A Week Away in the States

A Texas style cook-off on our back deck. Ed and Dave pose "for the blog"

Penny's sister Linda and her husband Jack drove by car to visit on their way north. You may recognize Jack from Boater's World.
Bill, the Coyote
Rick and Lucy talked about their trek in Taiwan

That's me with Damien from Ohio

Damien and Barb

Even flowers on the table courtesy of Damien and Barb

Ed and Penny

Wendy talks with Carol and Tom

It looked better cooked!
Pauline puts up with Bill the Coyote. They are new condo neighbors but we've known them for years.

Did I mention Damien?

Click the picture to enlarge Brian. Or maybe that isn't appropriate!


Lovely Joanne always listens to my BS

Ed, Abbey and Tom

The Landing Restaurant. Yummy.

The "Birthday Girl" Christine and below her husband Brian

Me, Joanne, Dave, Ed, Penny, Penny's sister and b in law, Linda and Jack (drove up by car to visit) and Wendy

Penny, Brian and Chris tell a few stories

Carol, Tom and Ed

On Friday the weather man was kinder than the past few weeks. He was now calling for hot weather all next week. We decided to take the Phoenix up the USA side of Lake Huron to Lexington, MI some 20 miles north of the condo to watch a concert in the park Friday night featuring Thornetta Davis. We had seen her in Lexington two years ago and were very impressed with her vitality and talent. It has been said if Motown Records still existed, she would surely be a superstar and I agree. Her band is exceptionally good. We intended to return to Point Edward Saturday but… When we arrived in Lexington we were pleasantly surprised to be assigned dock #10 which co-incidentally was right beside condo neighbors Dave and Joanne. Dave met us at our slip and helped us tie up. He explained that he was on a week’s vacation here and was waiting for three or four more boats from our marina that they would be staying all weekend. This sounded like the makings of a party. Ten years at the same condo/marina and we still barely ever see a lot of the people there. How weird is that? Again, my fault I think.

Anyhow, the other boats soon arrived and an impromptu dock party ensued. Everyone brought snacks and drinks and music evolved from one of the boats sterned in to the dock. Later, the concert went off as expected. Wendy and I were amazed at how many people of every age, got up and danced to the jazz/rhythm n blues/Motown tunes. Wimpy’s restaurant was represented in a tent in the park and we bought a few burgers and pizza for dinner. At $1.75/burger, and $1.25/slice, we got out of there for $5 each for dinner, with entertainment. The others went to dinner at a pizzeria up on the main drag and missed most of the concert.

Saturday brought nice weather although breezy. The dock party resumed and snacks extended the normal dinner time to around 8 pm when we finally all moved to The Landing Restaurant on the waterfront for a really nice late night dinner. I had the prime rib. (only served Fri and Sat) It was so-oooo good!

Sunday, because we ate so late, we all agreed we would eat first and snack later. It was planned that we would all meet on shore on the grassed area around 4pm to run the barbeque grills. Another great shore party was sure to ensue. We met a lovely couple from Maumee OH near Toledo. Damian and Sharon lent us some tables and said they would see us later as they were eating at the Landing Restaurant. Rick and Lucy told about their trekking tour of Thailand.

Monday, and everybody left for home except Dave, Joanne, Ed and Penny. Internet service stopped working on Sunday and never resumed. Consequently I can’t post this stuff until I get back. The absence of boats in the harbor compared to the weekend had no effect on the fun that one can have here in Lexington. The wind diminished and the temperature stared to climb. We decided to head up for supplies early, before the temperature climbs into the high 80’s with 78% humidity. (feels like 96) The AC’s are getting a good work out! The Phoenix is cool and dry and it’s like a refreshing sea bath when you go into the cabin. Dave, Joanne, Ed and Penny brought the bbq over to our back deck for a party and dinner cooked on board.

Tuesday the rest of the group ate out but we stayed and had burgers on board. Hot hot hot!

Wednesday hotter, nearly 100 F. It was so hot we hung around in the shade until about 4pm. Then we loaded lawn chairs, snacks and refreshments into the dinghy and motored over to the beach where we joined Dave and Joanne for a swim. Later in the evening we had yet another dock party with dinner around 8pm.

Thursday could break a new record temperature for this day. We headed back towards Sarnia around noon. By 3pm we were back at our dock after getting a much needed sewage pump-out.

Maintenance This Week.

The weather was not so hot all week so I spent most of it doing maintenance jobs like installing a new wash down pump on my boat and sanding and polishing the whirlpool bathtub in the condo.

On my boat I have no less than 14 pumps:

Three bilge pumps
One shower sump pump
Six engine circulating pumps (two on each main engine and two on the generator)
One circulator pump for cooling the two air conditioners
One raw water pump in the toilet
One fresh water pump supplying clean water to three sinks and the shower as well as a drinking water filtered spigot and the ice maker.
Finally, there is one pump that pumps water directly from the lake to use for general wash down purposes.

Since this latter pump stopped working and since it never did work very well (I could barely get a trickle out of the hose up on the fly bridge) I’d bought a full size 110 v. pump like one you would have had a cottage. As luck would have it, I had a spare sea-cock and intake in the bottom of the boat. This through-hull fitting had previously been used to evacuate waste from the holding tank. Since this practice is illegal in the Great Lakes, the hoses and plumbing had been removed leaving a spare 1in. connection from which I connected my new pump. What a difference now! The gauge reads 55 psi. Now I can wash away flies on the go, or God forbid, put out a fire with all the gusto of a good garden hose at home.

Then there was the tub in the condo. It was looking pretty grim beside our gleaming new Dresden Blue toilet seats. Years ago we had placed some potted plants in the tub when we went away on vacation and when we returned, were horrified to see that the plants had left large stains in the bottom of the tub. Rather than paint, I decided to try to sand out the stains with fine sandpaper and then use rubbing compound to bring the shine back to the fiberglass. It worked. After much elbow grease and boat wax, the tub now looks nearly as good as new.

A Very Pleasant Sunday Afternoon.

Mike and Rosanna arrived around 1 PM on Sunday. Since they had never been here before, we gave them a quick tour of the condo. It’s hard to believe we’ve had the condo for over ten years and some of my friends have never been here. That’s my fault I fear.




Within an hour, we were on board the Phoenix, touring the area and enjoying snacks on the bridge. Today, Mike was acting helmsman. Mike has boated here in Sarnia on other boats before. Since Mike worked for General Motors Diesel for many years, he had some excellent tips on diesel maintenance pertaining to the Caterpillar engines. I never thought about algae control in my fuel although I knew it was of critical importance in southern climates. Mike pointed out that the engine room is hot and the fuel is circulated through the engine continuously, causing it to warm up. The warm diesel fuel can breed algae that can clog filters and stop you dead. I guess I’ve been lucky. An algaecide is now at the top of my list.

After the boat ride, we moved up to the condo for a nice BBQ steak dinner and more conversation. Where does the time go? Eleven-thirty and the end of a pleasant Sunday afternoon indeed.

Port Huron to Mackinac Race

Crowds line the shores of the river to watch the parade of boats heading out for the race

Saturday weather was near perfect for the start of a huge sailboat race. A 10 to 12 knot NE wind was enough to churn up three foot waves though. This tended to cause the Phoenix to pitch a bit and since we had some first time sailors on board, we decided to head back down river for a very pleasant afternoon anchored at the sand spit on the southern tip of Stag Island.

The largest and fastest boats start last

Backup helmsman Andrew wets his whistle with Kyle on the bridge

Junior crewman Lauren seemed to enjoy her first sea journey!

Becky, her baby Lauren and father Kyle relax in the salon

Our daughter Erin and Lauren are not the least bit interested in the crowds on shore.

Dinghy rides and swimming were the order of the day later at Stag Island.

Bayfest Blast!

With the bigger than ever annual Bayfest running concurrently with the Port Huron to Mackinac Race, our little village was abuzz to say the least this weekend. The local Best Western and Holiday Inn was bursting at the seams and the Bluewater Bridge was lined up with cars from the USA. Festivities were set to run Wed. to Sun.. with other local bands playing in the park in Point Edward and a huge new stage set up in Sarnia’s Centennial Park.

On Friday night, since our house guests Jake and Andrew had not yet returned from the casino, Wendy and I rode our bikes over to Centennial Park to check our the action around Bayfest. As we approached the park, there was a cluster of big black limousines parked waiting for their passengers. A limo driver held up a ticket and asked me if I’d like to buy his $60 ticket for $30 since he could not leave his vehicle unattended. I offered to pay and let Wendy go by herself. I said I could wait here with the limo driver since one could hear the music fine from there. Wendy would not agree to that so I told the driver we would see if we could buy another ticket closer to the gate and if so, would come back for his. I figured one way or another, I might get Wendy in and I’d watch the bikes outside.

The next couple of things to happen would be hard to believe if you saw it on Seinfeld. We inquired at the ticket booth in spite of being told earlier that the Toby Keith Concert was sold out, the attendant said he did indeed have two tickets left but for over $100. We were standing with our bikes, not twenty feet from the entrance gate when Wendy spotted a leaf or piece of paper flutter to the ground ahead. You can imagine our surprise when she bent down to pick it up and saw it was an intact genuine concert ticket. Unbelievable, but wait… Ten or fifteen minutes had passed since we spoke to the limo driver who was I’m sure was contently sitting in his car after selling his ticket to one of the thousands of passers by. We rode our bikes back to the limos and amazingly, the driver still had the ticket. I gladly paid him $30 and he thanked me saying he was glad someone could use it. So it was that I gained admission to my first ever “rock concert” and at the bargain price of $15 each! We chained the bikes to the fence and ventured in.

35 Years Married!

On Sunday, to celebrate our anniversary, we went to Huron Oaks Golf Course in Bright’s Grove to Bogeys Restaurant. How lovely it was to sit on their outdoor patio and be waited on.The rest of the day, we enjoyed a few cold drinks on the Phoenix, tied up at our dock, watching the world go by.

The Port Huron to Mackinac Race Is On Next Weekend July 19th to 21st

The Mackinac Race (pronounced Mackinaw) is one of the longest fresh water sailboat races in the world. Sponsored this year by Chrysler after a 17 year stint by Bacardi Rum the race is hosted by Bayview Yacht Club. There are all kinds of festivities going on. We usually take the Phoenix out to watch the boats start on Saturday noon. Thousands of people line both shores of the river to watch the parade of sailboats make their way against the current out to the starting line a few miles off shore. It's quite a sight. I'll post pictures from last year soon. If anyone is planning on coming to Sarnia this weekend - let me know!

Happy 23rd Birthday Flash!

Flash relaxes in the sunshine.
Our black cat Flash turns 23 years old on Monday July 16. I was in my 30's when we got him. He is our vet's (Dr. Staples) oldest living cat client. Flash is deaf and has lost his voice. He receives daily injections of sterile saline solution to keep him hydrated since he has had failing kidneys for the past few years. Our son Tim gives him 200ml every day. But he's still alert, loves to be petted and can still purr. What is the secret of his (161 cat-year) long life? I suppose no female felines (he was fixed at 6 months), no smoking or alcohol. No stress, he never really ever worked and he gets plenty of sleep. He also gave up mice years ago and he's never eaten vegetables!

Ribfest Is On This Weekend July 13th to 15th

In order to give an accurate description of Ribfest, Wendy and I decided to wander over for lunch at noon on Friday. Unfortunately they were still setting up so we didn't get a total experience. There was not much atmosphere. No music, no beer etc. but the ribs were very good so that's what really counts. Tonight at 8pm there's a free April Wine concert and tomorrow Kim Mitchell.
Here's the clip about Ribfest:



Finger Lickin' Good Thursday to July 15 Get ready to get sticky.
The annual Sarnia Kinsmen Ribfest is serving up barbecued ribs and entertainment.
Ribfest begins at noon Thursday and July 13 and 11 a.m. July 14 and 15 in Centennial Park on Front Street in Sarnia.
Eight teams from across Canada compete, trying to woo judges with their recipes.
Other highlights include a beer tent, entertainment (April Wine, Kim Mitchell) and a youth talent show. The event is free, but donations are being accepted during evening concerts.

Stifling Heat and Humidity Ends

The AC's (both on the Phoenix and in the condo) have been getting a workout this past week. Humidex levels soared to 100F so it was nice to take the boat out on the lake to cool off.

Monday we went by boat over to Port Huron Michigan for lunch at the Quay Street Brewery It's nice because we can tie up at their dock and eat on the patio right beside our boat. The Phoenix is in the background.

Since our little village of Point Edward receives millions of dollars ($20 million since 2000) from the resident casino, most of the money is turned to beautiful improvements. One of these is a great paved bike path which connects up with an already terrific path built by the adjacent city of Sarnia. We like to bike around on nice days.

Blog Holiday Break - KETCHUP

I took a month off from blog writing, primarily because there hasn’t been a whole lot happening. The events that are of significance, are listed by date as follows:

June 9 Fleetwood Country Cruise In

My good friend Mike and his friend Rosanna

Fleetwood Country Cruise-in was a real success. At about 8:30 AM I picked up my good old friend Mike Manzara and his friend Rosanna in my 1948 Oldsmobile. We headed out in the country to the magnificent mansion owned by Steve Plunkett. New this year was a steam display. There were two beautiful old tractors but the star of the show in my opinion was the steam shovel. Operators in period clothing pulled the large levers that made the old machine scoop and load sand into an antique dump truck which circled the area and then dumped it’s load back by the shovel. I was amazed at how small the bucket was.

Rosanna remarked: “Just think about the monumental task of constructing huge projects like the Hoover Dam with this type of equipment!”



George Barris was back again this year with more of his Hollywood custom cars.


Another “Batmobile”? This time a Batmobile Limo. Holy cow!

Workers in the big tent prepare for the evening dinner and show with Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell

Rosanna steals the show in front of my '48 Olds

June 15 New Dinghy

My Father’s Day present was delivered today. A brand new inflatable with a 15hp Mercury outboard. Wendy said if I don’t get a new dinghy that doesn’t leak water to knee deep and a motor larger than our old 3.3hp Armstrong, (I call it “Armstrong” because of the exercise required to start it) I might as well forget boating with her this year.

June 24 John and Linda visit
- Wendy never scrimps on the hors doeuvres and the steaks were nice and thick!

We always have a good time when our long time friends visit. Everybody these days seems to be consumed with appointments and obligations so our only complaint is we don't get together often enough.

June 28 New crowns $1800
- The dentist figured I better have two crowns to hold my expensive root canal teeth together. This brings the total to well over four grand! Maybe I can use it as a tax deduction.




June 30 David and Reenie, Bill and Judy Visit

Bill and David tour the boats around Bridgeview Marina

- It’s never hard to laugh until tears come to your eyes when David, Bill and I start to kibitz. As friends since pre-high school, we all grew up in an environment that included boats, so the conversation usually reverts to boats or boating although it is never restricted to that by any means.

Believe it or not, you could own the Southern Marine FREE! To a good owner. Or a huge dumpster!

Bill examines the huge yacht up close. Judy always said "He can look all he wants - As long as he never buys anything."

Any race, religion or political subject is fair game; nothing sacred, and we usually cover all the above in events both past and present from grade 7 (when I met them) to now. Verbal diarrhea is the order of the day as even the ladies move to other areas to participate in their own brand of yakity-yak. As much as we admonished our guests to come as you are, the snacks and food items were so plentiful that they wouldn’t fit into the condo fridge. Extra coolers rolled in - Dr. Atkins would puke!

Wendy searches for space for a pie in the overloaded fridge

A step back in time. No visit to "the Point" would be complete without a couple of pitchers of draft at the Balmoral Hotel

Bill dons an apron ready to help out. The amount of help was proportionate to the size of the apron. Or is he hiding something?

Reenie loves to shop - Canada Day Ethnic Festival at Canatara Park

While we were watching - Tragedy Strikes


Here's the clip from the local radio station:

Sun Jul 1 2007 - A Canada Day outing on Lake Huron ends tragically. A 52 year old man from Sherbrooke Quebec is missing and presumed drowned.Lambton OPP say a Sarnia resident was navigating his 26 foot power boat onto the lake from the St Clair River just before 2pm when a bumper, used to protect the boat while docked, blew off the deck into the water. The victim jumped into retrieve it but was overcome by the waves. The boat operator and the man's son jumped into the water to assist him. Police say before they were able to get to him, he slipped beneath the surface.The two abandoned their search and the power of the 2 metre high waves and strong current forced them to shore.The lone person that was still on board was unable to operate the craft. It was left adrift and floated ashore, beaching on the west end of Canatara Park. The name of the victim has not been released.

Finding Closure
Fri Jul 6 2007 - Jean Marc Delisles family is thanking the community for its support following the tragic accident that took his life. The 52 year old drowned in Lake Huron in two metre high waves after jumping from a pleasure boat last Sunday afternoon. Delisles brother-in-law Adel Amin says the family has found some peace now that his body has been recovered. Delisle's body was found around 9pm Thursday, near where Mr Delisle had disappeared off Canatara Park.

Other pressing items on our busy agenda:

New toilet seats
- Hard to find Dresden Blue, American Standard toilet seats.
- What a treat. Our condo is now approaching 25 years old and the “luxury” fixtures are getting so rare they’re starting to come back in vogue


New stereo on the Phoenix
- My old stereo on the Phoenix quit working, so I go a new one that plays discs, mp3’s and SD chips etc

New subwoofer
- Off eBay, I bought a powered subwoofer. Rap music even sounds somewhat tolerable.

Repair boat horns
- Don’t ask me why two airhorns would quit working but… (ongoing project)

New hot water tank in condo
- I’ve had three hot water tanks rupture in my lifetime. I'm told 7 years to failure is common, 15 years nearly unheard of, so I figured I’d avert disaster and replace our old 13 year old 1994 model with a new one that sits in a special pan plumbed to the floor drain (just in case)

New Water heater sits in a pan to collect any leaked water and direct it to the drain. Should be code!

The hot water tank is cleverly placed in the attic and the floor drain is also brilliantly placed on top of a mound. The water would go everywhere but down the drain, cascading through the three floors below. How much insurance would you need to fix this preventable disaster?

New automatic water powered dock hose reel
- Canadian Tire had these nifty hose reels on for half price. Just hit the lever and the hose winds in under the power of the city water pressure. I got one for Wistful Vista too.

Analyse a water leak in the Phoenix (ongoing)
- There’s a small puddle in the forward bilge that defies explanation. I’m checking for AC condensate, rain water, shower leak, etc. Although it only amounts to a few cups, the search goes on

Plunkett's Car Show is Saturday, June 9

Last year I parked with three Chevys

With a little cooler weather on tap this week, conditions look great for the 3rd Annual Fleetwood Country Cruize In Bigger and more attractions than ever. There's even a rumor that Jay Leno might show up. This year the Oldsmobile Club of Canada is holding its annual Canadian Oldsmobile Summer Nationals meeting at the Plunkett show so I'll likely park with the other Oldsmobiles this year. Last year as you can see in the pic I parked with three other friends, Barry, Murray and Mario. (all Chevs)

Here are my notes from last year's show:

"Had an absolutely lovely day at the Steve Plunkett mansion in London ON . This was the second annual event of its kind and surpassed all expectations as far as the number of participants and spectators. This was my first visit to this wonderful event and all I could say all day was WOW! Hundreds and hundreds of vintage cars from far and wide. Labatts had some antique beer trucks and General Motors brought some of their latest Cadillac models and a concept car. Wendy and I saw quite a few old acquaintances including Charlie Miller and his family, Dean Glover, Ken Hill, Andrew Moffitt and his Mom and boyfriend and not to mention the small entourage with our convoy of 4 cars that arrived together. We spent most of the day wandering around looking in all the amazing cars . Many of these cars either come from far away or are not usually seen at the local cruise nights . As you can see by the flyer there was the George Barris cars of the Monkey mobile, the Batmobile, the Munster's car and the James Bond Goldfinger Aston Martin.

Around noon there was a private air show by a trio of vintage Harvard training planes. Rumor has it Plunkett donated $100,000.00 to a charity and in return the planes performed for the eager audience.

The Plunkett estate has it's own private golf course and the entire course was littered with over 500 Corvettes. We didn't stay for the dinner but the tent where the catered affair was to be held was a sight to behold . Elegant table settings on the grass floor in a huge tent for 2200 people. Someone said it was the largest catered event in London's history. A gourmet dinner under a brand new huge white circus tent. The event was catered by Custom Cuisine (London's foremost caterer) and the menu for the evening included grain fed chicken, baby back ribs, potatoes, vegetables, strawberry shortcake and coffee.

As usual I took about 200 pictures so if anybody's interested in seeing them I'd be glad to work out a way to get them to you.

When I returned to my car, I noticed I had received an invitation to participate in the Willistead show in Windsor.

http://www.willisteadclassic.com/main.html

This show is very prestigious, by invitation only and is held at the mansion built by Edward Chandler Walker, second son of Hiram Walker of Hiram Walker Distillery fame. (As you can see by the accompanying link ). Although my car is quite pristine I don't believe it's ready for a concourse d'Elegance . That is the epitome of vintage cars shows and is judged with very critical eyes. Usually in concourse d'Elegance every nut and bolt and every speck of dust is considered in the judging. Think of Pebble Beach or Palm Beach or Meadowbrook for example.

Although I was very flattered to receive the invitation, I don't think my car, without considerable work and attention to the minutest of details would measure up to the occasion. It would be fun though, to take it down there and participate in the festivities as an invited guest of Willistead. Even knowing the car wouldn't be considered in the judging, it could be a lark to take in the VIP treatment, spend the weekend in Windsor and have a fun day at the Hiram Walker mansion. Probably as close as I'll ever get to that kind of pucka pucka performance, so who knows? Maybe we'll attend!" [didn't]

As for this years Fleetwood show, the only reason I wouldn't go is rain. Can you imagine 2500 cars on a golf course in the rain? They'd need horses to pull them through the mud!

See my May 10th post further down this page..

Launching and Recommissioning "the Phoenix"

The last week of May was hot! With temperatures in the 90's and a gentle south wind, my thoughts turned to boating. On Friday the first of June, Wendy and I drove from London to Port Lambton, some 26 miles south of Point Edward on the St Clair River. When we arrived, St. Clair Marina owner Steve Coopman had the Phoenix waiting at the dock. We keep the boat here for the winter in heated storage. I looked at our decrepid old Zodiac with it's 3.3hp motor and before I left, I bought a new dingy and a brand new Mercury 15 which Steve will deliver as soon as he installs the davit pads.

The trip up-river was uneventful on the glass flat river as the Phoenix's twin Cats purred smoothly. I have arranged to berth the Phoenix again in the same slip as last year. An excellent spot where one can sit and watch the world go by with a great view of the marina, the fuel dock, the launch area and wave at passing boats heading in and out. With fuel costs so high, more people are chosing to party at the dock.

I buy my fuel (as do many Canadian boaters) across the river in Port Huron Michigan, but even there, costs are soaring. Gasoline is selling for $3.75 a US gallon (4 liters) and diesel (which I use) sells for $2.97 ($0.75/liter) but even so, it's way cheaper than Canada's marina price. Michigan does not add the "road tax" like our brilliant government does. I still have 8 or 9 hundred liters left from last year that I bought at a whopping $3.06 per gallon (that's even more than it costs this year!) The Phoenix holds 400 US Gal. so you figure it out! (1 US Gal = approx 3.8 liters)

Saturday, we checked everything out and went out a few miles on Lake Huron and just drifted on the flat lake, watching a sailboat race labouring in only a 10 knot southern breeze. Eighty five and sunny - another tough gin and tonic day!