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.