2015 Lake Erie Interclub - Committee Boat Day 1

Due to Lauren and Brads wedding I didn't race in the Interclub this year but instead volunteered on the Committee Boat for the Port Dover section of the race. Today was our first day - finishing the 58 boats as they arrived in Port Dover from Erie, Penn.

We motored out at about 10 am, in Sea Dancer, and anchored off ED2 buoy. The wind was from the North
gusting between 8 and 20 knots. That meant the water was pretty flat for us but pretty crazy further
out in the lake.

First boat across the line was Lake Shark at about 12:20pm. They started at about
6am.

First Port Dover boat across the line was Ritual.

After the fastest boats had finished Mark Set arrived, offered to help but it was too wavy to safely
raft up to us, so he headed in. 

The day was cold, wet, alternating between windy and calm. We all agreed that it was ridiculous
that we needed a tuque and gloves at the end of June!

The wind dropped, shifted to the West and then built again.

The sky in this shot says it all.

Caliedascope came in during one of the high wind gusts.

Mark Set came out and relieved us at 6:15, still waiting for 2 boats who had until 7pm to finish.

Dreamer at rest after a rough day.

Lovely water front lot for sale on the Lynn River.

Congratulations Brad and Lauren

The daughter of good friends was married on Friday in a lovely celebration and the nasty weather held off just long enough.

As the church bells rang Lauren was her exuberant self.

That exuberance carried on into the night with great food, company, speeches, singing
 and lots and lots of dancing.

And because both Christine and Heather seem to believe that none of my blog posts should be without a cat photo:

Rasta turns making the bed into a game of hunt and destroy, such a scary cat, not!

Long Point - Quilting weekend

My sister, Nicola, used to sew and quilt and recently Christine mentioned that she still uses the quilt Nicky made her decades (well, more than one decade anyway) ago. Books from the library, pinterest, and emails back and forth resulted in a few days set aside to make a quilt for the double bed. There was mention of me learning to quilt but that thought was left by the wayside.
I picked Nicola up on Thursday morning and we stopped at Lens Mills in Guelph for a cutting board. We found that they had everything we needed so we didn't have to go to Ottawa St, Hamilton, as planned.

We found a book called "Man Cave Quilts" (really!) and this one is called
"Sea Journey". We both liked it.

Nicola says she didn't quite realize what she was getting in to with this quilt. She has done strip quilting in the past but I gather this is more complex. We had great fun wandering the aisles and deciding on fabrics.
Down to the cottage and everything had to be washed and dried. So that took the rest of Thursday. We walked, chatted, ate, drank.
Friday Nicky got down to business - ironing. Personally I would hate spending most of the morning ironing but she liked it.

It helps when it is lovely material.

Supervising

All ironed and ready for the next stage - cutting. We opted to use the picture of the sailboat
as the centre panel rather than appliqueing the galleon.

Cutting is about precision, control, attention to detail and Nicky wondered
how many accountants also quilted.

Strips, squares and triangles. Glad Nic enjoys this kind of thing. I just enjoy the
beautiful end product.

While Nicky was ironing and cutting I was experimenting with needle felting.
Great fun and I was quite pleased with the results. Painting with roving and yarn on wool.

There was of course also yoga, eating, drinking, chatting, walking, drinking coffee on the deck, hot tub in the evening and lots of 70s music on the CD player.

Saturday there was just a bit more cutting and then Nicky could actually get into some sewing.

First she had to test her sewing machine, which she hadn't used for a while. I bought
these tea towels in Barcelona, thinking they would make a nice cushion. Nicky put them
together for me, with a velcro opening and this will now be available for those who like to
nap on my couch.

Strips were sewn together and then cut, then sew to other strips that had been sew together
and then cut. Does this sound complicated? It was all too much for me and I am very glad
my sister is a quilter because I love quilts.

Strawberries = summer

I love strawberries. Fresh and warm out of the field is best. The look like summer. They smell like summer and they taste like summer. I picked this week at a farm along the Front Road where I also buy asparagus, peppers and garlic at different times in the season.

The asparagus field, across the road from the farm, is now left to grow and go to
seed. Gaining strength for next years harvest.

It was about 20 degrees with a pleasant breeze and I was the only one in the field, perfect!

Bees were buzzing in the clover scattered through the strawberry patch. I like to think that
they produce the local honey I buy - Hunts Honey.

My row.
Picking was easy. I had bought a mat with me to kneel on and could almost pick a
quart without moving.

At the end of a very pleasant half hour, 10 quarts of strawberries. I now have 10 packages
of frozen strawberries in the freezer and they will keep me in smoothies ( with the
blueberries and cherries I will freeze later) for the winter.

2015 Hewson Regatta

I can't remember how many times I have done the Hewson. We certainly did it every year we had Meridian and the last 3 on Zattarra, so at least 8. Last weekend makes it 9.

Saturday started out cold and grey but with enough wind to start the race and we headed off at about 6 knots. The wind was from the East so we were tacking down the lake which meant whoever was helming was focused on the tell tales on the headsail. Paul and I spelled each other off. Sharon fed us and Leslie huddled under a blanket and kept us company in the cockpit. We ate wraps, granola bars and cherries, all foods we have found to be easy to eat when underway.

Lovely, its clearing up.

The weather improved and the wind did not, until we finally gave in, took down the sail, and put the motor on because even if we sailed in a straight line (which we couldn't due to wind direction) we would be unable to finish the race in the allotted time. By then it was a lovely day and we were not the only boat to retire.

We motored past the Port Maitland lighthouse and the crowds of people fishing on the pier, up the Grand River to the Dunneville Boat Club. Docking was an experience but after a short hesitation as we ran aground in the muddy river bottom we got a prime spot with a view of the live band and, later, the fireworks.

On the way up the river this float plane took off and flew over us, a little disconcerting. Sharon,
on the helm at the time, ducked, and was then annoyed at herself for doing so.

Vestiges of the free margaritas.

We "pot lucked" with Sharon's sister and brother-in-law (who drove down to join us) and
the crew of Amazing Grace. We all bought our own meat and contributed an array of salads and veg.
Lovely to have someone else BBQ for me.

The fireworks were fabulous, as usual.

The next morning Zatarra hosted a number of people for coffee and Sharon's rhubarb cake and then we were off down the river again.

The lake was still and we started motoring back.

Unison, our committee boat for the weekend, was prepared to start us whenever
we had wind.

Then the fog rolled in,

the flies invaded the cockpit and

it poured with rain.

We decided to celebrate being on a cruising sailboat, with a cockpit covered by a full canopy, auto helm and the ability to make coffee.

Ahhhhhhh.

Loops on the Beach, Spring Lake Resort, Deerhurst

Three rug hooked leaves. The one on the right is going down to the U.S. for inclusion in the
Celebration Rugs display at Saunders village. The other two will be for sale at Loops on the Beach
in Dwight, Ontario.

Pam and I made our second annual road trip to Dwight to visit Marion at Loops on the Beach and Karen at the Log Cabin. We broke up the drive up with a stop in Erin for some shopping and lunch at the Tintagel Cafe.

Marion has created "Lucy", who will greet customers at the path.

The Loops sign on the porch is a little bigger this year.

Loops is open on weekends now but will have longer hours soon. 

So many lovely things, all hand made.

Marion has a talent for display, using antique furniture and natural pieces.

New promotional card

We stayed the night at Spring Lake Resort, where we had stayed last year. Lovely hosts and good food in the restaurant but we are not sure the definition of a "resort".

You rarely see phone booths anymore.

Lots of geraniums

There are gardens, decks and a view of the lake.

Next morning we visited Karen and did some shopping there and started the trip home.

Next April the OHCG Annual will be held at Deerhurst so Pam and I dropped in to check
out the accommodations. They were very hospitable and even drove us to the condo that
we will be staying in. It all looks lovely and I am looking forward to spending the weekend there.

Our drive home was broken up with some more shopping in Orillia and lunch at Apple Annies there.

Congratulations Fiona

Fiona competed in the Elementary regional track meet on Wednesday and won the junior girls 1500 metres. She lead from early on in the race and looked good all the way.

About to cross the finish line

Congratulations Fi!

I rediscovered radishes last winter so am growing them this year. Growing them is very
rewarding. These were sewn on May 22 and I harvested them June 10. They are delicious, crisp,
refreshing and just a little "bite" to them.

That's pretty well "instant gratification" in the vegetable gardening world. Unless of course
you use plants, which I did for the lettuce, spinach, chard and kale that I have been harvesting
for about 3 weeks now.

Race night again: thunderstorms, high wind warning, tornado warning
and a chance of kite boarders.