Thanksgiving in Florida

Just spent Thanksgiving break in Melbourne Beach. Gianni worked hard helping Granny with setup, cleanup and Christmas preparations. I caught up on work, relaxed and did some great surfing. Saturday was incredible. The really good guys were getting full barrels, disappearing and coming out. It was well overhead. We spent one evening out on one of the islands. It was so nice. The weather was cool, dry and clear, kind of like September in New England. We also enjoyed a great afternoon racing on Sleighride over at Melbourne Yacht Club.

First Winter Weekend at Stowe

We went up to Stowe this weekend for our first winter trip of the year. Gianni trained both days with MMSC. We saw Sir Spamalot with the Wassers. Ben was really funny. While Gianni skied on Sunday, I climbed Mt. Mansfield. I summited just after 10am and was the only one up at the top. There was an inversion in the valley. Gianni was somewhere on those trails in the above picture. It was a great weekend and so nice to catch up with the Wassers! More photos here...

Annual Cardigan Weekend

We enjoyed our annual AMC Family Group weekend at Cardigan. We hiked the long route this year via the Back 80. The summits of Firescrew and Cardigan were snowing, windy and clear. It was a perfect fall hike!

Full photo album here...

Annual Birthday Weekend

Gianni and I did our annual "birthday" weekend activities. Yesterday I took 15 boys on the annual Halloween nigh bike ride down at Bluff Point. This year we broke into 2 groups, with one group going on a more challenging single track loop. I fed the boys homemade pasta until 11pm, as they came in and out of manhunt. Today, I took a group of 6 up to Lantern Hill for some rock climbing. T'was a really nice day! Exhausted.

Last Fishing Trip of the Year

Annual Seacoast Century

Dad, Gianni and I did the Seacoast Century today. With all the soccer, we didn't train much, so we only did 50 miles this year. IT was a perfect day!!!

Nice Longboard Session

Today was my best day of the year surfing. This picture makes it look small, but we had perfect longboard waves, with rides over 100 yards. Really fun!

Surfing Narragansett

Took Gianni and his friends surfing today at Narragansett Beach. They had a blast.

Fall Fishing

Took the Hughes boys fishing tonight. Nice successful trip. Time to smoke some fish for winter.

August Sailing Trip: a Month on the Water

Spent a month on New England Waters with Gianni, friends and family. We did so much! I still need to sit down and write up a description of our trip, as well as post some of the better photos from our adventure. Hope to get this done soon ;)

See partial album here...

Nantucket

Spent the week on Nantucket.

Block Island

Spent a couple of days on Block Island. Caught tons of clams and ate like royalty.

Dryland Training at Cochran's

Gianni spent the day dryland ski training at Cochran's with several members of the US Ski Team.

Owl's Head

Did an overnight hike into the Pemigewasset Wilderness to climb Owl's Head.

Summer in Florida

Ben Gardner came down to Florida. We entertained him with the usual, Wet n' Wild, fishing, surfing, swimming, waterskiing, etc.

See full photo album here...

Abacos Bahamas

We spent the last 8 days sailing in the Abacos, Bahamas. It was an amazing trip....(need to finish this post)

Full photo album here...

Uncle Tony enjoying Father's Day

We had a nice Father's Day sail with the Costa's today.

Pequot Cyclists Annual Picnic

We did our annual picnic ride with the Pequot Cyclists. It was a gorgeous day! Once again, it was so special to bike with 3 generations!

Another Great Sunday

We did a nice 25 mile ride Sunday am. In the pm we enjoyed a beautiful sail with the Costa's.

Moriah Carter Wildcat Traverse

Over the long Memorial Day weekend we did a full traverse of the Moriah, Carter and Wildcat ranges. We started by hiking up to Imp campsite. We dropped our gear and summited Moriah. What an amazing open ridge approach! The next day we crossed over all the the Carters and finished up at Carter Notch Hut. After some good food and rest we headed out the next day and crossed all the Wildcats. It was a really nice weekend and we managed to bag six 4,000 footers!

Moosilauke and Cannon

We spent the weekend hiking up in New Hampshire. We hiked Moosilauke on Saturday and Cannon on Sunday. We hiked the Beaver Brook Trail to Moosilauke. What a fun steep trail: 2,000' verticle in 1.5 miles to get up on the ridge. Cannon was almost as fun and steep.

Zealand Hut and Mt. Hale Weekend

We did our annual spring hut trip with the NH AMC Family Group. It was a perfect weekend. After an easy hike into the hut we took a small group of boys up to the summit of Mt. Hale. 

Weekend in Stowe - No Skiing

Spent one last weekend in Stowe. Hiked Mansfield and enjoyed hanging out with the Wassers as usual!

Home

Home in Connecticut after spring break in Florida. Nice flowers! 

Spring Break in Florida

We enjoyed another fabulous spring break down here in Melbourne Beach, FL with Mom. Paul and the family came down the last couple of days. The surf was great and the weather perfect! We tried standup paddleboarding and had a blast! It took a while to get the balance down. We enjoyed a breezy rum race last night and placed 6th. Feel so relaxed. You know it's good when you don't even mind heading home. Looking forward to the rest of spring! Here is a photo album from our trip.

Rum Race at Melbourne Yacht Club

Finished and heading in from racing on Sleighride with Jan.

Taken at Melbourne Beach, FL

Teaching Granny to Sup

Early Morning Surf

Not a bad start to the day!

Taken at Alan Shepard Park

Surf Competition

We watched both a short board and longboard competition today in Cocoa Beach. Great waves and surfers!

Taken at Alan Shepard Park

Classic Sunset at Mom's

Taken at Melbourne Beach, FL

Ski Season Comes to an End

Gianni enjoyed this second season alpine ski racing. He moved up an age group and was competing against kids older than him and with 4+ years more experience racing. Again, he showed steady improvement over time. He just missed championships by one skier: he was the first alternate (though pill to swallow, but a great lesson). He had some good success late in the season in northern racing, capping it off with a fifth place finish in his last race. Can't wait for next season! Didn't take many pics this year, but here are a few.

Surfing Together

Teaching Gianni to surf a few years back. Great memories!

Sugar Slalom

Last day on the snow. Good times! Taken at Stowe Mountain Resort

What next?

Taken at Connecticut College

Ready to Perform, DI style!

Taken at Connecticut College

Another Day in Paradise

Good Day

@Stowe

Sunrise @StoweMtResort

Taken at Stowe Mountain Resort