RE,
You clearly know some things about sailing! This was a topic we really looked into over the past few years. In fact, our son, Elliott, signed on to the Lady Maryland for a season, but after two weeks, he and another deck hand were let go. Our hope was that he would learn enough about sailing that we could go that route. The culture of tall ships is a different world as you might know and it was too much of a shock to his system. During those two weeks they were getting the ship ready to sail, they were working outside in March putting up the booms and reinstalling the rigging and also taking the environmental covers off the ship. The CO was apparently very difficult to work with so he left and we went back to the familiar model of small scale farming.
You are right that risks abound and that is certainly true. The Great Lakes are hardly risk free and are littered with wrecks to prove it. Right now we are waiting for spring to get back out and look for a place to live. I can tell you that southern Wisconsin has very hot summers and that will likely get worse. The higher altitude of northern Minnesota and the lake effects of Lake Superior keep the temps about ten degrees cooler during the summer. Historically, winters there are very harsh. As to wild fires, the Superior National Forest has seen some real nasty ones in years gone by. We canoed through one of the fire zones back in September 2015 and it was really quite shocking how much had burned.
The most immediate problem we all now face is that the great unwind (deflationary depression) is now shifting into 3rd gear and the fireworks should become evident for all to see soon enough. I would still love to come to Alaska but an not sure I can afford it at this point in time. Land is actually cheaper in the upper Midwest, probably due to over building and the dying of the industrial belt to the south and the iron mines to the north. Properties in St. Louis County, MN, north of Duluth in the iron range, are in some cases, selling for as little as $0.10 on the dollar (pre 2007 values). Properties in the north woods of Wisconsin are also being sold at give away prices just to get rid of them. Of course, they are all foreclosures and many are in poor condition from sitting empty for several years.
I also have an elderly mother still living in Madison, who puts on a good show as to how well she is doing, but the reality is that she is 86 and I'm not sure how much longer she will be able to live in her own home, so I may be staying here longer than I planned to. We shall have to wait and see what spring brings.
As to my absence, it is due more to having a lot going on and not always having the time or not having anything meaningful to say. It is certainly not due to have hurt feelings. You have to have a tough skin to survive on line these days...
