Runaway Fridge

Not only a long drive but a long drive on top of no sleep—thanks to a runaway fridge. I had moved back to the bedroom in earshot of the beast, and, thinking of the coming long drive, went to bed early. But once in bed I can't help but listen, and mixed in with the surf, and the sound of rain on the roof, was the droning of the fridge. On and on it went, long past the time to shut off. On and on.

Sometime in the middle of the night I felt I'd had enough. I roused the other fridge keeper, and the two of us went at the machine hammer and tongs. Obviously the fridge had been abused the past few weeks—overstuffed and seldom closed. Which is expected. Now we shut it off. We pulled everything out. We disposed of multitudinous mostly air filled zippies that seemed to be clogging the vents, we dialed down the cold factor, and we cleaned an inch of dust off the intake grill.

Then we went back to bed. Of course I could not not listen, and after listening intently for a half an hour I heard the machine turn off. Peace at last.  Except now I was too strung out to sleep, and reveille was only an hour or two away. 

Back in Whitewater we found the garden prospering. At least in some ways. The tomatoes have gone bananas, and grilled tomato soup is already on the docket. The winter squash plants have expanded immodestly beyond their restraints, but the jungle is so think I can't count the fruits. I think there are not many, which proves one of two things: 1) tomatoes trump squash (sorry to use that word), or 2) squash need to be tended.

Clearing Out The Sandbox...

...taking down the swings.  

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. On to autumn! 

Fitting In Everything

Fun filled and action packed.  

And, the most perfect possible weather.  

Bonfire

Lots of wildlife.  

Lot's of wildlife. Closed gentian. Loons, beaver, water snake. Jays, crows, and cormorant. Two spotted fawns. No bears.

The J family over to Providence Bay for most of the day. Until dinner time, after which a bonfire at Pinebox beach and then swimming, after sunset, off our dock..

Homeward Bound

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

Another very successful Heliotrope cruise.

Late Summer; Laid Back

A day of doing little. Sitting some. Reading a bit.  A dip in what may be water beginning its fall cool-down. But then a shoreline evening  cruise aboard the Wilker, with the sun below the bluff and dusk falling by 8:30. 

Crew aboard Heliotrope apparently having a fine time in the Benjamins and on Croaker.  

Photo courtesy of Abby.  

And Away They All Flew Like The Down of a Thistle.

The Janowiec family off on a cruise to the Benjamin's, in a lively breeze.  

Furthermore, more than enough wind to spread actual thistle down far and wide, if not all the way to the islands. 

Gale Force

Thirty-five knots from the west.  

Good storm last night, with heavy rain. This morning what must have been a seiche, taking out part of the pier and sending various objects floating.

Over to Gore Bay for lunch, exploring, and a little grocery shopping.

And some Inuksuk building. 

The Nies family was on the road heading back to Wisconsin before 6, after a wonderful week.

Bottoms Up, or Maniac Moms

What a day! 

Sailing, Sailing

Day of wind on water, this time featuring Windrider and Heliotrope.  

Of course, lots of jet-skiing and tubing, too. And swimming. Not to mention the catching of frogs, king fliers, and a water snake.

The main event, however, at least for the adults, might have been the the couples timed races on Windrider from the committee boat (Heliotrope at her mooring) to a windward mark (Bri's tubing tube anchored about a mile to windward off the Sandy Beach point). I will avoid posting the results of the five races, out of modesty.

Fabulous Summer Day

Sunny, almost hot, light wind, warm water. Jet-skiing, tubing, stand-up paddle boarding, sailing, swimming, jumping off the high dock, and evening fishing at the falls. 

And, the traditional homemade pizza party. Many self-styled pizzas, but 13 diners, not counting four dogs, so not much in the way of leftovers. 

Full House

The whole fam damily is here all at once. How fun is that?  

One soggy family.  

This morning the most intense thunderstorm of the year, right when the Nies fam was almost to the falls after walking up river. But by afternoon sunny and perfect for tubing. 

We appreciate the younger Nies family bringing rain with them. Perhaps the fire ban will be lifted soon.  

Now with the Janowiec fam here the fun has really started. At present everyone down to the dock now to see the an almost full moon sending paths of golden moonlight across the bay. 

Two Days In One

Windy, rainy morning (when the ship came in), calm and sunny afternoon for swimming and tubing. The Heliotrope cruise a success, in spite of the damp return trip.  

They're Off

Nies family off on a cruise.  

And, prior to departure, a cooling off period.  

Nice south wind.  

Vacation Weather

Bright sun, now appreciated after the good rain. Poker run in the morning on both Windrider and Heliotrope. Jet-ski, tubing, swimming, and frog catching in the afternoon. And, in between, Mimi and Bubba attending the road committee meeting and pot luck.  

Rain Day

First of the summer, much needed, though ill timed. A fun day nonetheless. 

Lunch on Heliotrope. Grilled whitefish for dinner.  

They're Here

Bri, Renee, Ellie, Maddie, Becca, and Morgan  

Clouds, Actually

Very slowly and very reluctantly, a layer of cirrus and alto stratus moved in, and by late afternoon the searing sun was somewhat shaded. There are rumors of rain, but you know what you can do with those.

Cows. Photo shot about a week ago—last time we saw clouds.

Prepping for visitors. While Mimi cleaned and rearranged I practiced with the new chartplotter and developed a 10-minute short-course in its use.

Hate to admit it but I'm starting to long for sweatshirt weather. And how I would love to have to don a rain jacket!

This evening we saw what we think was an otter swim by south to north, under the pier, and on to shore in the reeds this side of Tyson's. It was moving fast. Maybe a juvenile beaver?

Wildlife

A second bear sighting claim has come in—said to be at about the same time last week as the first one—so I am starting to give some credence to the claim. Possibly a good-sized black bear heading north to south.

And, a turtle enjoying harbor life, alongside Lollipop.

I was going to title this posting, ""Dry Roasted" because that's what happened here today. The only relief was in the water. In spite of the heat, Norm came by and re-installed the starter motor, and when Sue and I took a little trial cruise the engine fired up every time the key was turned.

Regarding Trump: I've always known he was unqualified, but with his latest comment (threat) he is now disqualified. Self-disqualified. I've been enjoying the news lately because of a prurient interest in seeing the self-inflated poke holes in his own balloon. But now it's time for Trump to go, or be removed. There must be some way a political party can disqualify and dismiss a candidate who is obviously deranged.

Sure Start

To Sudbury today, and back, getting Heliotrope's starter motor repaired.  

Park in downtown Sudbury, across from the Vianet building. We had an excellent lunch at a new, upscale lunch place nearby.

For years things have been a little iffy in starting the little diesel on board of Heliotrope. Most of the time the engine would start, but once in a while, when you turned the ignition key, nothing happened—and this could be problematic, especially in rough weather or when trying to claw off a lee shore. Always, up to now, a certain amount of fiddling, switching on and off, etcetera, would result in the engine starting—but the instances of malfunction have been increasing over the past few years, and given the way of things mechanical, a total failure was certain, and almost certainly occurring in a stressful situation. 

So this morning Norm came over to Kagawong and pulled the starter, something that hadn't been done for 38 years. As anyone who has worked on old equipment knows, removing a component after 38 years of attachment is impossible. Add to that the inaccessibility of an engine stuffed into the bilge of a sailboat and it becomes obvious that Norm is the only person on the planet who could have done it. Took him less than an hour, too, and he still has some skin on his hands.

Soon as the starter was off the boat we put it in the truck and headed to Sudbury and a repair shop Norm recommended (and called on our behalf). The place looked like a dark cave littered with gobs of metallic slag, but the people inside were incredible. ""I'll get right on it," said the guy at the counter. And two hours later the starter was rebuilt.

It will be good to have an engine that starts. To a small degree I kind of liked the uncertainty, always figuring it would be a fun challenge to utilize plan B (which every good sailor always has), and in the past I've quite enjoyed being engineless and having to sail into a dock or marina only under sail. (I remember coming in somewhere, sometime sans engine and receiving a round of applause from all the bystanders.)

But, when grandkids are out on the boat cruising around with their parents, I believe a yacht should be fully found, with an engine that is always ready to go at the turn of a key.