Thousands are expected to attend the well-known
street fair in Lexington during the first weekend of August. Organizer
Crystal Partaka said a wide range of artistic media and music draws
people from Florida, California and Arizona.
"There's live
entertainment, new restaurants, boutiques, everything's right downtown. A
lot of boaters come in just for the art fair," Partaka said. "The
weather was beautiful last year and our streets were packed."
International Powerboat Festival
Consider joining us at the condo August 7th to the 9th, 2015 for a weekend of powerboat
racing, live music and shows, great food and fun.
13th Annual Yard Sale Trail August 14 - 16, 2015
This is a HUGE garage sale. 150+ miles of antiques, yard sales, and much more to explore!
From
Algonac in the south to Port Austin in the north, M-25 / M-29 follows
the majestic banks of the St. Clair River, then continues along the
shoreline of beautiful Lake Huron.
I've always wanted a metal detector so when I saw one on sale in June at Harbor Freight, I just had to have one.
Wendy and I went to the beach at Canatara Park and I finally got to try it out.
My bounteous treasure is shown below. I did prove the machine works and look, beside the pull-tab is even an old coin. One cent US, all corroded and green. Wow!
Since Monday afternoon we have been in London, primarily because of Wendy's doctor appointment, but also because the weather deteriorated. Because the outboard motor quit working last Friday and since the part I need was at my mailbox in Port Huron, I hurried back to the condo this morning . I had diagnosed the problem as an open stator coil which, when I get it installed under the flywheel, will (I hope) have us back on the water just as the hot weather returns. Wendy followed in her car later this afternoon, having attended a luncheon with her "Circle of Friends" at the Buccaneer Restaurant in Port Stanley.
So here we are. Together at the condo, quietly contemplating our 43rd wedding anniversary. In some ways it seems like a long time and yet in other ways it seems it has flown by in the blink of an eye. I was so lucky to have found Wendy all those years ago. A song came on the internet Jango radio tonight that I just had to place on this blog because of how the lyrics grabbed me: Lucky.
JASON MRAZ AND COLBIE CAILLAT
"Lucky"
Do you hear me, I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby I'm trying
Boy, I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard
Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Ooohh ooooh oooh oooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
They don't know how long it takes
Waiting for a love like this
Every time we say goodbye
I wish we had one more kiss
I'll wait for you, I promise you, I will
Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday
And so I'm sailing through the sea
To an island where we'll meet
You'll hear the music fill the air
I'll put a flower in your hair
Though the breezes through the trees
Move so pretty you're all I see
As the world keeps spinning round
You hold me right here right now
Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
I'm lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday
To me there isn't anything much more frustrating than an outboard motor that won't start. Especially a motor without an electric starter, that requires me to yank and yank on the cord. Back in July, returning to the condo in eager anticipation of going for a boat ride, my enthusiasm was quickly stolen away by my dead Mercury outboard motor.
I tried everything to no avail. Finally I took off the cover and removed the spark plugs. This allowed me to spin the flywheel quite easily since there was no longer any compression in the cylinders. I checked the ignition leads for a spark and there was none. This meant a failure somewhere in the ignition circuit. Through a little help from the internet and my voltmeter, I was able to diagnose the problem as the stator; the red coil under the flywheel that creates the electricity that causes the ignition coils to fire the spark plug.
The red stator coil was the culprit. Easily accessible withe the flywheel off.
I called around and being the weekend was disappointed to find nobody working. It didn't matter because on Monday I found that nobody locally stocks these parts anyway. I could order one and get it in a few days for $217 + 28 tax or I could get it on eBay for $117 USD ($147 CDN) I saved $100 and had the coil at my box in USA by Thursday.
New aftermarket stator is supposed to run cooler than the OEM coil.
I find when parts wear out gradually, you just get used to the situation. Thinking back, I was yanking the pull-starter more and more before the engine quit running altogether. What a difference with the new stator coil! I'm just glad it didn't let us down under the Blue Water bridge or out on the lake or river. Now the engine starts, usually on the first pull, just like when it was brand new.
It's been awhile since Wendy and I have been out on Lake Huron in a boat any bigger than our dinghy so when our neighbour Lee asked us to come for a sunset cruise I did not hesitate to accept.
Neighbours George (left), Kevin and Lee on the bridge. There was eight of us all together but I was a little remiss. I didn't get everybody in the pictures.
Lee at the helm as we head out under the Blue Water Bridge to the lake.
I cropped out Lee's lovely wife Annette by request since she "does not take pictures". Judy and Wendy shown here.
Click any picture to enlarge it.
Lee called the sunset right, as the calm water reflected the setting sun. I didn't adjust the colour in the picture. It was one of those rare, special, summer evenings when everything was perfect.
Returning by the Winter Harbour the workmen on two docked freighters were still hard at it. It was a great night for a cruise with no wind, no bugs and a nice, warm temperature
A grinder throws sparks as the workers continue into the night in order to get the job finished so the ship can get back to sea and making money. Now nearly 10 pm, we head back to the dock at Lee and Annette's condo.
Wendy bought this wonderful fire pit at Costco a few weeks ago and we've enjoyed it a few times. I was worried about the heat on the deck (fire hazard) so today we drove up to Stratford to Ed's Concrete Products and bought a 40" round slab to put it on. I positioned the 300 pound concrete circle on some hockey pucks to make an air space under it and keep it from rotting the deck. I added a 4 foot smoke stack to create some updraft and get the smoke up higher. I may spray paint the stack in "flat black". We'll see. What do you think?
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Where would I be if my Ronco (Ron Popeil) Showtime 6000 Rotisserie quit working or the glass front was to break? I do have the smaller model 5000 at the condo but I couldn't live in London without my 6000. I happened upon an ad in Kijiji for a spare unit that even included the stand (which I don't have). I have been watching eBay for over a year and the largest machines, the 6000s go for anywhere from about $200 to $500 and more. You can imagine my surprise when I saw one on Kijiji, right here in London advertised for $120. I called and went over immediately. The lady came down to $100 and I was home with my almost new (used twice) treasure. Now if I can only find some Ronco-Spray-on-Hair!
You can read about my first Ronco (Ron Popeil) Showtime 6000 Rotisserie and watch the hokey old video. CLICK HERE.
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The weather was horrid on Saturday as our guests arrived at the condo. David and Reenie, and Bill and Judy arrived in separate cars and I met
them individually at the front parking lot to escort them to the underground parking
where they could enter below without getting soaked.
The wet, cold weather didn't stop us from having a good time though, as
talk was abundant. We got caught up on all the latest especially since
there were new grandchildren in both families.As usual at these condo visits with friends, the food was plentiful and very tasty.
On Sunday the weather miraculously changed for the better. This was good because weeks ago I had booked a cruise. We drove down the U.S. side of the river to Metropolitan Beach to the mv Clinton with Captain Greg for an excursion called "Birds, Boats and Booze".
The Discovery cruises, subsidized by the Metro Parks Commission, and University of Michigan as well as numerous sponsors are very well done and this one turned out to be exceptionally good. If you follow this blog you will remember the two other cruises we've done with the Discovery Tours CLICK HERE.
Bill is always watching for older boats for sale so he enjoyed the departure from the docks.
We were headed to the St. Clair River delta; an area known as "the Flats" a few miles north-east for a total of about 12 miles each way.
This map shows the close proximity to Detroit and the dotted line shows the track where we went on board the mv Clinton.
The obsolete range lighthouses greet us as we arrive at the Flats. You can read more about them HERE. We entered the area by the old, original channel. Over the years the main shipping channel changed and was straightened to accommodate newer, larger ships.
Julie Champion, our knowledgeable commentator, hands out informational materials.
We didn't see too many birds on our "Birds, Boats and
Booze" tour but our very knowledgeable commentator Julie Champion gave us
hours of interesting facts about the boatbuilding industry (Chis Craft
Boats originated nearby in Algonac) and the Prohibition Era. Rum-running
was one of the main industries of this region in the 1920's and 30's.
Tourism on the flats flourished from the turn of the last century on as
huge steamboats brought eager customers from Detroit, only a few miles
south, across Lake St Clair.
Julie had lots of pictures so we could see "then" and "now" . Actually they looked pretty much the same one hundred years ago.
It's easy to imagine the booze runners crossing the narrow waters of the Flats with their illicit cargo. It was legal to produce but not consume alcohol in Canada but illegal to make it at all in USA so our Canadian distilleries rose to world status with the export of liquor to Europe and Cuba - wink wink! Some boats made the trip to "Cuba" 3 times in one day.
Whenever there is something illegal going on you can look for organized crime. Al Capone was in Chicago but "The Purple Flower Gang" of Detroit made big bucks with watered-down booze sales and extortion "insurance" payments to keep your illegal speakeasy running and free of the feds.
Most of the waterfront locations are now owned by the wealthy or yacht clubs.
They did discuss the bird part of the Birds, Boats and Booze Tour and managed to show how even a very natural topic tied into the theme of boats and booze through the massive amount of tourism and hunting in the area.
After the cruise we were all hungry so we drove upriver back to Port Huron and decided to try a new restaurant "Rix on the Rocks" located in the former "Pilot House Restaurant" building right on the river across from the refineries of south Sarnia.
Bill had the "Polish Special" of the day. Even he could not finish the generous portion of cabbage rolls, sausage and perogies. I had the wings (big surprise)and so did Judy. Wendy had a huge Ruben sandwich and fries. All in all a wonderful day was had by all.
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Having power washed the deck yesterday, we were ready to add a much-needed coat of paint/stain to the thirsty surface.
The handle of a fly-swatter in my electric drill made a good stirring device.
One of my most brilliant "think-aheads" was buying 5 gallons of the no longer available oil based paint - eight years ago!
Wendy brushes around the edges as I use an 18" wide applicator brush to cover the area. She had originally thought she would brush the whole deck until I convinced her that the applicator would be a lot easier.
The deck needed this repaint since the last time we painted was 8 years ago. Where does the time go? Although I always dread this chore, the job went pretty fast since there was no colour change and coverage was fairly quick.
The steps are always a longer job. Good going Wendy. She uses the cardboard to protect the wall behind.
The most exciting part of this job is watching the paint dry. The deck always looks so huge with everything removed for painting.
