We were told for a couple of days that we would get rain, ice and snow. We did not get any snow yet, but plenty of rain and last night freezing rain. The most beautiful and most destructive is freezing rain.
Freezing rain starts out 2000 or 3000 feet up in warm air, thus comes down as relatively warm water. As it falls it cools but not enough to become ice so it lands as water, coats everything and freezes.
The result is heavy limbs on all trees. The tree cannot support the extra weight and limbs break off. Some of these limbs bring down hydro wires some only destroy cars.
As of now Toronto has 250,000 homes without power. The worst may be yet to come. Later this
afternoon we expect heavy winds.
So far we have kept our power, but my son and daughter in law are without. We have offer them room here but no one has moved in yet.
I only have one picture taken out our kitchen door. It is too slippery too go walking.
For a number of years Trish and I have held a Christmas Party. Its origins date back to Lyall Avenue in The Beech, but we are not sure we have had one each of our 40 years of marriage.
We owned a large home in High Park of 31 years and the party grew to fill the home. By 2009 our last year at "The Gardens" the number had grown to 70 to 100 people depending mostly on the day. Sometimes we hold it on Friday and sometimes on Saturday. Three years ago with retirement on the horizon we decided to sell "The Gardens" and move to a more manageable abode. In June 2010 we mover into a Townhouse at Islington and Bloor. The big question was could it hold the party. Fortunately the home on Shires Lane came with a Ballroom. During the year we use the Ballroom as parking for our cars. I have included a couple of pictures of the Ballroom and the Party.
We have and a busy yet uneventful fall. 10 days ago Trish and I went off to South Bend to visit our good friends Mary and Bill Thurber. This year it would be The Catholics against tThe Mormons. Notre Dame was going to Play BYU.
But first we went too Fairport Harbor Ohio to visit Tartan and ask them about our centreboard trunk failure. It turned out they had used a piece of aluminium to attach the top plate and they should have used stainless steel. They felt that the fix with the correct lag bolts all the way around would do the trick. We did get a tour of their factory and got on a mostly completed 47. The very kind gentleman who gave us the tour then took us over and explained how they constructed their carbon fibre mast and booms.
the next stop was Punderson state Park. Ohio has 5 state parks which have lodges. We went to Punderson which was about 30 inures from Fairport Harbor. It was an excellent stop. We got a very attractive price due to our age which included a hot breakfast. We also had a delightful dinner in their restaurant. The lodge was originally built as a home in the late 20's and past through a few hands before the state took over. I have included a few pictures. Both Trish and I would recommend a stay.
The Front Door
Our Room
The view from our Room
The view of the swimming pool from our Room
The following day Friday November 22 we drove to South Bend. It should be noted that the driving was excellent. Within three days of us travelling through Cleveland they got about a foot of snow I think. Before heading to the apartment we had to go to the "Book Store" to take a look at the merchandize and buy a beanie for a friend in Toronto. This accomplished we arrived at the apartment had a drink then out for Italian food.
Saturday arrived wight the expected weather. At game time something below 32F and 25 mile an hour winds. As a result it felt like 9F. Trish and I were dressed warmly and made it a lll the way to the 4th quarter. By then our hands and feet were getting cold. the following picture and vide shows a dark day but regrettably you can not see the cold.
The start of the game, notice the students are not all present. They did finally all arrive to a full stadium.
I have dad a very busy Fall. First we had to get the new Irish Mist put to bed. Everything is bigger and takes longer, but we still love her. Then we had a mix up with The Hodder. This all got straightened out but was a frustration for a while. Then I tried to organize a proper celebration for our great victory in Newport this past September. I was met with both apathy and intransigents. The result was even though the dinner was out drawing the evening cocktail party the dinner had to be cancelled. Once again very frustrating.
On the bright side Trish and I have pretty much made up our mind to go to The Bahamas next August. I have lots of research to do especially around getting a 63 foot 8 inch mast under a bunch of 65 foot and one 64 foot bridge.
All excuses for not completing the blog. I will get going again so please be patient.
We were only home from Newport one day then off to Denver.This was the only way to schedule it and avoid driving through Nebraska in snow. The trip was largely uneventful with two exceptions. As we were about to leave Nebraska we went through a very bad rain storm with high winds. We got down to about 20 miles an hour with our four way flashers on. At our first chance we got off the highway, but by then it was pretty much over.
The other item was the Arch Monument. It just appears in the middle of nowhere, an imposing structure over the high way. We got off the road looked around but did not go in.
The Arch Monument
A close up
While in Denver we sent most of the time just visiting family. Karl my son-in-law tried to get Bronco tickets but even with his connections we had to settle for watching them win on TV. On Sunday afternoon we all went to The Garden of the Gods. It is a well organized state park whose principle asset is rocks. Very big rocks.
The Denver family with Kelly and Trish
A useful but disturbing sign
Rebecca and Karl live in Castle Pines just south of Denver. It is desert dry and barren. We have not seen any snakes but Rebecca and Karl have.This trip i did not see a coyote but Trish and Kelly did. It was right at their back fence about 100 feet from the house. i did see buffalo and elk. The buffalo are on farm land and belong to some one. The Elk are just wondering through. We drove to take the picture to walk would have taken about 15 minutes.
The race on Saturday was abandoned due to lack of wind. The first leg and a half was sailed in a 8 knot breeze but as the yachts got to the leeward mark it died. This meant for the second regatta we The RCYC had won.
The following pictures are of the victory dinner and a couple of the Ocean front homes, sorry cottages.
The reason we were all going to Newport was The New York Yacht Club Invitational Regatta. Five years ago The NYYC decided to put the sailor back in the sailboat race. Rather then have the race decided on an engineers table lets decide it on the water, the old fashion way.
They invited 20 clubs from around the world to compete in New York 42s in September 2009. If you would like further details on the participants just go to The NYYC web site. In 2009 NYYC won and we, The RCYC came second. In 2011 we won and this year we came back from a disastrous start to win again. Larchmont YC of New York came second and The Royal Thames from England were third.
AS I have already said The NYYC were terrific host and ran great races. The boats have been set up identically and have exactly the same equipment. The sails are used only for this event. We happen to have a member John Hele who is also a member of NYYC and owns a New York 42. This gives us an advantage, but I understand that several teams own their own 42.
On Thursday Trish and I went out on a beautiful Sabre 48. The owner was very gracious and we all had a great time watching three races. While waiting for the races to start he turned on something called Skyhook and we were locked into a position pointed into the on coming rollers left over from the night before.
On Saturday we drew America a 75 foot Trumpy built in 1965. It was owned by a Hotelier from Sag Harbor New York. The yacht came with a Captain and Mate, so during lunch all the owner had to do was pour the wine. It turned out that he was a wine expert for his hotel's wine list is about 114 pages long.
America
My sisters on the fore deck of America
The racing was great but hard to get on a camera or at least hard for me to capture. I have included a couple of photo and a video.
While out on The Ocean you get to see many marvelous yachts below I have selected a small sample.
Now that I am back from Denver I will be able to catch up on the blog. We arrived in Newport RI from Mystic before Noon on September 12th. First we went to The New York Yacht Club to sign in and see if they had any information on that's days racing. All we found out was they had not started the first race.
My sisters Trish and I then proceeded to The Inns of Newport not to check in but to park our cars and walk to Lunch. It was a short walk to The Black Pearl where we had a fabulous lunch, mostly Lobster. Trish wanted to head right back to the Inn so Mary, Margaret, Joan and I walked over to the Newport Shipyard. When we got there it turned out they were hosting the brokers show (used yachts) for The Newport Boat Show. The new boat show was on but we had tickets for Sunday so skipped it for now.
Once in the brokers show we were in for a treat. While we did not board any of the yachts we did get to go up next to them and get a good look at another world. I have included some pictures of the yacht for sale. The price tags if there was one tended to be in the 6 to 7 million range.
On Thursday night NYYC held a lobster dinner for all the competitors and supporters. Needless to say it was fantastic. NYYC their staff and members could not have been more gracious host. RCYC had about 80 supporters while Seattle Yacht Club came a close second with about 65.
Everyone enjoying Lobster under the tent
One of the few pictures available of me in a bib standing beside our Commodore Jamie Keating
Trish and I have been doing a lot of travelling and I have not been keeping up with the blog.
Back on September 14 we headed to Newport via Mystic Connecticut. Our first stop was Springfield Mass then on Wednesday Mystic. On the way to Mystic we stopped at Hamden to pick up a pump for Irish Mist's air-conditioning unit.
Mystic Seaport was great. they are rebuilding an old sailing whaling ship. The required bits and pieces are manufactured right on the site. Like the whole eastern seaboard it is a beautiful location.
If you enlarge the picture below it will tell you all about the Charles W. Morgan.
Here is a picture of the ship being rebuilt.
Some of the shipbuilders inside working on bits and pieces.
My sisters and I were particularly interested in The Cooperage since one of our great great grandfathers was a cooper.
One thing we have all heard of but perhaps not actually seen are figure heads. At Mystic Seaport you go into a room and without warring one is greeted by a wonderful collection.
I will leave you with the thought that you must go to Mystic Seaport. I have included a couple of yacht pictures.
