Winpipe CrewPaul Ouellette Welcome
to the Captain & Crew section, where we can introduce ourselves and
talk about our future hopes for Winpipe.We are Paul & Mary Ouellette, lifelong residents of the Windsor area; a Mortgage Broker & a Hiram Walker Distillery employee, in our normal roles of working life. It was in Feb 97 when we took a trip to Key West & noticed so many sailboats from all points, that we began to discuss the possibility of trading in the powerboat for a sailboat & extending our thoughts of cruising our local Great Lakes waters during the summer (once retired) to becoming livaboards & following the sun by traveling on the ICW each year. Later, (June 97) at West Marine, we discovered a magazine called Latitudes & Attitudes, and this put the options of the cruising life there for us in print. We will always be grateful to Bob & Jody (who own Lats) for their friendship & helping us to define our goal to "Live the Dream". These days, as each item & improvement is done to the yacht, we draw closer to the goal of heading south ourselves. It has been said that if you tell people what your goals are, then you're more likely to achieve them, and so this website of ours is a step toward the goal of taking Winpipe to the east coast, (Chesapeake Bay) down the ICW to the Florida Keys, over to the Bahamas & eventually "down island" to the Caribbean. We also have an Airstream trailer & enjoy the freedom of the RV lifestyle whenever possible, most often taking trips to destinations along the eastern US coast to Florida & the Keys, to see the places we will someday be traveling to aboard Winpipe. Now if you're a sailor, you already know why we would want to do this, however, for the benefit of those who are not, let me offer the following bit of wisdom... Take a pen & paper and draw a line, then mark off eight inches. If every inch represents a decade, have a good look at where you are right now & how much time you have left. When I did this a few years ago, it convinced me that taking time to recreate should become a priority, and if this simple action also whispers a message to you...congratulations, because perhaps like me, you'll also make a it a priority to "have some fun before you're done". But enough of that... As mentioned above, professionally I am a Mortgage Broker & own a firm called Central Mortgage Associates Inc. The company website is at www.cmawindsor.com for those that might be interested. The brokerage has been in business since 1992, and (thankfully) has become very well established over the years in the City of Windsor. It should come as no surprise that I have embraced yachting as a pastime, as I am the grandson of Gil Ouellette, who was the Captain of the Great Lakes sailing freighter "Lilly", and thereafter the Pelee Passage lighthouse keeper for (25 ?) many years. It is interesting to note that my grandfather's lighthouse (actually, the top section of it) now occupies a place at Lakeview Park Marina in Windsor & watches over Winpipe when we are elsewhere. My Father, John Ouellette (one of Gil's 7 children) was born on Pelee Island & since we always had a boat in the family from the time I was a child, I was our on the water in boats on my own from a very young age. I have been a piper since nine years of age & have been a member of several prize winning pipe bands over the years. I've had great fun piping & have contributed to the winning of many awards with the bands including three North American, & three Champion Supreme titles. Of course our boat was given the name Winpipe due to my piping hobby and it's unfortunate that playing with a competitive pipe band and sailing are not compatible, as highland games (contests) are held each weekend during the summer & so to play with a band in competition would mean less (or no) sailing. For this reason I've put piping "on the shelf" for the time being.
Mary Ouellette In Nov.
1988 Mary Boucher became Mrs.Ouellette & was off to our first Caribbean
island (St Lucia) getaway. From then we've always made it a priority to
travel, RV & go boating as often as our situation ($$$) would allow.To date we have visited the Bahamas & many Caribbean Islands (to check on harbors & hangouts) we sail Winpipe as often & as far as we can during the short Great Lakes summer, we take the Airstream away (south) whenever we can, and (it seems) we are always planning our next escape before we return from the trip we are on. In her working life, Mary has been employed by Hiram Walker's Distillery in Windsor since 1984 (where Canadian Club whisky, Malibu Rum & other libations are produced) as a machine technician. Her current assignment is that of a machine parts inventory department head, to provide the many interchangeable parts for the machines that run the variety of bottles for products produced by Walkers.
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