Not the Saguenay but an interesting side trip

As I tell you below we have come to South Bend for a funeral. Notre Dame is so beautiful I could not resist including it in the blog. We will be up and running again for Newport and the NYYC Invitational. This will be about the 14 th or 15 th of September talk to you then.

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Notre Dame Stadium

This is where The Fighting Irish play their games.

Touchdown Jesus

This is actually the library.

Players Chapel

The chapel that is used for the pre game players mass. Before each game the players go to mass and then walk through the crowd to the stadium in a very orderly fashion.

The Golden Dome

Basilica of the Sacred Heart

I wanted to include this to show that all the churches are not in Quebec.

A short wait at the border.

Back home in a hurry

Wednesday August 3 we got news that a good friend had died in New Hampshire and the funeral would be in South Bend Indiana. We at first felt bad that we wou
D be unable to attend. Ay breakfast Thursday morning on our way to provision in Gananoque we decided that if we left right away we could make any day other then Monday. We left for The Milligan's, then Cobourg and home at 4:30 Saturday.

The Oasis

One of our favourite restaurants alone the way is The Oasis in Cobourg. The restaurant is fine and the service is great, but the attraction is really the memories of our first couple of years cruising with the Campbells Colin and Wendy. I think that for years two through four we stopped and ate at The Oasis. Of course not the first year when our plan was to cruise from Newcastle to Cobourg and go home. COlin said that if we wanted to go into Cobourg when we got there he and Wendy would follow us. Leaving at six got us to Cobourg before 11:00 and we went on. Twenty eight days later we made it back to Toronto never having seen Cobourg.

A little mishap

Yesterday we decided since the water was going to be flat to go from The Milligan's to Cobourg a distance of 68 miles. A plan was made for Molly, we would stop at The Western end of The Murray Canal. This we did, along with walking we called The Club to say we would be home on Saturday and I filled the diesel tank with our 20 litres of reserve fuel. As I was making the call and Trish was preparing to walk Molly a small power boat really just a run about trying to make up for their diminutive size roared out of the canal. We were moored to a large cement pier and went flying up, the dingy motor caught our line and twisted up breaking out motor mount. Fortunately no one was hurt and the boat is fine, but I was left holding the motor while balancing it on what was left of the mount.

Years of education at the hands of Red Green came in very useful. Trish rushed to get the duck tape while I held the motor. We raised the motor on the motor lift repaired the mount (as seen in the picture) and were on our way.

Good morning

Our trip to the Saguenay and back is almost complete. As I write this we are just about to Belleville on the Bay of Quinte. We have left the islands early. We are headed to South Bend Indiana for the funeral of a very good friend. We in no way feel cheated. We have been on the boat for 38 days and the whole trip has been marvellous. Even our trip home, while not sailing is on flat water. We intend to get home from Sugar Island in three days. Last night we moored at The Milligan's tonight we will be in Cobourg and home on Saturday.
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Day 37

You may have noticed that we, "I", have slowed dozen to island time. This of course is why you come to the islands. To relax with no responsibilities or worries. Believe me it works and I feel shows in the blog. Part of the problem is that everything from here on in is familiar to all of us on board Irish Mist.

Today we will get going and have breakfast in Gananoque then do some shopping. This afternoon we will head for Beau Rivage and prepare for the RCYC Rendezvous. This will be the eleventh rendezvous and we have made them all. It is great to see our friends come from all directions to have a two day party then disperse some to home others to their favourite island or Eastern Port.

The hawks in the picture are just off our stern about 60 or 70 feet up on top of a dead tree.

The Loon

As promised here is a better picture of a Loon. It was taken with Kelly's camera in the Bay off Mulcaster Island on August 2, 2011.

The Ivy

This location has been around since we started to come down here in 2001. Someone has put a lot of money into making it a fabulous place to have lunch or dinner. If you look closely at the right hand corner you will see Kelly and Trish heading for the dingy having had both lunch and some of there great ice cream back on the coach house.

Time for a swim

On of our favourite pastimes in the islands is swimming. We don't go for long swims, but it is great to get in and cool off. There was no swimming east of Montreal, too polluted and no swimmingmin The Saguenay, too cold. It is August 2 and we are at Mulcaster. When we arrived we were very happy to see friends Arthur and Deborah Boas. After drinks aboard their yacht Short Circuit we finally got the Barbecue going. It was not the first time we had cooked on board, but it was the first time for me.

Tit for Tat

The Baie Eternitie has it's Blessed Virgin Mary well this end of the river just a the Ivy Lea Bridge NASA a statute of Saint Lawrence.

Now that's a cottage boat

Every time we go by this cottage there run about is moored at the front dock. The rumor we heard years ago was the wife said the husband could have a cottage as long as the boat never felt a bump on the river while underway. I think it is an 82 something and is sometimes used as a sleeping cabin.

After 9.5 months at sea!

We are sitting on the fly bridge of Close To Home Doug Caldwell's Monk 36. He and Marnie have just returned from the Bahamas by way of Sorel. We knew they were just ahead of us for about a week now. It was great to see them. It is not sure which boat was more anxious for some company.

Doug's yacht Close To Home at Brockville

Finally something to complain about

This ridicules boat roared bast us in the Brockville Narrows just as we left Brockville. It wake was significantly larger then all but one of the freighters we have encountered. There is a speed limited but I guess they feel it does not apple to the ignorant. I cannot make out the name if anyone knows who they are please get in touch with me and I will contact the company. A few years ago I went and spoke to the 1000 islands boat company and they were most helpful.