Sailing Jacksonville's St Johns River, a Hidden Treasure

Many folks do not realize what a fabulous sailing venue exists in Jacksonville, Florida. Whether you are on a sailboat charter or a private yacht, you can enjoy this hidden treasure. When the St Johns River turns south from downtown Jacksonville it opens up into the perfect sailing location. Wide enough to ensure a good steady breeze and to provide room to sail no matter what direction the wind blows. Narrow enough to provide protection so the waters hardly ever get rough, even when the wind kicks up.

The shores are lined with manicured estates and ancient trees. The Florida Yacht Club and Timuquana Country Club grace the western shore. Beautiful homes stretch from San Marco south past Julington Creek along the entire eastern shore. You can even watch the planes taking off and landing from the Naval Air Station (NAS) just north of Interstate 295 (the Buckman Bridge).

Sunset Cruise on the St Johns River

Ortega on the west side of the river, just 10 minutes from downtown Jacksonville, is home to a number of marinas. It is the perfect departure point for a sunset sail. Leaving the dock about 3 hours before sunset, you will want to head south. Sailing close hauled into the afternoon sea breeze, you get to sail up close to the shore as you criss-cross the river. With a good breeze you will be down near the Buckman Bridge in about two hours.

Turning around and heading north is the perfect time to be out on the bow as the colors of the sunset flood the sky. Sticking close to the eastern shore ensures an ideal view of the sinking sun. As the sun disappears below the horizon the sky fills with pinks, purples, and oranges of the after glow. By then you will be approaching downtown Jacksonville as the lights of the city create their own "light show". One hour later you can be back at the dock as last light of dusk fads from the sky. The perfect four hour excursion!

Day Sails on the St Johns River

If you have a full day, you can sail further south under the Buckman Bridge; perhaps stopping at Julington Creek for lunch at the New Orleans Cafe. Or, you could continue on south toward Green Cove Springs, passing Club Continental and Doctors Lake.

Or you could head north to enjoy the cityscape, sailing right through downtown Jacksonville passing the Jacksonville Landing and the Times-Union Center/Symphony Hall. After opening the blue eye-catching Main St Bridge, you can sail pass Metro Park and the Jaguars (Everbank) Stadium. Proceeding a bit further you can sail under the Hart Bridge, the 19 th largest truss bridge in the world, for a glimpse of some of Jacksonville's port operations.

A Sailing Vacation from Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida, is a great place to start a sailing vacation too. It is only a 3 hour trip down the St Johns (with the current) going by the Port of Jacksonville to the Intracoastal Waterway. You pass under the striking Dames Point Bridge, the 2nd longest cable-stayed bridge in America, the sixth in the world, and the only one with harp stays. In a day you can be lounging on the beach at Fort George Island, bar hopping or dining in the quaint shrimping village of Fernandia, or exploring Cumberland Island. Perfect for three or four day trips and even better if you have a week to explore Georgia's Jekyll and St Simon Islands too.

An Experience You Will Remember for Years to Come

North or south, daytime or sunset, sailing charter or private sailboat, everyone who sails on the St Johns tells me how beautiful and relaxing it is. Even the "old salts" are amazed that more folks have not discovered this treasure. So if you are visiting Jacksonville, be sure to mark a sail on the St Johns River on your "must do" list.

About the Author:
Ralph Hubbard is the GM of Now and Zen Sailing Charters which offers crewed charters on a 42 ft Manta sailing catamaran. Sunset and day sails for up to 12 people plus sailing vacations for up to 4 people are available on a private charter basis. These "Experience of a Life Time" sailboat charters are offered in Jacksonville, St Augustine, and Fernandina/Amelia Island, Florida from March to December. Charters are also offered in the Coconut Grove/Miami area from January to March. Check http://nowandzensailingcharters.com/ for details of our location and special discounts. Find out how you can set sail on a luxury world class cruising catamaran for less than $70 per person for 4 hours.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7076938

Home Invasion - What You Need To Know

Law enforcement agencies do not categorize home invasions separately from burglary and robbery so accurate statistics on this crime don't exist. However, with commercial establishments limiting cash on hand, installing video surveillance and silent alarms, there is a trend of violent robberies escalating on the home front. This crime is similar to a carjacking which continues to grow in popularity.

Are home invaders like burglars?

The home invader is very different from a burglar because they confront their victims where a burglar avoids confrontation. The home invader relies on the fear instilled in their victims to get whatever they want. While a burglar hits an empty home, a home invader comes knocking when they know that you're home. This type of thief may be someone who has been in your home as a repairman, or a friend of one that has seen valuable targets. They rarely work alone. They may target a wealthy elderly person who lives alone. They may follow you from a store where they may have seen the jewelry that you wear. We unfortunately live at a time when it's impossible to trust strangers.

The first few minutes of a home invasion are crucial for the robber to gain control and create panic and fear in their victims. They may come equipped with handcuffs, duct tape or other devices to restrain their victims. At this point, they will hold your family hostage while demanding valuables, car keys and even take you to a bank for an ATM withdrawal. They may cut telephone wires to prevent a call for help and disable a security monitoring system. Although a home invasion usually begins with a knock at the front door, open windows or garage doors provide an easy entrance too.

Prevention boils down to getting into safe habits.

• Keep your front door locked all the time
• Make sure that you have a strong lock and strike plate
• Install a peephole on your front door and don't just open it when you hear a knock or doorbell
• Never just open the door for a stranger or solicitor
• Install a security device that allows the door to be partly opened. Never rely on the old chain that gets mounted to a molding with tiny screws
• Be wary of anyone following you towards your front door when arriving home
• Do not leave an attached garage door open
• Have a light outside the front entrance so you can see through the peephole
• Instruct all family members on the safety basics outlined here

Install a security system and turn on the perimeter protection when you're home. Central station monitoring using cell technology will allow your panic button and perimeter protection to work even with cut telephone wires.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7082297

Does Chiropractic Work?

Natural Remedies Questioned

Does Chiropractic Work? This is a question that is often heard from those who are on the fence wondering if they should try - usually as a last resort - chiropractic treatment.

It's not been that many years ago when the validity of chiropractic treatments and chiropractors at large was under question. In the past 50 to 80 years, everything has moved under the microscope, so to speak.

As the medical world has become more and more symptom and prescription oriented, the more natural remedies have been discredited and cast aside. If it cannot be validated in a laboratory, or in a scientific study, it is often dismissed by the traditional medical world.

Prescription Drugs Mask Problems

It's a known fact that the pharmaceutical companies and the American Medical Association work in tandem to undermine alternative medicine (such as chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathic, and naturopathic treatments). Sad to say, but money is the motive for such actions. It's true that people who are well and healthy have little need for prescriptions or multiple doctor office visits.

What is even sadder is the fact that prescriptions drugs don't work! At least they do not work to eliminate a physical malady. Drugs mask the problem and are often addictive. The patient takes a pill to lower cholesterol one day and then must take it again the next day, and the next and the next. So has the problem been taken care of? The real question should be: Does traditional medicine work?

The Newly Self-Educated Public

The good news is that due to the Internet and other mass communication, the general public is becoming more aware of viable alternatives to traditional medicine. They are stepping up to take full responsibility of their own health; they are becoming self educated. (And likewise, they want their children - the next generation - to do the same.)

Back to the original question: Does chiropractic work?

Chiropractors Do Not Treat Disease

In order to answer the question correctly, one must keep in mind that chiropractors do not treat disease. They do not treat symptoms. And they do not prescribe medicine. Their sole intent is to correct any nerve interference that may be present in the body.

This nerve interference is also known as subluxation. Such interference may have been caused by physical, chemical, or emotional dynamics. A subluxation works to short-circuit certain organs in the body. Once the short-circuit problem has been resolved, health and wellness can be restored.

Translated, this means the treatment is directed at the root of the problem, rather than masking the problem as in traditional medical practices. Subsequently, chiropractic treatments often cause the patient to experience a greater sense of overall well-being.

Because Americans have become pill-grabbing, pill-poppers, we have lost the full awareness of optimum health. Most people believe if they can go a few days without a headache, or an upset stomach, they are healthy. Healthy is more than simply the absence of disease.

Chiropractic Maintenance Can Be a Life-Changer

Does chiropractic work?

It works in so many ways it's difficult to cover all the bases in this short article. Suffice to say that those who are ready and willing to take charge of their own health are ready to seek out a nearby chiropractor and learn more about how regular chiropractic maintenance can prove to be a life-changer.

If you believe it's time to enjoy optimum health rather than simply existing for a few symptom-free days at a time, you can find out for yourself if chiropractic works!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7082433

6 Simple Steps to Becoming a Better Writer

Good writing doesn't happen overnight. You'll find plenty of examples of bloggers who think good writing simply means mastering the rules of grammar. Their blog posts are technically precise, but boring as hell. You'll also find plenty of examples of bloggers who think writing is secondary to good ideas. Not so. You're writing, so I would recommend you give ample attention to how to write.

Here are some tips for better writing that you can use today. I promise you, if you put these tips into use, and if you commit to them, you will see an improvement in your writing.

1. Read. Read. Read

Writers who don't read are fooling themselves. You have to read. I'm not talking about the next James Patterson thriller or your favorite romance novelist. I'm talking about highly crafted writing. If you don't like poetry, then look for personal essays with a literary flair. Check out The Sun magazine. Their website gives snippets of the essays or articles in the print magazine. You should also try The Atlantic or The New Yorker, both of which have very high quality writing.

Once you've done some of that fancy writing, go check out your favorite blogs and think about which posts are interesting and which aren't. Which posts keep you reading, and which do you give up on?

Don't just read, but think. Why did you stop reading an article or post? Was the language too stuffy? Was the vocabulary too impossible? Was it just flat-out boring? Do the same for articles or blog posts you loved. You'll have to think about why you like or dislike something if you're going to understand how to replicate it.

2. Writing is revising

Even the best writers in the world have to write terrible first drafts. Some of us edit as we write (which is actually a bad habit), but that takes talent and skill. Frankly, I don't recommend it. Far too often I trip myself up by trying to edit too early, and I never get any momentum.

Blogging seems to encourage writing off the cuff and then publishing without a second thought. Maybe you're a brilliant writer who can get away with that, but then I doubt you would've read this far if that were true. So accept the fact that your writing probably needs some work, and revise before you publish.

Writing is a craft. It's something you create, piece together. You don't get a special award for writing a perfect piece on the first try.

3. Imitate others

In the first tip, I mentioned replicating what you like in others' writing. Imitation is a critical part of learning how to write. Don't steal someone's material, but if you liked the way another blogger laid out a post, or if you loved how someone addressed a certain topic, then don't be afraid to do the same. If you feel weird copying someone else's writing techniques, then just think of it like they're your trainer, and you're practicing. Or think of it as a rehearsal.

4. Read the newspaper

Journalists have learned how to structure a story so that all of the most important information is at the top. They called it the inverted pyramid. Everything you need to know (the wide base of a standard pyramid) is at the top. The rest of the article slowly tapers to the pyramid's point, with increasingly specific - but nonessential - information. The benefit for journalists is twofold. First, people get everything they need to know if the first paragraph. If they want to move on to another article, then so be it. Second, when the editors need to cut an article for space, it's easy and acceptable to lop off the end, since that information is nonessential to the story.

Think about that for a minute. All of the most essential information - everything you really need to know about a story - is in the first paragraph of a newspaper article. That's intense! That's some seriously concise writing.

And that's what you can learn from newspapers as a blogger.

You don't need to use an inverted pyramid in your blog posts, but you should be concise with your language. If you're going to write 2,000 words, it should be a tight 2,000 words, not something you could just as effectively convey in 500 words.

5. Take a class

I put this at the end only because writing workshops can get expensive, and they're not always helpful. I've participated in several workshops, and it depends on the quality of the students and the quality of the leader.

However, a writing workshop should still teach you some fundamentals of good writing. You'll get feedback from your leader and feedback from your fellow students. It hardly hurts to have several sets of eyes looking for ways to improve your writing. Just be sure you don't take criticism personally.

6. Finally, practice writing everyday

The more you write, and the more you read, the better you'll get. I've been a student of the writing craft, both independently and as a college student, for 12 years now, and where I am today is worlds away from where I was when I started.

You will get better, but only if you commit.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7088235

The 'Illness of Input,' Cured! With Body-Weight Exercise and Other Simple Solutions

Isn't it amazing how some of the most simple and beneficial things in life are ignored by the 'mass of Man?' I'm betting this has to do with the needlessly complex overload of information that has inundated modern society.

That information often seems to have been created by those who have it fixed in their minds that a complex world can only be 'solved,' by a mass of correspondingly complex solutions. Yet how effective is most of this information when it comes to solving the problems confronting the average person?

Not very, I'd say.

If I were wrong, if even a percentage of this information truly worked, would Man be in his current state of confusion? Would he be overweight and unhealthy when he could be athletic and vibrant? Would he be addicted to processed, altered foods, where he could be far healthier on more natural, fare? Would he be in need of constant distraction and noise for entertainment, rather than simpler, quieter, pleasures?

I think not.

The inundation of Man's collective mind with an overload of useless information has distracted him from that which is simple, pure, and truly effective.

It has created an 'illness of input.'

Here, however, are a few simple solutions to that 'illness,' that do work. They address three of Man's most pressing problems; his increasing lack of physical fitness, the effect of food choices on his body, and his very peace of mind.

*Simple body-weight exercise. Many people have become so distracted by fitness-related commercials, unnecessary exercise gadgets, and cluttered gyms that they've forgotten a fundamental truth: You need nothing but the weight of your own body to get into the best shape of your life.

If you doubt this, wake up tomorrow morning, and engage in 30 minutes of uninterrupted squats, push-ups, and crunches, or sit-ups. Do as many of each as you can; then cycle through sets of them again. Do this for 30 minutes with as little rest as possible between sets of each exercise.

You'll likely find it tough to complete this simple workout. You'll be exhausted. You'll be drenched in sweat. And you'll have challenged yourself at your very core.

Follow this 'program' daily and you'll build attractive, lean muscle from head to toe. You'll burn excess fat, fast. You'll develop the type of cardiovascular fitness that allows you to work or play, all day, without tiring. And you'll become mentally disciplined as never before in your life.

All by doing something that costs nothing, requires no equipment, and can be done anywhere you can stand.

*Simple food from the tree. Look inside your cupboards and refrigerator. Do they contain mostly fresh produce and natural foods? Or are they full of prepackaged, processed, largely nutrient-deficient 'stuff?'

If you're like most people, it's the latter of the two.

And how do animals in nature eat? Do they cook, process, or alter their food? They do not. Yet, barring injury, they enjoy a lifetime of vibrant health.

Take the animal in nature, most like you; the chimpanzee. He thrives on a diet of little more than fruit, edible leaves, and a pittance of nuts or seeds. He doesn't develop diabetes, cancer, or heart disease.

Would he be so healthy eating pancakes for breakfast, burgers for lunch, and pasta for dinner? I doubt it. Eat naturally as he does, from the tree; and you'll enjoy vibrant health for a lifetime.

*Simple silence. Can you walk into a room and sit, in complete silence? Can you do so for 15 minutes? Does your mind 'spiral' out of control with thoughts of the past or worries for the future?

Most are not satisfied with their answers to these questions.

Why? Because most of us have chosen noise over silence. We've chosen to watch television rather than read a book. We've chosen to engage in meaningless talk, or gossip, rather than productive discourse. And always, computer, over pen and paper.

Most of us have become addicted to 'input,' from the world. So much so, that we've become disconnected from that which is truly entertaining, enriching, or valuable.

So try this:

After exercising each morning, sit in silence for 15 minutes. Focus only upon your breath. Do not judge thoughts as they enter your mind. Simply observe, and let them go. Then bring your attention back to the quiet breath, moving in and out of your lungs.

You'll develop a calm, inner peace that stays with you, your entire day. Plus, you'll develop a host of physiological benefits; including deeper sleep, less illness, even calmer brain-wave activity. Read all about it in Dr. Khalsa, M.D.'s excellent, Meditation As Medicine.

Oh yes; as you rekindle a love of silence, your addiction to distraction and noise will, correspondingly, dissipate.

Simple exercise requiring nothing but your own body-weight; food from the tree that affords you the vibrant health of an animal in the wild; and silence which develops a calm, inner peace.

Uncomplicated solutions, all. Yet it was artist, scientist, and mathematician, Da Vinci who claimed, 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.' He had success with the idea. So might simple, rather than complex, make for the perfect 'antidote' for the 'illness of input?'

I believe: Yes!

Jeff Sekerak

Jeff Sekerak is a former Alaskan Commercial Fisherman, and fast-food addict, turned 'Super-Fit Vegan.' He is the author of the book/DVD, The Super-Fit Vegan: Raw Plant Foods and Body-Weight Exercise for Natural Beauty, a Lean Athletic Body, and Life-Long health, From the Inside Out. Sign up for great, informative, useful blog updates on the 'super-fit vegan' lifestyle, at http://thesuperfitvegan.com Plus, read Jeff's current blog posts at http://thesuperfitvegan.com/blog (he's got a TON of great, free info there right now!)

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7086312