After going to the British Invasion Party, yes it made all us Irish a little nervous, we headed out . Our first stop was Oak Orchard. Trish and I anchored while my sisters went to the Yacht Club. They have Nexus Cards and checked into the States on their way in. We do not have Nexus so we got the dinghy out and the motor. The motor would not go so I rowed the ladies to the video phone. We then rowed to the Yacht Club and had drinks with my sisters and gave tour of their boat to a group from Port Credit Yacht Club.
I neglected to get any pictures of Oak Orchard. It is a very peace full spot with a 55 foot bridge put there specifically to keep 65 foo mast fro the Yacht club. The next day we headed to Rochester an easy 30 knot trip. When I radio the club they had no room, a big cruise came in from Port Credit and took all the spaces so we went to Shumway marine where Irish Mist III had spent the winter. We ate dinner at Schooners. When we arrive we found The Kralls were the on their new Black Magic. The came to IM for drinks and came to dinner. It is so pleasant meeting friends as we travel.
The Genessee River
Dinner at Schooners
More to come but I am being called to dinner in Little Sodus
On Saturday the 7th July we headed home through Lake Placid. My sisters of course had been before. When the Olympics were there they had gone to watch some of the Ski racing. That's the 1980 Olympics not the 1932. It is a very nice city but busy even in the Summer. It served to remind me of the number of low skilled people around Toronto who do not have jobs today thanks to the NDP who saw to it we did not get the 1996 games. Enough political comment.
On the way to Lake Placid we stopped at the Quechee Gorge. I understand it is about 1000 feet down. The camera does not really show how deep it is.
Quechee Gorge
Kelly stayed in the car but I got a picture of most of the Ladies
The Burlington to Port Kent Ferry
Looking back at Burlington
Nice looking Canadian boat on Lake Champlain
The Ausable Chasm more to come
I took a video of The Chasm in the hope it would bring it to life. You be the judge.
I did not take many pictures in Lake Placid. Below is The Boat House were we had a excellent dinner. The Crown Plaza drove us there and back.
Having gone to Mass Saturday night we got off early Sunday, about 10:00. Trish and I decided to go across Wolfe Island. We avoid the ferries each time we go to The Thousand Islands and thought it would be fun to be on the boats themselves.
When we got to Cape Vincent we found out the boat would not leave at 2:00 but as soon as it got in. We got our lunch to go and drove on to the Ferry. We were the only car. This was a very good idea and was probably going to cut time off our trip.
Cape Vincent Ferry coming to US full, but went to Canada with one car
Feeling very good about ourselves and our decision we headed for the Wolfe Island Ferry. The line up was a little more then one car. we drove about a mile parked and asked the nice lady sitting in the car in front of us if we were in the Kingston Ferry line. She said yes but we would not make it on the 2:30. We should get on the 3:30. So much for saving any time.
The wait was very pleasant and we had time to get an ice cream cone. Once on the ferry we had an uneventful trip home. The next day Toronto got more rain in one hour then the record for any rain total for the month of July. Most of the city lost power. we got ours back Wednesday while my sisters had to wait for Thursday.
On the 4th of July we all got up and went into Plainsville to share their pancake breakfast. as soon as we finished we were off to Enfield to go trail riding. I have always loved horses, but never had much to do with them out side if a racetrack. Last year we went riding with Mary so we thought we would do it again. This time we would be on a trail. This included our youngest daughter Kelly who travels with us. She did great and really enjoyed it.
I have an ambitious plan to include several videos, so here goes. The horse backing video would not upload to YouTube so I just uploaded it from the computer. It does not seem to have come out so well, but it is all I have
Next came swimming, dinner, and fireworks. The Thurbers have a great pool at the side of their home. There is no better place to be then a pool on a hot day. The dinner of beer, martinis and hamburgers was wonderful, but we were all anxiously awaiting the firework show provided by Bill and Fred.
Mary Thurber and Kelly with Trish getting Kelly off Younger
Now for the fireworks which were amazing. They went on and on getting bigger and higher all the time. At one point there was a little competition from a neighbour. I said that sounded like a machine gun. The response from the locals was simply "That was a machine gun". I have only included a very brief bit of the show.
The next day we rested, shopped and played golf. I use to play but have not practiced for years. I pared two holes but had far too many really bad shots. In my defence I had intended to play more this spring, but the combination of bad weather and a new boat I did nothing. Following golf we had another swim and off to Skunk Hallow for dinner.
We returned from Niagara on Monday July 1 just in time to head to Cornish New Hampshire. The purpose of our visit was to celebrate the 4th of July with our friends Bill And Mary Thurber.
Trish, Kelly and I in one car and Mary, Margaret and Joan my sisters in the other. our first stop was Lake George and The Holiday Inn. When we got up Wednesday we headed for the outlet malls just south of town. I did not buy anything while the 5 ladies made some small purchases.
Lake George
After we had tired of the malls the decision was made to go to Killington for lunch. When we got there not much was open and we decided to press on to Woodstock where we had a very nice lunch.
Killington Mountain
Woodstock
Kelly and Trish in Woodstock Vermont
After lunch we headed over to Quechee Vermont to see if the bridge had been rebuild after the hurricane last year. It had.
Rebuilt bridge at Quechee Vermont
The Water Falls which is over looked by Simon Pearce's Dinning Room and store.
Our last stop was The Thurbers of Cornish Vermont. Mary and Bill provided us with martinis and dinner over looking there property. We even had time for a dip in their pool. We are all very relaxed when we are with The Thurbers.
First the lighting. It seems we are getting rain every night.
During the past two weeks Trish Kelly and I sailed to Niagara on the Lake to celebrate The 1st of July our national birthday then drove to Cornish New Hampshire to celebrate The 4th of July our good neighbours to the south national birthday.
I will cover the trip to NOTL first then later the trip to Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.
Our sail over to NOTL was uneventful. We sailed about half the way and motored the other half. Upon our arrival we had the traditional wine and cheese. Terry O,Connell announced that there would be on winner of The Norman Trophy since no yacht had sailed all the way and arrived before 4:00. Terry also indicated that there were several possible winners for the Beaver Shield which would be announced next Spring at the Spring Dinner.
Niagara on the Lake is a quaint little town just across the river from Youngstown New York. Prior to our departure we were informed that the Canadian government in an effort to make all of us safe had written a new rule. If a yacht goes from one Canadian Port to another Canadian Port without landing or anchoring or in any way interacting with a foreign country, but "may" have strayed into foreign waters they must then check in with Canadian Customs and Immigration upon their arrival "back into Canada".
My wife called the CANPASS number and had a ridiculous conversation with a very nice Canadian Official who had no idea what she was talking about. He kept asking did she have anything to declare, had she bought anything while in The States. Obviously the Canadian Government has too many committees.
Only saw one freighter on the way over.
Pipe Dream entering The Niagara River
Fort Niagara a French Fort captured by the British, capture by the Americans, captured by the British and given to the Americans after the war of 1812
The main street
Trish on her shopping tour
A very nice way to get around on a hot day
The trip back for most was a little rough. The wind was from the North East thus having a fetch of about 100 Miles. The waves were reported to be 1 metre, but were 1.5 to 2 metres every once in a while. The new Irish Mist made flattened the water and sailed across at 8.5 knots. We do not have any pictures of IM yet but here is one of our good friends the Campbells in Stowaway a Niagara 35.
