After a career in sales covering 48 years and several companies, I have decided to transition from an active role in sales to a consultant role. Conference calls, forecasts, trips to the airport, airplanes, rental cars, hotels, monthly reports, are just some of things I will enjoy leaving behind.  What I will miss most are the people I have had the benefit of knowing.  I have been fortunate to have some truly great role models in my life, along with some extraordinary sales teams, and individual contributors.  I have been blessed to know and work with these talented people, many of whom I still have contact with.

Most recently I have worked for Nortek Global Incorporated, where I will remain a consultant. They have the usual benchmarks and metrics to achieve, but they do it with an atmosphere of mutual respect and teamwork. The culture is 180 degrees away from previous companies I have worked for, and will serve them well going forward.

I look forward to increasing my time and focus on things that have been neglected in recent years.

1)  I am dusting off my close up magic skills and look forward to doing some small performances for friends and family.  And, who knows, maybe some volunteer magic at children’s hospitals?

2)  I have been writing a novel for several years, but have not had the time to really sit down and write on a regular basis.  The story has been created, but the characters need to be developed further, and overall organization and a lot of work is still needed.

3)  A few years ago I started doing some watercolor artwork and found it very satisfying.  I look forward to relearning some techniques, and getting lost in the process.

4)  And of course sailing.  Dianna and I are fortunate to have a small vacation house on the water on Bethel Island (see tab).  A year ago we bought a 31 foot sailboat, Beneteau 311 (see tab).  We enjoy sailing on most weekends when wind is enough to make it exciting.  We took a series of sailing classes (101) at a school in our area, so we would become familiar with it. Last January we completed two more courses (103 & 104) in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), so we are now qualified to charter sailboats anywhere in the world up to 60 feet.  After our seven day class we chartered a 44 foot catamaran where Dianna and I were the captains! We managed to visit 6 islands in 7 days. My brother Jack and wife Barbara, and their daughter Haley joined us, along with my two daughters, Cambria and Maggie. It was a blast!!

In late September we are chartering a 38 foot catamaran in Bellingham Washington and sailing with a flotilla of boats up to Desolation Sound, Canada (see tab).  The trip will take 21 days and we will sail over 550 miles before it is complete.  We are working on provisioning lists, reviewing charts of the area, and can’t wait to get started!

I have created a blog for our trip, with space for pictures and text, that will coincide with our route.  We hope to have enough of an internet connection to send daily, but we will see. So if you would like to follow along, locate the tab “Desolation Sound” at the top of this page.