June 1st-10th, 2012
Roger, Louie & I left our home in Clearwater, FL on Friday, June 1st, with a truckload of “stuff” we couldn’t do without for the next 3 months. We took far fewer things than we ever have before – partly because after 3 years, we know what we can do without and partly because this is going to be a short boating season.
I’ll admit that it was a little difficult for me to leave home this year, but knowing how wonderful our life is on the boat didn’t cause me a bit of hesitation and I was ready to leave Friday morning as planned. We stopped overnight in Indianapolis and stayed with Brett & Kelly, and Travis (who just graduated from IU Kelley School of Business-yayyy!) came up from Bloomington; we missed Nicole & Kacee who were camping for the weekend. Our next stop was Kincardine, Ontario, Canada where we stayed overnight at Rae & Steve Mason’s. We had left a few things there last fall – things that we didn’t want to freeze on the boat over the winter, i.e., power washer, Keurig coffee maker, etc.
On Monday afternoon, we arrived at Bayport Marina in Midland, Ontario, which is on Georgian Bay. The Karen Anne was still in shrink wrap, and by the time we checked into our hotel, had lunch and returned, the shrink wrap had been removed. We were excited to see what a beautiful job the marina had done waxing and compounding the boat. (Not to mention the great varnish work that Rae & I did last fall!). Roger put a touch-up coat of bottom paint along the water line and I cleaned the inside of the boat. Danny & Susan Godin from Potest Fieri arrived and we had dinner with them and made some tentative plans for the summer.
Tuesday morning was spent just unpacking the bins and waiting for the crew to launch the boat after lunch. I guess I never paid attention to the travel lift here, but the guy “driving it” was actually using a remote control. He looked like a little kid playing with his remote control racecar, but in fact he was maneuvering our 26,000-pound trawler! We jumped onboard and Roger started the engine – what a great sound & plenty of water coming out of the exhaust. Yes, it was a good start!! Once we got to our dock, Roger de-winterized the systems, one by one, and each one performed beautifully! Fresh water – check, filtered water - check, toilet – check, shower – check, air conditioner – check, generator – check, raw water pump – check. We saved the best for last and I fired up the Keurig coffee maker, and thankfully, after a long winter’s sleep, it did what it was supposed to – we’re ready for cruising!
We spent the rest of the week cleaning the outside of the boat and the dinghy and provisioning the boat with groceries – it always takes me 3 or 4 trips to the stores to get what I want (well, make that 7 or 8 trips). That’s partially because I can never remember how much the refrigerator & freezer will hold and how much storage there actually is on the boat. It’s safe to say that we can eat onboard for 3 weeks without going to the store for anything more than milk, bread and fresh fruits, vegetables and raspberries for our raspberry martinis. By the way, Susan bought two giant martini glasses for us because our husbands will only let us have one martini – we may as well make it a big one then!
On Friday night, Rae & Steve Mason (from Barefoot Shoes) arrived for the weekend and Danny & Susan joined us on our boat for a delicious dinner. We toasted to the six of us being back together. We first met each other at the very, very beginning of our Great Loop. Remember the Carp Captives? That was all of us, plus a couple of more boaters, three years later.
Rae & Steve always sleep in the salon on our boat and are the best boat guests you could ask for; all four of us slept like babies. I did laundry on Saturday at the marina and Rae gave me a hand. Believe it or not, we can get away without doing laundry for 10-14 days. We certainly have enough clothes onboard with our hanging lockers/closets (this year I brought 4 dresses with me!) and plenty of drawer space. We have lots of extra towels and sheets to be comfortable.
Roger offered to “buy” Steve lunch at the marina’s complimentary burger & sausage barbecue. It rained a little, but by the end of the day, it was sunny and beautiful. Rae & I made one more run to the grocery store and as we were carrying the groceries down the dock, a package of Chelsea buns (a Canadian specialty) slipped out of my bag and rolled off the dock into the water. They floated for hours and I was thinking, “I hope that’s all that’s going to fall into the water this year”. Keep your fingers crossed for Louie – he hasn’t had the best of luck with Roger & me in the past!
Today Steve drove our truck to his & Rae’s home in Kincardine where we’ll leave it for the summer. They will either drive it down to us in the states, or we’ll rent a car and come back and pick it up. We expect to cruise in Georgian Bay for the next couple of weeks and then we’ll move on to the North Channel, also in Canada. From there, we’ll cross into Lake Michigan at Mackinac Island on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and find our way back to Michigan City, Indiana on the southern tip of Lake Michigan. I will admit that when Steve drove away with our truck, it was a similar sensation to that of when Travis drove away with our car in August 2009 when we began our Great Loop. This time, it is the beginning of the end of our Great Loop. We are very excited about this last leg, Leg III, because we have heard that these are the most beautiful cruising waters in North America. Tomorrow we’ll leave the marina and find out if it’s the truth!
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