Its not over till its OVER......

Jon and I had a fun time at the Sim Redmond show on the 20th in Syracuse. They always make for a great time (well for Jon not to dance to them the whole night would be unheard of).
We went to the boat on Friday the 21st and I worked on making full screens for the companionway, because of all the little bugs that seem to find their way onto our boat. I also brought my sewing machine home so I could sew two new zippers for the canvas winter cover that had broke back in the spring when we removed it (that seems so long ago)…..Jon repaired a few minor things, changed some lights to LEDs and he hung a small mahogany shelf we built to go under the medicine cabinet.

On Sunday the wind had picked up so Jon took the headsail off and put on the Yankee clipper sail (storm sail) to try out, Tim came out sailing with us and of course the wind died down so the sail was very inadequate and made for a slow rocky ride. When we got back to the dock Jon ran right up to the car and pulled the other headsail out and said “that ones going home”

We ended up staying till Monday because it was going to be in the 80s and 10 or so knots so we decided to go to Sodus and have a fun leisurely trip. We ended up sailing the spinnaker and made great time at over 6 knots the whole way there. Sodus this time of year is very quiet (I suppose all the marinas and bays are). We went to Katlynns marina to fuel up and pick a couple bulbs up. While there we met this couple that really liked our boat (who doesn’t) so we showed them the inside and after talking to them we realized that they owned a boat that we really liked sitting at the dock the last time we were there but they were not on the boat that day. They brought us to their boat, which was a 38 Kadey Krogen cutter and only 86 of these were made, and we got to see the inside. This boat is beautiful inside and out, lots of wood just like Kasidah and there was tons of storage (something I could use more of). They said they had done a lot of the work to it in the past ten years getting it ready to go south but when they finally finished most of it they could not see bringing it into the harsh salty environment and so they just use it as a daysailor and have a RV which they go to Florida with in the winter and have a smaller sailboat down there to sail a little.

The day ended with a wonderful sunset as we came back into little Sodus bay and docked Kasidah for the night.

Kingston to Waupoos Ont. Canada

This was a great trip that started out like this….. We woke up at 4am Friday the 14th as expected, About 15 knots out of the south. Our plan was to get to Kingston before late afternoon when the winds would pick up to 35 to40 knots. We left dock and had a very hard time to find the channel out of Fair Haven in the pitch dark even with night vision goggles. After getting out the channel and put sails out and were cruising very nicely I went to bed(sorry to say but I do admit it). I woke up at around 7 to take over for a few hours and man the wind had picked up to between 20 and 25 knots. It was great to see Kasidah going around 6.5 knot with the wind some what behind us we would surf the waves half the time. The swells were over 8 to 10 ft and I always have a hard time looking at them when they are right next to us but it was definitely a fun ride and Kasidah loved it. When we reached some of the shoals and Islands near Canada we started to watch our maps and note all the shoals. At that point I was pointing out different shoals in the distance, which really seemed to be off a little so I asked Jon which island was over to the starboard side of us that had a boat in front of it, as we started looking at it closer Jon said I think the island is moving with the boat……This was our first experience with Extra large barges in tow. The tow (island) was at least a half-mile behind. WOW.
We finally came to the St Lawrence and could see Kingston in front of us. The wind had just started to pick up to 25 then 30 and as we were taking sails down to go into the bay to dock we clocked 38 knots. We called the Confederation basin Marina to let them know we were heading in, and would you know it was the one time we would really like some help docking, they said they had no hands to help dock. Well we went in the basin and Jon said, we have one shot at this lets go, and that was it…we did it…….Kasidah gracefully slammed up against the dock squishing her huge fenders because of the 35 to 40 knots of wind on her port side and that’s were she sat the night. (We love this boat).
Kingston was a wonderful city to visit. It is right on the shoreline of the lake with lots of things to see and do. We had our pooches so did not do much with out them but the city is very dog friendly. The large park right at the edge of the marina has lots of room for them to walk and if you take a stroll into town some of the stores put dog dishes out for them. On Saturday there is a farmers market right in front of City Hall with some unbelievable fresh produce.
We left Kingston on Sunday and headed for Waupoos, which is in the Prince Edward Bay area of Canada. We ended up at the Waupoos Marina which is a place that seems to have gotten lost in time. The people there said that after Labor Day it is just about empty and that the season is pretty much is over. Our thought was the season is in its prime. This place was so quiet and beautiful. We woke to one of the most peaceful nights on the boat and to a wonderful sunrise. On Monday we walked to the Waupoos Winery, which was about 1-½ miles down the main road (the dogs had to stay on the boat). At the winery we had lunch and did some wine tasting than back to the boat.
Tuesday we woke early to start the trip back to the USA. The wind was right on our nose the whole way home which took about 10 hours, which was the same amount of time it took to get up to Kingston. We did end up crossing in the shipping lanes with some huge ships that we really kept a good eye on; Jon tried to contact them to see if our radar reflector worked but they never responded.

Trip to Chaumont

Great weekend to go north, We ended up in Henderson Harbor the first night at West View Marina and meet up with Len who owns a sailing school there. He is a great guy and if you want some lessons around here talk to him. When we left Jon notice the engine was not pushing enough water out so we went back to dock and sure enough the strainer was packed with weeds.
Saturday we headed up to Chaumont Bay and went to Long Point State Park. The weeds here were so dreadful that we almost turned around, but Amy and Jeremy were meeting us here for the night so we decided to go for it. Jeff and Cathy came in on their 31 ft Catalina S/V Otium to meet us and talk about their summer long journey, the weeds were so horrific they decided to not stay. Later that night some other sailors from Fair Haven- Dave and Janice anchored in the bay on their 40 ft Morgan S/V Mojo and stopped by in their dingy to say hi.
Sunday all of us went sailing in the bay with a pleasant wind and had a nice lunch, then we dropped Amy and Jeremy back off at the park and headed for Stony Island –Dutch Johns Bay to meet up with Cathy and Jeff and anchor for the night.
Monday we woke up to a very rocky boat as the wind had shifted and was blowing right in the bay. Even the dingy ride to shore for the dogs was a little of a challenge. We decided to pull anchor and get out right away so not to deal with the swells and waves rocking the boat. We were trying to decide to go to Canada or to start heading back to Fair Haven with the wind once again right on our nose, then Jon got sick and just did not feel good so we decided to go back to Henderson Harbor and do some hiking and leave in the morning. The forecast out had a small craft warning and the waves had already built to 5 or so feet and at one point I read 25 knots as a gust came by, so this was fine. The docking at Henderson was one of the worse dockings we have ever had and Kasidah got all turned around fortunately no scratches. We had a great walk down to the yacht club and blue was so pooped that I had to carry her half the way back to the boat.
Tuesday we woke to a very calm morning and had to motor sail most of the way home with the wind directly following us we wished then that we had left on Monday with lots of wind instead (oh well).
The weekend was wonderful and as usual with every boat you own, we had some breakdowns. The water foot pump some how managed to get a hole in it and was leaking all over the floor, the inverter smoked Monday morning and an air pressure knob on the engine water strainer intake snapped off. Our Baltic dingy worked out great this weekend all we need is a bigger motor for it.

Amy and Jeremy's wedding photos

The Wedding was great. Laura Lillie took some wonderful photo's for them. If you would like to see the photos click on title above (Amy and Jeremy's wedding photos) to go to her site and click on Proofs then on Amy and Jeremy then password is mickeymouse. enjoy.