On Friday June 28 and then again on Monday July 1, our Upstate NY communities were the recipients of a deluge! Rainstorms flooded all of our lakes, rivers, streams, and towns, with more than 9 inches of rain which fell over the course of those 3 days. Sherburne and so many other low-lying towns were declared disaster areas. Flooding was substantial and our hearts go out to our neighbors and friends who lost many of their belongings. Some homes literally became islands, roads were washed out and folks were cut off from getting to town for a couple of days. We had just brought the Caledonia home and although we were pumping 6 inches of water out of our basement we were still anxious to get her on the water.
We had plans of going to Canadarago Lake in Richfield Springs that following Saturday but when we arrived there we could see that many of the homes on the lake were still underwater. The lake's homeowners association had closed the launch for fear of boat wakes and more damage being done to the homes. We thought we'd try Lake Moraine in Hamilton NY, with hopes that we would be able to do a little sailing there instead of just driving home. Lake Moraine was also flooded with the launch's dock a foot under water and a "5 mph wakes only please" sign posted on a barrel next to the dock, along with a "Please respect our property homeowners still battling water damage." We made a decision to tour and fish the area very gingerly, using our little electric 2hp trolling motor, and then hopefully we'd be able to sail back to the dock afterwards. So many of the homeowners were out in their yards attempting to salvage their soaked belongings. Lawn furniture, small boats, lawnmowers, and docks were still underwater, just so heartbreaking to see. Many of the people spoke to us kindly as we slowly and cautiously made our way around the lake offering our condolences to them, on their losses. They seemed to brighten up as we past, saying "pretty boat" or "she's a beauty" etc. They asked us how we came about purchasing her, to which we'd reply "thank-you, my husband's dad built her", etc. We only had the Mizzen up at the time, as we didn't want to create any wakes. These poor people after losing so much, were offering us heartfelt words, just so touching. Perhaps our floating by brought them some piece of normalcy of still being able to witness the beauty of a sailboat from their property, even though their property was currently so sadly flooded. We wish them well and hope their homes are all ok, and that this flood is just a thing of the past now.
Our little sailboat received her name that day when I managed to catch a rather large bass that afternoon, and although one of my lure's hooks was in his mouth, the other had caught in his gills causing the poor guy to bleed like mad all over the boat and our wrapped main sail. As I desperately tried to remove the hook, I said to Tom "Oh my, look at all the blood on the sails, my poor fishy!"
I have to say, all 4 of our kids (and us) have always had a penchant for all things Pirate, and with "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" just around the corner (September 19) all I can say is "aargh matey, thou blood has spilt all over thy sails little fishy." So now, with chilled Champagne in hand, "I proclaim this wee sloop to be named and forever known as, Blood on the Sails"