After another day of motoring through the Catskills, we arrived at Hop-o-Nose at about 3:15pm. Mike, the guy who greeted us at the dock checked the barn and our cradle was still there along with our ‘big black superfenders’ (which I thought would surely have walked since they are quite useful in the slimy, greasy locks). Within an hour the boys had the sails down and I had stowed the lines. Jim headed out for a run while Ken finished tidying a few things up.
Shaun (the crane operator/owner) had indicated to Ken that if we were ready they would pull the mast first thing in the morning and be done by about 9:30pm at the latest.
With all that accomplished I headed up to the shower and Jim who had returned from his run, helped Ken to remove the boom. I had a hard time getting the bathroom door to close properly. After performing my toilette, I went to open the door and discovered that it was stuck. I mean really stuck! I pushed and shoved. I put my shoulder to it. I attempted to lift and push, all in vain. At this point, I began to wonder in this hot little room, how long it would take before the boys (who I was sure were having a beer by now, perhaps a second after their hard labour) would decide they should come look for me. I decided that I was likely to be a long time since they would only notice my absence when they ran out of provisions so I was probably on my own. At that point, I stepped back and gave the door my best karate kick a la Bruce Lee. With a great scrape and cracking noise, the door burst opened…free at last!
Back at the boat, the boys were enjoying a cold one and I related my tale before they headed over for showers. Jim, our resident naturalist, used that washroom and just left the door opened.
Clean and starving, we headed to the restaurant. Good thing we were hungry because Ken ordered this appetizer called “Potato Bits” to share. A platter of potato hunks arrived (about two big potatoes worth) covered in cheese with bacon bits, scallions and sour cream.