CLAFC – Creativity, Learning, Adventure, Freedom & Cessation

After nearly five months of easy Okanagan livin’, our time in Penticton finally came to an end. House owners Leslie and Dave arrived back from their southern getaway in Arizona, and we said our final goodbyes to Maxi, and to the place that had been our temporary home through the long winter months. It was sad in departing, but the time was right for this couple of vagabonds to be movin’ on.

      

Thanks Dave & Leslie. We couldn’t have wished for a better home and better people for our first home-sit. And thanks to you too Maxi. You’re a weird cat, but we’re sure gonna miss you.

We finally hit the road and headed for Calgary. Although the legal requirement for snow tires expired that very day we were still wishing for them as we crested Roger’s Pass. The rain turned to sleet, snow and slush as we summited. Luckily the worst lasted only a short while, and the rest of the drive to Peggy’s was uneventful (except when Ann got lost in Midnapore trying to find Peggy’s place).

 

As with all things Phillipses, it had been decided that we needed to spend two nights at Sister #1’s place, and then two more nights with Sister #2. Since Sister #3 likes to keep everyone happy (as do I 😉 ), this is what we did. We arrived earlier than expected at Peggy’s place, and were greeted by Son #1 (Marc) who either just happened to be visiting his mom, or more likely, had heard there was pizza on the menu and wanted to get his slice of cheesy heaven. There’s a slim chance he wanted to hang out with his favouritest and coolest Aunt and Uncle … but I think it was the pizza 😉

 

While at Peggy’s place Phil came over and arranged a visit with his son’s family. We went over and were greeted by dad Dylan with daughter Vida and son Theo stomping around in the water puddles outside. The whole family, including mom Chantel, had visited us on our boat the previous summer. They are all sooo fun and cute, even the big ones.

 

After a couple of days at Peggy’s we made a quick visit with Marc before shifting over to Donna’s place. Marc has a new kitten, aptly named Hel, which is apparently Norse for a goddess who reigns in, well, Hel. She’s a sweetie, as kittens always are. Even with her cone on (she had just been spayed) she was funny and playful. She’s gonna be Hel once the cone is off 😉

It was great to spend more time with Donna. Unfortunately Sam was off in St. Albert, saving the world one anaesthetic patient at a time, but we had a great dinner with Monique and her squeeze Chris. We also got to FaceTime with Sam, which was fun. Unfortunatey our Calgary time came to an end, and we had to head east once again.

The next few days were spent driving (in a car … booooring), sleeping in cheap motels (can someone say Bed Bugs!), and eating at not so cheap restaurants. Regina, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Wawa, North Bay, Apsley (look it up) and finally Belleville. At least Ann found the beer (and wine) good along with way:

 

Of course in Thunder Bay we stopped our eastings to spend time with friends Ben, Sherilyn and their amazingly cute and smart little daughter Olivia. These wonderful friends are letting us keep our storage trailer on their land, which is a kindness we can’t repay. We had a great afternoon/evening with them, but were having such fun we didn’t take any pics. Hulp, hulp, hulp…

Of course Paul and Julie (and big kid Coralie) are our Thunder Bay anchors these days. We stayed at their place for three nights, and even got to visit their camp and watch Paul show of his new toy: a drone.

  

With the clock ticking down to our launch date we said our goodbyes to Thunder Bay folk and once more hit the open road. But we could not pass by Rossport without seeing our dear Rossport friends: Cathie and Joe (and Maggie Muffins). Time always melts away in their company, and I wish we could have stayed longer. Canada is too darn big 🙁

We did tee up with Paul in Wawa for dinner that night since he was there for work. But the next day we packed up and headed south along the spectacular eastern shore of Lake Superior. It had been a wondrous reminder to drive and visit the Big Lake these last few days. If it didn’t turn cold and snowy for 1/2 the year, we’d probably never have left. But just to remind us why we did leave, Michi Peshu slashed it’s mighty tail just to remind us how tenuous our control over Nature really is.

The roads went from clear and dry to driving wet snow with slippery slush in a matter of minutes. Much of our drive to the Sault was in 3rd gear, but we made it.

From there it was two more nights of cheap motels and good beer, with the occasional emergency pee stop thrown in for good measure.

We finally arrive back in Belleville and found our floating home still sitting where we’d left her. She hadn’t budged from her stands, and the winter tarp only has a few tears that need sewing.

Unfortunately because of the list to port, water did accumulate on the starboard side deck, and collected exactly in the location where we have some leaks. This resulted in water seeping down through our chart table and onto some cushions. All our charts got soaked, and we may have to do some surgery on a cushion.

All in all though, pretty minor stuff in the life of us vagabond sailors. We moved on board and are slowly bringing Pachina Mia back to bristol condtion … well, maybe not bristol, but good enough for us. The cover’s off, our backs are sore, so life is moving along as expected.

Now we’re into the final few days before launch. We’re going to paint the bottom and unseize a few seacocks that were stuck last year. Other than that it’s just a a matter of firing up the engine (hopefully she’ll run!), and then getting plopped in the water with the big crane. Last year the crane nearly tipped over as it was picking us up for launch, so hopefully we won’t see a repeat of that.

      

The time slips away, measurable only by the number of new snow falls, the amount of kitty food left, and the number of wine bottles that find their way into the recycling bin.

It’s been a pretty darn easy winter, although a harsh one by BC and Penticton standards. We’ve had numerous snow falls, and record-breaking low temperatures at times. All the locals seem a bit shell-shocked. Of course from a Northern Ontario perspective this has still been a very easy winter, but we’ve certainly done more shovelling than last year.

Not much has happened. Christmas and turkeys have come and gone … and speaking of turkeys, we’ve had some wonderful visits from Ann’s sisters and buddy-in-law 😉

 

First Donna came and spent a few days here. We had an amazing few days with her, enjoying some of the local restaurants, getting haircuts , and most importantly, learning about the local wine scene. Donna hooked us up with Dino Vino of GrapeEscapes who gave us a terrific tour of wines of the region. We stopped at four wineries, plus had an education session on how to taste wines. It was all great fun, and very tasty.

  

While here Donna and Ann got to playing pickle ball, which as I understand it, is a cross between table tennis, badminton and volley ball … except it is mostly for old farts. Those old farts can be pretty competitive though; second time out one of them knee-capped Ann to take her out of the competition … or so I was told. In any case, that was the end of Ann’s pro pickle ball career.

Sadly the time with Donna went all too quickly. We were all sad to see her go … especially Maxi the cat who took a real liking to her:

With Donna gone the most exciting thing that happened was ME buggering up my knee. So for a while Ann and I were like two old codgers hobbling around complaining about our old-people aches and pains … oh wait, I guess that is us 😉

Nothing much exciting happened the next few weeks. More snow, more hot tubbing, more kitty…

   

But then Peggy and Phil came to our rescue! They drove out here in Phil’s sporty little car, and spent nearly a week hanging out with us. We did some more exploring around the area, driving up to Naramata and enjoying the local pubs.

Then we put our newly developed wine expertise to work and conducted our own wine tour of a few more local wineries. So much wine, so little time (and money 😉 ):

      

We had a great time with Peggy and Phil, and I think they really enjoyed the hot tub:

But sadly we had to say goodbye all too soon. Maxi misses you…

We’re now into our final few weeks here in Penticton. Hard to believe it has almost been five months since we arrived here. Despite the snows (that disappear as quickly as they fall), Spring is coming, and that means a return to boat life. Launch is set for April 23rd, so we have to be back to Belleville by April 15th-ish at the latest. In between then and now there is curling to watch (Ann), games to play (Mike) and a bit of actual paying work to get done. And Maxi … always Maxi.

 

Literally … nothing.

OK, perhaps that’s a bit of an over (or under) statement. But after a month and a half here in Penticton we’ve settled into a pretty easy life of eating, drinking, hot tubbing, and generally serving the needs of the cute kitty.

 

The warm weather we were spoiled with has finally turned to winter, with some snow, and colder temperatures. We’ve had about 10 cm of snow, and temperatures are running five to 10 degrees colder than normal (highs of -7, lows of -17). Maxi is kinda wimpy about it all. He keeps asking to go out, but as soon as he gets a whiff of cold air on his nose, he turns tail (usually while complaining … I think he blames us for the cold).

We did manage to get out curling one night, which was great. We lost, but we had a good time, and the game wasn’t a disaster. We remembered how to play, we both made a few shots, and neither of us fell down. I know … pretty low benchmark, but hey, it has been over a decade since we curled in Marathon. I’m impressed I could even crouch, slide, and deliver a rock without falling over or breaking something.

Ann, of course, looked as graceful as ever on the ice. Me? Took me a week to stop walking funny from the muscle strain (laugh it up Donna 😉 ).

So, other than a dinner with neighbours Mike & Carol (and dog Missy), the most exciting thing that has happened is Ann’s birthday. Yup, she’s one year older and a whole lot wiser (hmmmm). Ann picked a local Greek/Italian restaurant, where we had an amazing meal of various Greco fair: lamb, spanakopita, moussaka, calamari and octopus, with a desert of baclava. Ann picked this lovely local wine to wash it all down. Yum, yum.

 

I guess the one thing that has happened to us is the same thing that has happened to everyone: We are now in the world of Trump. We watched the results come in, like much of the world. And like much of the world, have progressed through the seven stages of grief over the results.

 

After the election, and for a few weeks following, I had hope that this wasn’t the disaster it first seemed. Trump seemed to be an empty tangerine-coloured vessel which could actually do good things. After all, he laid out few actual policies. And some of the loudest things he did say (“Lock Her Up!” “Build the Wall!” “Repeal Obamacare”), he immediately seemed to back away from. As long as his ego was fed, it seemed he might not care about all the other crazy stuff he said.

Sadly, this seems not to be the case. His choice of VP, and now his cabinet appointments, paint a picture of retrograde motion for most things that matter to everyone. His views on immigration, international relations, terrorism, and climate change now threaten us all. And heaven help us if his delicate ego gets bruised in an international tangle with China.

In the coming years Ann and I may head to the Caribbean (if we ever get out of the Great Lakes 😉 ). The most common route is to hop down the east coast through the USA. The more uncommon route is to head out to Bermuda, and then sail south from there. The Bermuda route involves many weeks of open Atlantic sailing.

Normally a big ocean crossing would be considered more difficult and chancy. But given the new United States of Trump, I’m no longer sure which one is more dangerous.

Penticton life is turning out to be pretty easy … too easy perhaps. Our new temporary home is quite possibly the most comfortable and luxurious place we’ve ever lived (outside of certain short-term stays in Calgary/Beauvais). We eat, we sleep. We take short walks to various stores and around the hills. We watch movies or TV on one of two flat screens.

Internet access is fast. The kitchen is great. And we’re learning to love the hot tub. Oh man, it’s going to be hard to leave 😉

Maxi the Cat, who’s the real boss around here, seems to have fully adopted us as his new staff. And he’s not shy in telling us exactly what he wants, when he wants it. Mornings involve him walking into our bedroom, meowing loudly, pouncing on top of us, swatting at hands or face, and generally making it known it is time for feeding. Throughout the day it’s in-and-out, in-and-out, as he insists. But he’s awfully cute though, so that makes up for it all.

So, in short, we’re enjoying life here in Penticton. And we’re beginning to explore our surroundings. The house is situated near the edge of town, so has a semi-rural feel. We took a walk up the road that goes passed our place. It winds it’s way up the side of the hill/mountain that we’re nestled into, giving us a great view of the whole city with Skaha Lake to the south and Okanagan Lake to the north.

There are vineyards and wineries all over the place here in the Okanagan. On our walk we past by apple orchards, and what looks like a vineyard that produces ice wine. The grape vines were thick with fruit, awaiting that first freeze…

 

… awaiting a freeze that might never come! It’s mid November now, and I don’t think it’s dipped below zero, even overnight. Temperatures have often been hitting mid/high teens. I was worried about not having enough warm winter clothes. Now I’m wishing I’d brought my shorts.

What I’m trying to say is, the weather has been mostly pretty darn nice so far.

P.S. I forgot to include this earlier, but starting in Calgary we finally closed the loop on our inReach travel map. Ann’s been marking our journey via our inReach satellite tracker, but despite my pleading, she refused to start it till after we departed Calgary last year. This left the whole drive across Canada looking incomplete.

Well, thanks to my wise counsel, she recorded our drive across Canada this year. So finally, the map of our journeys that began with our sail through the Great Lakes, and then our motorcycle trip across Canada and around the USA, is complete!

We said a temporary goodbye to Peggy’s place and shifted our stuff over to Donna & Sam’s for a few days of good conversation, relaxation and eating! Donna had planned a turkey dinner for the family (our third!!), so we ate, laughed, and got introduced to some silly iPhone app (snap chat??) that put cartoon mouse ears on my head.

Technology … making the world a sillier place, one mouse-face at a time.

The next day Donna took us to visit Monique and Chris’ place … actually, we went to visit their dog Wally. He’s an extremely  cute, smart, and rambunctious little fur ball. We spent an hour or so being entertained as Donna played with Wally, and attempted to outsmart him when it was time to come in (it was a close match 😉 )

  

After a few days we moved back over to Peggy’s … a real refuge in this crazy Calgary city. It overlooks the green space known as Fish Creek Provincial Park, which is ripe with deer and pheasants that come right up to the window. It’s all very peaceful.

While there Peggy invited all the kids, both young and old , over for another yummy dinner. The following day Phil took the old kids over to Calgary’s new National Music Centre, a place that celebrates Canadian music. Phil, who worked on site for years, gave us the VIP tour, including getting us into places off-limits to mere mortals.

After visiting the centre we went out for dinner, and then went over to Phil’s son’s place to visit Dylan, Chantal and their two cute kids, Theo and Vida.

We spent the last few days in Calgary at Peggy’s place, relaxing and just enjoying our time there.

The day finally came for us to head off towards our new temporary home in Penticton. With winter making a showing, and learning about a major rock slide that was causing delays along our intended route, we decided to leave a day early and break the drive up over two days.

A few hours into the first day we came to the rock slide along the Trans-Canada. If we had arrived a 1/2 hr earlier we probably would have got through quickly, but we arrived just in time for them to begin paving a temporary detour. A wait of three+ hours ensued. Good thing we had lots of time.

 

    

We stopped in Golden for the night , and then made the final push to our new temporary home in the hills of the Okanagan valley. We are house and cat sitting through the winter here, so it was appropriate that the first one to greet us once we arrive was Maxi the Cat. He is an orange tabby, very cute and easy going, but with typical ‘cat’ attitude. He definitely sees us as the latest hired staff ;-).

Leslie and Dave (the permanent cat staff) greeted us warmly and made us feel right at home. It’s fun to meet fellow adventurous spirits. They are retired professionals who are also RVers, ballooners and wine connoisseurs. Their home, which we get to enjoy over the next five months, is comfortable and, by our recent standards, quite luxurious.

   

So now we’re getting to know our new temporary home of Penticton, and enjoying the relaxing time here in this lovely house. Mostly we’re making sure the boss Maxi is well looked after.

We said our goodbyes to Mom, Sis, Hammi and Orion, and much like Stan Rogers, we found ourselves leaving the relatively settled life of Ottawa and Pachina Mia, and headed west once again; ‘watching cities rise before us, then behind us sink again … the tardiest explorers, driving hard across the plain.’

OK, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was with a mixture of pensive excitement that we headed first north through Ontario, then west across the plain.

The drive through south/central Ontario was ripe with Fall colours and gorgeous little lunch stops along the highway:

      

Our first day ended in Mattawa, which is a small town on the Ottawa River. We’ve spent many nights here, including nearly a week decades ago while waiting for a new transmission. This was also the take-out point for one of our many canoe trips, so it has fond memories. The town hasn’t changed much over those years, but we did shake things up by not staying at the same motel we’ve always chosen. That’s just the kind of radical rebels that we are these days 😉

From Mattawa we jumped to the Sault, and then to our first mid-destination near Rossport (Selim). Our good friends Cathie & Joe have a stunning home right on the shores of Lake Superior. They have always generously welcomed us two vagabonds into their home, whether we’ve arrived by car, motorcycle or sailboat.

As luck would have it we arrived on Thanksgiving Day. They had been invited to dinner at their friends’ place, Kathy and Forrest, and this invite was sweetly extended to us as well. We’d already had one turkey dinner in Ottawa, but you can never have too much turkey! The dinner was amazing, and it was great to know two more wonderful folk.

The following morning they showed off their culinary skills by serving us this German Pancake. Oh man … they sure make it hard to leave.

After two wonderful nights we reluctantly pressed on towards Thunder Bay. It’s always hard to leave Joe and Cathie’s place, but we know we’ll be back.

Our good friends Paul & Julie invited us to stay at their place in TB, but our first stop in the city was to our old neighbour Pat out at Sandy Beach. Driving there was like being on auto-pilot; it felt all-too familiar — eerily familiar. Of course once we arrived at our previous home we found nothing left but an open field where our house once stood.

Pat had sent us a picture of the rubble when the knocked it down back in December of last year. At least all the junk was now gone. The view of the Sleeping Giant is still wonderful, and the location is amazing, but it’s no longer home … and that’s OK. We had 10 wonderful years there, but life moves on and new adventures await. It’s all good, if a little melancholic. But it was great to see Pat, and to see she’s still holding out for a fair deal from the city.

Julie & Paul have always been the greatest of friends to us. Paul is responsible for many of the improvements to both our old boat, and our current one. They spent a week with us on Pachina Mia this past summer sailing around the Thousand Islands, so it didn’t feel like we’d been away for that long. It was great to be back in their company.

But we weren’t the only ones being put up at hotel Coté/Besse. Paul’s mother and father were coming for a visit, and we managed to overlap their stay for one night. We were treated to a good old fashion family sing-song. Too much fun!

Watch the video

Our last evening in Thunder Bay was spent visiting our other friends Ben, Sherilyn and their incredibly cute one-year-old daughter Olivia. Sherilyn & Ben live near Kakabeka Falls (a small town north of Thunder Bay), on a wonderful rural chunk of land. They are generously storing our storage trailer on their land, but more importantly are some of the sweetest people you’d ever meet. We spent a wonderful evening with them. Wish it could have been longer…

 

Sadly our time in Thunder Bay came to an end, and we had to start ‘driving hard across the plain’ once again. Heading west from the Big Lake soon took us through Kenora, and into the increasing flat lands of the prairie provinces. We moteled it in Winnipeg the first night, then Swift Current. The drive was uneventful, and kinda boring compared to the last time we drove this way, but with the weather already turning wintery, it’s a good thing we were in the car and not the motorcycles.

Finally, after many hours and much whining (“I miss my motorcycle” says Ann with every passing bike 😉 ), we finally see the telltale signs of an approaching Calgary: smog. We make our way to Peggy’s place on the south side of the city and are introduced to her new condo perched on the edge of Fish Creek Provincial Park. It’s a great space with a gorgeous view:

      

and comes complete with all manner of cute critters:

  

We’re off to Donna & Sam’s place soon to spend a few days there before coming back here (the sisters are fighting over us 😉 ). Donna, the sweetie, has planned a family dinner; a late Thanksgiving turkey dinner — our third! WHOA WHO!!!

The week spent getting the boat ready for haul went fast … too fast. Stripping sails, getting our cradle ready, removing everything that shouldn’t freeze and that we might need over winter, climbing the mast to take down our wind instrument … it was all a blur. Lifting our boat is always scary, in part because it is so heavy (30,000+ pounds). And just to make things even more interesting, we decided to keep the mast up this year.

We worked, and planned, and worked some more. Finally lift day came and we were (mostly) ready:

 

It’s hard to put into words how unnerving it is to see your only home dangling high in the air from two tiny straps, but all went well. After much ado we settled into our cradle with only a slight list to port. Now began a week of cleaning, organizing and preparing Pachina Mia for winter. We’d already done an oil change while in the water, and filled the diesel tank, so now the tasks were to winterize the engine and water systems, empty and winterize the bilge area, and then build the winter cover structure.

With the boat out of the water we were now homeless once again, but as luck would have it one of the little rooms at Stillwater was vacant, and the marina owner rented it to us for the week at a pretty decent price. The room is small, with just a sink and toilet, but at least we had space to sleep, and to sort out what we needed for the winter.

          

Slowly things took shape. Weather was somewhat uncooperative with high winds and more rain than we’d seen in the last four months. This made the job of getting the cover on more challenging but things came together:

 

We spent the days working on the boat, and the evenings planning, sorting, and saying goodbye to our Stillwater friends; Marvin, Frank, Gary, Chris & Deb, and many others … we’re going to miss you all.

By week’s end we had the cover on , everything winterized, and most things sorted. Ann also did loads of laundry, including washing her old, and much loved, sailing hat: 
 

At least I know what to get her for her birthday 😉

Finally, with boat and motorcycles all set up for winter, we packed the car and said our final goodbyes to everyone and headed off on our next adventure. We’re heading west via the easterly route, heading to Ottawa first to hang out with Mom and Sis , then off to Rossport, Thunder Bay, Calgary and eventually our winter home in Penticton, BC. Cheers!

After more than two weeks in Beau Rivage we finally decided it was time to start heading for Stillwater. So we hauled up anchor and pointed the bow west for the journey back to our home port in Belleville. With wind on the nose we decided to motor our way back along the scenic Bateau Channel.

With a questionable weather forecast out a few days we decided to push past Kingston area, on to a well protected anchorage a number of miles further along. It was a long day listening to the diesel growl away, but it was good to burn up some of the old fuel, and probably good for the engine as well.

We made it into Kerr Bay, dropped the anchor, and settled in for a few more days of peaceful living. The bay is a well protected anchorage just off the ferry route, and is surrounded by farms. So we sipped our evening glass(es) of wine, watched the ferry go by, and listened to the cows mooing into the darkness.

One day turned into two, and slipped into three. By then the forecast had once again turned a bit threatening, so we decided to stay put. And a good thing we did. On the fourth night the forecast was calling for serious thunderstorms and high gusty winds. Ann went forward to let out a bit more anchor line (rode) and I flipped on the radio just in time to hear the normal automated forecast voice go dead, and then a real human come on saying:

"Environment Canada has issued a Severe Tornado Warning for this area. The system is moving over Picton, with reports of funnel clouds spotted. This is a severe weather system. All boaters are advised to seek shelter."

Picton is only about 20 miles away from where we were anchored, and the weather system was coming our way … “Oh Annie my sweets. Oh ANN!! I think you better let out a lot more rode!!!” Says I, as calmly as I can.

The wind picked up and the sky took on that putrid greenish colour, the rains came down and the lighting began. We donned our wet weather gear, started the engine, and took our seats in the cockpit to watch how things developed.

The skies darkened, the wind swirled and the lightning flashed. But luckily the bulk of the cell moved north of us. After a short while the relative calm of a simple thunderstorm returned, so we shut off the engine and went back down below. Things raged for a few more hours, but we were never in any real danger. The next day the rains finally let up and we were treated to yet another rainbow across the horizon.

 

Our five days at Kerr Bay was a nice way to end the season. We swam and ate and relaxed, and tried to ignore the shortening days, the cooling nights, and the yellowing leaves.

 

  

After five days that included two brief visits with our friends from Cavallino, we once again hauled up anchor and carried on the return journey towards Belleville and the end of our season. With Ann on deck duty we actually hoisted sails and tacked our way upwind for a while. One tack took us uncomfortably close to a freighter.

The rest of the day was spent motoring into the wind, passing by places we had been a short two months earlier.

   

We spent one more night and an afternoon in anchorages we’d been to on our way out to the Thousand Islands, before making the final push on to Stillwater. We crossed back into Stillwater Basin Marina with the sun setting. We were greeted by the marina owner (Mark) and friend Brian who thankfully saw us coming. We dredged our way through the entrance (Lake Ontario has dropped more than two feet in the last couple of weeks), and they helped us dock and got us all tucked back into our spot at the marina.

Haul day is Sunday, Sept. 25th, so we have a comfortable amount of time to get the boat — and us — ready to come out of the water. Feels sad to have boat life coming to an end. But there are other adventures awaiting us. And we know we’ll be back at it next season. For now we work, and wait for the big haul out day.

We said goodbye to our good friends Julie & Paul, stayed another couple of nights in Gananoque to hide from a storm, and do some resupply (mostly beer and wine 😉 ), then made the big sail back out to the nearby anchorage of Beau Rivage. We really did plan to do some more exploring … really. But each day we slept in, lazed around, and took it easy. The place is lovely and protected. Our anchor was well set, and the fridge was stocked. Why go anywhere???

So each day the answer to the question regarding whether we should go somewhere else today was: eh … maybe tomorrow.

 

So we stayed, and stayed, and stayed. We played with the dingy, and did some exploring around the nearby islands. We ate, we slept, we read. It has all been just too much relaxing fun. Even the one storm that passed through was a bit of a thrill.

 

 

 

 

After a while though even these two lazy sailors’ thoughts turned to the idea of getting a few jobs done around the floating home. Ann did laundry , and then took on the gruelling task of washing and polishing the hull. I pulled out the varnish can and went to work sanding and varnishing the cockpit.

I also tried to wire up our RADAR unit. After running all the wires I managed to get it connected, but could not get it to operate. Paul, Oh PAUL!!! I need your help!

Good thing we don’t need RADAR till next year.

One week slipped into two, and now beyond. We’re planning to be back at Stillwater around Sept. 12, which is now less than a week away. But the distances here are so small, we could reach it in a day if we had to. So there’s no need to rush … not that we ever do 😉 Meanwhile there are fireworks to watch , food to eat , and sunsets to enjoy:

 

We also met some wonderful new friends. Jim & Sass from Cavallino, and Marleyne & Heiner from La Buena Vida. They both spent a few days in our anchorage (it’s now OUR anchorage since we’ve stayed so long!), and we enjoyed their company immensely. It’s fun how outwardly different cruisers and sailors can be, yet we’re all out here, doing it, in our own ways.

Cavallino is a relatively new 50-foot Able Apogee. It is large, luxurious and well appointed, with all the space, technology and systems to make living aboard very comfortable. La Buena Vida is an older steel Goderich 35. It is traditional, compact, simple and solid, with beautifully hand-crafted wood cabins and straightforward and effective systems.
Jim & Sass have plans to head south in a few years, and perhaps eventually make it over to the Pacific Northwest. In my mind this is where I can see Ann and I ending up as well. We talked about plans, dreams, and damnable boat systems that never seem to work quite right 😉 .

Marleyne & Heiner are a little older, and have already sailed off a few times. They’ve sailed to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, spending years at a time exploring the warmer waters. For some reason we couldn’t convince them to sail up to Lake Superior … something about disliking the cold 😉  They shared with us their experiences, including how they were able to live and cruise quite inexpensively. So great to hear from real people!

We had great times with all our new friends, and certainly hope we can stay in touch and meet again out here on the water.

A couple of weeks earlier we got news that our good friends and sailing/boat project mentors, Paul & Julie, wanted to come sailing with us in the Thousand Islands. We sorted out the details and arranged to meet them in Gananoque. We arrived in the area a few days ahead of time, read some books, and became a bit of a tourist attraction for the local sightseeing boats. We arranged for a slip at the municipal marina and pulled in the night before.

After connecting we went out for dinner in the big town, did a resupply and were off the following day. Our first night was spent at the same nearby anchorage we’d already been at. Then we headed downstream to explore more of the islands.

Luckily for our northern friends the weather had cooled off considerably from the brutal heat and humidity we’d been getting most of the summer. Despite assurance that it was now chilly, much time was spent swimming and staying in the shade.

 

We sailed, drifted and motored our way down the river, visiting the Admiralty Islands, the Fleet Islands, the Navy Islands and the Raft Narrows Islands. We anchored or moored out for five nights, and enjoyed good company and great food. P & J, being the adventurous ones, were often off exploring the area via dingy.

Of course Paul being Paul, we got the spinnaker up as soon as we could. AND we had to undertake at least one boat project. Thanks to him we now have a functioning new Garmin chartplotter . And if I’d let him, we’d also have our radar running. Paul also spent time trying (perhaps fruitlessly) to explain electrical theory to us.

     

We drank a little too much, and ate way better than our norm. But sadly the week went by all too quickly. Soon we were back at Gananoque for one final night on the boat. We were treated to a yummy dinner at the Socialist Pig, did another small restock, then said our goodbyes.

 

Thanks Julie & Paul. It was so great to see you both.