Long Point - Mike and snow

Mike is home for a short leave and Chris was also able to get home for a day, so we had the whole family together for the first time since Mike and Aimee's wedding, last summer. The weather co-operated and Mike and Chris went for a swim on Monday. Mike, just to keep up his training and Chris, to continue training for her mini-triathlon in August.

George kayaked with them as the "pace boat" actually "safety boat"
as the pace wasn't much of an issue - slow.

Neither were that keen to get into the water, its still pretty cold.

They both swam the kilometre from the Provincial Park down to the cottage and said that it felt warm enough when they got going. This is further than Chris will need to swim for the race and good practise as it is in open water and she will be swimming off Toronto Island.
The next day, I was "safety boat" and Mike swam again, this time just with his legs. He was in his wet suit and flippers and I wore Georges wet suit as it was quite cool on the water.

The annual summer snow fall has come to Long Point. The Cottonwood Poplars send their seeds out in puffballs that float around and cover the ground just like snow.

The bottom seed pods are yet to burst, in this picture, but the top ones
are ready to let fly.

It coats the ground and floats around just like snow, getting caught in the flowers
and trees and drifting into low spots.

Lavender, in flower, and covered in "snow".

Niagara Wineries - weekend at Eve's

George golfed with the 3 guys that he worked with at Sears, 30 years ago, on the weekend. They used to golf every May 24th before we had children with birthdays around that weekend. They see each other, very sporadically, through the year but haven't golfed for a whole weekend in years. Of course its not just golfing, they also play cards, hang out at Rick's family cottage, eat and drink, re-tell old stories and of course, verbally abuse each other.
I spent the weekend with Eve, at her place in the country north of Burlington. We created a water feature in her garden and did some planting, ate and drank, hot tubbed, and generally caught up on each others lives. Saturday we drove down towards Niagara to tour some wineries.
It was a lovely warm spring day, so nice after all the rain we have had. I drove and was D D, while Eve and Karen did some tasting. It was so nice to see grape vines with leaves and miniature grapes on them.

Because, in the last 6 years or so, we travel to southern Spain or France in the winter time, we see the grape vines when they are dormant. I have come to love the look of the gnarled old vines with their rough bark, in straight rows, held in place with long strands of wire. The vines we saw this weekend did not look as old as the European ones and did not have the same sense of "character" but they were still a lovely pale green, planted on the rolling land that is the Beamsville Bench area.

Lavender beds in front of the vineyard.

We picked up a winery map and in the 4 hours we were there only managed about 2 inches of it. The wineries are thick on the ground. It almost seemed silly to get in the car to drive to the next one as you could see it just down the road. Some are very new, with the landscaping not yet looking "settled". All have been beautifully designed and detailed. All offered tastings at $1 or $2 a taste.

Karen and Eve tasting. This host considered Eve a real challenge but was unable to find her
a wine that she liked as much as the California wines she favours.

We had a delicious lunch at one of the wineries, sitting on a deck, looking over the vineyards. Had a quick stop at an antique store and continued on to the next winery. The last one we went to was a real find. We were shown the cellars with their oak casks and the stainless steel vats for the "un-oaked" varieties. Karen and Eve bought wine and a brick of chocolate there.

The red wine cellar

With the loot.

We finished off the trip at a cheese store in Jordan Station where I got to do some tasting and came away with a delicious Brie like cream cheese and a mouth watering blue cheese from Tasmania.

Back of the car, full of goodies.

The best part of the trip, for Eve, was that she was able to find a Canadian Chardonnay that she likes. Much more reasonable than her California favourite and easier to get.

Long Point - Whats new this year.

In my previous Long Point posts I have pointed out the things that reflect the reliability of the change of seasons at Long Point. However, this year there have been some changes that visitors to the Point should note. Some out of interest and some as they impact the enjoyment of the visit.
Last winter, 3 eco-passages where installed under the causeway road bed, allowing safe passage for wildlife from the marsh to the lake and vice versa. This spring the fences that prevent wildlife from getting across the road were attached to the passages to funnel creatures through.

The largest of the eco-passages allows water to flow between the marsh and the Lake.  It is
reported to be located where Big Creek used to flow into the Lake.

Same passageway, marsh side.

This one is just a mud passageway but has holes along the top so that light can get in.

The third, also a mud passageway, doesn't have holes, so its a dark tunnel.

The other day we saw the "roadkill crew" walking the causeway. What a summer job that would be! They collect all the creature corpses for identification and to keep track of how many are being killed crossing the road. It is hoped that the availability of the eco-passages will reduce the number of creatures killed on that particular road. Especially the endangered ones. There has also been an effort made to provide a variety of habitat in the marsh in the hope that the turtles will not feel the need to cross the road to reach preferred egg laying areas.
From wildlife visitors to human ones. To accommodate the influx of summer "tourists", the County has instituted a number of changes this year:
Reduced speed limits (actually this started last year, so this is just a reminder). The speed limit across the causeway starts at 70km, drops to 60km, in front of the trailer parks drops to 50km and along Erie Blvd at the Causeway Restaurant, drops to 40Km!

The County has also painted white stripes on the road (and the gravel?) to designate parking spots.

163 spots along Erie Blvd

and a few in front of the Abigail Becker parking lot.

The signs that are, however, the most contentious are the ones denoting 4hr parking only. Who comes to the beach for just 4hrs? I believe that the  hope is that people who are coming for longer than 4hrs will go to the Provincial Park. I am not convinced. I believe we will just have some very annoyed visitors, when they get their parking tickets and it will really tie up the by-law officers time, when they should be giving tickets for all the people who park in un-designated areas, often blocking driveways or traffic sight lines.

This idea caused so much controversy that it was voted on at 2 different County Council meetings. The
local radio station reported that it was done to "appease the Long Point Cottagers".

On a lighter note; anyone looking for an investment? Bubbs on the Beach is for sale.

As I was finishing off this post a sea plane landed, just down the beach from our place.

It rolled up onto the beach,

and after a little struggle getting over a sandbar, took off again.

Well, that's a first for us.

Norfolk County - PDYC Hewson Regatta

George and I participated in the Port Dover Yacht Club Racing Division, Hewson Regatta, last weekend. We had the opportunity to crew on Zatarra 1, owned by Sharon and Paul. I had crewed with them for a couple of races in last years Interclub. Zatarra 1 is a 36 foot Catalina and a lovely cruising boat but this year Paul and Sharon have obtained her PHRF rating, so that she can receive an accurate handicap when racing.

We loaded up enough stuff, mostly food, that it looked like we were cruising for a week, not 2 days. Set out at about 9am on Saturday on a still lake. There were 12 boats divided into 2 fleets.

The lake was like glass and the sky also a consistent grey. Sounds dull but it was actually beautiful, like
a watercolour painting. Note: when you can see a boats reflection in the water, you usually can't sail.

Some boats had the regular race crew on board.

Some had family who had come to visit for the weekend

One even had the family pet on board, complete with his own life jacket.

The decision was made to motor down the lake for a while, hoping that the wind would build during the day.

Andy made the comment that this might be the best action shot I would get all day; him setting the  location of the
course markers into his GPS.

This gave Sharon the opportunity to make coffee, something she is always happy to do.

As predicted, the wind did build and we started to race from the Nanticoke Shoal marker.

Sea Dancer, our committee boat for the Regatta, started us off,  with her beautiful Asymmetrical Sail.

As the wind was quite light, we sailed down to the Tecumseh Marker and ended the race there. The light wind allowed us to try out Zatarra's Asymmetrical sail which is like a cross between a Spinnaker and a Genoa.
We motored on to Port Maitland and then up the Grand River to Dunneville, where we all docked at the club there.

Zatarra looking like a true race boat, not just a cruising boat, with her sails on the deck.

Between the Sheets, looking like a true cruising boat, with gas tanks strapped to the deck.

It was a great surprise to see Between the Sheets at the Dunneville club. They were on their way back to Port Dover from the Bahamas and decided to wait in Dunneville for the Regatta participants. We had spent a lovely week in the Bahamas with them (See January posts).

Margarita Party.

BBQ

Followed by some fabulous fireworks, watched from the cockpit of the boat.

The next day, Sunday, we set off, back down the river, under sunny skies

Leaving the Dunneville boat club.

The water was, again, like glass so we motored up the Lake towards Port Dover.

The wind began to build and we were able to sail all the way back to Dover. For a while we raced along, at 6 knots or so, and it was exhilarating. However nearer the end of the race the wind died and we had the frustration of "pootling along" at 1.5 to 2 knots. However we did get a chance to gybe the Asymmetrical sail a couple of times and talk through and try a few ways to improve its performance.

On the last leg to Port Dover

All in all, a great weekend of sailing and camaraderie.

A good time was had by all!

PS: Zatarra came in 5th (out of 5)

Norfolk County - Port Rowan to St Williams

As part of my training for the "Give it a try, triathlon", (more on this in another post) I decided to go for a bike ride on "the mainland". I started of from the Port Rowan library, leaving George working on his Smart Serve Certification there.
The road from Port Rowan to St Williams was under construction last year and now half of it is beautifully smooth with a paved shoulder to bike on. The other half is due to be completed this year according to the Port Rowan Good News (yes that really is the name and its a lovely little monthly paper that keeps us abreast of everything of importance to Port Rowan and Long Point).

It was a lovely spring day, sunny and cool enough to be comfortable for riding. There was not much traffic on Front Rd on a Tuesday morning but the following sign was appreciated.

The first place I stopped was the overlook just West of Port Rowan. There is a great view of the Long Point Inner Bay.

There are two of these little fishing sheds, that I am aware of, on the Inner Bay. This one is just
below the lookout and the other is on the Causeway. The contraption on the right is used to pull
the big nets out of the water. They must have some sort of special permission or license to fish
like this in the Bay.

The next thing on my Front Rd tour was a cemetery that I have wondered about every time I drove by. It sits between the road and the Bay, with a historical marker.

The old head stones have been set in a cement and brick wall behind the marker. The founder of the family, locally,
John Troyer was a church leader, businessman and herbal healer known as "the witch doctor".

At the same site there is also a Quilt Board. There are a number of these scattered throughout Norfolk
and the surrounding Counties, encouraging people to go for a drive and find them all.

I had not realised that a cemetery could be designated a heritage site.

I continued on. The road is mostly flat except where there are ravines cutting down to the Bay. The corn was about 6inches high in the fields beside the road and the soy bean only about 2 inches. There were lots of birds including a heron flying towards the lake and a turkey vulture who took way too much interest in me. Sizing me up as potential road kill perhaps. The Flocks or Sweet William (as George calls them) were in full flower in the ditches.

I reached St Williams and cycled a little further along what, I now discovered, was the Waterfront Trail.

I turned around only to find I was now fighting a Westerly head wind. Riding back was much harder than going had been. I passed, again, the entrances to the three marinas and their corresponding, seasonal, communities, that snuggle in to the banks along the North Shore of the Inner Bay. All along the road it is possible to catch glimpses of the Bay and Long Point beyond the farm fields and between the trees.

I'm not sure how much this can really constitute a training ride. Its not very far from Port Rowan to St Williams and back and it took me an hour and a half. Of course, there were lots of stops, picture taking, and shaking my fist at the Turkey Vulture. I think triathloners are expected to ride as fast as they can, not admire the scenery along the way.

I don't know how many times I have driven passed this sign and never noticed that Long Point is part
of the community of Port Rowan.