Our first intenational border

Wow! That was easy! Come in, tie off trot up to Customs & Immigration, pass the passport & ship's registration and voila! The nice people told us to have a nice visit, which we shall!
We are across lake Ontario, in the town of Cape Vincent. There are references to the War of 1812, beautiful old mansions, quiet streets and huge trees everywhere! It's almost too boring to write about! I am left wondering...what is the local cuisine like?
Well! I don't know about now, but I suppose the local fare included quite a bit of game-fish. The boat is tied off at the public dock behind the Seth Green Lab Vessel's berth at the Cape Vincent Fishery Museum, Auarium and research station. Mr. Green was apparently quite the angler and was the first person to hatch wee fishies in his own backyard, check out Sports Illustrated, Oct. 1864! (I can only hope it's not the swimsuit edition!) Although the town's tourist/sport-fishing background has quite diminished now, there are signs of leisure America all over; nice private boat docks, worn out buildings that have yet to scratch off the "Angling Supplies" sign off the derelict front doors.
It's a nice place to visit by boat, there is a lovely public washroom and shower facility just off the public dock and the first two nights are free! Tomorrow, the weather conditions should be right to make a safe trip to outr next port, Sacket's Harbour, apparently just as sleepy as Cape Vincent!

The Learning Curve...

Ever look at a new mother with her first baby in arms? See how natural they look? Even if you yourself are a mother, you know that she is experiencing all kinds of new things, problems, getting organized. Still, she looks like she knows what she's doing!

It is the same with us! I suppose we had quite a few distractions when packing up the house, the kid and the car, all going in different directions, and only now are we getting a feel for our new lifestyle. But here we are , enjoying our new "baby", getting to know her and each other, both live and very much up close.

The nice part of living this way is setting your own pace. The troublesome part is that the needs of the baby come first. Jim has lived aboard for two summers now; I have not. He knows her; I do not. This shall come with time and practice.

Anyhow, we have enjoyed some spectacular scenery along the way, and met up with some great people.

Day One saw us entertained in the bustling burgh of Burrit's Rapids by the Boesveld borough! (Z'at enough B's for you?). We walked from the river course, where we actually threw the anchor down in 7 feet of water, to their home. We could hear them. We could practically smell them! But we had to ask another neigbour, Thank you Morrisons! where they were. They were at yet another neighbour's house, making merry! We jioned right in and had a great time. Burrit's is a lovely place to tour through, no matter how briefly.

The next day, we stopped in Kilmarnock for the evening. Knowing we would be here, we lovingly chatted up Doud and Catherine Moir, Citizens of Kilmarnock, beforehand, and secured a shower. Afterwards we had them on board for a glass of wine and heard the story of their beautiful home on the Rideau Canal system. It seems they were looking to perhaps downsize their home after their son, Chris, had left home. They had been looking rather non-commitally, when Doug came across a fellow mowing the lawn on this beautiful property. Apparently, this was the fellow's mother's house, and after dicovering Doug's surname, invited him to come for a look sometime, but not today, as his mother was unwell. It took about a year before the Moirs did look into it, but since then , the matron had passed away. To make a short story, the house ended up being built originally by Doug's greatx3Grandfather, John Moir! They promptly bought the place and are presently rebuilding sections of it. We got a close-up of the bath, and wowie! Has Catherine got good taste or what! The whole house had such a simple, relaxed atmosphere, but had so many lovely surprises, like a reading area with two tasteful plaid sofas with a fireside settee that featured a red leather couch! The view of the bay we later anchored in was quite lovely.

The following morning, we took the 10 minute walk to kilmarnock Orchard. I traded my last copy of my new cookbook 13 Dessert Recipes, from the Yellow Canoe for some apples. We chatted with owner Myriam Belot for a while and discovered what a really busy lady she is! Besides Applefest, which I belive takes place Sept 16, there is "Let's get Creative"; a day full of local chefs, strutting their culinary stuff, wielding apple-corers and juicers to bring new ideas to the dining table. What a neat place, close by on Kilmarnock Road.

The next night we were in Smiths Falls, where I needed to cash in my old licence plate at the DMV. I realized that a friend of mine, Nancy Mantle, and her husband Dave, worked right next door, so we stopped in to see them. They accepted a dinner invitation, and we feasted on a curry dinner. Nancy requested the recipes for the Cashew & Date Couscous and the curried lentil dahl, so I'll put them on the side-bar for the blog post. They have just bought a wee daysailer and have already taken a trip down the Rideau to Ottawa, way to go! The morning after, we ran into Nick, from Ayling's Boatyard in Merrickville. We had him over for a quick pint, and he smartly told us that he is about to launch his sailboat! (both of us thought you look far better in a boat, as opposed to only working on a boat, Nick!) Happy cruising you all!

And then we all alone! No more friends! We tailed some kayakers who were on the same route as us, so we bid them hello whenever we could. Tried not to run them over! We anchored out in some beautiful places at the top of the system, Mortin's Bay on Whitefish Lake, Hudson Bay on the Big Rideau.

Then we came into Kingston, where we met up with my mum, and are waiting to get together with Jim's kids for a farewell dinner. Then it is off to upperNew York State & the Oswego Canal. Enjoy the snaps!

Kingston!

Well! We made it Kingston!
I'm learning a whole new lifestyle that includes a whole new way of cooking, let alone floating around on the water! I am also leaning to organize my internet time and access methods for blogging, as a result I have very little battery power and time left in the local library...hooray for libraries! MOre later!

Smiths Falls

Well! It's day four and we're feeling great! We've been positively roaring along, darlings, at four knots/hour, minus lock time, averaging four nautical miles a day at 2 knots/hr! Ah, life in the slow lane! I have been running into many familiar faces along the way, enjoyed much hosptality, Thank You Catherine & Doug for the use of your shower!, and have had enjoyable company en route. If you ever have the opportunity to host a bunch of Boesvelds, Do! Th e camera battery is just getting recharged at the lockmaster's house, so I have no pikkies for you right now, but in a few days. Ta-rah for now!

Saying Goodbye to Jim's Family

What a nice night we had at Monica's place, Beaconsfield, MTL., the weekend of Aug.4 . Monica and her sister-in-law Donna were a little miffed one Christmas when we were telling people that we couldn't bring too many personal effects aboard with us simply because of space issues. Well, they since got together to help alleviate our space problem...they found teeny tiny little itty bitty things that would be sure to fit. There was a four centimeter boom-box, a single shot of Crown Royal and other single dose toiletry items, but my favorite was a wee cookie jar with .5cm cookies. Jim is pictured below trying to dip in...he later had to sprinkle them out!

We will certainly miss our get-togethers at Christmas and Easter! But you know what we won't miss? All the snow at Christmas (although it is pretty), and Easter (which is supplied to keep Canadians humble at Easter).

Saying Goodbye to the Yellow Canoe

I have been at the Yellow Canoe Cafe for close to nine years. Wow! I managed there for six years and had owned it for the last three and a half. I have many fond memories of the staff and patrons and former owner Sam Jakes' Inn. I have learned much about business, relationships and a whole lot about cooking. I learned a lot about my self, about what I could do if I set my mind to it. I learned to hire, fire, and today...re-e-eetire! Tuesday July 31, 2007 saw my farewell party to The Canoe and the inroduction of new owner (Fantastic!) Susan Moizer, Merrickville veteran. Below are some shots of some of attendees, but certainly not all of The Beloved. Please enjoy!

The only person to inhabit Merrick's Landing Mews
longer than anyone is Pat Brown. She is shown
below with her daughter & new owner, both doing
what they truly love...*hic*! (OK, I'm just
kidding...not really!)

Perhaps the best thing about owning your own business is selecting the people you want to have around you. The surrounding pictures are of staff and patrons who have been cheerful, electrifying, helpful to the nth degree and very hungry!

Below are the Laberge and Atkinson families, between the two have produced at least three great employees...who knows what more offspring could turn up down the road!

Speaking of prolific!!! To the left are three members of the Boesveld Clan and home of the almost-world-famous...Bernie's Burger Balls! But that is a story for another time...

Above, some of the good (I mean GREAT!) folks at the Blockhouse Museum.


To the left, Pat Stroulger with Phyllis Walker. Phyllis in particular was very supportive, hoping I could make the Yellow Canoe a success in tandem with raising my two little girls.

Here's the proud new Proprietress, boog-a-looing to the popular 1981 hit "I Want Money"

So it has been fun, challenging, rewarding, all that clichee stuff. I loved working with my daughter. I loved having my husband/bookkeeper around, (who tends to much more than just books!) encourging me and fixing everything that broke. Between my mom and sisters, I'd say we did our share to support Merrickville economy. I enjoyed most of my customers and all of my regular patrons.

It's been a slice!

What are we up to, anyhow?

It has occured to me that I haven't really told you all what the h*!! we're up to, how we're preparing and what we're expecting from it.
Well, we're moving on board our ocean-going boat near Sept.1, o7, and will be doing some travelling. We don't have plans to take up residence in Ontario again, but will certainly be touring back through the years. We will be going mostly from port to port, visiting towns and villiages for as long as we like it there (it'll depend on whether they have free showers), then sail on to to the next. There will be the odd multi-day passage, but really not that many. The first big one will take around six days of fair winds to get us to the Bahamas. But if it turns out that we like cruising down the Intra-Coastal Waterway, maybe we'll motor inland a bit farther down the coast, then take a shorter passage to the Bahamas. One way or another, we're intending on being in the Bahamas for Christmas.
Imagine! Me! A full time tourist. Taking my revenge on all the tourists who have had their fun with me!
Our boat, Chelonidae, is 36 feet on deck, 10 1/2 feet across (beam), has 39 feet of mast, is sloop-rigged, has a centre cockpit and is constructed of wood. As you can see from the pictures, she has high sides (freeboard) so the decks are mostly dry when sailing. Even when Jim has too much sail up and is trying to bury the side decks under water (to look cool, I suppose), ...hasn't really happened. She was built in 1952 in Littlehampton, UK at the Hillyard Yacht Company. She is a North Sea design, therefore is quite heavily built. Her history includes at least one passage across the Atlantic Ocean, more likely four or five according to the record of owners and known ports. We found some Australian currency in the bilge...could it be?
Among Chelonidae's comforts is a lovely galley. I have a three burner stove top, an oven with a salamander broiler, double sinks with a foot-pump for fresh water, solid teak counter tops and a built in knife holder. The cupboards are made of cherry and white oak, likewise the drawers. The floor (sole) is white oak, finished with a light rub of oil, no varnish down there, that stuff'll kill ya!
The settee area has two comfy "couches", a gorgeous solid teak drop-leaf table, white oak sole, nice propane heater, brass clock and barometer, bookshelves and wine cellar. O.K., the wine cellar is what I call the bilge, but so what?
We have a solar-panel system and a rather large alternator to generate electricity for our cooling system (three 12-V fans), running lights and electric bilge pump. "Mr. Perkins", or "Perky" as Jim calls it, is our Perkins 4-108 deisel. I must tell you about the manual bilge pump, "The Gusher". What fun! We could call it the mini-shower, gull-wetter or guest-prohibitor. It sends gallon after gallon of whatever water collects in the bilge right onto the dock and anything on it! Including tools, groceries waiting to be loaded, friends...you know.
Our guidance-system includes electronic charts, paper charts, home-printed charts and more charts acquired from sailors going the other way who want to get rid of old charts. We have two GPS's, one hand-held and another bad boy I have since learned it is called a chart plotter)that just sits there and tells you all kinds of stuff: lat & long of where you are, coastline, lights, beacons and buoys, time and where the mermaids are.
We each have a life vest/safety harness, a Mustang suit (for cold weather & flotation...not that the two should ever mix). We have a VHF radio and a depth sounder. If we really need anything else, we'll pick it up cheap from other sailors too frustrated with keeping the *&%# thing running...Jim is very handy with repairs and knowing quality when he sees it!
I'll be posting more photos of the interior when we do move aboard and the boat looks more lived-in.
Anyhow, to keep the cruising kitty topped-up, Jim is intending on picking up the odd bit of work doing small boat repairs for others. He can do sail repair, basic deisel maintenance & repair, and anything having to do with wood. I will be thinking about writing some articles for news papers & magazines, who knows? So we won't be completely retired. Just very choosey!

Knowing the time would come to move my humble home to fit the space requirements of a boat, I have purposely gotten rid of a lot of "stuff", not aquired new "stuff", have been allowing old stuff to break/rip/wear out and not replace it. Some things have been replaced with stuff that will be used for the boat. Like my manual coffee grinder and mortar & pestle. I'll find out if I can make peanut butter in the latter. I have already made jam in very small jars so it won't go mouldy too quickly after opening. It kinda feels good to get rid of so much stuff! As we travel, I'm sure we'll pick up souveneir stuff, local crafts and clothing, goodness knows...food glorious food!
I will be posting recipes, news of the weird and wonderful, gobs of pikkies and generally telling you about our reality: two old retired farts having some fun!