best wishes to all

Patrick Gilbert
"Tropico" (99MacX)
Canyon Country, CA

Hello Newell.
It's great to be just a few weeks away from Lake Mead Fall Floatilla. I will arrive at Calville on Monday, Oct 3 and stay untill Oct 15. Look forward to seeing everyone.

Patrick Gilbert
"Tropico" (99MacX)
Canyon Country, CA.

Hello Bill and Sue. Sorry to hear of your trailer/laundry trouble. I did have evidence of my drawbar tube rusting through from the inside out. I love my new trailer from ABT Trailers. I also feel far more confident traveling down the highway to Mead Madness with a tandem axle trailer than the stock ...

Ahoy Mead Sailors. Leaving for Callville Bay on Sunday morning. See you all there. Hey Newell, you have to show up because it wouldn't be the same without you. Will stay on the North Shore of Boulder Basin untill Friday and then back to Callville to meet arriving boats. Patrick Gilbert "Tropico...

Hello Mead Madness Sailors. I will definitely be there. I will arrive a few days early and hang around the northern end of the Boulder Basin until Friday, April 15 where I will be in the vicinity of Calville to assist rigging and launching of arriving boats. Look forward to seeing everyone. Patrick ...

Hello Bill and Sue. I am not surprised that the County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors eventually caught on to the "free water"(as if it is something very taboo) within the mast-up storage yard. I am surprised that they caught on so quickly. They do appear to be very petty...

Hello all Lake Mead Sailors. I look forward to see everyone at Callville on October 8. I will arrive a few days early with Chris and Angela as crew and will scope out the Virgin Basin for beaches. Will be back to meet everyone at Callville the afternoon of Friday, Oct 8. You can't control the wind, ...

Hello Earl. Thanks for your compliments on my rig. As I mention in earlier posts, I will definitly travel a great deal when I retire in four years and the boat/trailer will gain alot of milage. The large trailer GVW rating (excessive?) that I voluntarily selected is due to my desire to carry many da...

I use Woolite to bath the sheets and halyards every few years when they are too dirty to stand anylonger. It also makes them soft to the touch.

You can't control the wind,
bur you can adjust your sails.
Blessed be the wind.

Patrick Gilbert
"Tropico" (99MacX)
Canyon Country, CA

Here is one of the few pictures I have of my boat "Tropico" sailing on the Gregg Basin of Lake Mead. I also sail out of Marina Del Rey and Ventura in Southern California. I have enjoyed eveyone's pictures so here is mine. http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/SailTropico/Mead%20Pictures...

Cool pictures Theo. Sorry that you could not join us for Mead Madness. Maybe next Fall. Heres a picture of a few of us the week before you were there and we also had some wild winds. http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/SailTropico/Lake%20Mead%20%20March%202010/DSCF1120.jpg You can't control the...

Hello BK. The axles are bolted directly the chassis and have rubber torsion bars contained within. The wheel spindles are part of trailing arms inserted into the ends of the axles/torsion bar assembly and twist up and down. Each wheel is independently suspended by its trailing arm. It is modeled aft...