Oct 5-6 - boating and organizing

We took a chance yesterday and, based on the Doppler radar, went out in the boat. It was a good call -- sunny and hot most of the day and we were out most of the day.

It takes about 1/2 hour to get organized to go -- life preservers, towels, cold drinks, take cover off boat, attach trailer, lift motor, double check everything ... and we're off. Well, off to launch the boat that is. It's about a 5-10 minute ride to where we normally launch the boat, just off of the north causeway, depending on how many red lights we hit. We already had lots of gas in the boat so didn't need to stop along the way.

As soon as I start getting the boat ready Abby gets excited, ensuring that she does not get left behind. She loves boat trips !

We did not get back until 3pm, having set out just after 10am. We did our usual, putting up through the intra coastal waterway to Ponce Inlet, stopping at the sand bar to walk and let Abby play, up to the Port Orange bridge, back to "The Inlet" for lunch, then back to the boat launch. I would have kept going but we were getting "crispified" according to Sandy -- too much sun. As it was I had just enough time to flush the motor, wash the boat and get changed before 4pm Mass. It would not have been a big deal if we were later since I could have gone Sunday a.m.

I saw a couple of dolphins in the distance but nothing up close and Angelika did not see anything. Angelika and Sandy were too busy looking at the big waterfront houses. One sighting might have actually been a manatee, because I did not see a dorsal fin but the other was definitely a dolphin, dorsal fin and all.

We had a big lunch -- Sandy her usual pulled pork sandwich; I had my usual blackened fish; Angelika had the wings ... all good. With the big lunch we didn't eat dinner until almost 8:30. For dinner we had Norweigian salmon, squash & warmed up leftover rice. We have only tried the salmon a couple of times from the fish store and it has always been good -- it is the only salmon that they carry -- salmon not being a locally caught fish. They do not carry anything farmed. They do a pretty good job moving it across the pond because it does taste fresh.

I called Jason around 8pm, at the cottage, to see if Philip had arrived --- not yet. For some reason Jason is not getting my emails although I am not getting any rejections. Philip called this morning to ask if we normally left lights on (Jason had turned lights on for him) and to ask if we had coffee there ... no. He was about to load the truck onto the trailer and set out for Thunder Bay. He arrived last night around 10pm, delayed by a section of the Trans Canada (17) that was closed due to a washout around Wawa, resulting in a detour.

Today we have some organizing to do, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards ready for the demolition tomorrow. I also have to get the bathroom vanity unattached from the wall and the plumbing since the bathroom will be re-tiled while we are away. The tile guy will deal with the toilet, which is a straightforward move.

I was planning on going for a bike ride but we have thunderstorms on the way. The blue sky has gone gray as I've been writing this and according to the Doppler, rain is close. I should go out and finish covering the boat ... I'll do most of my chores today so that I can go for a ride tomorrow.

We are planning on going out for dinner -- the Riverview Grille -- to celebrate Angelika's (Oct 5) and Sandy's (Oct 6) birthdays -- talk about killing 2 birds with one stone !