Wednesday 8/31

We got electric up yesterday around 3:00 and real internet just a few minutes ago. The hurricane experience was pretty frustrating. We live on a peninsula which became an island much of Saturday. I usually get out and drive over to watch the Traumerei during a hurricane, but I couldn't get there Saturday morning due to high water on the roadway and in the afternoon there was simply too much wind and trees flying around for safe travel. Just before dark the wind died down enough for me to hazard the trip over to Bob and Ruth's for a look see. I was expecting a mess, but she was sitting pretty in her slip without a scratch.

Some of the boats anchored out in Broad Creek, outside of Blackbeard Sailing Club, fared fine. Those who anchored near the North Shore or up the creek seemed to do better than those on the South Shore. When the wind backed to Northwest and West, those anchored across the creek from the club had trouble surviving. I think chafe may have been the big enemy, but there were certainly some collisions as well.

At home the biggest challenge was loss of electricity to the refrigerator/freezer. The Traumerei is set up to live off the grid for extended periods. So we fired up the DC refrigeration and emptied the home refrigerator in to the boat unit. We did have a capacity issue with 8 pounds of frozen raw shrimp. So we cooked these up on our deck using two single burner propane camp stoves and put the cooked shrimp in the refrigerator section of the boat unit. We have been serving up shrimp cocktail at every opportunity!

We lost one pine tree and several large branches from the oak trees in the yard. Many of our neighbors have large pine trees through the roof of their homes. I have a couple of large long leaf pine trees which threaten our roof as well. The look fine at the moment, but I am contemplating having them removed. One of these will be missed as it provides some nice shade in the late afternoon.

Last but certainly not least is the threat of a repeat performance in about a week and a half from now. Tropical Storm Katia has the potential to develop into a strong hurricane and follow the same track as Irene arriving here around the 9th or 10th of September. I plan to be in New Jersey and Carol in the Rochester area for that weekend, so we certainly will not be here to enjoy Katia if she comes calling.

Tuesday Noon

Well we came through just fine. One and a half trees down in the yard, but none touched the house. Our boat came through without a scratch. But Blackbeard Sailing Club ended up with 13 boats in the trees and two completely lost. It was a tough hurricane for chafed lines as the winds stayed very high until midnight or so Saturday. This post will be short because I'm still running on the computer battery.

11:25 Saturday

Nasty, Nasty. We have lost a couple of trees - fortunately away from the house. Eye is north east of us and winds are starting to shift, but still too strong to leave the house to check on the boat.

6:51 AM

Actually fairly dry and calm here at the moment. Some debris in the lawn but no standing water in the low spots that normally are wet. Landfall near Cape Lookout is expected in about 1/2 hour. Will be heading out in a half hour or so to check on the boat. Look for pictures later.

5 AM Saturday

Woke up to find the electricity still on and hearing nothing over the sound of my CPAP machine. 69 MPH gust just reported in Havelock. Hurricane force winds now being reported on the coast. The eye is still south of Cape Lookout and the electricity is about to go out here.

Hurricane Irene

Carol and I have spent much of the week preparing for Hurricane Irene. Now the long wait begins. Tuesday, I spent the day trimming those tree branches that have grown to overhang our roof. Branches from about 6 trees all together were cut off and trucked off to the recycling center.
The Traumerei is resting behind Bob and Ruth's house in a well protected canal. Water levels will be the major concern here and I may need loosen some lines when the water level gets to the high point early tomorrow morning. I hope not since some deep water wading will be involved. We have our camping gear and will be able to cook a meal when the electricity goes out. Note I say when, not if.

Anyhow the time for preparation is over and we can only hope for the best.

New Bern, North Carolina

We have been home since Tuesday and the weather was actually pretty good until today when the oppressive humidity settled in once again. Yesterday I rode my second century (100 miles) with four terrific fellow bikers and friends. Mark organized the ride and returned me to my car with 100.12 miles on the odometer.

This is a pretty good feat. As anyone who has ever ridden a Century knows, you generally want to have it end soon after you reach the goal. I felt pretty good for most of the ride and had enough reserve left for a sprint at mile 96. But I now think maybe I didn't drink enough during the ride. At the Union Point rest stop, (Mile 65) Cassandra challenged the amount of water I had consumed. She had just finished four liters and I really didn't know how much I had consumed because I had not kept track. I did drink one large bottle of Gator Aid on the way home lots of water once I got home, but I think I was severely dehydrated. After dinner I suffered excruciating leg cramps and almost passed out when I got up to get the tonic water.

But I did recover, had a terrific night's sleep and awoke feeling better and more refreshed than I can remember. Unfortunately I was also very hungry and spoiled it all by fixing a large bacon and eggs breakfast. It sat in like lead!

Winchester, Va

The weather seems to be turning to a fall pattern and we are headed home today. It's time to get serious about training for the Cycle North Carolina fall ride. I hope to do a century ride this weekend with some of my fellow NC bike riders. This blog will be inactive for a while, but I do plan to post daily during the ride in the first week in October.

Higgins Lake Michigan

Higgins Lake Michigan

We arrived in Higgins Lake on Tuesday 9 August after a stop at Frankenmuth for a brewery tour and dinner. We are staying with Ron and Linda at the cottage of their daughter Amy and her family. This is a great spot in the north central part of the state. The weather has been fall like, both sunny and cool.

On Wednesday we loaded the bikes up and drove to the top of the Lower Peninsula for some bike riding along the shore of Lake Michigan. We rode the Tunnel of Trees Trail along M 119. We drove the trail in the car from Harbor Village in the south to Cross Village at the northern most point on the trail. This stretch of M 119 is little more than a winding single lane road with some wide spots for vehicle passing. The car ride north was slow and the riders were somewhat intimidated by the terrain especially one long steep decline from a high plateau to lake level. This would be a tough climb for the bikes on the way back south. Carol drove Sag and Ron, Linda and I rode our bikes. The ride back was great with some good endurance building hills, a brisk tail wind, and terrific scenery.

Napoleon, Ohio

I started the day out right with a 20 mile ride on the Wabash Cannonball bike trail - a great converted railway. Then we packed up for the drive to Napoleon and the Meyer family reunion. We had a nice meal and enjoyed catching up with the cousins I had not seen for at least 10 years. Great food and great company.

Toledo

Carol and I are in Toledo Ohio, the city of our birth. We are staying with my brother Tony and his wife Sandy. Tonight Tony and Sandy are throwing a rib dinner and pool party for members of our immediate family. Our daughter Deborah and her family fly in from Boston this afternoon. Tomorrow we have a family reunion and more pictures.

Sodus Bay Weekend

We have just returned from a great weekend on Sodus Bay. Our friend Nancy has a power boat on the Bay and it offered comfortable accommodation and a great platform for enjoying the delights of sailing and swimming on the bay. On Saturday the weather was perfect and we towed the Bay River Skiff out to Thornton Point and anchored Nancy's boat there. Nancy and I enjoyed a relaxing no stress sail across the bay and back. Everything went super and we sailed downwind past her boat for some pictures. When I gibed to head back upwind to land at her boat, I forgot to let the centerboard down. We drifted sideways almost into a dock before I realized my mistake. Everything turned out ok however and we got back to the mothership. On Sunday we hauled the Bay River Skiff and spent the morning checking out places to keep the Traumerei on Sodus Bay as a summer cottage. In the afternoon, we went swimming at Thornton Point and Nancy practiced backing her boat into her slip. She did just great!

In the evening we went to Connely's Cove for dinner and then for a walk at Chimney Bluff State Park finishing our outing by driving to Wollcott for ice cream. On the way to Wollcott we passed some very dramatic new apple orchards. The apples trees are planted like grapes, pruned and in rows to produce a two dimensional effect we surmise to facilitate mechanical harvesting.

Webster NY

We left Limekiln Lake in the ADK on Sunday morning and headed east for Webster, NY near Rochester. It was a beautiful day and the weather has been cool crisp since we got here. We're staying with our friend and former neighbor Nancy and having a great visit.

I have been diligent with the biking, going out every day. The riding here is just the best. Great roads with good shoulders, low traffic and cool - low humidity days. Riding along the shore of Lake Ontario is some of the best biking anywhere and I see lots of riders out there. The receding glacier that created the Finger Lakes also scoured out a number of hill like features known as Drumlins along the south shore of the lake. These rolling hills (depicted in the drawing from Wikipedia) provide great training for the type of riding I'll be doing in October when I participate in Cycle North Carolina's fall ride across the state. I did 52 miles yesterday riding from Webster to Sodus Point and back. I stopped in at our former yacht club on the way out and found some friends, Tony and Jean, headed out to Fairhaven by boat. They wanted me to come along with them, but I had to pass on what looked like some great sailing to stay with the program.

We are headed to Sodus Bay this weekend to stay on Nancy's boat there. It will be one last opportunity to dunk the Bay River Skiff in the water for a couple of days sailing.

Inlet, New York

We are camped in Limekiln Lake State Park, still in the ADK region. I was up at my usual time, 5:00 O'dark a clock. The campsite was awake when I opened the bear box to make my coffee.We said good-by to Bob White this morning and he made his way "home" to Saranac Lake this morning to visit some childhood friends.

We went exploring Inlet after Bob left and found a great grocery with a few gourmet items. Also we rediscovered a great public park on Fourth Lake and a friendly soul in a turn of the century (1900's) fisherman's dory from built in Mass. He had it powered by an electric outboard. Very nice!

Today I fell asleep while reading at the beach and apparently got bitten by a couple of deer flies. Today my right hand and left eye lid are swollen beyond recognition. I took a couple of Benedrill tabs and believe I am on the mend.

We just finished a pesto pizza with three cheeses and me a couple of Summer Ale's (Boston Brewery). Maybe not the best idea on top of the Bene tabs. Check out the canoe over the bar at Screamen Eagle.

Maybe after dinner we will visit the theater in Old Forge for some entertainment. The temperatures here are warm (mid 80's) during the day but cool off for sleeping at night.

Lots hotter just a few miles and thousands feet to the south in the towns along the Thruway.

Sunday it is up bright and early to head for our old neighborhood in Webster, NY

Raquette Lake

We left Camp Kiwassa Saturday morning, another beautiful day. I woke up to a great full moon view over the lake off the porch. Then Carol and I went for an early morning paddle on the lake and packed up. We swapped out Diane's kayak for our canoe and were a little concerned about the fit with the Bay River Skiff. But after a few adjustments everything worked out ok.

A few hours later we were set up at our water site at Golden Beach St Park. Nice site but we had to park about 150 yards away from the tent. Every night I have to carry the battery from the car down to the tent to power up my CPAP and get a good night's sleep. Sunday our friend Bob White arrived from Rochester to experience a few days of camping with us. Monday we woke up to heavy rain storms which lasted pretty much all day. This morning was beautiful and sunny with no wind. So Bob and I decided to take a morning canoe ride and headed off for the town of Raquette Lake. We passed a boy scout camp on what looked like an island. So I called off to the scout master and asked if he was on an island. He said yes and then something else I couldn't hear. Anyhow we had been to the town by car, and a circumnavigation of a small island looked more interesting. We had no charts, gps, cell phone, or drinking water. Just two over the hill sailors out for a trip unprepared. Anyhow the island turned out to be larger than expected and we started to worry about getting lost. As you can see from the plot of our route, we followed the only route back to the campsite. But how easy it would have been to head a little further north and be completely lost!!!!!!!!

We were back in the campground after our adventure of only 5.28 miles according to Google Earth. It was time to tap into the Growler of UBU Ale from Lake Placid Brewery. The rest of the day will be a relaxing one at the beach.

Camp Kiwassa, NY

Thursday was another beautiful day following a cool night with great sleeping. We began the day with a family tee shirt tie dye. Most of us escaped dying ourselves in the process. It was a lot of fun and we will have the shirts as souvenirs of the vacation.

Again lots of water activities. Carol and I got in some Bay River Skiff sailing even though the winds were pretty light and fluky all day. We also got out on the canoe for a while and took pictures of Diane, Roy, Sam and Joshua on their way for a transit of the lock by kayak. They reported that a great time was had by all. Sam came back with a few water lily flowers and a big smile!

Roy and Diane treated us to a great Porter House Steak dinner. The steaks were terrific and at $6 per pound, one of the great bargains of the week. Too bad we can’t find a great bargain on diesel fuel.

It is now early Friday morning, the sunrise is gorgeous, and all the boats except our canoe are packed for travel, either to home or in our case on to our Raquette Lake waterfront campsite. It’s a bit sad as the kids leave for home later today and Carol and I will spend the rest of the last full day at Camp Kiwassa decompressing and enjoying a meal at the Paul Smiths college restaurant. Tomorrow morning we leave for Raquette Lake for the start of about 10 days of camping. Then we head off to Rochester for visiting friends, planning this winter’s skiing, and some more sailing and power boating.

Camp Kiwassa, NY

Wednesday and our week is half over L. It was another action packed day. After breakfast, Carol and I went for a canoe ride on a still and quiet lake. Very nice. Next a group left for a climb of Mt. Baker. The trailhead starts near the center of the town of Saranac Lake. It was an easy climb for most and we were especially impressed that 3 year old Sam made it most of the way. Grandpa had a rough time getting down even though he was using two climbing sticks. His climbing days are definitely numbered unless he can find a way down on either skies or a chairlift.

In the afternoon Steve, Nate and I took a boat trip over to a lock which leads to a series of lakes about 5 ½ feet higher than Lake Kiwassa. The lock was fun and a first for Steve and Nate. On the way back we got drenched by a sudden rain squall. No pictures of the squall.

Supper was a real treat with Quesada’s wiped up by Steve and Diane featuring left-overs from earlier in the week.