June 18, 2023
Well,
here we are in a new cruising season! Haven’t done any cruising,
but we are getting lots of work done on the boat. We will be making
a late start for traveling on the boat this year.
So
far, we have spent quite a bit of time on the boat at Olverson’s
Lodge Creek Marina, where we feel at home. We bought the boat here
in 2017 and have returned quite a few times in the years since. This
year, we stopped by on our way home from Key West. We lived in the
camper while we (mostly Dan) accomplished some needed tasks.
We
headed home with the camper in mid April. Gena wanted to spend some
‘normal’ time there before we started on what promised to be a
crazy time. Gena’s two oldest grandchildren and one of
Dan’s grandsons were graduating from high school – in three
states over a period of a month! First up was Rylan, in Dahlonega,
Georgia. This happened the Thursday before Memorial Day. We drove
down in Gena’s car, stayed in a hotel for a few days. Laura,
Rylan’s mom and Gena’s daughter, had divorced her husband several
months before, so the dynamics of the visit were different (MUCH
better, easier!). We enjoyed the visit, and left on Sunday of the
holiday weekend to get back home.
Back
home in Michigan, we went into full prep mode, since Gena had
volunteered us to have a joint graduation party at our house the
following Sunday! Declan, Travis and Lisa’s son, graduated on
Saturday, June 3. Laura and her two sons, Rylan and Brody, came from
Georgia for a jam packed few days. Laura grew up in Michigan and
rarely gets to visit, so all her best friends and Michigan family
were eager to see her and her sons.
The
party, on Sunday, went off without a hitch. We had rented a tent,
table, and chairs. Gena prepared a taco bar, Travis and Lisa brought
the cake, finger sandwiches, beer, and ice. About 50 family and
friends came. The party was to be an open house, from noon to 4:00
p.m. Most of the folks who came enjoyed seeing everyone, and stayed
through the whole time. There was plenty of food and drink. There
was a group of friends from church, family from all over southeast
Michigan, my niece and her daughter from Massachusetts, and, of
course, Laura’s friends. Gena had hired a young woman to handle
the kitchen, replenishing, cleaning, and serving, which worked great.
Laura and the boys had to leave the next morning. Gena and Dan had
to hit the road on Tuesday, to head to Virginia.
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| flowering plants everywhere in our back yard! |
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| time to make the garden look its best - LOTS of mulch! |
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| mulch ready to be spread |
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| lovely flowering almond from Dan's mom's house |
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| the trio, Laura and her two son's, Brody (15) and Rylan (18) |
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| cool sculpture depicting history of the town of Dahlonega, GA |
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| The graduate and his mom and brother |
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| Grandma Gena, Mr. Dan and Rylanb |
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| I just enjoyed my yard's flowers - usually not home to see them! |
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| Alium and a cool lawn sculpture |
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| peonies! |
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| Graduate #2, Declan, with his brother, Isaac, and Sister, Ella |
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| Declan with proud mom and dad |
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| time to party! |
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| Dan and Gena with all five of her grandchildren! |
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| cousins! Kelly, Scott, Heather, Travis, and Laura |
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| Laura and her boys in Michigan |
First
up, in Virginia, we had a few days at the boat to get some projects
underway. We actually went on a very minor cruise to take the boat
to Tiffany Yachts in Burgess, Va. for some scheduled work. We headed
to Chesapeake, Virginia, where Dan’s grandson Jared graduated. We
stayed in a cute Airbnb, and had some time with each of those
grandsons before the graduation. Great visit. We attended grandson Jared's graduation, did a little touristing.
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| Mom, Annie, Jared, Dad, Chuck, and Eric |
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| Eric and Jared, brothers |
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| Annie with her two boys, Jared and Eric |
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| Jared with mom, Annie |
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| Jared with Dan, Gena, and Grandma Dee |
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| Jared with Gena and Dan |
Jared, the happy graduate
Then,
done with all family events for a while, we were free to get back to
the boat. Many of the tasks had been at least started, all had been
scoped out. Fortunately, we were able to live on the boat for the
remaining time at Tiffany.
Here’s
what we had done:
1.
The water tank, located under the bed, had been leaking for quite a
while. We weren’t sure if it was the tank itself or the
connections. Turns out it was the connector, which is probably
easier to fix. Another issue was that the tank ‘senders’ have
never worked. These tell us how much water is in the tank.
Additionally, Mark, technician from Tiffany, fixed an issue that had
plagued us from the beginning. Bayliner had ‘cheaped out’ and
only installed one vent with a T connector for both tanks. All is
now fixed and functioning properly!
2.
We had bought and shipped to Tiffany a “Dinghy Butler”, a
stainless steel structure with an electric motor. It was installed
on our swim platform and holds the dinghy. This is a real life
improvement – prior to this, the dinghy sat on top of the boat with
a crane to lift it and put it in the water. It was really difficult
to get it down and put it back. Consequently, we almost never used
it. Now, with the push of a button, the dinghy goes into the water
and back up very easily. Can’t wait to put it into use this summer!
3.
One of our toilets was not working right. Mark, the same tech that
fixed the plumbing with the water tanks, was able to make some simple
adjustments to get it working again. Dan plans to rebuild the
innards this winter, but, in the meantime, it will work fine.
So,
while we are ‘chomping at the bit’ to get underway for our
traveling this year, these fixes and enhancements will greatly
enhance our boating life!
We
have adjusted our plans for cruising for this year. With a couple of
weeks less time, we will still have plenty of time to do a large
portion of our long awaited Canadian exploration. Plus, we settled
on a plan for putting the Kittiwake away for the winter. Rather than
try to return her to a location where we can leave her in the water
for the winter (MUCH cheaper), we will store her at Winter Harbor, a
marina located on the Erie Canal. There, she’ll be in heated
indoor storage. Next spring, once the Erie Canal opens and the
expected debris is cleared, we will be close to where we want to
start our journey for the 2024 cruising season.
Here’s
our cruising plans for 2023. We will continue from here, up the
Chesapeake Bay, down the Delaware Bay, up the east coast to New York
City. Continuing through NY Harbor, past the Statue of Liberty, up
the Hudson River for several days to Lake Champlain. From Lake
Champlain, we’ll go to Ottawa and to Montreal, two cities that
should be really fun and interesting to see. From there, we’ll go
down the Rideau Canal, which other folks who have done this trip say
that the Rideau was their favorite part of the entire Loop and
Canada. The southern end of the Rideau is at Lake Ontario. Across
Lake Ontario to the Oswego Canal, which takes us to the Erie Canal
and to Kittiwake’s winter home.
So,
there you have it. Once we can leave Tiffany Yachts (work is done,
but looks like weather will keep us here at least one extra day),
we’ll return to Olverson’s. There we will install some batteries
that are waiting there, store the car, and FINALLY get going on our
trip! Stay tuned for pictures and stories of our travels. I promise
to do better than I did last year at posting pictures and narratives
timely!
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