Hobie Cat 16 Continentals

After Sugar Island we came towards Kingston and had a few good nights in the lee of Simcoe Island.  It ended up to be a nice anchorage with sand near shore.  After that we pulled into Olympic Harbor and caught up with a good many of our old Hobie friends while they help the Women's, Youth and Open events.  We had some good laughs and ended up being spectator boat for the week.  Fun time for all.  

Ah.....we're sailing again!

After a nice night in White's Bay (Henderson Harbor) we headed north to meet up with Otium in the islands.  On the way we got our first glimpse of the windmills on Wolfe Island.  While they may be needed today, the cutting down of beautiful trees and wrecking a nice landscape can't help us wonder if we are viewing a short term gain for a long term loss......who knows.

We caught up with Jeff & Cathy a Sugar Island and had a nice night on the hook.

WELL......better later than never!

July 14th and we have just completed the first sail on Lake Ontario for 2009

 - First 49 miles on a cold 61.5 degree lake

 - First sail with our new Mack Sails

 - First sail with a reef in our new Mack Sail main

 - First anchor in White's Bay

The seas were a lot bigger than the forecast but we blasted through them, got a little wet but now we are NOT tied to a dock!!

Life if Good!!!

A little bit of luck....

It is going to be a wet and unsettled week in Fair Haven but we had a good day today so Anne has proclaimed after today's waxing that Grey Hound is officially " de-salted!"  She looks just like she did before we did the 6 months in salt water............which means "lets go back and do it again!"

We had a few storms come through right at dinner but we got the lamb cooked between storms.   Now our mantra is:  Come on Mack Sail.............we need sails.

Now this is what you do for entertainment in the north!

Because the weather has been so lousy of late we have decided to start staring into the launch pit and wondering what we can find.  Then Arline decided that instead of just looking, why not get involved.....

Now remember the water isn't too warm up here yet but she is practicing to be an expert at diving for cell phones, so we have to give her credit.....

Victor now owes her some vino for the turnbuckle she pulled from the grimy deep.......

Tim, No worries here!!!.....enjoy Italy........Chow baby!  ;-)

Finally.......we're in!

After a long 6 weeks of cleaning and polishing we were able to get GH in the water last Friday during a brief spell in all the rain we've been having.  All went well and our boat is back on "A" dock for the season.

Hooray!

In the meantime.....a little different type of speed!

Anne and I went for a little boat ride to Connelly's Cove last night for dinner with John & Connie.  Their new 27 footer scooted right along.....if you call 52mph scooting!!

A good night was had by all and we got our first boat ride on Lake Ontario for 2009.  And yes, it is still pretty cool on the lake when you are going that fast!!

Slow ....but sure....we'll be in the water yet!

The last month has been a real test for the crew of Grey Hound.  Between my sore back and all the work at the house and on Grey Hound, it's taken longer to get things in gear for launching.  But....on  the other hand it has been very cool and wet.  The lake is finally above 50 degrees so maybe there is hope yet.

The bottom is done and most of the other chores have been completed.   If old man weather cooperates we will get GH wet very soon.

It is NOT summer yet!

Over the last week we have slowly started to clean and wax but it's been a slow go.  The weather has been cold and wet, very lousy for boat maintenance.  I will have to take a picture of the beautiful shade of gray we have.  I believe Jill K. would call this "cold dark/wet gray"!

The mast is inspected & cleaned and we have the rudder cleaned along with the daggerboard off the boat for cleaning and painting.  We hope to spread GH out on the trailer today but the wind is howling right now so we'll see.

Sure glad to be back in central NY!!

Back in Central New York

We pulled out of Tom & Jean's home Tuesday afternoon and jumped right onto I95 for the trip to Liverpool.  We arrived at Fern Hollow Thursday evening after a leisurely drive up and "GHP" had no problems towing Grey Hound.  We didn't drive into the evening for the first two days because of big storm threats but things worked out fine.  It's nice to feel comfortable towing our boat at this time.  Right now we have almost 5,000 road miles on top of the +7,000 miles on the water.

We'll be doing the "fresh water bath" routine for the next couple of weeks at our summer home, Fair Point Marina.  The folks up there are so nice and helpful........it felt good just pulling Grey Hound into the yard.

Stand by for further updates..........

Smiling at Arnault Lane!!

Tom & Jean

Thank you so much!!!!

Plus.......

A really comfy place to sit and have a cold frosty one in the pool...........complete with  a bar and stools!!!    

And................!!!!!!

If you get hot while getting things ready to go down the road there's always a way to cool off!

What a place to store our truck and trailer!!!!

A great big "Thank You!" to my sister Jean and Tom for storing /looking after our land stuff.......Take a look at the ultimate storage facility!!!!!

Melbourne now

Grey Hound has taken us full circle now.  We have 1144 nm in Florida and 7,099 total in the time we have had her.   Grey Hound has always been the strongest link in our partnership...........now that we have a taste of what she can do,  We want to do More!!!!  

This has been a great experience!!!!!!!  We'll be back on the trailer soon.

Signing off for now................