Thursday, October 30, 2008, 1034, PCHM
Winter is here. Summer wasn't all that great with rain almost every day.
I did get the solar panel mounted on the new stern arch.
We bought a new (to us) car.
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Friday, August 29, 2008, 0909, Port Credit
It seems that this summer is very strange. We've had more rain than ever before. Every time we go to the boat, it rains. Somehow, don't ask me how, water got into the fuel tank. This past week, we took delivery of a steel arch structure to be placed on the stern of Mysfit. So, two days ago, we wanted to move Mysfit to the sea wall next to our dock. The engine sputtered for the first time in three years. I immediately suspected water in the fuel so we headed out to the turning basin to run circles until the engine settled back down into its normal, smooth purr. Several moments later, it did. So, back down the channel we went. Jude was on the helm and I was adjusting the dock lines and fenders. Just as Jude committed to taking the (very narrow) channel, the engine sputtered once and quit. I cursed, panicked and ran to try a restart. To no avail. We drifted in the cross wind towards the million dollar powerboats and Jude persuaded Mysfit to fight the wind and stay away from them. Eventually, without discussion, Jude and I came to the same conclusion: we were either going to disassemble one of those million dollar plastic boats or make it into an empty slip (parking spot) that was 50 miles away from us. People on the docks saw me pushing the bows of some of the other boats and ran to help us make it into the empty slip that Jude miraculously guided us into.
We made it without touching anything. I had tripped over the bowsprit and mashed my leg a bit but we were finally tied up. I spend most of the night pouring gasoline from bucket to bucket, pouring the gas away from the water. There was about a litre in there! The next day, we were scheduled to get the arch so we had to be at the sea wall. Yet I couldn't get the engine to run smoothly. Yes, I could get it started but if I even touched the carburetor's choke, the engine died. So, rather than taking a chance hitting something expensive, we called the marina and paid for a tow... 100 feet to the sea wall! Paid... a lot. $73. For 100 feet.
Today, the arch is aboard Mysfit but I have not had time to bolt things down. That comes this weekend. So, too, does a thorough investigation into the inner workings of a marine outboard motor.
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Friday, June 13, 2008, 2031, Oakville
Yep, we went back to Oakville. This time, on bikes and we got to see some more of the city. Bike trails? Well, yes and no. Lots of sidewalks you are not supposed to ride on (which we did anyway) but nothing following the Sixteen Mile Creek.
Still, though, Oakville downtown is so doggone pretty. We eventually rode our bikes all the way back to Port Credit. (Yes, our butts were sore for days!)
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Friday, June 13, 2008, 2022, Oakville
We got up this morning to blue skies and a mirror sea. No wind. Jude pulled me back down from my peeking out the forward hatch and we went back to sleep. Jude's cold was making her miserable. Soon, I slept only to wake to the sound of a motor going by. Somebody was leaving the marina and curiosity drew me back to the forward hatch. A motorboat.
Later, before lunch, Jude and I caught a "GO" train from Port Credit to Oakville. We wanted to see just why they couldn't take a transient. It was hot once we stepped off the train. The sun was scorching and the slight breeze was adding to the flames. But we caught a transit bus to the downtown area to see...
Gorgeous trails along Sixteen Mile Creek, beautiful greenery lovingly hugging the shoreline on both sides. Fifty million sailboats, motorboats, skiffs, launches, dories, tugs, and geese were choking the little creek from a mile up stream to the river... ahem, creek.... entrance. This was why we couldn't get a temporary berth. There were none.
Well, it was understandable, then. So we walked about the downtown area and drank in the views as they flowed from one eden to the next. The Tannery Park on the east creek bank was indescribable. I took some photos but my mastery of the digital camera wasn't exactly a mastery. Much was out of focus or over exposed or underexposed. But the memory embedded in my mind, and I suppose Jude's as well, suffices to draw us back, next time on bicycles. Even the people in Oakville were great. We took a cab from downtown back to near the GO train station to a [fast food restaurant which shall remain nameless]. Jude dropped her cell phone in the cab while the cabbie was giving us a wonderful history course as we drove. When we got out and watched the taxi drive away, Jude discovered the cell phone's escape and started to panic. We found a pay phone to try a call to the taxi company only to hear the taxi driver tap his horn at us from the middle of the street... with a passenger. The driver was waving Jude's phone at us and I ran into the middle of the street to retrieve it. "If you can make it back here after you let that go off, we'll tip you well for returning this," I grinned. No, he smiled, no problem. He drove off.
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