Not To Miss A Beat, We Race To Sarnia For The Powerboat Festival.

We always enjoy the annual Sarnia/Port Huron Powerboat Races and for the last few years we've been paying the modest sum of $5 to watch the races from the best vantage point possible on the Duc D'Orleans Tour Boat tied up along the Sarnia waterfront.

The Duc is situated right at the hairpin turn and close to the best action in the race. What a deal!

The people who own this boat looked at buying our condo so we recognized them.

Looks like John doesn't recognize me. Ha ha!.

That doesn't matter because his lovely wife Becky (right) did. Lol!

Our good old friend George from the condos went with us.

George moved to the condos about four years after us so we've been good friends for a long time. Next April would be 20 years since Wendy and I bought there.

Having a shaded spot was great and a nice breeze off the river made it perfect. Drinks and a washroom on board... priceless!

This is Stuart. He is a realtor from Tampa. I got gabbing with him and he said he wanted to buy a place here in Sarnia since he is from here and has relatives living in Sarnia. He actually came over to see our condo the next day and made a verbal offer to buy it - cash. Said he could put it on his Black VIP American Express Card. Wow! We explained that we already had a conditional offer but would entertain his offer if things unraveled. Pays to gab I guess. This kind of stuff keeps things interesting. Ha ha!
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MullBain... The Hottest Summer I Can Remember

Good friends, good weather, and a great spot to meet... Wood Lake is about 20 miles east of Bracebridge. Our hosts John and Cheryl made sure it was one of the best highlights of our summer. We always have fun with them.

Before we left I spun up a big pork shoulder on the rotisserie. I cooked it for 7 hours in LOndon because I figured it would be so hot up north that we wouldn't want to heat up the cottage. I was right. We have had the most 80+ degree days that I can remember this year. What a summer!

Of course extreme heat always makes it possible to get a few thunderstorms but it couldn't put a damper on or fun.

We took an excursion drive a few miles to the Black River at Vankoughnet to visit the falls. The dry weather has reduced the river to a trickle compared to other pictures I have seen.

Above is an internet picture of these same falls, probably in the spring.

I couldn't believe it! Pete cast a rubber worm in and almost immediately reeled in a nice largemouth bass. Good going Pete.
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If Cruz Could Run - Why Not Me? I'm Canadian Too.

I might have even taken the VP job if I was asked.
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3 T's Tree Service (Trimming, Topping, Take-downs)

Our property was hit hard by the "Emerald Ash Borer", a terrible little bug that reputedly, originally, came over to USA from China in shipping pallets. They crossed the St Clair River into Canada a few years ago and have caused horrendous destruction, wiping out most of the beautiful Ash trees in our province. All the dead and dying trees must be taken down before they fall down and do great damage or injury.

It's been a headache that I have been procrastinating with for the past few years as the remedy could have been very costly to say the least. These are big trees that I can not cut down myself. The province has spent millions trying to eradicate the insect but has lost the battle. This means there will likely not be anymore Ash trees left soon.

Clarence came by a couple of weeks ago on his bicycle and knocked on our front door. I was a little skeptical when he wrote up the quotation on his little note pad:

The price was very low but I was relieved to see the 3 men on the job were actually very professional. Mostly self-taught I suspect, they claim to have worked on government contracts to cut down and remove these trees. I believe Clarence when he says they have many years experience with trees.

Clarence disassembles a dead ash tree. Not something I can do.

These are not little trees!

 Mike drops the limbs with precision. There was actually more than 12 trees if you count the multi-trunk clumps which they call one tree.

These country boys did the job for about the price of ONE tree if quoted by a name brand tree service. Tomorrow they return to clean up the carnage... I hope!  Well, I know they'll be back because I only paid them half of the money, and clean-up was included in the price.
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Rix On The Rocks in USA On A 90 Degree Day.

Over to USA to get the mail and essentials (cheap booze).

In the nice weather we like to go to Rix on the Rocks. A restaurant that used to be called the Pilot House. At the south end of the city of Port Huron MI. I don't know how long it will be here since it looks a little too empty for a Saturday noon. Hope they get a good dinner clientele.

The food, simple, while not spectacular, tastes great in the open air with a nice view of the river.

The servings are generous and they make a mean Reuben sandwich with fresh cut fries. The large pitcher of icy cold beer goes down well in this heat. For $35 for 2 with tip, it makes for a great lunch. CLICK HERE to view their page.
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Sleepy No Wake Zone

Bridgeview Marina is actually comprised of two marinas. The main part is where our condos are located at the north end. There is also another, smaller lagoon called the Guildwood (named after the Best Western Guildwood Inn that used to own it) at the southerly end. There is a meandering canal through a 9 hole golf course and grassy wetlands. This canal connects the two marina entities. It always reminds me of some place in swampy Florida, especially when it's 90+F like it's been lately. I snapped this "artsy" pic of a dilapidated sign about half-way along the canal on the golf course side. I'll call it my artsy picture for today. As usual, you can click on it to enlarge it.
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More "Shipart" - Artsy Pic for Today.

Click on the "objet d'art" to enlarge it.

This is an abstract view of the Sarnia refineries as seen from the US side of the St Clair River.

I created the picture using a close-up of the crusty, rusty sides of the freighter Algorail which has been tied up at the Sydney E. Smith dock all summer.

I superimposed a sillouhettish refinery shot and  - voila! My artsy pic for July.

Look at all the "art" on the sides of the Algorail freighter!

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Port Huron to Mackinac Island Race 2016

Click on any pic to enlarge.

Every year we enjoy watching the sail boats come up the St Clair River and head out a few miles for the start of the famous Port Huron to Mackinac race.

What turned out to be the winning boat Areté was tied up at our marina for the past two weeks as the crew readied her for the race. You can CLICK HERE to read the newspaper article about the record-setting win.
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