The Tragically Hip Celebration

It’s been a tough year for music lovers, with the loss of Lemmy, Prince, and David Bowie, to name only a few. Usually these sad departures come as a surprise. First, there is shock, bewilderment, then the grieving. But this one, this one we know is coming. We get notice. Oddly, it does not make it easier. It seems harder to stomach. The true gift The Hip are giving their fans is a chance to say goodbye, to savor one last wonderful evening in their company (if you’ve had the chance to see them live, you know it’s the best party in town), celebrate all they have given us over the years. It takes on an aura of going to church, something that transcends the mere daily grind. It has a tinge of attending one’s own funeral, for Gord is there, giving us his all, as he always does, for one last time. It provides a sense of community, for we are all strangers, but we are all family for this brief evening. CBC coined it perfectly; it’s a National Celebration. It’s a beautiful gift, it’s sure to be a great show, but let’s face it; there is a strange sadness overhanging. Goodbye to a true Canadian poet; no one can so aptly blend guitar licks with intricate and intriguing phrases, as well as camouflaged references to our history and our day to day. Thanks for everything Gordon Downie, please keep fighting. It's been a Long time running... and it's been a privilege.

Home - le retour

We did indeed need to move – the dock on Skeleton was not very comfortable, so we looked for a better spot. Smith was still very rocky, and with a strong East wind, there aren’t many choices in the Brock group. We tried off Stoven, but we were hitting bottom, we backtracked and found a dock off Harvey island. It would have been a quiet night, if not for the major party on the house across the bay – they lasted until 5 am....at least I was awake to close the hatches when the rain started....

Saturday morning we got underway around 8 :15 am and sadly left Brockville; I like to think the area was sad to see us head east and let us know by giving us rain, rain and more rain! 

But Ray did a pretty good job, made it easier for Seb to navigate in the rain, and we did really good time. We barely waited 30 minutes at the locks in Iroquois, which gave us time for a quick lunch and to observe the Peregrine falcons, Downy woodpeckers and other birds near the docks. After an easy lockage, we continued on our way and made it into SYC around 6 pm. 

Au retour, les boys étaient contents de retrouver leurs jouets, et se sont beaucoup amusés à construire des bateaux et vérifier leur flottaison!

Apres quelques jours depuis notre retour, la routine se réinstalle; les boys sont au camp de jour des Debrouillards, nous sommes de retour au boulot. Nous avons vaincu les piles de lavage, et on se prépare à retourner voir Whisper ce weekend. On est heureux d’être à la maison, mais je pense qu’on repartirais demain matin....

Je suis en train de vous preparer un ‘best of’ en photo. En attendant, je peux vous dire qu’il y a eu de la lecture, de la pêche, de la baignade, de l’apnée, de la confection de brcaelets tressés, des constructions avec bouchons de propane, de liège et du tape électrique, sans oublier la corde et les bouteilles de plastique. On a apprivoisé Ray, même si on s’ennuie encore de Germain (ah les autopliotes!). On a observé plein d’espèces, fait de belles randonnées et observé les étoiles. On a revisité des endroits aimés, découverts de nouveaux petits coins et rayé de la liste d’autres coins supposément magnifiques.... On a réalisé le rêve de se mettre à l’ancre devant les Sandbanks et je me suis rendue à la lage à la nage (kinda cool). En somme, 3 semaines de bonheur. On repart quand là?

The Grenadier Rodeo... And more!

After a beautiful sunset and a star filled sky, it was time for bed, and the wind picked up. And up! The boat was rocking bow to aft like a rodeo. The boys slept like babies, mommy and daddy, not so much, but we’ve seen worse. This morning, it was grey and cloudy for the first time during our trip, thunderstorm warnings, and still the rodeo...so we changed our plan and rather than stay on Grenadier, we decided to head to Mallorytown and see Willow and Pillow. Pillow (which has now been named Stella by the Parks Canada staff) has grown so much in a year, easily doubled in size! Willow had just had a « big meal » so unfortunately, no playing with us, but she was very friendly nonetheless and came to say hi to Liam :) For those new to our blog, Willow is a snake that we visit each year since Liam was about 18 months old, when we first visited Mallorytown on our way to Ivy Lea where we bought Whisper’s cradle.

We then headed towards Brockville; wind shifting tonight so we decided to leave our favorite anchorage off Smith for another more appropriate time. We stopped at a dock off the south side of Refugee island, went for a wonderful swim with our masks and tuba down the length of the island; we can see the aquatic plants, the fish, shells, absolutely stunning. When we got back to the boat, we had some neighbors on the dock and they seemed to be getting ready for a busy night on the dock, so we decided to find another spot. No room at Battersby, plenty of room off De Rotterberg, so we came full circle! We started our vacation here with Rémy nearly 3 weeks ago and it looks like we will end it here.

A very hot night, barely any air in the boat, so we needed the fans most of the night. This morning, the first thing was a swim to cool down! After breakfast, we got our snorkeling gear ready, walked to the end of the island and let ourselves drift while looking at all that was going on under water; fish, plants, even roots from all the pine trees on the island starting new pines under water. We got out at the other end of the island and walked back to the boat. As we were getting ready to jump off the dock to wash all the p ine needles off our shoes, a familiar boat was coming up : Brian and Heather on Ricochet. They are starting their vacation and heading west, so we wished them a good trip.

As the wind was picking up, we decided to head out for a short sail, thinking we would go anchor off Smith for the night. The sailing was fantastic, a wonderful treat, so we just kept going and going, and oops, there we were near Singer Island! The beautiful Fair Jeanne was tied up at the dock, and the pirates were having a good swim. We decided to find an anchorage for the night; we were near Grenadier, but the winds were in the same direction as two nights ago and we didn’t really feel like another rodeo night so Pitch Pine Point was out of the question...so we decided to try the bay behind Long Schooner island. There was already a sailboat anchored there, but we decided to go see if there was enough room for another. Well, it was Ricochet anchored there! We had a good laugh when we told them we had gone for a short sail and found ourselves here! 

During the night I woke up around 1h30 am and decided to head out to try and catch sone of the Perseid meteor shower. I was able to see 5 but then the cloud cover was building so decided to head back to bed. We were awakened early by a brief but intense shower – time to close all the hatches!

Ce matin, vendredi, petit matin lent et paresseux, il y a beaucoup de vent. La baie où nous sommes est entre Long Schooner Island et l’extremité est de Grenadier. Nous avons été explorer sur l’ile mais les sentiers n’étaient pas très bien entretenus, et comme nous n’avions pas de vêtements longs, on n’a pas pris de chance (il y a des tiques sur cette ile). Mais nous avons poursuivi notre exploration avec Scream pour voir tous les nénuphars, les oiseaux (hirondelles, canards et autres inconnus). Une belle baignade, un petit diner rapide et c’estle temps de retourner vers Brockville. Un départ à voile très rock n roll, très difficile, du gros vent de l’ouest, entre 15-20 noeuds et de la vague. Même avec un ris, on a facilement 30-35 degres. Avant de déchirer une voile (encore...cette saison a été difficile à ce point de vue), le capitaine a décidé de rentrer les voiles et d’y aller au moteur. On a quand même laissé un petit bout de foc pour aider! On a filé à 6-7 kn jusqu’à Brockville, et on s’est fait attrapé par la pluie pour la première fois de toutes nos vacances! Mais on a bien pris notre douche... L’ancrage à Smith était très inconfortable, nous voici maintenant à Skeleton island, mais à un quai. Je soupçonne qu’on changera après souper, ce n’est pas très terrible, mais, vaut mieux garder les moussaillons nourris!

Depuis 1 semaine, avant le dodo, je fais la lecture aux boys de L’Ile au trésor. Je peux vous dire que cette aventure de pirates les captive, et chaque soir, on me supplie de lire un autre chapitre avant de fermer les lumières. Notre voyage se termine demain, mais on n’a pas terminé le livre, on devra donc continuer à la maison.... Ce sera une bonne façon de rester en voyage un peu plus longtemps.... 

Photos des derniers jours a suivre au retour.

Demain, depart tot, on essaiera de se rendre a SYC pour souper et peut etre dormir a la maison.

On se la coule douce!

Dimanche nous sommes partis de Kingston et avons fait de la douce voile dans les 40 acres, pour revenir dans les milles-iles, en direction de Leek island; c’est un ancrage vraiment trop populaire. L’ancre chassait, c’était comme l’heure de pointe sur Décarie...Après un diner en vitesse, on a levé l’ancre, ce n’est pas du tout à notre goût ici. Direction Camelot, même problème, beaucoup de monde et pas beaucoup de place. On essaie Endymion, encore la même chose. Ces deux iles sont magnifiques, mais on a tendance à préférer de petits endroits tranquilles, pas les attroupements. Le vent commencait à se lever alors on a décidé de se rendre à notre valeur sûre : Sugar island. Welcome to paradise. Pour nous souhaiter la bienvenue, une famille de cygnes est passée. Tranquille, on peut se baigner, c’est calme, 2 autres voiliers loins de nous, that’s the way we like it! Sébastien et Liam ont voulu partir pour une petite virée avec Scream, mais oups, petite panne. Liam était déçu :( 

 Aucun moteur n’est à l’épreuve de Sébastien, et après un peu de travail, le problème était reglé. Petit ajustement de l’ancre (c’est le thème de la journée les ancres qui chassent on dirait), puis on est installés pour la nuit. Celle-ci nous a offert un autre beau spectacle d’étoiles, et juste avant le lever du soleil, on a eu droit à un concert par un hibou et 2 loons. Je n’avais pas encore entendus de loons depuis le début du voyage, alors j’étais très contente de les entendre enfin.

Lundi matin, observation d’oiseaux avec les jumelles, il y a plusieurs espèces sur cette ile. Nous avons aussi eu la visite de la famille de cygnes; ils viendront nous voir plusieurs fois pendant notre séjour ici. 

Pendant que nous étions ici, nous avons aussi vu des hérons, des Ospreys, des Northern Harriers, et des oiseaux dont on n’a pas pu identifier l’espèce avec certitude... Aujourd’hui c’est jour de pêche au grand plaisir des boys. Thomas est parti le premier avec Sébastien, et ils sont revenus avec 2 belles perchaudes. Puis, le tour de Liam, et ils sont revenus avec 3 belles perchaudes. Devinez ce qu’on a mangé pour souper? Merci les boys!

Au début du magnifique coucher du soleil, 2 loons sont venus tout près nous chanter leur chanson. 

Tuesday morning, we had pancakes with a peach compote (peaches we got from the farmer’s market in Kingston, which were absolutely heavenly sweet), a good swim, and Thomas and Sebastien have gone to Gananoque to get some ice, water and more worms. While they were away, Liam practiced his casting from the deck; he got some serious nibbles even without a hook, from what looked to be an omisco (trout-perch). We are now anchored off Grenadier island, and it looks like we are going to have another beautiful sunset.

Oh the sailing!

Friday aug 5

As we were getting ready to leave our anchorage this morning, we had a very elegant visitor.

We then went to Waupoos marina; pumped out the you know what, refill the gas tanks, fill up on water, changed the oil, and then off we went. 

A very respectable south wind about 10-15 knots, and waves that started off about 2 feet but got up to 4 feet easily. We took a reef in the main and in the genoa at some point, near Bath. So far the lake had been calm and I think Sebastien was a little disappointed but we made up for it today. We even got a bit of action with the genoa getting tangled in the furler. All fixed, no damage, no fuss. We made it into Kingston around 4:30, after nearly 6 hours under sail, nobody sick, and only the very last bit under motor. It was an inexpensive day for gas usage! As we made our way to a dock in Confederation basin, a familiar sailboat was already there; Jamie and Joanne on Rosalita. 

A treat this evening, as there has been no ice since Wellington, the ice box fridge is empty...so it’s time for Curry Original! We had a wonderful feast, yummy!

Tomorrow, we hunt for Pokemon, a new rolly-polly (ours broke last week), some rope (Vandervoorts will be ideal for those last 2 items), ice, grocery, and laundry. 

Samedi

Les courses, y compris le marché des maraichers à la place de l'hotel de ville, quelques petits projets sur le bateau, suite à notre petit problème d'hier avec l'enrouleur, chasse au Pokemon, etc. Et enfin, on a de la glace!

Ce soir, soirée cinéma sur le bateau, avec Le Petit Prince. À demain, on quittera Kingston, on espère avoir de la place à Leek island, sinon, on trouvera quelque chose dans ce coin là :)

A looong way to Waupoos

Everyone has heard about the expression ‘taking the scenic route’... Wednesday morning we left Wellington (without a hitch, water under the keel), bright sunshine, nice wind, once out of the channel we hoisted the sails and off we went. Beautiful sailing day,so much so that we were focused more on the fun sailing rather than the navigation....and we lost quite a bit of time, so our way to Waupoos was much longer than necessary, but whatever, it was the scenic route....Even Ray was cooperating and did not give us too many incorrect sharp turns. 

Every time we are out on the lake, I am amazed at how few boats we cross. It’s such a wonderful playground, plenty of wind, plenty of water, no shoals or anything to worry about, and yet, we passed only 1 sailboat. We anchored in Smith bay after a long day, after trying off Long Point (there is so little water we scraped the bottom a bit and turned around). To our pleasant surprise, the water is warm! Our last time in Waupoos, the water was absolutely freezing! 

Once again, something to be said for secluded areas; the sky was filled with stars, the best show in town before going to sleep.

Thursday

Time for a few little projects in the morning (fixing a window bug screen, adjustments to the genoa, etc), and then a nice swim, followed by dinghy ride to get to the Waupoos Winery. We sampled a few delicious wines (purchased a bottle of red Baco), and learned from the gentleman in charge of the tastings that Waupoos means « Running rabbit »; that explains why there are rabbits on everything at the winery, includng a delicious rosé called the Pink Rabbit. 

We walked in the vineyard, crossed the street to Clafeld Orchards and made a stop to  the Petting zoo where the boys fed some chickens and ducks, had a chat with some boars, some goats, a rabbit and some sheep. Thomas was particularly impressed with a rooster who had quite the feather do on his head. Liam did not really enjoy having them peck in his hand and preferred throwing the grain on the ground and watching them eat from afar. One of the ducks was especially greedy and rather than being satisfied with the grain, tried to get a few fingers as well, both from Thomas and I.

 After the petting zoo, we stopped at the orchard’s shop where we sampled some smashed cidre and had a snack on the terrasse. Time to head back to Whisper,  and on our way back the dinghy ride was a rather wet one. The boys dropped me off for a bit of a rest (I hurt my back a little yesterday so I had not slept very well), and they went to get ice cream and bring back cheese from Black Creek cheesemakers. Yummy! When they got back, we all went for a delightful swim. We are certainly spoiled with this wonderful weather this summer :)

After supper, the boys went wishing, but they didn’t catch anything, although both came back with smiles on their faces.

Tomorrow,we leave Waupoos and head for Kingston. Time to resupply...sweet dreams, because tomorrow is another sailing day!

Du sable et du bonheur

Les Sandbanks, c'est une longue plage, en fait de dune en dune, de l'eau peu profonde, chaude, du sable blanc et doux comme de la farine. Difficile de croire qu'on est sur le lac Ontario....

Dimanche soir, les boys ont eu un petit luxe et ont dormi à la maison avec Marjo et Mimi, mettons que elles ont dû moins bien dormir que les boys... Et les parents ont eu droit à un dodo jusqu’à 8h30! Lundi matin, nous sommes partis pour les Sandbanks. 

Quelle belle journée! Baignade, découverte du masque et tuba, chateaux de sable, journée de bonheur, les boys étaient infatigables. 

La journée s’est poursuvie avec un délicieux souper. Les garçons n’ont pas eu besoin de se faire bercer pour dormir. Liam donnait même des coups de pieds en dormant comme s’il nageait encore. Le ciel était couvert d’étoiles, on voyait la voie lactée clairement, la grande ourse, cassiopée, simplement magique. Tout le monde a très bien dormi. Mardi, nous avons décidé de nous rendre à Sandbanks avec Whisper. Mais avant, il fallait le libérer... La marina ou nous sommes n’a pas beaucoup d’eau et comme on dit, on « était accotés dans le fond »! Mais nous avons tout de même réussi et nous avons pu nous rendre jusqu’à la plage. 

Sébastien est parti avec le zodiac à la rame avec les boys, tandis que moi j’en ai profité pour nager. Une autre excellente journée; les garçons s’améliorent énormément à la nage, vive le masque et le tuba. Nous avons apporté le bbq du bateau sur la plage et nous avons donc eu un très bon diner. Petit moment de bonheur pour moi et Sébastien quand nous sommes partis nager ensemble avec nos masque et tuba. Retour sur Whisper et retour à la marina; les garçons sont vraiment crevés, le petit moment de repos pendant le retour leur a fait du bien car comme hier, ils n’ont pas arrêtés une seule minute de la journée.

Un autre excellent souper ce soir, on se fait gâter! 

Demain ce sera le temps de quitter Wellington, merci beaucoup à la famille de Sébastien de nous avoir si bien accueuillis, notre petit passage a été très agréable. 

À refaire!