October 1, 2011 update

Late Summer Update

I arrived back home in late April after a side trip to Boston Ma. Brian drove my truck to Florida to pick me up along with the stuff I didn’t want to leave on the boat over the long hot summer. Then we drove up to Boston Ma  along highway #95 Our timing couldn’t have been better, we were along the coast as tornados were blowing through Atlanta Ga. We cut inland south of Washington Dc to avoid that area and spent the night in a small town in the mountains.  We got to Boston the next day and we enjoyed“relaxing” ale with our dinner after the long drive, then we loaded up Brian’s radar arch. That night the weather we avoided all the way here caught up as we slept. It had caused a lot of damage all along the coast but we were safe inside.

The next day we headed out for Albany and Buffalo. After leaving 95 degree heat 2 days ago it was strange to be driving through snow and sleet as we crossed the mountains again. The weather cleared up after the mountains but when we got to Buffalo it started to snow again. As we crossed over to Canada the snow increased and our welcome back consisted of white out conditions for the next 75 Km’s.  Although I cannot complain, after spending a beautiful 3 months sailing in the Bahamas. When we got home, Jeanne and Leslie had made an excellent meal for us, and so my 8 month adventure had come to an end. A little over a week later I was working in a sewage treatment plant.

My summer at home was spent working and making plans for returning to our boat to continue sailing. The summer seemed to pass way to quick; I didn’t have time to see many of the friends I hoped to see while home. I had some extra equipment I wanted to purchase for the boat. High on the list was a GPS/chart plotter, a Lofrans manual windlass, and some modifications to the ice box. I had planned to rebuild it completely but settled in the end to make a couple insulating panels for inside the box. I am basically making an insulated freezer section which would use much less of my valuable space inside the icebox as opposed to rebuilding it with a full 3” of insulation. My icebox project is just about complete, two more pieces of fiberglass sheet to apply and then it will be done. I found the fiberglass sheets in a 4x8 size at our local Home Depot; they are made for wall paneling but work out perfect for boat projects where you want or need a readymade flat sheet of FRP to start off. (My next boat will have a roomy icebox with at least 4” of insulation)

This summer Phil and Lorraine the couple we met on the Erie Canal over year ago on the boat “Changes” came over to Erieau On. And we spent the weekend on their boat. And our other friends Sue and Rob on Mandate that we met in Castleton and sailed together along the Intracoastal are coming this weekend for a visit. Oh and don’t say Mandate 3 times on the VHF as the coastguard may mishear it and think you are saying mayday, that happened twice to me near Charleston and Jacksonville.

Jeanne has me doing house projects that she wants done before I leave again in the fall. Doing things with the kids and grandkids, seeing my mother and all our other relatives occupies a lot of my time.  Jeanne is in a dilemma as to whether to head south with me in October or stay with the new job she started today. She had planned to finish work in the New Year but getting laid off from one job threw a wrench into her plans. Any bets as to what she will do???

We now have an offer to visit with Changes in Cleveland on the way south, and I plan to visit with Island Moon in Georgetown on the way to the boat.

It looks like the two big tropical storms have trashed the Erie Canal and it could be closed for some time. It won’t affect my plans to much but for my friends on Afeica who plan to head down in the summer of 2012 will have to take the Champlain Canal or sail around the Maritimes or truck their boat to the east coast. I hope it is back in operation by the spring of 2013 when I plan to head back north. I understand that 5 locks are severely damaged. In the last notice to mariners the canal should be open or at least partially reopenned. Some sections they plan to have stay open into December, lets hope that those planning to head south can take advantage. Though any boats just departing the canal in December will not just have winter nipping at their heals but have it taking big bites of their transom's if they slow down at all.

Well I better get back to my boat projects, only a couple weeks left till I head south to the boat.