September 22, 2018

What a difference a day makes with the wind. Compare this picture to yesterdays whitecaps!

 

Here are a few pics of the sunset tonight

 

The moon over the Bay after the vivid Sunset

 

 

We spent the afternoon on Saturday watching the Syracuse vs Connecticut football game. We couldn't get it on our TV, but could get it on my computer. Here is how we spent that afternoon watching college football on TV and PC:

 

 

September 21, 2018

We are still on the boat in Alexandria Bay, NY waiting for the roads to clear up from the aftermath of Hurricane Florence allowing us to return to North Carolina.
Today is an extremely windy day. The winds are blowing at 17 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. It is scheduled to subside gradually through the night as a front moves through, and should be at a reasonable level tomorrow. I have doubled up on our lines for safety.
Here is a picture that I took at 4:00 PM today showing Whitecaps in the basin:

September 16, 2018

Today we took a ride down river on the St Lawrence and saw some interesting sites along the way.
As we entered the River a large Barge was being pushed up river by a large Tug

 

On many barges there is a cut out at the stern that the tug fits into. You can see the elevated helm where the Tug Captain can Navigate from.

 

This is Elephant Rock at the entrance to the Summerland Island Anchorage. This is a large anchorage surrounded by the Summerland Islands. Every weekend you can find boats anchored and rafted together in the anchorage.

 

 

Cottage at entrance to Summerland group.

 

Boats anchored and rafted together.

 

 

Large Cottage on one of the Islands.

 

 

We left the Summerland's and headed down River Toward Singer Castle.

 

 

Brenda and Lulu enjoying the ride

 

 

Another Ship heading up River

 

 Tug pushing Bouy Barge up river

 

 

Sister Islands Light

 

Sister Island Cottage and Light

 

Singer Castle in the distance. Singer Castle was built by the President of Singer Sewing Machines around the turn of the century.

 

Two pics of Singer Castle. The Castle in actually in Canadian waters.

 

We passed by Bolt Castle just before returning to our marina.

 

 

Returning to our marina after a four hour ride in great weather.

 

 

We have been watching the news of Hurricane Florence and worried about our home in Sunset Beach, NC. We had planned to return home this week, but will remain on the boat until we know that we will be able to get to our home. Sunset is still without power, many of the roads are closed, and a curfew is still in effect. The impact of the Hurricane is not over, severe flooding is expected in many areas. We are assuming that we are on high enough ground to avoid the flooding, but we just don't know for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 15, 2018

Last Night several members of the Syracuse Sail & Power Squadron had dinner at Hackers Restaurant at the Thousand Islands Country Club located across the street from our Marina. The Squadron has been getting together for dinner on Friday nights for several weeks. This is the first time we were able to join them. Ken and Karen Green had everyone over to their house on Tennis Island for cocktails prior to the dinner.

We had 17 people seated at the table for the Friday Night Fish Fry

 

 

 

 

After dinner several of us settled in at the bar.

 

Our Server Stacy, and Bartender Dave.

 

On Saturday we sat on the boat and watched Syracuse beat Florida State for their third consecutive win. A great way for them to start ACC conference play.

 

September 13, 2018

We have been glued to the weather channel watching the path of Hurricane Florence. We live in Sunset Beach on the inside of the Inland Waterway so obviously we are concerned. It now looks like it will be a direct hit on Sunset Beach. We are close to the inland waterway, but the property is 37 ft above sea level. So, hopefully we will avoid flooding from the storm surge. The winds and flooding in our area are main concerns. I could also get water in the garage, but it is unlikely to get into the house. I hope that the house structure can handle the expected strong winds.
We were planning to return home next week, but we will now stay on the boat in Alexandria Bay, NY and wait to see what happens. Even after the storm passes, we may not be able to get home because of  flooding in the southern NC counties.
In contrast, here it what the water looks like on the St Lawrence River in Alexandria Bay, NY:

 

We have the opposite problem on the River because the water is getting lower. Many of the boats who were in the slips on my dock closer to shore moved over to the transient docks where the water is deeper. They were hitting bottom in places by our dock. We are on the tee at the end of the dock and have plenty of water, but it is getting more difficulty to get off the boat and on to the dock. At the beginning of the season, the boat was even with the dock. As you can see, it is a long step up to the dock. 

 

All of these boats except the boats on each end were formally on our dock, but moved because of low water. The boats range in length from 36 to 51 ft.

 

Loopers Allie and Jim Cantonis' Mainship430 "Meraki" heads for heated storage at Horizon Marine for the winter. Jim and Allie plan to continue their Great Loop Cruise next season.

 

 

September 12, 2018

I played in a golf tournament today at Craig Wood Golf and Country Club in Lake Placid , NY. which sits on the top of a mountain with mountain views from most holes.  It was the final event of five tournaments run by an inter club seniors group. I was able to play in three of the tournaments held at several of the member clubs in upstate New York. There are teams of 8 players from each club. The group maintains a point system to determine the season winner after all tournaments are completed. My club, The Thousand Islands Country Club, took home the trophy as the season winner.
 Lake Placid is a very scenic area, and I wanted to share the following pictures with you. It was a long day since it took us three hours to get there. My alarm went off at 4:30 this morning.

 

September 7, 2018

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I play golf with the men's group at the Thousand Islands Country Club. We try to get the first starting time which allows up to move along and play 18 holes usually in less than three hours. This is a net skins game that takes two net birds to knock out a natural bird. The maximum handicap allowed is 18. My handicap is currently 9, so I get a stroke on nine of the 18 holes.

Here I am teeing off on the 11th hole this morning. This is a very scenic hole that overlooks the Lake of the Isles behind the green.

 

Harry, Dave, Bill, and Rich at the bar after the round. It was the best hole we played today.

 

We were even par at the bar!

When I arrived back at the Marina, Jim and Allie Cantonis were returning on their dinghy to their boat from shopping in A Bay. They are both loopers on their Mainship 430, "Meraki". They plan to leave "Meraki" in the heated storage in A Bay for the winter, return home, and resume their Great Loop Cruise next year. They started their cruise in Florida, and stopped at many of the same places where we stopped. We started our cruise in Little River, SC.

 

 

 

Here is Lulu in the Starboard Passageway. She looks so little; I guess it's because she is!

 

 

 

September 5, 2018

Many boats are starting to be taken out of the water at the Thousand Islands Club and put into the heated winter storage. The season starts to come to an end beginning on Labor Day.
We moved into the space next to our slip at the end of the dock since the boat that was there has been put into storage. Even though we only moved one slip closer to the river, our view of the St Lawrence and several islands has improved since nothing blocks the view. We plan to be here for a couple of weeks before returning to North Carolina. Here are a few pictures:

 

View from our Salon

 

I played golf today at the Thousand Islands Country Club, where a memorial bench was recently placed on the par 3 Sixteenth hole honoring John Scanlon who passed away earlier this year. As you can see from the plaque on the bench, John had 7 holes in one on this hole. John loved playing golf, and was a long time member of the club. He played with a group known as "the Irish Boys" almost every day at 11:00 AM.

 

 

Here is Lulu's new favorite spot