August 18, 2011 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

I have a whole list of maintenance items to do to Excalibur. I’ll probably come up next week and get started on them. Many I will do myself, but some like fiberglass repair will require some professional help. Kip is making a new teak companionway board for me to replace one that is cracked.

For the record, we motored 162 hours on this trip which covered 957 miles. Expense wise, the numbers from my accountant, Kerry, who tracks them daily stack up as follows: We had a budget of $150 per day. We were gone 59 days and spent $6,930, or $117 per day, 77% of the budget. $3,018 was spent for docking, $651 for diesel and pump outs, $708 in fees (Welland, car rental, etc.), $789 or groceries and booze, $980 on restaurants and $817 on misc. things, as shopping, etc. These numbers include an estimated $600 we spent prior to leaving on supplies.

I should point out that these expenses are not all additional expenses as we would have many of them if we stayed home, as well as additional expenses at the garden shop, etc., so it’s not really possible for me to come up with the net additional expense of the trip.

Thanks to all of you who followed the trip. I had fun doing the blog daily and now have a nice record of our adventures. I want to thank Lew and Gretchen for being such wonderful sailing companions. Their participation enriched our trip and made it possible for us to undertake this trip. Thanks also to Kip for his Welland assistance and to Jim and Jola who visited us in the 1000 Islands.

August 17, 2011 Vermilion, Ohio

I woke up this morning about 6:00 and tried to remember what time we had agreed to leave – 6, 7 and 8 were all discussed. I remembered that we agreed upon 7:00 and lay in bed until 6:20 when it was time to get up and going. I plugged the coffee pot in and thought to myself that this is the last pot of coffee I will be perking on Excalibur this trip. I used the last of my Traverse City Cherry coffee for this special occasion. It is so good. Last night I gave Gretchen some for her pot today.

We cast off the dock lines at 7:00, right on schedule. Today is the easiest navigation day of the trip. Once we leave the harbor we just punch Vermilion in the GPS and engage the autopilot. The course is straight across the lake. We did not touch the helm again until 53 miles later when we arrived at the Vermilion break wall, which was 4:00 PM.

It was not a great trip today. On the positive side, it was cool and we had no flies. On the negative side, the wind was right on our nose the entire way. We did not put sails up at all. The waves were about 4’ and really bounced the boat. We were slamming into them so hard that we had to slow down to lessen the pounding. Up and down the waves we went, with an occasional BAM BAM as we hit the big ones. The wind diminished a bit after several hours and the last three hours of the trip were much more tolerable.

Our dock was empty when we got back to the VYC. It’s always a bummer to find a transient boater in your dock upon returning so we were really happy to find it empty. Just as we were docking Big Boy Jim and his friend Karl showed up bringing gin and vodka and a big welcoming hello. Jim was just on his way home from the airport, returning from a visit to Charlotte to visit his daughter Keri, and decided to stop by. It was great to see him and Karl again. Jim made martinis for us. Then Jim Karpinski came by to welcome us home with a bottle of Myers dark rum and tonic. I gave my martini to Kerry and Jim made rum and tonics for us. Jola stopped by also on her way to a Weight Watchers weigh in. She passed up all food and drink in preparation for her moment of truth. It was really great that so many of our friends stopped by to welcome us home.

By this time Lew and Gretchen stopped by for the frozen margaritas I had been promising them for two days. Kip also was ready for one too, and Marcy his wife brought two of the grandsons by. It was quite a welcome home party for Excalibur and her crew and we all had a great time.

Dinner was two pizzas from Papa Joes and a Greek Salad prepared by Jola. Kerry washed some sheets and I tried again to upload some pictures to the blog before turning in. Anne is coming tomorrow to take us home and she is bring up Penny and Peanut, our grand dogs, to spend the day and perhaps take a dingy ride on the Annie M. We are all excited to see each other again. As fun as it is traveling, there is no place like home and it is good to be back. The last picture today shows us leaving Rondeau Bay, our final port of call.

August 16, 2011 Rondeau Bay, Erieau Marina

We all slept in today. I was up first, making my coffee about 7:30. Kevin and Jennifer were up and busy getting ready to shove off for Kelley’s Island. We gave them hugs and goodbyes and they shoved off a little before 9:00 AM. I worked on my blog trying to upload pictures. It was so slow that I just loaded one and moved on. I was pretty frustrated at my internet connection and computer, not being sure which to blame. I do know that this is the last cruise for this laptop.

We walked into town and enjoyed breakfast at a little convenience store restaurant. I had pea meal for the first time on this trip. It is a ham like meat that is popular in Canada. Kip treated us to breakfast. We walked to town which is really a series of three stores with another couple across the street. Everything was closed so we did not spend much time there. The most interesting place was a home that had four ponds/waterfalls.

Kip and I used the marina golf cart to go to the marina store that included the LCBO and Beer Store. He found a couple of pins he needed at the marina store to make a repair on his boat. Kerry was cleaning when we returned so it seemed like a good time to get out of Dodge. Kip picked up his book and sat with the flies in the cockpit. To his credit, he killed dozens and got rid of their little dead bodies and actually got Excalibur fly free for the first time in two days. I headed out for the pool.

Lew and Gretchen sailed in around 2:00. We used their arrival as an excuse to have a rum and tonic for all 5 of us. We sat at a picnic table on the dock under a cover and caught up.

When the drinks were done we decided to go fishing one more time. Kip had an Ontario license too and decided to join us. I let Kip use my new pole to bring us luck. We went into the actual Rondeau Bay to fish. Our record remains intact as the worst fishermen in Ontario as the three of us did not even catch one fish. We would have done just as well sitting on our boats with one hand on the pole and one on a martini glass, probably better actually, as we had bluegills swimming all around the boats.

Kerry set a beautiful table of the dock, complete with lace tablecloth and her best boat china. The lady on the boat next to us was most impressed. It really was a pretty setting. Dinner was corn that Lew grilled and pork chops and sauerkraut that Kerry made in the slow cooker. It was a great meal. Jennifer had left delicious pina colada cookies for our desert and they went well with the coffee Lew made. Another great day was over.

August 15, 2011 Rondeau Bay

The rain stopped when we returned to Excalibur last evening. We were able to open the front hatch and sleep very comfortably under one blanket. At 4:15 a fishing boat went by, seemingly with the intention to wake everyone who was asleep at the time. He got a special bridge opening as the stated policy is to only open on the hour and half hour.

I slept to 7:00 deciding not to get up and update the blog. I probably would have done it if I could get wifi in the boat, but I would have had to go and sit on the marina steps to do the posting. Sleeping seemed like a better use of my time. We called the bridge tender on channel 6 informing him of our intention to make the 8:00 bridge. It opened on time and Excalibur and Finnbar were off to Rondeau Bay. Windchaser would join us when they returned from Dalhousie.

The promised wind was 15 knots from the North. We actually started out sailing and did so for an hour until the wind got so light we were only making 4 knots, too slow to go 40 miles, so on came the motor. Excalibur always pulls away from Finnbar sailing the way Finnbar pulls away from Excalibur  motoring. After about an hour of motoring the wind picked up and we started sailing again, and sailed the entire remaining distance to Rondeau Bay. It was a pleasant surprise, and great. At the end of the voyage the wind was 15 knots and we were sailing in the 7+ knot range, even hitting 8.1 once. Other than the sailing the most memorable part of the trip was flies. They covered the cockpit almost the entire way. I have never seen so many. I think we delivered about 300 from Stanley to Rondeau. They even stayed on Excalibur when were in port – usually they are kind enough to fly off once we arrive.

Lew called while we were underway. They did not get back from Port Dalhousie until 11:30. He said they got the car back 3 minutes before they would be charged for another day, much to their great relief. They had gotten up at 4:30 AM to get Jennifer back and were very tired and had decided to stay in Port Stanley today. They planned to nap and then tour the town and join us in Rondeau Bay tomorrow.

Rondeau has my favorite combination of stores. In one building there is a beer store, a LCBO and a marine store. How good is that! It also has a nice marina. It is well maintained and equipped. The manager, Cathy, is very nice and maintains the place to a very high standard. The trip here was 42.5 miles and took 7 hours. We enjoyed an arrival rum and tonic, then went to the pool. Kerry did two loads of laundry while we played in the pool and then took showers. Cocktails were on Finnbar. We grilled chicken on the marina grill and ate at a picnic table on the dock. It was a very pleasant evening.

August 14, 2011 Port Stanley

We went all night without rain and storms. How could fisherman be wrong? It did start raining about 5:30, a nice gentle rain. There was thunder in the distance, but none close. I got up about 7:20 (latest of the trip?) to make coffee and type a blog. There is no internet connection at the boat, but there is supposed to be on at the marina office, so I just typed it to post later. The forecast sounds like it might rain and storm until tomorrow afternoon.

About 9:30 we decided to go to breakfast. Kevin and Jennifer went with us while Lew, Gretch and Jennifer decided to stay and shower. They have rented a car to drive Jennifer back to Port Dalhousie to get her car and drive home. Her voyage is over. We were sorry to see her go as she is a very nice person and a good sailor.

Trying to get several people to agree on one breakfast place can be difficult, and it was. We finally decided to walk in the rain to the golf course. Fiona had recommended it for breakfast. It was about ½ mile away and since we had nothing else to do it seemed like a good decision. And it was as it turned out. The food was delicious and plentiful. My order of bacon looked like what I would load on my plate at a buffet, perhaps even more. We all enjoyed our food. There was some sort of a tournament going on today so all the activity made it most interesting.

We walked back to town for some shopping and exercise. The rain had diminished to a sprinkle so the walk was cool and pleasant. On the way the Windchaser crew tracked us down so Jennifer could say goodbye. We all signed her Welland gloves as a souvenir of her first transit.

We stopped in many stores. The most interesting one was an art store where the 75 year old owner was having an exhibit of his photographs through the ages. It is just amazing to me how someone like him can see a work of art in something that you might not give a second look to. Kevin and I were most impressed by his work.

It rained all afternoon, sometimes harder than other times, but all day rain. We just stayed on Excalibur and curled up with our books. Lew and Gretchen had quite a different adventure. After saying goodbye to us at the golf course the Windchaser crew drove Jennifer to Port Dalhousie which took 1 ½ hours. About 1:30 or so I got a call from Lew asking if I would go to Windchaser and see if Jennifer’s car keys were hanging in their boat. She could not find them. I searched where they suggested and other places but could not find them. Lew said they were waiting for On Star to open the car and he would hire someone to start in once it was opened.

About 3:00 they called again and asked if we would search more places for the keys. Kerry went over with me this time. We looked with no success. One of the places they suggested I look was the drawer in the navigation desk. I had looked there earlier and did not see them. Lew’s nav station is like mine which means it catches everything that does not have a specific place, so it is well populated with stuff. We decided to be sure they keys were not there we would have to empty it. I passed stuff to Kerry and we proceeded to clear it out., About ¾ of the way through I found the missing keys! When I had looked there earlier I made the assumption (always dangerous) that if the keys were there they would be in the front and on top. Well, that was not the case as they were buried somewhere, but now found.

Kevin and Jennifer came to Excalibur for cocktails. They brought salmon and smoked trout for a treat. About 6:15 we picked up umbrellas and raincoats and walked to dinner.

Lew and Gretchen finished their laundry in Dalhousie (remember washandfold), had dinner and returned to Port Stanley with Jennifer. I don’t know when they arrived as we were having dinner at the Wharf restaurant when they returned. Their new plan was to drive Jennifer back to Port Dalhousie early in the morning. They did not know if they would sail to Rondeau Bay Monday or Tuesday. Kevin and I decided we would make the 8:00 AM bridge.

August 13, 2011 Port Stanley

The solar lights were still on when I got up. That’s the second time this week we have been up so early. It also happened on out Welland Canal day. Everyone was pretty quiet as we went about our duties. I get the outside ready for sailing, Kerry the inside. Kip does the power cord, warms the engine and whatever else he can do to help us get ready.

Kevin called the bridge on channel 6 and told them we would be there at 6:30. We pulled away from the dock at 6:15, which was a little early but we needed to give time to Lew and Kevin to get off the dock and back down the river. The bridge opened right on time and we were off. Predicted winds were SE at 10-15 knots, then going south and diminishing.

The weatherman was right today. We motor sailed 17 SE miles to get to Longpoint, then turned west for the rest of the voyage to Port Stanley. I always photograph this lighthouse, and today was no exception. This is the longest cruise we do. It covered 77.5 miles and took us 10 ½ hours. We motor sailed all the way as we just could not make enough speed sailing alone, especially for such a long distance. We ran Excalibur’s motor at 3000 rpm’s but still could not stay with Lew and Kevin. They made the 4:30 bridge while we passed it at 5:00. I am not sure we could stay with them even if the pitch was correctly set at 20 instead of 18, but we will see next year.

Not too much to say about the cruise itself. It was pleasant and pretty on the lake. The water was a pretty green and it was cool. The trip itself was long and unexciting but excitement is not always good. We thought we were going to miss the 5:00 bridge so Kerry and I took the sails down and cleaned up the boat, then made a delicious rum and tonic to sip while we tooled around waiting for the 5:30 bridge. But the current we were fighting ended, our speed went up and we did make the 5:00 bridge.

Fiona who runs the Kettle Creek Marina and the Windchaser crew were there to help us dock. Shortly after we signed in Lew had a batch of frozen margaritas made on Windchaser. We sat and enjoyed them and some great snacks for about an hour. Then it was time for wine, hamburgers and baked beans on shore.

Some fisherman came by and said a big storm was coming so we put up a side curtain, buttoned up the cockpit, put out some more docklines, closed the boat up and turned on the air conditioner. We showered and called it a night rather early.

August 12, 2011 Port Dover

I had the blog update done before Kip and Kerry got up. Wandering on deck I noticed that one of my flag halyards had twisted. That in itself is no big deal, but the reason it twisted was a concern. It could only have twisted if the turnbuckle on the shroud had twisted since I run the flag halyard through the turnbuckle. Sure enough, when I looked at the cotter pin that is supposed to hold the turnbuckle from twisting, it was mangled and bent. I must have used one that was too light.

I started turning the turnbuckle to untwist the halyard, but only succeed in making more twist. By this time the racket I was making, which was much amplified below decks, had Kip and Kerry up. It was difficult to get the mangled pins out, but once we did I realized that I did not have the correct size replacement on board, which necessitated a trip to the marine store.

We debated whether to have omelets or blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Kerry decided on the pancakes which meant that I was the chef. I do pancakes, she does omelets. The pancakes turned out really good. We sat in the cockpit and enjoyed them and also chatting with our fellow sailors.

After breakfast Kip and I put up the bikes for a ride to town. Kevin and Lew decided to join us. I was able to get the correct size cotter pin at the marine store. We stopped in a service shop where the man said he could straighten my bent stanchion, but not today because of a funeral. Still it was good to know that it could be straightened.

After the marine store we hit the hardware store, a discount store, the theatre to pick up tickets, the LCBO and then the boat graveyard. By that time we were ready for a beer and ended up at a place on the beach under an umbrella table near a palm tree. We discussed what they must do in the winter with the palm trees, which are pretty good size.

The ladies had all walked to town to shop. We met up with them and agreed to carry packages back to the boat for them on our bikes. Kerry came back to Excalibur tired and with a headache. I made a rum and tonic for her and then part of another.

We cooked a delicious dinner on the grill at the PDYC. It was the same dinner Gerry McGuire had cooked for us in Oakville. Kerry even called him to double check how he did the chicken wings. We chatted for a while to catch up. He was glad to hear the Big Boy Jim was doing so well with his cardiac rehab program. Along with the chicken wings we enjoyed roasted peppers, portabella mushrooms and asparagus, and of course, martinis and wine. It was wonderful dinner, setting and evening.

We went to the 8:00 theatre for a show called “Dating by the book.” It was a cute play about a divorced woman getting back into dating for the first time. She used a book to guide her written by her cousin, who disregarded everything she said in her own book. While it was good, we agreed that we liked the Gananoque play better.

It was hard to get to sleep with all the partying coming from the porch of the yacht club, since we were only about 20 yards from there. Finally at midnight I turned on the air conditioner fan just to drown out their noise. It seemed like I was up all night. We had set the 6:30 bridge as our departure time. We rose at 5:45 to get ready for our 80 mile trip to Port Stanley.