Boats Too Costly to Keep Are Littering Coastlines

Photo by Brett Flashnick for The New York Times
Officials are investigating a sailboat left on the marshy banks of a creek in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

by DAVID STREITFELD

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Boat owners are abandoning ship.
They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.
The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats. While there is no national census of abandoned boats, officials in coastal states are worried the problem will only grow worse as unemployment and financial stress continue to rise. Several states are even drafting laws against derelicts and say they are aggressively starting to pursue delinquent owners.
“Our waters have become dumping grounds,” said Maj. Paul R. Ouellette of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It’s got to the point where something has to be done.”
Derelict boats are environmental and navigational hazards, leaking toxins and posing obstacles for other craft, especially at night. Thieves plunder them for scrap metal. In a storm, these runabouts and sailboats, cruisers and houseboats can break free or break up, causing havoc.
READ MORE... Click Here

.

.

.

NEAT STUFF - Skype Announces Fragrance Over The Internet

"We're just taking things to the next level" said a Skype spokesperson. "Smell is vital to many industries. The Skype Fragrance API gives (SFAPI) developers the ability to securely pass odors over the Internet." eBay should smile as sales rise in categories like perfume, food, used clothing, and new cars. Portal partners, like LavaLove, are thrilled that pheremones can be used at dating sites. Gamers will be able to find enemies in the dark. Advanced features include fragrance conferencing, fragrance groups, fragrance emoticons and fragrance moods.
.
Of course, this also leaves open a huge area for misuse as well, such as teenage boys passing around their farts to their friends. Some IT managers are upset. "I can''t believe that unapproved smells will be travelling over my network" said one. Yahoo, Rogers and Norton Anti-Virus are rushing to respond with Smell Killers, deodorant sticks, and USB air fan attachments.
.
An anonymous spokesperson for the U.S. government hinted that Homeland Security may try to block today's introduction fearing terrorists and spammers will abuse the new technology. "For instance, President Obama could be embarrassed by inappropriate smells emanating from his Blackberry" he said. Several members of the G7 Nations are meeting to discuss how to tax pleasant odors and the Green Party has expressed concerns over the possibility of increased global warming and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the latest Skype initiative.
.
.

On Paddy's Day there are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.

Cruise Into Spring - Au Revoir!

The Cruising gang leaves Friday. We won't be going this time but we wish everybody a great trip. See you when you get back.

Our UK Friend Jean Sends This: The Theory of Intelligence

I don't think I've ever heard the concept explained any better than this ..

'Well you see, Norm, it's like this . . . A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.'

Over Fifty Years Ago - Age Six to Ten

My first glimpse of North Bay was from this hotel

You can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them

Downtown North Bay 1955 - Click any Picture to Enlarge

When I was in the first grade in 1954- 55, my family moved from Byron near London Ontario (where I was born) to North Bay some 350 miles away. My dad, a salesman in London with Fruehauf Trailers had sold everything including our house to purchase a 50% partnership in a White Truck Distributorship up north. Nearby Elloit Lake was a buzz with the recent discovery of uranium and was experiencing phenomenal growth. Trucks were needed for the mining operation. These mines subsequently closed a few years later, devastating the new truck market, causing the White Truck Distributorship to falter because it was probably grossly underfinanced. In those days the sales agreements through Commercial Credit were “without recourse” (this would apparently never be the case nowadays) meaning the dealership was responsible for the loan and could only attempt to repossess when the truckers couldn’t pay. Rather than give their trucks back, the broke owners would burn them or run them into the bush with water in the engine blocks where they would freeze and be rendered worthless. When the partner (a Mr. Davies) ran off with the money that was left, it completely wiped out our savings and returned my father to the ranks of a salesman again. I have been leery of business partnerships ever since.

For me the relocation seemed like the end of the world and really in some ways it was. I remember bringing kids home from my new school to look at our RCA Townsman 21 television set. Turning it on produced only a roaring, hissing noise and a dynamic image of a blinding snowstorm. You see, there was no television station in North Bay at the time but the kids were still very curious to see anything about the new technology.

Click any Picture to Enlarge

The white cottage at the far right was where we lived in 1955

That was over 50 years ago so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find some old postcards on the internet of my old home town from grade one to grade seven. What are the chances of finding actual pictures of your house when you were six years old?

The main lodge at Torbay in West Ferris. No Club Med!

When we arrived in the great white north, we settled into a cottage on the beach and I mean right on the beach at Torbay Lodge in West Ferris, 2 miles from the city of North Bay. Sand would track in everywhere so my mom kept a broom by the door of the long, skinny cottage. After the summer of 55 when the tourists left for home, there was more selection in residences and we moved twice, ending up less than a block away in a house right in the parking lot of a huge Chinese restaurant the Golden Dragon. The restaurant would seat several hundred and contained seven dining rooms. The Chinese cook staff knew me as “Teem” although I remember eating there only once. The restaurant also had a caged bear in the rear by the beach to entice tourists I suppose. They fed it the leftovers from the restaurant. I can still remember the stink of Chinese food mixed with bear shit rotting in the summer sun. Even then as a kid, I wondered how this helped in their marketing but I guess it reduced their garbage bill.

McCluskey's was next door south across Banner Ave. Lake in the background. Our house to the right (not shown)

Because we were now reduced to near poverty, we rented the house from people known to me only as “the Stovers”. Originally, and before we arrived, there was a Trading Post tourist business right in front of our house. It was gone when we moved in. I think the entire two storey structure was moved and re-established about 500 yards south, past the Torbay Lodge because I remember it next to my friend Sonny Thomas' place in Torbay. Next door (south of us) was O.K. McCluskey’s Drug Store where my sister and I would go after dinner to get a Cherry Blossom or a Drumstick for dessert. Needing money and probably because our property was zoned commercial, my mom was able to secure a Post Office Substation and have it installed right in the front hall of the house. I remember it to be Federal Government Postal Substation SS#1 Site #6. Mom was sworn in and became the postmaster.

The Bay Post was gone when we moved into the "Stover House" behind.

I think this building must have been moved a block south from where we lived

.

Across the street I had a friend named Vernon Mills. My sister Pat played with Vernie's sister Kathy. His back yard was a dense vast forest stretching for miles to the easterly city bypass which was under construction at the time. We were always warned not to play with blasting caps. "Don't Touch Them" was a movie with New York Giant's Willy Mays that was shown at school. The caps were used to detonate dynamite at the bypass through the rocks. The forest is now a subdivision but in those days we would play in the bush all summer. Although large, the forest was bounded on all sides by roads so you could never really get permanently lost.

The Bay Post is still in front of our house in this picture. It was moved I think.

If you knew my mother, then you know that she never had a dishonest bone in her body. A graduate of Westervelt College in London in the thirties, she was a capable and diligent office manager. One time McCluskey came to the Post Office to drop off a large carton of flyers. He paid the appropriate fee to have them included with everyone’s mail on a certain day in order to promote a special sale at his Drug Store. Several weeks later my mother was horrified when she saw the “special sale’ next door and realized that she had forgotten to distribute the flyers. We were sworn to secrecy on penalty of death as she took the box of flyers in the trunk of the car to the end of a dead end road, dug a hole and buried them in the dense forest, miles from home. It was probably out near the rocky hills where she used to pick blueberries.

North Bay had the first federally owned airport in Canada. It was also part of the NORAD and SAGE systems employing Avro CF100’s and Bomarc Missiles. I had a friend named George Morrell whose father was a CF100 pilot. I wonder where George is now?

One time my cousin Lynn and her family was visiting from Kitchener and they were staying at Sunset Park less than a mile away in a rented cottage which included an 18 foot cedar strip boat and oars. Lynn and I rowed around the bay for a while but to make things a little more interesting I decided to try out my uncle Tom’s 5hp Johnson outboard motor that was in the cottage by the icebox. The parents were away and since I was a fairly experienced boater for ten, I assured Lynn that it would be OK. I don’t know if I didn’t do up the clamps that hold the motor to the boat or if they somehow came loose, but I can still remember seeing that green machine lift off the stern of the boat and go suddenly silent as it disappeared into the calm water of the bay. When we rowed back to the spot, we could see the motor through the clear water, lying about ten feet down.

Fearing certain death, we somehow managed to snag it with the anchor and haul it back on board and we rowed back to shore. The motor refused to start, in fact the flywheel refused to even turn. Panic! What now? We lugged the motor past Watt’s Variety Store, past Pirie’s Grocery Store to Horton’s Shell Service Station. Mr. Horton, who I had never meant before seemed to detect our anxiousness. I explained that my uncle didn’t know I had “borrowed” his motor. He methodically removed the cover of the motor and the spark plug. After pulling it over a few times, he cleaned the sparkplug in a sandblaster and put it back together. I can’t tell you the relief I felt when the motor burst to life. Of course in those days, a dime was a big deal to me, so our method of recompense was somewhat limited. Mr. Horton knew and somehow anticipated my financial situation because he told us the repair would be no charge. That little bit of goodwill backfired on him because, rather than encouraging everyone I knew to go to Horton’s Shell, I was so embarrassed, I never saw him again. I learned later that Mr. Gerry Horton was the brother of the legendary NHL star Tim Horton and Tim Horton doughnut fame.

Things were certainly different back then in the fifties. Nowadays parents would be thrown in jail for not watching their kids more closely. I was basically free to boat, swim and roam the forest on my own or with my other pre-teen friends. Back then, people thought nothing of throwing garbage out the window of their cars or throwing beer or pop bottles in the lake (as long as you filled them with water so a boat wouldn’t hit them) I look back fondly at the years I spent up north and although we as a family didn’t have much money, we were never went hungry and I had a great time! With both parents working, I was on my own even more than the others. We were very resourceful and independent little guys. We would ride the bus on our own to downtown and go to the Capital Theatre. Vernie Mills was a paperboy for the North Bay Nugget newspaper and I helped him with his route lots of times because I had nothing else to do. The whole beach strip was a tourist area and was dotted with rental cabins, motels and the usual bars and shops. Part of our daily route was through the rental cabins and motels offering our extra papers for sale. In those days our currency was still pinned to the price of gold but US money was only worth 85 or 90¢ on the dollar so we were not too interested in taking it. We tried to charge 10¢ for every nickel paper and that peed off the Americans but it was good profit.

Other sources of income were discarded pop and beer bottles for 2¢each. Also I learned how some kids would put chewing gum in the coin return of the payphone and retrieve dimes later. Watt’s Variety had a pinball machine that actually returned money. Later they changed it to return tokens for candy etc. I never smoked back then but Vernie showed me how you could find half smoked cigars and relight them. I still can’t stand the smell of a cigar!

The card says Billington, but the Walsh's owned it when I lived there

As I mentioned, my dad was a salesman nearly all his life. He worked for numerous companies and was always looking for that “big deal”. Parts of the 1949 play Death Of A Salesman by American playwright Arthur Miller, had more than a casual meaning to me. Losing all his money was hard on my dad. The northern lifestyle catered to his drinking and he was well known at the local watering holes. More than once, I waited in the car in the parking lot of the Lakeview Inn when I needed to get my dad to do something with me. Don’t get me wrong, it was not devastating like some people’s addictions to alcohol but it did unavoidably change how I viewed the world I suppose.

One time my dad got suckered in to a part ownership of a dilapidated old charter boat called the Pickerel Queen. I believe his partner was a Mr. Goldman or Golding. Likely an aquaintance he met at the Lakeview Inn. Yeah, Jim Golding I think his name was. Officer Golding was a game warden and I remember him coming to our house one evening. Mr. Golding showed me his service pistol and let me hold it. It was the first time I’d ever seen a real handgun, although we used BB pistols to shoot frogs in the bush and I always had toy cap guns. I don’t know how much money my dad lost on that one, but I never ever saw the boat leave its slip on the LaVase River at Champlain Park. A loser I’m sure.

This picture shows the North Bay gate. One year there were so many stinking Mayflies (shadflies) covering the buildings and the streets that a dump truck skidded on the little bugs and demolished one of the columns. When our family moved away to Toronto in 1962, there was still only one column standing. I read that the gate has been reconstructed and now stands in nearby Lee Park

The Chief Commanda was owned by the Ontario Northland Railway and was used to deliver freight, mail and passengers all around Lake Nippissing and the French River. I remember it being as large as any ocean cruise ship. Obviously, we see things differently than the eyes of a young boy. Rumour had it that it was badly designed and it was so top heavy that it had to carry tons of concrete in its bilge to keep it from capsizing in a storm.

We often rented cedar strip boats from the Wharrams at Campinocity beside Parks Creek. (we used to call it Wharram's Creek) The Wharram girls (Charlene was my age) had the use of a huge 35hp (biggest motor around) and this could be the same one. I think they were related to Kenny Wharram the NHL star who would be in his early twenties at the time. We had our own 5hp motor and would use a rented boat to go to the favorite spots like Sunset Point. Walleye fishing is always done at dusk to dark and most often we would catch our limit. I remember coming back with 90 good sized pickerel. (American tourists called them walleyes) Sometimes I would snooze up in the bow among the life preservers and they’d wake me up to drive the boat home usually with five or six beer drinkers on board. I was among the first of the designated drivers I guess. My mom would sit near the bow using the flashlight to see and be seen. Drinking beer and fishing was synonymous back then so you’d have to watch for “deadheads” (floating beer bottles) as you navigated home.

Speaking of Sunset Point, I found this picture which clearly shows the rocky outcropping which was really an anomaly since the shoreline is composed entirely of sand beaches for miles in either direction. It was a favorite spot for picnics and romantic encounters for the older teenagers with cars. One time Vernie and I and some other boys were playing on the point when we began hearing the ricochet of bullets glancing off the water, some buzzing by our heads and spattering nearby boulders. There was obviously some unwise person shooting at the point from a long distance. I doubt if the person shooting could even see us. We knew it was quite a distance because we could not hear the bang of the bullet as it left the rifle. As if it was a common occurrence, we simply moved to the lee side of the point and continued our playing. I think we found some old, large porcelain urinals that were lying on their backs maybe from a hotel fire many years ago. We used to sit in them and pretend they were cars or boats.

.

You can see Sunset Point in the background from our beach. I think the bullets came from this distance.

Another time on a very windy day I fell into the lake at the Sunset Point. I would have surely drowned because the huge waves made it impossible to climb up on the rocks and the breakers were swamping my efforts to stay afloat. One of the boys reached out with his fishing pole. I held on to the end and it gave me just enough help to climb back out.

.

Still another time I was off the Point with an 18 foot Giesler cedar strip and our 5hp motor (same old Johnson - my uncle Tom gave it to my dad) These large rental boats were underpowered with our little 5hp when it was windy. I was out there with someone else but I can’t remember who. Could have been my younger sister or my cousin. The wind and breakers were pushing us nearer and nearer to the point and even on “wide open” we were not making any headway. Lake Nippising is a shallow lake with and average depth of only 15 feet, so it is notorious for whipping up quickly and it has killed many unwary fishermen, not familiar with the lake. Fearing I’d run out of gas, I turned sideways to the breakers and somehow shot away from the rocks without capsizing. Not bad for a nine or ten year old eh? I never told my parents.

.

That was three times I could have been killed at Sunset Point. Not a romantic spot for me!
.
The adventures I had in North Bay appear to be well etched into my distant memory and finding these pictures on the internet allowed the memories to re-emerge after over 50 years. It would be interesting to return some day although I doubt I’d recognize anything.

.

.

.

New Product!

Learn how to use Photoshop and you'll have some fun! (click to enlarge picture)
.
.
.

Wendy's Turn To Host The Circle Of Friends

Anne (left) Barb, Joyce and Pat (right)

Wendy

No end of treats. From left Pat, Patricia (blocked) Wendy, Anne and Barbara

Hazel

Joyce

It was Wendy’s turn to host the ‘Circle of Friends’ girls’ night. Costco came to the rescue with many tasty delights. All the girls showed up except Mary Helen who is in Florida and Joan whose husband Peter called to say Joan was ill. We all hope she is feeling better soon. Tom brought Hazel in from Glencoe and he and I solved some of the world’s problems in the family room, while the ladies gabbed in the living room. It’s always nice to shoot the breeze with Tom and learn more about life in the rural setting from a farmer’s point of view. A good time was had by all and the evening wound up around 9:30.

.

Tom

.

.

.

Exactly Twenty Years Ago - Sound Familiar?

Miami Herald - February 20, 1989 - 1A FRONT PAGE

S&L EXPERTS FEARFUL BAILOUT MAY BACKFIRE

It isn't clear how much the savings and loan crisis is going to cost or when it is going to end, but experts say one thing is clear: Unless appropriate steps are taken, it could easily happen again. Some experts say the Bush administration's plan doesn't deal with major issues that must be resolved to end this crisis and prevent another one. .

Or this from St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN):

Not many have noticed the bottom line of President Bush's plan to rescue the savings and loan industry. Over the next 30 years it is going to cost us, the taxpayers, upwards of $100 billion. We and our children will pay for the greed and folly and arrogance of those who caused the crisis. . .

The trouble is, now it's TRILLIONS not Billions...

.

.

.

I Trust We Are All Having A Happy Valentine's Day!

.

.


.

A Very Sad Goodbye.

Hazel shows us the big reno project in the Village of Point Edward

Paul and Hazel used to enjoy going over to the Port Huron Yacht Club in their little boat

Hazel always had time to talk 'over the fence' when she lived at the condos.

We were shocked when we got to the condo and discovered by the mailroom bulletin board that our good friend and former neighbor Hazel Mellon passed away suddenly last week. Paul and Hazel had just recently moved to their newly renovated home in the village of Point Edward. Hazel was so energetic, golfing nearly every day. She was always a little ball of energy. We will truly miss her. Our hearts go out to her loving husband Paul and the rest of the family.

.

Hazel Mellon
Donations
Big Brothers of Sarnia-Lambton190 George St., Sarnia N7T 4N6Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton230 Cromwell St., Sarnia N7T 3X7
Notice
The Mellon/Beisheim families are deeply saddened to report the sudden passing of Hazel. Wife of Paul, sister, mother, stepmother, grandmother and friend, Hazel was the true inspiration of life for all whom came in contact with her. She will be deeply missed, but her love and memories will be in our hearts forever. At this time the families ask to respect their privacy, there may be a celebration of Hazel’s life at a later date, please no floral arrangements any memorial donations may be made to the Big Brothers and or Big Sisters of Sarnia.God Bless HazelMellon/Beisheim families
A tree will be planted in memory of Hazel Mellon in the McKenzie & Blundy Memorial Forest. Dedication service Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at the Wawanosh Wetlands Conservation Area.

You Never Know Who You'll Run Into

Linda, Jim and Wendy. Click to enlarge

Wendy has a gift certificate to use up at the Bay (Hudson's Bay Company) so we decided to go to White Oaks Mall for seniors’ day 10% off. I haven’t been to this mall for at least five years so you can imagine my surprise when we saw Wendy’s cousin Jim and his wife Linda. They used to live in a beautiful old rural home near Kitchener but have recently moved to Bayfield. Jim is an artist and he used to have his studio in the old home. We stood in the mall talking for at least an hour while comparing notes about caring for aging parents and getting caught up on news. Their new place is a downsize and they told us about the problems of parting with their longtime treasures. After helping to clean out Wendy's parent's house I can sincerely sympathize.

They have bought a sailboat, (which is common for Bayfield folks) so we’re hoping to see more of them “Now that we live on the same coast” as Jim says and now that we're all boaters. Bayfield is 53 miles by water from the Bluewater Bridge and quite an ‘artsy’ destination. We will try to get over this summer since it’s only a dozen or so miles past (Grand Bend where our good friends John and Linda live) and we really want to see our old friends Susan and Mike who also have a place in Bayfield. We’ll see if summer ever comes!

.

Believe It Or Not Your TV Could Freeze

Not pretty - Erin's camera LCD cracked from freezing

I have been reading about LCD displays freezing and breaking in this cold weather. This week we had a first hand experience. My daughter Erin left her digital camera in her car when it had to be towed to the dealer. It got so cold, the screen (viewfinder) froze and broke. Now she's out $$$ for her camera, not to mention $600 for her broken/frozen car key tumbler ignition switch. It’s been an expensive week for poor Erin! Also, my friend David's iPod has quit working from freezing too. It was brand new so he was going to take it back to Best Buy. Keep your cameras, GPS’s and TV’s warm or pay the price!

Check out this link about frozen LCD’s
http://rv-roadtrips.thefuntimesguide.com/2009/01/rv_flat_screen_lcd_tv.php

A scary thought. This whole flat screen revolution could be in big trouble in our climate. Think of the thousands of unheated cottages with big LCD's all popping because they froze and cracked. Wow, I never though of that because the old CRT tube TV’s could not freeze!

.

.

.