Home Sweet Home – A Final Note

Friday May 29th, 2009

It is with mixed emotions that I write this, our final blog entry for our Bahamian Adventure. Although we are incredibly happy to be home, this marks the end of one of the most memorable times of our lives. Two years of planning and 10 and half months of experiencing all coming to a close.

Friends of ours, Mike and Marry, helped us reflect on the trip when we arrived in Chesapeake Bay in April. They asked us “If there was a Rose that we could describe for them, what would it be?”. Well, there were many many roses but if there was one single thing, we both would say that the rose was our relationship. To live on a small boat, secluded for the most part, with all kinds of challenges and come back 10 months later with more confidence in your relationship than when you left, that is truly a “Rose”. We didn’t even attempt to throw each other overboard; not that it didn’t occur to us on occasion.

Mike and Mary also asked, “If there was a thorn, what would it be?”. There were definitely some thorns; most insignificant, but the single thorn would be our dependence on the weather. The constant review of the wind forecasts was draining. Both of us generally try to honour our mutual value of “Freedom”. Well, weather affected our freedom every day. We felt we were constrained on where we could go and when we could go constantly. The possibilities would be endless if only the weather wasn’t a consideration.

The last question was “What were the buds we found along the way?“ There are far too many to include in the blog but here are our top 10:

1. The wide array of wonderful people we met and friends we made.
2. Skipper’s meetings. Tell me again, “How big was that wave?” and “The shark was how long?”.
3. Long walks along the white soft sand beaches.
4. Hiking in the jungle. (OK this one is Al’s not mine) Yoga on the Beach (Monica’s)
5. The colours and clarity of the Bahamian water.
6. Lobster hunting (Al’s) Lobster Eating (Monica)
7. Constantly exploring new terrain.
8. Not knowing what the next day will bring.
9. Constant sunshine
10. Learning – about different cultures, new hobbies, geography, history, oceanography etc. etc.

The picture reminds us of a day that was filled with roses and buds and not too many thorns.

What we appreciate now that we are home.

1. Our friends, family and Fibber, our cat. At least I appreciate Fibber.
2. An abundance of fresh water which means long hot showers, as long as we want and as often as we want. It also means we no longer have to clean the salt off the boat and shine up the chrome everyday.
3. Reliable communications both by Internet and by Phone
4. Electricity – not being concerned that you are using too much just by opening the fridge door. Using the microwave, oven, toaster, hair dryer.
5. Fresh veggies and fruit whenever we want and without hiking or biking miles to find them.
6. Our Car -- Freedom
7. Work – believe it or not, we both missed our work. How crazy is that?
8. Our house, our garden and all our things. Man we have a lot of stuff. It is like Christmas here every time we open up a cupboard or closet finding all the stuff we had forgotten about. Our own laundry facilities.
9. A long run. (Monica’s)
10. Not worrying about how strong and what direction the wind will be later today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day.

OK, I’m done rambling. We look forward to re-connecting with everyone over the next few months.

Weather forecast for tonight, Dark.
No Worries Man.

Trenton, to Fenelon Falls, Ontario

Tuesday May 26th, 2009

Yes, so close and yet so very far. We were ready well in advance to travel up the Trent Severn Waterway on the planned opening day May 15th. However the weather gods were not with us. Since there had been so much rain this spring in Ontario, the opening was indeed delayed. We didn’t know how long it would be but the indications were that it would likely be a week. So we literally abandoned ship in Belleville for 8 days. We left Painkiller in the good hands of Jim and Wilma, while my niece, Lexi and her friend Tyler picked us up and drove us to Peterborough where we had arranged to pick up a vehicle. We drove ourselves home to Fenelon Falls. A bit anti-climatic given we had been away so long. We were surprisingly sad to leave Painkiller behind.

The house was in great shape thanks to the help of our friends and neighbours who watched over it.

A week later, our friends Richard and Marolyn drove us back to Trenton where we started our journey home again. The trip up the Trent Severn was a bit painful. It should have been a breeze but the conditions and volume of boats made for a slow journey. We only got as far as lock 2 when we had our first delay. There were 5 boats locking through ahead of us and one of them ran aground between Lock 2 and Lock 3. Then another boat called in low water warning just after Lock 3. The combination of these events caused the waterway to shut down for two hours while they investigated. Ironically we had waited 8 days because of high water and now we were stopped because of low water. We actually don’t believe it was low as the boat that ran aground was off the channel and we believe the boat that called in low water was simply reading weeds which tend to throw off depth sounders. It was slow running for the first 3 days as each lock was piled up with boats and several were very slow boats that were crippled by the current coming down the system. We generally travel at 7.5 to 8 knots but needed to wait on a houseboat for 6 locks. The houseboat could only travel at 3 knots with the current. We were finally in a spot where we thought we could leave the houseboat behind and make some time when the Lakefield lockmaster said he had noticed a couch floating up stream and he wanted to get it out of the way for us. Garbage is a rare sighting in these waters but I guess it was Prom Night and some overzealous teenagers decided the couch would make a good boat for a late evening cruise. We spent the next 20 minutes watching painfully as the lockmaster tried to throw a line and bring it in. Finally he came back to the lock for a longer rope and we said not to worry, one of us would push it over to him with the boat. So, Papillon who was also traveling with us that day pushed it aside. See pictures of lockmaster catching the couch. Were we ever getting home?

The highlight of this leg of the trip was arriving at Stony Lake. I likened it to arriving in the Exuma Islands Bahamas. It was magical. I can’t believe that we had forgotten how beautiful our waterway is. If you read my last blog entry, you will know that Al and I were considering taking our boat back to the Erie Canal some year in the fall. Well, that’s not happening. Why would we go any further than our backyard? There is no water that we experienced between Lake Ontario and the Bahamas that even comes close to what we have right here in Ontario. And I’m not biased. Anyways, we were fortunate to have our last night on the boat tied up at the Lovesick Lock all by ourselves. Anyone who has had the pleasure of hanging around there will know how special that is. And no bugs. What a treat!

We made it through the Fenelon Locks on Tuesday around 2:30 and Painkiller was safely tied up at Tim and Jan’s dock by 3:30. Our journey is complete.

One more blog entry to sum it all up coming very soon.

Troy, New York to Trenton, Ontario

Monday May 11th, 2009

Again we have new perspective. The Erie Canal westbound was great. In fact we have talked about coming this way some fall to see it when the leaves are turning as we believe it would be spectacular. We spent 4 nights in Waterford exploring the area and then 3 nights along the Canal. Spring is definitely in the air. The weather has become more seasonal; that is colder than when we were on the Hudson River however the toque has been put away for good.

We left Oswego, New York early Friday morning and although we picked great weather wind wise, as you would expect, that meant fog. Lake Ontario was like glass and about a half hour into our trip the fog patches started. In the middle of the lake, you can’t tell just how good your visibility is, as there is nothing to gauge it with so you are traveling blind. Luckily for us we didn’t see or hear (fog horns) any other vessels. We did have a little stowaway on board. See picture of Lucky Bird who joined us about half way across the lake. He came and explored the boat, sat on the steering wheel for a while, then on Al’s knee and then his shoulder. Lucky Bird was with us all the way to the mainland. As soon as we started discussing customs he flew off. I don’t blame him.

We arrived in Picton Ontario on Friday, cleared customs and are now waiting for the Trent Severn to open up. We had a nice dinner with my brother, Curt and his wife Cherlyn which makes it feel like home. The Trent Severn Canal is scheduled to open on Friday May 15th but because the water levels have been high in Ontario this spring, they may delay. We are so close and yet so far. In any case, my next update will be from home.

The Dismal Swamp, North Carolina to Troy, New York

Thursday April 30th, 2009

We left the Dismal Swamp and Robert, the lock master did not disappoint us. We had a private playing of our own conch shells. Al had fashioned two of them for blowing at sunset and Robert eyed them as we were going through the lock. He played both of them beautifully. While all Al and I can do is make a feeble honking sound he can play a wonderful tune. We’ll have to work on our conch playing skills.

We have put on many miles over the past 3 weeks since leaving the Dismal Swamp. From there we stopped in Norfolk and Portsmouth then straight to Solomon’s where we stayed for a week, plugged in as the nights were a little chilly. We had wonderful weather on all our crossings. That would be the advantage of not being in a hurry. We wait patiently for the right weather. And the right weather certainly hit us as we arrived in New York Harbour. The past 7 days have been sunny and for the most part HOT. We have experienced summer temperatures in the high 80’s and low 90’s. This has made the Hudson River a delightful experience. Although we cruised the river last summer, we had a different perspective this spring and were in awe of how beautiful the Hudson River is. We are ready to make our way across the Erie Canal which opens tomorrow.