Windlass Woes

Good thing I tried the windlass before we dropped anchor. It was frozen solid. The bearings/bushings must have corroded, and she was not going to move. I worked on that thing for about three days, and finally we have a working windlass. I had a towel on the deck, and the parts scattered all over. I should have taken a photo to show the admiral I was actually working. Of course, I managed to get invited out to sail two days, and we arrived back at cocktail hour, so that may have delayed completion :) The co-owner (Deb) has arrived, and is looking around at all my completed projects. Guess I shouldn't have sent her all those pictures of me sailing on other boats. I couldn't resist though. Nothing worse than being in a cubicle all day, while someone else is having a great sail. It was enough to get her out here Thursday night. Today we sail, after breakfast, and showers. We have a light wind out of the south, so flat seas, and slow sailing in the sunshine. A dip in the lake sounds good.

South Texas Girl

Our daughter Nicole flew in to see us over the fourth, and it was great seeing her. She is even sporting a south Texas accent. Amazing how fast she adapts :) Nicole will always be a Yorker, but she's losing her nasal WNY Raaachester voice. She hasn't changed much, accept for her being a slave to her iPhone. It was great having her here, and I wish we could all be together again, but they are both pretty independent, and we love that about them. See you in Texas Nicole! Pick out a nice hat for me. A large :) The weather was too rough to to go out in, so we partied at the dock with a few friends, who eventually made it over to our boat for a late night. Everyone was feeling pretty good, but not enough to have prevent a good sail the next day. As you can see, Deb is now healthy. She just needs to get rid of that cough so she doesn't freak everyone out.

A picture of Jeff in the Hunter, toying with Allan in the Pearson. If the wind and seas were up, it would be the other way around.

Finally Kayaking, and Delta sux

Finally, after all this time I actually got the kayak out and paddled my ass off. I had to paddle my ass off, because when I reached my destination, a squall came in. Did not know how long it would last, but the waves were kicking up on the lake, and I didn't want to get stuck on the beach. I launched at Chimney Bluffs, and paddled west, half way to Sodus Point. I should have rode it out, as the weather cleared, and I could have got another hour or two in. I had to get back to the pc to check on the cats flight status. Yes, the cat finally made a flight. After the worst customer service experience, at an airline (Delta), I got Chewy on a flight. After getting to the ticket counter 2 hours ahead of time, and first in line, I was told they could not help me until the Northwest ticket folks showed up. What, didn't you merge? "Sorry sir, please have a seat out of the line". How am I supposed to recognize a Northwest ticket person? "Light blue shirts sir, have a nice day". So I was escorted out of the ticket line, and told to wait an hour. Five minutes later they let six other northwest passengers in line to wait for the NW people. What the hell? I got into line with the cat, but now instead of first, I was seventh. When my turn came, after an hour and a half, the woman at the counter decided to clean up the floor, and surrounding area. "Hey! Can you please stop cleaning the floor and help me buy a ticket, I've been here for over three hours!" She reluctantly helped me, seeing a crazed looking customer, but eventually deferred to someone else, who then got on the phone for 15 minutes, who then told me I had to drive to the cargo area. I was going crazy here trying to remain cool. I drive over to the cargo area, and it's closed! I managed to invent some new swear words at this point. I drove around the airport, found a cop, who told me I might want to look at the older building next to the bombed out looking building, as there are some people working there. What the hell. I get over there, and some guy yells "You the cat man? Let's go, you runnin out of time man." The guys there were actually pretty cool, one ended up being a neighbor, and they got Chewy on a plane. Then....they lost her. My daughter called, sobbing, saying they lost the cat. No one knew where the cat was, but it turned out they never scanned it in on the way to Detroit. Phew, that could have been a disaster. Chewy is now a resident of Portland Oregon, and can now rub her butt against someone else. I think I still smell like cat :( Oh, almost forgot...DELTA SUCKS! Time to forget about all that, and enjoy a little nature. Today I'll try to paddle Port Bay. Below is a map showing the kayaking route. Kind of a wimpy trip, but the weather did not cooperate. View chimney bluffs kayaking in a larger map