July 30, 2011 Little Sodus Bay

It took 7 hours to motor sail from Sackets Harbor to Little Sodus Bay. We set sail at 8:00 just as the clock struck 8 bells, and arrived at 6 bells in the afternoon. It was a beautiful trip. The sky was blue and was matched by the water. The wind was behind us at about 5 knots. Because we were motoring faster than that the apparent wind it was like a close reach, keeping a nice breeze blowing over the deck. I thought about doing some teak maintenance but decided that it could wait until I was back in Vermilion, so just did some reading and enjoyed the day. Unfortunately, there were some 3’ swells coming at us from all the way across Lake Ontario, and they did not agree with someone’s stomach. At one point I had to give her crackers, Dramamine, wrist bands and a barf bag. Kerry made it without getting sick though.

On the way we talked with Rosemary, Big Jim, and just as we were pulling into Little Sodus, Roger and JoAnne Matz. It was great to speak with them all. JoAnne is recovering from back surgery and returns to work part time Monday.

For sailors use to Lake Erie depths of 40’ or so, I included a picture of my chart plotter showing the depth at that point of 482’! Sometimes it was so deep that the depth sounder just read, “Deep.”

We hoped we would be able to dock at the Fair Haven Yacht Club but had not been able to reach anyone by phone. Our alternative was to anchor in the Bay. Fortunately there were two docks available on the visitors dock, and we were able to get them both. For the first time on the trip, Lew had his mainsail cover on before me. He was so tickled about this that I told him I would take a picture and put it on the blog, usually I put mine on before we arrive, but this time I left the mainsail up until we were very near the entry channel.

When we arrived I noticed a screw lying at the base of the mast. Now it is never a good thing to find a screw lying on the deck. This one turned out to be from the plate that holds the boom on the mast. When I checked it, I discovered that two of the four on the starboard side were on the deck and the other two were loose and ready to fall out.The plate had moved back about 1/8". At first I worried that it might be difficult to move the plate forward to align the screw holes, but it turned out not to be so. Lew helped me re install them again with Lock-Tite, which it what I always do when I find them loose. For some reason, they still loosen.

After our arrival rum and tonic, and after the boom plate repair, I took a martini over to Windchaser. Kerry was still recovering below. Lew gave a rum and coke to a FHYC member. We chatted a while and he offered to let us use a car to go to dinner or to the grocery tomorrow. We will probably take him up on the grocery offer.

We decided to take our dingy's to dinner at a restaurant across the bay, the Little Sodus Bay Inn. When we got there it looked pretty awful and was empty. We went to the Pleasant Beach Hotel instead which was recommended by some of the FHYC members. We had really good dinners. My fried haddock was delicious.

The Annie M had to be towed by Lew. My engine started the first pull, ran 10 seconds and refused to start again. I was so mad at it I considered just throwing it into the bay. Every year I spend $100 to $200 trying to get it to run. It always has carburetor problems. I figured if I buried it at sea it would end my frustration with it and I would stop wasting money on it. Lew and I are going to look at it today. If I do bury it at sea, I'll try to find a 500' spot so I won't be tempted to try and get it back!

The funniest thing was when we tied the Annie M to Lew's dingy and started back to the boats after dinner. Lew thought he would be able to turn to port and leave the docked boats behind. Instead the weight of the Annie M made it impossible for him to turn, so we bounced down the sides of two big sailboats and almost ran directly into a big trawler before he could stop the engine. Pretty entertaining for the folks dining on their boats.

July 29, 2011 Sackets Harbor

I sat in the cockpit and did the blog update early on Friday morning. Rain was forecast and I could see it coming on the radar. A nice fellow named Don came by to ask how we liked the Tin Pan Galley. He had recommended it to us the day before. I invited him on board and we chatted about sailing, harbors, and boat canvas colors. He could not understand why anyone would buy dark colored canvas – as he sits on my boat under my black canvas! I noticed later that his boat is a fashion violation, having a blue sail cover and a tan bimini.

About 9:00 I asked the sleeping Kerry if she wanted to go to the store before it rained, or wait and hope it stopped. She choose the wait option, of course. I checked the radar again and saw that the storms were big, and offered to go alone. She started to make a list for me, then decided to get up herself and go with me while muttering that I always make up some crisis that necessitates her getting up in the morning.

We biked to the store, passing Lew and Gretchen. Lew was walking his bike and planned to ride once they made it to the bakery and Gretchen stopped. We rode ahead to the Harbor Grocery at Barracks Marina. We were looking forward to stocking up on meat and fresh produce for several days with little chance to provision ahead of us.

I can say, without a doubt, it was the worse grocery we had ever been in. It reminded Kerry of an inner city grocery serving people who must go there, as it is the only grocery in town. The meat was horrible. Much of it was past the sell date. Many pieces were various shades of green. Some pieces, like baby back ribs, had the expiration date crossed out with a marking pen. I had never seen anything like it. The produce was in a similar condition.

Kerry did not want to buy anything there. I finally convinced her to buy some frozen hamburgers and meatballs. The milk had a 8/15 expiration date on it, and the zip lock bags were very fresh, as was the bread. Lew’s reaction was the same. Later in the day I signed on to the NY Dept of Health website and filed a complaint under the Food Safety category.

We then biked to a nearby convenience store. They had no meat or produce. The owner was well aware of the issues with the grocery store and wondered how they got away with it. People told him that meat often smelled rotten when they opened the package. We got back to Excalibur just as the rain started. We spent a lazy day on the boat. I sat in the cockpit, read and enjoyed the gentle rain falling. Kerry took about a 3 hour nap, then got up and organized the boat interior.

We enjoyed our cocktails on Excalibur, then went to shore and grilled our hamburgers. We ate them on Windchaser with fresh fruit and macaroni and cheese that Gretchen made for Kerry. We cooked 4 extra burgers, figuring that we can each have one on the way to Little Sodus Bay tomorrow.

Little Sodus Bay is about 45 miles from Sackets Harbor. We decided to skip Henderson Harbor which was the next stop on our float plan. It is 4 miles to the mouth of the harbor which is on our way to Sodus, but then 4 miles to the yacht club. So it would be 8 miles extra going in and out. Last time when we were there we had a hard time convincing them to let us stay, and since it would be a Saturday night, we decided to bypass the stop. We plan to leave at 8:00 AM for Little Sodus Bay. The forecast is for light NW winds.

The pictures today show the old hotel building, a yacht prepared to transit the canals with its mast securely cradled, and a pirate ship.

July 28, 2011 Sackets harbor

As happens most days, I was up at 6:00. I made a pot of coffee and headed out to the laundry with bags of dirty clothes, soap, quarters, etc. The washer and dryer were each only $1, which is cheaper than most. There were two washers, and I started them both, actually having three loads to do.

I came back to the boat to get some hangers and found Kerry making her tea and ready to join me. She got up thinking it was 9:00. Imagine her surprise when she looked at the clock! Shortly after that she took over the job as she did not like the way I was folding the towels and such. I went back to Excalibur and updated the blog. The whole process took until 9:00 AM. We were glad to be done.

We decided to reward ourselves with a breakfast in town. A fellow on the dock recommended Tin Pan Galley for great food and an outdoor setting that was beautiful. He was right. The food was delicious and plentiful, and the setting was gorgeous. Kerry got lots of ideas for her garden at home.

We rode our bikes to the small grocery at the Barrack’s Marina and picked up some supplies. We will go back today to stock up for several days of anchoring and/or docking in some remote areas. Then we toured some of the shops in town.

Sackets Harbor is a neat little town, very historic. It was a military fort when the war of 1812 started, and the first shots of the war started here. The town almost died out in the late 1970’s, but then some locals started a historical society and began rebuilding the old buildings. Now it is a great tourist center with lots of interesting restored buildings and history. http://www.sacketsharborny.com/

We spent the afternoon just relaxing on Excalibur. I dozed in the cockpit listening to Rush Limbaugh blast the Republican leadership for their approach to the debt crisis. Kerry did Sudoku’s and organized the interior. Lew and Gretchen came over at 5:00 for a margarita. After that we walked to town and had dinner at the Tin Pan Galley. It was delicious. We just split a very well made Caesar steak salad and it was enough for the two of us.

We walked home from town as the sun set over the battlefield. We took a few pictures and retired about 9:00. Thanks to the shorter daylight hours, we no longer go to bed before the solar lights are on.

July 27, 2011 Sackets Harbor

Jola was up first, then me, then Jim. I had preloaded the coffee pot last night so it was easy to get today’s pot going, just by plugging in the cord. It was a beautiful morning to travel, by car for the Karpinski’s, and to travel by boat for the Myers and Albaneses.

Jim and Jola left about 8:30, after a breakfast of Rosemary’s breakfast bars and cereal. Jim regretted the fact that there were no pistachio cookies left, his clear favorite. I enjoyed a chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie. We really enjoyed their visit. Jim said he left Excalibur in better shape than he found her, and I agreed. They plan to join us again for the return trip through the Welland in exactly 2 weeks.

We had little problem leaving the dock even though about 1’ of our keel was in the mud. Lew pushed us off which helped us get going. When we originally docked we could not get closer than 2’ to the dock, but the wind yesterday had pushed us up against the dock so I had been a little worried about leaving. Just before we left, Jim called and said he was already at the Navy Point Marina in Sackets Harbor which is where we were sailing to. He gave a good report on the facilities.

The trip to Sackets Harbor covered 36.4 nm, our longest for some time, and took 6 hours. After about 14 miles we were leaving the St. Lawrence River and the 1000 Thousands. We passed Wolfe Island with all the wind turbines. Kingston Harbor was just across the island. I have attached a picture of the light house we passed when leaving the St. Lawrence River and sailing into Lake Ontario. Before we shoved off, I had opened the sail cover for the main and ran the jib sheets for the first time since we sailed into Kingston, a couple of weeks ago. We did have about 1 ½ hour of really good sailing in Lake Ontario.

Upon arrival at Navy Marina in Sackets Harbor we refueled with diesel and pumped out the head. Diesel was $4.99, which pretty much matched what we were paying in Canada. I only needed 15 gallons. That's all we used since we refueled in Portsmouth Olympic Harbor. We docked in a row of Tartans, a 3800, 3500 and two 31 footers. Tomorrow I will have to fly my Tartan flag. Lew is right in the middle of us Tartans.

Lew stopped over and said the cocktail flag was flying on Windchaser, so we headed over there with a cocktail and a plate of River Rat cheese, sharp cheddar and horseradish. Gretchen had some treats too. We decided to skip dinner in town, and just filled up on the delicious snacks. We showered before going to bed. Kerry lined up three bags of laundry for me to put in when I get up tomorrow.

July 26, 2011 Clayton, NY

Three of us were up quite early, 6:15-ish, while Kerry got up a bit later. We had a great breakfast. Jola made a delicious omelet with bacon and lots of other goodies, along with pita toast and fruit salad. Yum!

Jim and I returned a pump out fitting to the French Creek marina office which is separate from the sail boat docks, which are on the river side of a little bridge. There is a large display of old anchors there. Then we went to the local Ace Hardware store. It was really well stocked with all kinds of goods, except the battery operated refrigerator fans we were looking for. We then found the Clipper Inn which was suggested to us as a great place to have dinner.

At 10:30 we went to the Antique Wooden Boat Museum. This is a great museum. The displays are excellent, they have movies, boat rides and 300 boats to view. They also repair and restore boats there, so you are able to see craftsmen at work. Jim, Jola and I took a ride on a reproduction Hacker Craft speed boat. It was such fun. On the trip we went by two anchorages where we stayed. It was great to be able to point them out to Jim. La Duchess, George Boldt's big houseboat, is there, and the tour was quite interesting. http://www.abm.org/ is the site for the museum. One interesting device is a dagger board that is in several separate foils, that fold into a section only several inches high (pictured).

The weather was threatening all day and really got nasty when we were set to leave. Lightning, hail, high winds, rain etc., for about an hour. Then the sun came out. We went to downtown Clayton for a beer and some shopping. Cocktails were on Windchaser at 5:30. We went to dinner after that at the Clipper Inn. We all enjoyed our dinners. Kerry and I were glad we split a pecan crusted Boston scrod dinner because it was so big. We enjoyed the sunset from Excalibur before we turned in for the night.

We just did one project today. That was to tie a piece of Styrofoam to a piece of the dock that was clanking and driving Jim nuts when he tried to sleep. Tomorrow the Karpinski's head home and we set sail for Sackets Harbor.

July 25, 2011 Clayton, NY

I was surprised to find an unsecured wifi connection at the anchorage, although the connection is very low and very slow. Usually I sit outside doing the blog update and enjoy the beautiful morning. Today I am sitting out in a steady rain, which also is kind of pretty, at least it will be until we have to go out in it to raise the anchor and sail to Clayton.

Since it was raining, Kerry and I switched duties. I went out in the rain to raise the anchor while Kerry stayed under the canvas at the helm. It took about 10 minutes to chop the weeds off the chain and wash down the deck. We started out on the 15 mile journey about 9:10. On the way,, Lew called and said some huge storms were moving in from Lake Ontario and we should go as fast as we could. So we did. Unfortunately, we were going against a current up to 1.8 knots, so sometimes we could only go 5.2 knots. As it turned out, the storms near us dissipated, and another row of major storms went south. 

We passed a little house on a rock that looked like a house boat design Kerry has been talking about for Vermilion. She laughs about selling Excalibur and replacing her with a houseboat to keep at our dock at VYC. We would have plants on it, umbrellas tables, etc. We know the lagoons residents would love it too. J

We arrived at French Creek in Clayton, NY about noon. It is shallow and I hoped we could get Excalibur to our dock. We were able to get within feet of it, close enough for Kerry to jump off with a line. We attached lines to the dock and used the windlass and jib wench to pull the boat through the mud to the dock. We made it. I could not get the Nexus phone number for reporting back into the USA in NY to work. I finally called Ohio and got them to note that we had reported in.

Jim and Jola arrived just as we were finishing up our docking procedures. Gretchen and Lew made lunch for all of us on Windchaser, hot dogs, fruit and homemade potato salad. It was great. It was 2:00 by this time, and time for Lew’s nap. Jola walked to the Antique Boat Museum to check out the hours. It closes at 5:00 so we decided to go tomorrow.

I have been having a problem with an important pump in the sanitary system, the macerator pump. It has not been working properly. I had a rebuild kit on board, but needed to get the head pumped out empty before the repair could be made. As it turned out, there was a pump out station on the dock, about 10 feet from Excalibur. Jim, always up for a project, volunteered to help me rebuild the pump. Without going into great detail, let’s just say taking the holding tank apart to repair a macerator pump is a nasty, rather “shity” job, so to speak. But we did it and it is done. Jim is a great friend to enthusiastically help with a project like this. Thanks Jim!

Cocktails and dinner were on Excalibur. Kerry produced a great meal of beef, chicken and vegetable shish kabobs which I cooked on the grill, with plenty of advice and help from all. It was delicious. We were all ready to turn in when it was finished.

July 24, 2011 Grenadier Island

I woke up hearing the pressure water pump running. Since no one was using water that meant that there was a leak somewhere. As I suspected, it was the stern shower again. So, I got up, took a shower and then managed to stop it leaking again.

It was cold this morning, quite a change from the last two days. I wore a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt. It was a beautiful morning. I sat out and did the blog update while watching the little town of Alex Bay come alive on Sunday morning. Gretchen made her delicious pancakes with cut fresh fruit for breakfast. Lew and I rowed across the channel to a store where we could buy a NY fishing license. It was $35 for 7 days. It will be an expensive fish if we ever catch a good one. We have it set to start the 31^st of July, a period in which we will be doing a lot of anchoring.

The wind had shifted to the North during the night so we decided to go to a Grenadier Island anchorage near a place called Pitch Pine Point. We motored the 4.2 miles which took us about an hour from start to finish. We had to call in to Customs since we were back in Canada again, by about 300 yards.

It is a beautiful anchorage and it was a perfect day. This is a Canadian park and was full of motor boats anchoring close to shore and swimming at the beach. Kerry and I took the dingy into shore and toured the island. We walked across the island to see the old windmill that was said to exist. When we got there all we found was a sign stating the Angler’s Inn use to be there, although it did provide a place for a photo opp.

We snapped a few pictures of Excalibur in the anchorage on the trip back. Lew and Gretchen appeared to be napping. Kerry did a Sudoku puzzle. I read some stories in the Inland Sea magazine from the Great Lakes Historical Society, chatted with some friends on the phone and took a swim off the stern. Cocktails were late as I wanted to finish my story. I grilled hot dogs for dinner. We sipped a liquor as we watched the sun set and called it a night. Tomorrow we officially start our trip back as we go to Clayton NY, starting our travels west. Rain is forecast for the next day and ½. Jim and Jola will meet us again in Clayton.

July 23, 2011 Alexandria Bay NY

We were all up early, showered and shaved. We had spoken to Sari, a dock attendant at the municipal docks in Alex Bay the evening before. She told us that if we called her at 8:00 AM she would help us get a spot there. When we called she said the entire right side of the dock was open. We were docked there by 8:30. We had decided not to do two days of anchoring before we went to Clayton, NY, but instead to stay one more day here, but not at Riveredge where we stayed the past 2 nights.

Riveredge Resort is the most expensive place we have ever docked. It was also one of the most disorganized (remember our docking fiasco) and dirtiest. The rest room in the main lobby was filthy and hot. The boater’s showers were not clean, and never had towels. We will never stay there again. The municipal docks do not have water or electricity, (which is why we did not stay here originally) but are fun and are in a great location, right in the center of activity. Boats are constantly coming and going. We did find another place with docks, the Riverfront Cafe.

After we were settled we had breakfast at the Korner Restaurant. The food was good and it is air conditioned. It was quite hot yesterday and was the same today. We decided to tour Boldt Castle and the Yacht House after breakfast. Jim and I motored over in the Annie M while the others took the ferry. We were therein 10 minutes and waited for the others. Boldt Castle is an amazing place with a very interesting story. http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/

Jim and I got back to Excalibur about 1 hour before the rest, who had to wait for 2 ferries and then walk from the dock to the boat. We made good use of our time enjoying a rum and tonic while waiting for Kerry and Jola. We had a mini happy hour with fruit and snacks when they returned.

Jim and Jola left about 5:00 to go to Kingston, Ontario where they will spend the next two nights before rejoining us in Clayton, NY. We shared pizzas with the Myers on Excalibur. By this time it had started to cool down, so Kerry and I sat on a dockside park bench and chatted with people walking the docks.

It was really hard to get to sleep. There was a very bad band playing very loud music until midnight, and then people walking up and down the docks chatting loudly until about 1:30. At least the place is alive.

   

Our sailboats were the only ones in the harbor the entire day, so they created some interest. It was funny to watch people walk up next to the boat and then crane their necks to look up at the top of the mast. They also must not see too many dingys here. Two girls walked by and one said that was a dink, and people did not ride on it. The other said "But it has a motor." One mother told her daughter that the little boat was there in case the big boat sank, and then we would get into the little boat. Tomorrow we will find another anchorage. It is supposed to be much cooler with NW winds.

July 22, 2011 Alexandra Bay NY

Today is special in blog world. Today’s post is by Jim Karpinski, the first guest poster of the trip!

I was amazed this morning that Don was up before I was at 5:30 AM. I joined him and we had coffee around 6:00. I got the pleasure of helping Don uncoil his leaky hose, and as Don was defrosting his fridge, we were also watering the dock, cockpit and cabin floor. But soon after that the freezer was running efficiently again, cooling our days refreshments.

Our next adventure was to dingy over to the town docks. Lew, Don and I enjoyed Yinglings and steamed clams at about 11:00AM while the ladies shopped. We then headed for the closest marine store, of course. Alas, all we bought was fuel for the dingys. After that was lunch, and then a dingy trip up river to the grocery store where I got a chance to use my Navonics navigation app on my Droid phone. Gretchen was so impressed that we found the grocery store she downloaded the app to her phone.

Back at the boat, getting tired of razing Don about the play in his steering wheel, which I liked to kid Don about, I fixed it. It turned out to be the retaining clip behind the wheel was not in its proper slot, and the wheel could not be tightened with the wheel nut. Now I am looking for something else to kid Don about on his boat.

During cocktails, learning my lesson from the evening before, I sat upwind of my drink so Jola would not have to clean my shorts and t-shirt again. Although unfortunately, while fixing Don’s wheel I got grease on another t-shirt and Jola had to clean it.

We are looking forward to spending another night with Kerry and Don on Excalibur and then spending 2 nights in Kingston, Ontario before rejoining Excalibur in Clayton, NY, at which time the adventure will continue.

July 21, 2011 Alexandria Bay

Our plan was to pull anchor at 9:00, fish in the channel until 9:30 and then head off to Alexandria Bay. Lew called before 9:00 and said that it was so windy he did not feel like fishing and thought we should just depart. I agreed. It took about 15 minutes to get the anchor up and seaweed hacked off with the trusty machete. The trip covered 8.2 miles. We left at 8:15 and arrived about 11:00. We flew down the St. Lawrence River with a strong tail wind and a 1 knot current carrying us along. I kept slowing the engine down but the speed kept increasing. I did not want to get to the docks before any transients from last night left.

When we arrived we were told by the Riveredge office staff to take any open dock. Docking turned out to be very difficult in the strong wind, about 20 knots. I docked first and went on the leeward side. Kerry attached a spring line and I tried to back to the dock. No way! The wind blew the bow out and three of us could not get it in. Finally with more help we did, but it was really difficult. Lew came in on the windward side of the dock and blew right into it with little problem.

No sooner than he got tied up a small power boater came up and shouted for Lew to get out of his dock. The dock boy, Cory, actually a bell hop did not know what to do. Apparently they now rent out some docks seasonal, but don’t mark which ones. So after some discussion, Lew had to move to the leeward side of the dock in front of me. He just got docked again and they told me I had to move. Fortunately Lew could move up and I could take his spot. The dock I was in belongs to a 40 footer that is gone at the moment. All in all, it seemed to take as long to dock as it did to motor over. All the marina people and we were pretty grouchy by now, but soon we all calmed down. Kerry made our rum and tonic which was very welcome, and a hot dog for lunch. Jim called and said he would be here about 3:30.

Jim arrived right on time with packages of cookies, brownies and other treats from Rosemary, a new battery charger and his Welland Canal fenders. In short order we had unloaded the goodies from the car and found ourselves sitting out in the cockpit in the strong wind having a cocktail. Jim went for a rum and tonic while I did a martini in recognition of the fact that it was almost the official start of happy hour.

Even though it was windy, it was really hot and humid. Jim devised a new way to cool himself. After half his drink was gone, the wind blew the glass and remaining liquid right over onto his lap! Cool it was! Jola washed his shorts in the sink, so the first two pictures we took were Jim and I drinking and Jola working. I will make no comment about that.

Lew and Gretchen came over to help us enjoy our cocktails and appetizers. We went to dinner in town at a steak and seafood place. Jola, Kerry and I walked back through the shopping area. We stopped at the local dock which is right in town. It looked great. While deep enough for Excalibur, it does not have water or power, so it would be like anchoring out. Still, it looked like a fun place surrounded by open air bars and restaurants. Next time we should stay there.

Once we returned to the boat it was time for Rosemary’s turtle brownies, which are the best. Jim and I showered on the swim platform and called it a night. I have a big light on the back of the boat that lights the swim platform, and of course once Jim got all lathered up in the darkness of the harbor, somehow it came on. I wonder how that happened? 

July 20, 2011 Grindstone Island, NY

Lew had stopped over to review the route I planned to take to Grenadier Island. It worked its way through some narrow passages and he thought we may be better off taking a safer route through the shipping channel. After listening to the forecast, we decided to change our anchorage to a place more protected from a SW wind. High winds are forecast for tonight and especially for tomorrow afternoon, 15-25 knots with gusts to 40 knots. Not my favorite conditions.

We ended up on Grindstone Island, at an anchorage called Rusho Bay. It is really deep into the shore, then shallows quickly. It should be a good place to ride out high SW winds. The trip over was 7.5 miles and took 1 ½ hours. I made a little confused twice with navigation on the way over, which is a concern to me. It’s easy to get confused here, and one cannot get over confident. So far we have only touched the bottom in the mud at the Port Credit entrance channel.

I see weeds on Lew’s anchor chain so I hope the bottom is not too weedy. We are not dragging as I write this. It turns out that this island is in NY, so we reported in to American Customs and Border Patrol, and can get unlimited internet on Verizon now! No more wifi, for a while anyway. The officer did not realize we were American and told us we could only stay 72 hours without going to a video phone. I'm glad we could straighten that out.

Lew went out scouting for fish with his fish finder. He found some out in the main channel about 50 feet down. That's when Gretchen called him to come and re-anchor the boat as she thought the anchor was dragging and they were getting too close to us. I too thought it could be dragging, Lew thought it wasn't, but he re-anchored anyway, and got a big pile of seaweed to deal with on his anchor.

Dinner was on Excalibur. Kerry made a sausage, pepper and white rice dish. Gretchen brought cheese and a green and yellow bean dish. Poor Lew - he does not like white rice or green and yellow beans. Coffee finished the evening. Kerry and I sat out and watched the sunset until the mosquitoes indicated it was bed time.

It's Thursday the 21st now. The weather will be an issue today. It's going to be 96 with a heat index of 105, and winds of 20-25 knots with gusts to 40. Jim and Jola left at 6:00 this morning to join us at Alexandria Bay. It is very breezy already.

July 19, 2011 Gananoque

This is our extra day in Gananoque. It started with me walking to the marina to post the log update. Kerry was up when I returned. After breakfast we rode our bikes to town. I got a haircut from a nice barber names Ed. He was quite a character. Older than me, he has only been married for 83 days – married on the rebound. He has a cat that he found in an alley hungry, 12 years ago and gave it a can of salmon. He also has two finches in his shop that fly from plant to plant. Kerry says he gave me the best haircut I have had in a year. A sign in the shop says, “No man is complete until he is married. Then he is finished.”

We shopped and went on a bike ride after that. On the way to the boat we bumped into a interesting museum and set of shops. The museum had a lot of information about boating and the war on 1812 and we spent about 1 ½ hours touring and shopping.

It was really warm now. The air conditioning was on in Excalibur and Kerry said she was not going outside the rest of the day. Not me, of course. Lew and I took the Annie M for a tour of the harbor and inlet that goes into the city. We picked up Gretchen in town and gave her a ride back to Windchaser.

One bit of good news – the missing battery charger showed up! It was in a box of candles that was under the bathroom sink. I called Kingston Camera to see if they would still take back the charger I bought from them. They said they would, so I biked to the post office and mailed it back to them. Kerry and I have not agreed on how the charger got in the candle box.

We had dinner at the Gananoque Inn before the theater. Kerry wore a pretty new dress, but was distressed that she had to wear walking shoes instead of the pretty little shoes she had planned with the outfit. It was just too far for cute little shoes.

The play was held in a theatre in the round and called The Drowning Girls. It was based on a real life case in the late 1800’s of England. This guy had 8 wives and at least 3 of them drown in bathtubs after the marriages. He was finally convicted and hanged. The play took place in 3 bathtubs set is a little pond like area. The 3 women actresses were wet the entire play. The water was cold too when we touched it after the show. It was a really entertaining show.

Tomorrow we motor to Grenadier Island. It’s about 15 miles away. We have never been there but two sailors recommended the anchorage. We will leave at 10:00 AM.