Friday, August 12, 2016

Coming Home


Going five months without a working boat really helped me appreciate this cruising holiday. Things I loved: big skies, swims in the lake, the feel of the wind and the sun on my skin, uncluttered views of the horizon, cloud watching, sail watching, star gazing, shooting stars, drinking ice water & gin cocktails, enjoying the taste of food, doing yoga outdoors, meeting up with friends along the way, spending time with Rob.

It was also fun to keep in touch with everyone via social media. Fellow Bluffers were messaging each other, so I knew how Laura and Peter were adjusting sail plans to wind and weather, when Caroline was setting sail for Waupoos, what Kaarina and Mike were up to on Medina, and where Lyn and Mike were headed. I also posted a lot of photos along the way on Facebook - to the point I probably was annoying some people. Lois was encouraging us to sell the house and take up sailing full-time. 

Just knowing the holidays were coming to an end caused the holiday glow to dim, so I tried to trick myself into thinking we were just embarking on our holiday to sweeten my mood. In the last few days of the trip I found myself bothered by unpleasantries like: smelly dead fish and scummy blue-green algae that prevented swimming in unbearable heat; biting flies; crappy dock assignments. 


....

past the Deseronto Bridge
Our return trip took us back under the Deseronto bridge into Big Bay on Day 16. I felt the holiday was coming to an end, even though we still had four or five days left. 

When we dropped anchor in Sandy Cove I went for a swim. The water was warm but still refreshing, although there was a bit of a current and lots of waves. Dinner was a simple but delicious risotto, and then we watched The Big Lebowski until the mosquitoes lightened and the stars brightened enough for stargazing. Five shooting stars, a couple with nice long tails.

The next morning, the water calmed, and it was green and weedy as we dinghied over for a walk on the shore. A dead fish was floating belly-up, which turned my swim into a very short dip indeed. We lifted anchor and headed out on Day 17 with hopes to anchor at Cow Pasture if conditions were right, or retreat to the wall of the Murray.
Cobourg

Cow Pasture was too weedy and too shallow, so we tied to a spot on the canal. It was too cloudy for stargazing, so we ended up listening to Moth podcasts. Listening attentively reminded me of how we used to entertain ourselves with rebroadcast tapings of old radio shows, like the Twilight Zone and The Shadow Knows.

Day 18, the sail from the Murray to Cobourg was really wonderful, but we were tacking a lot and the water was rolling. As a result I wasn’t drinking a lot of water, when things get bumpy I avoid the scramble of getting down the stairs into the cabin to visit the head. After a few hours my mood was absolutely toxic. I realized at that point I hadn’t had any water for hours and was stinking and miserable from the sun and heat. When we docked I drank a quart of water, had a cold shower and then had a cocktail, but was still sour. It wasn’t until we went out to dinner in an air conditioned restaurant that I started to feel my core temperature and mood turn normal again. A reminder that fundamentals really are fundamental!

Day 19, we mainly motored back to BPYC due to very light winds. The lake was flat, so I was able to make some macaroni and cheese on the stove while we were underway. Finished a book, Birds Without Wings, on the ten hour trip. We stopped for a swim mid-way which was extremely refreshing. Drank lots of water!

When we landed at Bluffers we anchored at the beach and swam again. Swam over to say hello to Wendy on Zen, and then back to Yondering again. This really is one of the prettiest spots on Lake Ontario!



swimming at the Bluffs


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