August 9, 2014 exploring Toronto

We had a lazy morning with eggs and toast and a beautiful view from the Jonas’ condo on the 27th floor.  It overlooks the Rogers Centre-Toronto Blue Jays stadium, Lake Ontario, and the CN tower was off to the left.

Lunch-street hot dog vender, one of our favorite places.  We took the subway to the Taste of Danforth, a Greek festival in the neighborhood where Kaye Leslie lives.  For over 20 years we have been guiding visually impaired people cross country skiing.  Today we had 2 blind people guide us through the streets and subways of Toronto.  That was unique.  They know their city.

At the festival, we found the beer tent with Greek music and dancing.  We shared a table with another couple and found out they were sailors.  Kaye was helping a friend at their restaurant for the weekend.  But she took the night off to have us over for a BBQ.

We walked back through the crowds to find an LCBO, the government owned liquor store.  Then we took a taxi to Kaye's house.   Liz and Jeff Hurdman were there along with Kaye, Chris, Silvia and us.  I had met Liz at Ski for Light this year and it was nice to meet her husband.  He was the grill master.  It was a wonderful relaxing evening and it was so much fun to visit our great Ski for Light friends in their homes. Kaye has a lovely home with an awesome kitchen, which we left in a total mess for her to clean up.  She has a small backyard and we were able to eat outside.  Wish I would have taken a picture while we were outside. 

Stadium and Lake Ontario

Lunch

CN tower

Liz and Jeff Hurdman, Chris and Silvia Jonas, Kaye Leslie, Mary Roth

Kaye, Mary and Silvia enjoying a Scottish cream brought from Scotland

August 6-8 from NC to NY to Toronto, CA

Wednesday and Thursday:
Happy Birthday to my sister Beverly!

This morning, we finished preparing the boat to take it out of the water to have the hull painted and for the electrical repairs to be done.  We took everything out of the aft cabin and put it in the v-berth.  There is a lot of wiring connections in the aft cabin and this will make it easier for them to work on the boat.  It made the boat more level in the water, too.  Otherwise our stern was deeper in the water with everything we have stored there.

We were ready by about 10:00 and the next slack tide to move the boat wasn’t until noon, so we decided to leave and let them take the boat out.  Kind of scary, but that is what they do.

We took 2 days to drive to Niagara Falls, NY.  The only Amtrack train that leaves for Toronto is at 4:23pm daily.  So we decided to tour Niagara Falls tomorrow before leaving.

Friday:  We parked on the US side of Niagara Falls and walked across Rainbow bridge and went through customs on the Canadian side.  We took the Journey under the falls, then the Hornblower boat tour to the bottom of the falls.  I have always wanted to see Niagara Falls, but it is really commercialized.  We'd love to see it in the winter with fewer people. 

We boarded the Amtrack train in Niagara Falls, NY and stopped 10 minutes later in Niagara Falls, ON to go through customs.  Everyone had to get off the train, wait then re board. The 3.5 hour trip consisted of 1.5 hrs in customs and a 2 hour ride.

We arrived at 8:30 pm in Toronto. Then we walked about 2 blocks to the Overdraught Irish Pub and met Chris and Sylvia Jonas and Tracy Mousseau for dinner and beer (and a couple shots).  We walked another 2 blocks to their condo about 11:30 but stayed up until 1:00, way past our bedtime.

along side the Canadian  falls

on the top of the Canadian falls

American Falls

American Falls

From Rainbow Bridge

Amtrack train

Tracy, Chris, Silvia, Mary and Dave

Chris, Silvia and Mary with a shot of Irish Whiskey

view of the Bue Jays Stadium from their condo

August 4 & 5, 2014 Ready, Set, Go

OK, we are going to take a road trip. 
We had a meeting with the boat yard manager.  They can pull the boat out Wednesday to have it painted.  And once they get the OK from the insurance company, they will begin the lightning repairs.  They gave us an estimate for the painting and one for the insurance. 

So we spent Monday and Tuesday getting things ready for the boat to be taken out of the water.  And getting things ready for the technicians to be able to have access to the areas they need to work on the boat. 

Then there is always laundry, packing and cleaning out the refrigerator.

Our friends from NY that we met in Charleston, Alex, Seng and Kaya, had a cook out tonight and invited us.  Their nephew Kaya is leaving for Miami on Thursday, so they wanted to have a going away party for him.  They grilled chicken that they have had in their freezer from Panama.  It was delicious.  And another boat neighbor gave us some of his father's own BBQ sauce called Pork and Peck'r with a picture of a pig and a chicken on the bottle.  It was very good. 

All packed, showered and off to bed.

August 1,2,3 2014

Friday:  Rainy Day
We woke up a few times during the night to thunderstorms.  And it rained most of the morning, too.  Dave started organizing his “garage”, our guest cabin.  We’ve been able to make room for a single person in there.  But the only couple we had stay aboard, Jackie and Brian, slept in the salon.  The dining table makes into a bed.

This evening, I taught a 16 year old, Kaya, to play cribbage.  The first game we played showing every hand.  But he had it by the end and played a good second game.  Then we shared some card tricks.  He is on Daydreamer, the nephew of our friends we met in Charleston.

Saturday: Errands still raining
Shelly finished all of our saloon cushions for the salon today.  All that is left is the 2 that make the table into a bed and 2 small one in our cabin.  She left for her mother’s for about a week.  So hopefully we will connect when she returns to complete the job. 

This afternoon, Miami and I ran errands to West Marine, Home Depot and Walmart.  One thing I bought at Walmart was regular popping corn.  We are trying not to use the microwave and may just get rid of it because it takes so much energy to run.  It’s OK at a marina, but not on our battery power.  So Dave popped two pans without burning any and without too many left over kernels.  And of course he didn’t measure anything.  Reminded me of popcorn as I was growing up.  It was almost a nightly ritual.  And my dad liked a piece of apple afterwards.  I don’t think we knew anything about floss at the time, so that was probably his way of getting the hulls out of his teeth.  And we HAD to watch a movie as we ate our popcorn. 

Sunday: church and a play and rain
Happy Birthday Jackie Killion and Mya Krause!
I went to St Mark’s Catholic church last Sunday.  Their bulletin announced that this Sunday they would have “summer choir” at the 11:30 mass.  Anyone can come an hour early, practice and then sing with the choir.  So I did.  I have really missed singing with the choir like I did back in SD for many years.  I also miss my good friends in the choir. 

They were very welcoming and excited to have me join them, about 10 people today.  Alex, the director, reminded me of Joey Lore from Rapid City, SD.  And they invited me to join them next week or anytime I am back in the area.  I visited with one of the altos, Shirley, before and after mass.  We ended up going to a local production of “Kiss Me Kate” that afternoon in Wilmington.  The choir director said “the altos always have so much fun”.  I thought it was just our choir back in SD, but I guess it’s a universal thing :) 

The Thalian theater was built between 1855 & 1892.  And it’s restoration was completed in 1990.  It was beautiful and the acoustics were great (with microphones on the actors).  What a fun show and great talent.  I had never seen it.  Shirley an I enjoyed getting to know each other better.  If we are here longer, we may take in a concert this week.   

It was strange to leave the boat at 10:00 this morning and not return until 7:00 (I picked up Thai food on the way home). 

choir practice

Thalian theater

Thalian theater

July 31, 2014 Happy Birthday Dave!

The morning was spent taking phone calls of birthday wishes and having a birthday breakfast. 

We have been making pancakes with different fruits.  So Dave wanted to try using cherry pie filling to put the cherries in the pancakes and use the sauce part for the syrup.  After opening the can and putting it in a sauce pan, we looked at each other and Dave said "if we eat all of this, it will be like eating a whole pie."  So we scooped out some of the cherries for putting in the pancakes, used some sauce and stored the rest several more breakfasts.  It was a little on the rich side, so may have to come up with a different recipe to use the rest of the cherries.  But he enjoyed them more than a birthday cake.

I transported cushions over to Shelly's boat, the last of the saloon cushions!  She thought she's just cut them out on her bed.  She is leaving for several days starting Saturday, so we'll see where we end up with the outside curtain, the 2 cushions that make the dining table into a bed, and 2 small cushions that are in our cabin.  We'll see if we are still here when she gets back.

Dave and I went on a shopping excursion.  We went to West Marine for Dave and  Harris Teeter Grocery store for me all in the same plaza.  Worked out great!  Then we went to Chick fil-a to pick up chicken strips for the potluck.  Dave loves chicken, but he is still experimenting with our grill and didn't want to worry about burning it. 

We headed to the potluck a little early to be able to "meet and greet".  Shelly had made Dave a cake.  She made a 9x13 cake and took it out of the pan and frosted it.  When you make a cake on a boat, it doesn't always look even because your boat may lean to one side.  I thought that was great, a real "boat experience".  There ended up being about 15 people there.  We had a great evening visiting with each other and stayed until almost 11:00.  And Dave wasn't the first one to start telling jokes. 

July 30, 2014 Mystery Bilge water returns

We are still getting fresh water in the bilge, only about a gallon.  Water was coming from the air conditioner.  And maybe this is still water from there that was elsewhere in the bilge until we moved the boat yesterday.  But Dave wasn't satisfied.  He dried out the bilge.  The pump would run and then the water would flow back into the bilge.  So he checked the screens and they were choking with debris that falls though the floor boards.  So much for my housecleaning skills.  

After drying out the bilge he chalked it.  He ran a line of chalk down each channel running from bow to stern.  Then if water runs in, it will smear the chalk line.  If the water returns and the chalk lines weren't disturbed, he will check the enclosed channels that separate each bilge compartment.  As a test, he filled both of our water tanks and washed the deck.  There was no moisture as far as he could feel into the bilge, even up to the ac where it had come from before.  So now we wait and see if it returns.

There is a Y valve in the bilge right under our steps in a secluded compartment from where the water has been showing up.  This Y valve is for the air conditioner or the water maker. You can only run one of those functions at a time.  They both use sea water.  It has been loosely mounted to the through hull, so Dave mounted it to the hull.  He announced that he didn't put a hole in the boat "because that is one of the rules."

He also shined up the through hull.  He explained that you couldn't just wipe it's nose, you had to give it a shiny butt.   He is planning to bond/ground this through hull, raw water screen and the ac pump to the engine.  Since it has sea water running through it all the time, it is creates a current and connects the metals.  That makes one metal corrode and builds it up on the other metal.  That's what we are trying to control.  If one of the metal fittings were eaten away, water would start coming into the boat-not good. 


Dave also sealed the gasket on the hatch over our bed.  That started leaking sometime over the last week or so.  We have left a cloth scoop over it in the meantime to protect it from any further leaks.  So after 24 hours, we will test that.  Lots of work goes into keeping the water on the OUTSIDE of the boat.   

I helped Shelly get two more cushions cut out today.  Then we made a Walmart run.  I think that took 2 hours.  Crazy. 

We used our Wonderbag to cook red beans and ham hocks.  First I soaked the beans overnight.  Then Dave added the smoked ham hocks and mystery ingredients.  You have to bring everything to a boil and let it cook for 30-60 minutes.  Then you just put the whole pot in the Wonderbag.  This was yesterday.  Well the beans still seemed crunchy, so Dave heated it again and we put it back in the bag overnight.  Today, we heated it again (just to be sure we would kill some bacteria that may have been growing) and it was perfect served over rice.  The problem with making a big pot of beans on the boat is where to store the leftovers.  I was able to rearrange the refrigerator to get it to fit.  And you know what the other problem will be with a big pot of beans on a boat.

Dave's red beans, ham hocks and ???

July 29, 2014 Potluck flyers

Today, Shelly and I continued to work on cushions.  We cut out 2 more and she headed back to sewing.  We are using the dock carts for moving several cushions to the shower house since she is tracing them for cutting the patterns.  We also have been keeping the roll of material in the car, so we don't have to store it in either of our boats.  After cutting the pattern, she takes the cushions back to her boat with her, so she can fit the cover after sewing it.  And I have been taking finished cushions back to our boat.  Kind of reminds you of the Shriners in the parades.  We have to make so many trips with things to work around our small areas to work in.  Hope that made sense.

We have also decided to plan a potluck for everyone in the marina.  We used to do that weekly in Marathon.  Miami and Shelly would also provide a sound system for a jam session.  Shelly made a flyer to advertise the potluck for this Thursday and e-mailed it to me.  We printed a few and were going to put them in the office and the shower house.  I talked to the boat yard owner about putting some flyers on the boats of those that live aboard.  She suggested I put a flyer on every boat.  So she made copies for me.  WELL, I don't think she realized how many boats she had in her marina.  I started with about 20 copies and had to go back for about 20 more.  I placed about half of them in the morning.

When Shelly went back to sewing, I went back to the fabric store for 2 zippers and some velcro.  It helps hold the cushions in place and needed to replaced on only a few.  The zippers had to be nylon with plastic pulls to keep from rusting.

Miami came along with me because he needed to get a pole for their awning.  So we stopped at Home Depot for that.

When we returned, Dave and I moved the boat to a slip.  We were on the end of a dock, but they like to have that area available for new boats coming in.  Then they can move into their slip as slack tide like we were doing today.  We thought we would be there over the weekend, but ended up in that spot for a little over a week.  Even though the tide was slow, the current was still pretty strong.  Probably because of the storm last night.  So it took us a few attempts to back into the slip perpendicular to the current.  We made it and are now settled into this slip for the repairs.

I then finished putting the potluck flyers on every boat.  I felt like a girl scout going from door to door. I knocked on the boat first, then if they didn't answer, I used painter's blue tape to tape the flyer to their boat.  It's not like you can put it under a wind shield wiper or in their door.  You'd have to climb onto their boat to get to their door.  But with only 2 days notice, we thought we better get the word out.

After that, I thought I was having a heat stroke.  It was probably in the mid 80's with the same humidity.  I had a cool shower and took a nap.  Sometimes you just need a "time out".  I felt kind of guilty when I thought about Shelly and her sewing.

Shelly sewing at the table in their salon in their boat