To all the people who posted comments, jokes and sent prayers, and encouragement along at some very trying times, Dick and I would love to extend our appreciation. It is very uplifting to hear from people when you are so far away. I especially want to thank Peter, and our dear Moms and Kids.
Special thank you to google for providing me with this opportunity.
Signing off with Love and Appreciation
Ruth Foster
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Last Leg of the Journey
Monday May 18, 2009
We rolled out of bed on Monday morning and set the lines free in Dunkirk and headed out on a heading of 270 degrees to Port Stanley. We were dressed in our snowsuits and the temperature was in the 30 degrees farenheit . The sun was up and we were able to maintain a course of 6.2 knots. I contacted by mom by phone to tell her at this rate the 80 nautical mile passage would put us in Port Stanley after 7:00 pm. I recommended they not come to early as I did not want them to worry about us if we were late.
We landed at the harbour about 6:30 pm, and took down the mainsail. It was very surreal because when we got to the harbour we noticed one of the buoys was laying on its side and the depth sounder registered a mere 12 feet. There was not a soul on the street or on the pier. We thought aliens had abducted the town. I said to Dick when we get under the bridge there will be people from the Yacht Club there but there was no one around. We tied up and a few minutes later we saw my mom and dad and let ourselves in to the newly renovated yacht club and helped ourselves to the coffee. Dick's Mom and Dad joined us and his brother Tom and his wife Marlyn.
My parents took us back to the farm for the night and we went to Ingersoll the next day to pick up our car.
Thus ends the very illustrious adventure of a life time, bahamatrip.blogspot.com
We rolled out of bed on Monday morning and set the lines free in Dunkirk and headed out on a heading of 270 degrees to Port Stanley. We were dressed in our snowsuits and the temperature was in the 30 degrees farenheit . The sun was up and we were able to maintain a course of 6.2 knots. I contacted by mom by phone to tell her at this rate the 80 nautical mile passage would put us in Port Stanley after 7:00 pm. I recommended they not come to early as I did not want them to worry about us if we were late.
We landed at the harbour about 6:30 pm, and took down the mainsail. It was very surreal because when we got to the harbour we noticed one of the buoys was laying on its side and the depth sounder registered a mere 12 feet. There was not a soul on the street or on the pier. We thought aliens had abducted the town. I said to Dick when we get under the bridge there will be people from the Yacht Club there but there was no one around. We tied up and a few minutes later we saw my mom and dad and let ourselves in to the newly renovated yacht club and helped ourselves to the coffee. Dick's Mom and Dad joined us and his brother Tom and his wife Marlyn.
My parents took us back to the farm for the night and we went to Ingersoll the next day to pick up our car.
Thus ends the very illustrious adventure of a life time, bahamatrip.blogspot.com
Back to Port Stanley
Home coming reunion
Sunday, May 17, 2009
2nd Layover Day in Dunkirk, N.Y.
Sunday May 17, 2009
Happy Birthday to Dad Mac
wow what are we going to have left to celebrate:)
GETTING HOME SAFE
When Ed dropped us off yesterday at the Dunkirk Yacht Club gates he said "You won't be leaving tomorrow. I said, "We won't and why would that be?" 20 knot winds on the nose. What?????? again. So this morning when we got up to listen to the weather report it said tomorrow 10 - 15 northeast in the morning and switching to south west in the afternoon. So I looked at Dick and he said we head to home and 1/2 way there we gyb. I asked him "How far is it,
80 nm. Yes. Lets do it.
Today we went for a walk down to Dunkirk, board walk and then uptown. It is somewhat a depressed area with only about 1 out of every three shops occupied. The yacht club is having it carpets cleaned so we hung out in the boat to stay warm. I am reading and working on my quilt.
Happy Birthday to Dad Mac
wow what are we going to have left to celebrate:)
GETTING HOME SAFE
When Ed dropped us off yesterday at the Dunkirk Yacht Club gates he said "You won't be leaving tomorrow. I said, "We won't and why would that be?" 20 knot winds on the nose. What?????? again. So this morning when we got up to listen to the weather report it said tomorrow 10 - 15 northeast in the morning and switching to south west in the afternoon. So I looked at Dick and he said we head to home and 1/2 way there we gyb. I asked him "How far is it,
80 nm. Yes. Lets do it.
Today we went for a walk down to Dunkirk, board walk and then uptown. It is somewhat a depressed area with only about 1 out of every three shops occupied. The yacht club is having it carpets cleaned so we hung out in the boat to stay warm. I am reading and working on my quilt.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
End of the Canal notes
May 14, 2009
Happy 60th Anniversary to Mom and Dad Foster – hope the party is a blast.
Tonawanda N. Y. - Gateway to the Erie Canal
We are closing the Gate
Winds today were very strong and we were in the protection of the canal but the gusts were pretty bad in some places. We decided to stop in Tonawanda for the night and took a dock on the floating dock a the City docks. We were there about 3 hours before the dock master caught up to us. He is a gym teacher and is not available to collect during the day. He only dropped down to say hi and give us the passwords for the laundry and washrooms as they don't start charging for the docks until Memorial Day week-end. We took a brisk walk around the community and we discovered a Tim Horton's. I had a coffee there and was wired the whole rest of the day and could not get to sleep that night. Did some laundry and cleaned the boat up. Started getting the mast ready to take down tomorrow. Our appointment with Gene at Anchor Marine is at 8:00 am.
May 15, 2009
Resurrection of the Mast
We motored over to the marine at a c lippy 4 knots due to the current in the Niagara River. We were to be there by 8:00 am and we had planned to get there a half hour before and get the ropes untied. Gene was down and ready to go immediately. He was planning to launch a shipload of power boats that day and we were going to be in the way. By noon we were still madly getting things strung and he said we had to get out of the way he had no more room so he untied us and set us traveling down the Niagara River without VHF antenna hooked up or sails on. The weather was very light winds, sunny and we stopped in Buffalo for fuel and just keep working at the task at hand en route as we headed out into Lake Erie. The sight of seeing Lake Erie, with our sails up again was overwhelming. We set a course for Dunkirk and Autopilot lead the way and we managed to get everything up and tested and working again. Even my sail repair went off without a glitch. Dunkirk, N. Y. is a home port to Joan and Ed , (Willem is their Monk 36 )and we meet them at Green Turtle. I called Ed on the cell phone and they were at an engagement. We tied up at the club, meet a couple of the guys and went to dinner. When we got back I was exhausted and got ready to crash and I was just crawling into bed and I head Joan and Ed's voices. We went up to the clubhouse for a visit. The engagement they had been at was party for one of the club members who has just been ordained as a Pastor. That was why there were not very many club members around this night. Weather for tomorrow is thunderstorms and high winds so we have decided to do a layover. Ed had a flagpole he made and wants to install it and he has a boat he has been working on so he said he would be back at noon to pick up Dick.
Saturday May 16, 2009
As reported weather socked us in. Ed and Joan picked us up at noon and took us sight seeing for the afternoon. Joan made us lunch in their beautiful home on the Lake. We toured the boat that the club members are working on. It is a 1920 38 foot Alden. It was spectacular to see but even more what I enjoyed is the community energy around this project. One of the group is keeping a blog so check it out. bjurlinceramics.com and then click on Muirgen (the boats name) at the top of the page.
Love to all the family in Woodstock tonight celebrating mom and dad's 60th.
Happy 60th Anniversary to Mom and Dad Foster – hope the party is a blast.
Tonawanda N. Y. - Gateway to the Erie Canal
We are closing the Gate
Winds today were very strong and we were in the protection of the canal but the gusts were pretty bad in some places. We decided to stop in Tonawanda for the night and took a dock on the floating dock a the City docks. We were there about 3 hours before the dock master caught up to us. He is a gym teacher and is not available to collect during the day. He only dropped down to say hi and give us the passwords for the laundry and washrooms as they don't start charging for the docks until Memorial Day week-end. We took a brisk walk around the community and we discovered a Tim Horton's. I had a coffee there and was wired the whole rest of the day and could not get to sleep that night. Did some laundry and cleaned the boat up. Started getting the mast ready to take down tomorrow. Our appointment with Gene at Anchor Marine is at 8:00 am.
May 15, 2009
Resurrection of the Mast
We motored over to the marine at a c lippy 4 knots due to the current in the Niagara River. We were to be there by 8:00 am and we had planned to get there a half hour before and get the ropes untied. Gene was down and ready to go immediately. He was planning to launch a shipload of power boats that day and we were going to be in the way. By noon we were still madly getting things strung and he said we had to get out of the way he had no more room so he untied us and set us traveling down the Niagara River without VHF antenna hooked up or sails on. The weather was very light winds, sunny and we stopped in Buffalo for fuel and just keep working at the task at hand en route as we headed out into Lake Erie. The sight of seeing Lake Erie, with our sails up again was overwhelming. We set a course for Dunkirk and Autopilot lead the way and we managed to get everything up and tested and working again. Even my sail repair went off without a glitch. Dunkirk, N. Y. is a home port to Joan and Ed , (Willem is their Monk 36 )and we meet them at Green Turtle. I called Ed on the cell phone and they were at an engagement. We tied up at the club, meet a couple of the guys and went to dinner. When we got back I was exhausted and got ready to crash and I was just crawling into bed and I head Joan and Ed's voices. We went up to the clubhouse for a visit. The engagement they had been at was party for one of the club members who has just been ordained as a Pastor. That was why there were not very many club members around this night. Weather for tomorrow is thunderstorms and high winds so we have decided to do a layover. Ed had a flagpole he made and wants to install it and he has a boat he has been working on so he said he would be back at noon to pick up Dick.
Saturday May 16, 2009
As reported weather socked us in. Ed and Joan picked us up at noon and took us sight seeing for the afternoon. Joan made us lunch in their beautiful home on the Lake. We toured the boat that the club members are working on. It is a 1920 38 foot Alden. It was spectacular to see but even more what I enjoyed is the community energy around this project. One of the group is keeping a blog so check it out. bjurlinceramics.com and then click on Muirgen (the boats name) at the top of the page.
Love to all the family in Woodstock tonight celebrating mom and dad's 60th.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Middleport N.Y. - We get Toronto Radio Stations
This morning we woke and discovered the bolt had broken on the alternator bracket again. Dick was able to drill it out and put a new one in as we had hydro at the dock in Pittsford. After the first lock we discovered the raw water pump was acting up and so Dick primed it and it started working again. The weather was a lift as it was warm and the sun shown all day. When we arrived at the Park Avenue Bridge at Brockport the lady Bridge master said she was having trouble with the bridge lifting and had to change a fuse. Dick and I just looked at each other wide-eyed and held our breath for a minute. If one bridge does not work we are stuck here!!!!!! Our lady bridge master came back on the VHF and said she was lifting it. Putting the guard rails down was our first clue. Being from Port Stanley we are really quick on the lift bridge manuevers. You cannot put one over on us. Thank the Lord we are moving again. We were able to travel to Middleport which was one place short of our goal. We wanted to make it to Gasport as they have a Ace Hardware and we are running out of bolts. :) Middleport is a welcome respite for weary travellers. There is a dock, hydro and showers at the local police station. Skipper Bob said pick up the key at the bridge master office and when I tried to do that he said there was no key anymore they are open all the time. We headed over there to check it out and when we got there they were locked. A lady who worked in the building stopped and offered to find a key. She made a few calls and the Police Chief himself showed up with the key. They had painted them and someone locked them and no one who works there noticed. They were greatful that we brought it to their attention. Got to love a small town. I really miss ours. After a shower we went out to the local restaurant and had meatloaf. Rain is coming tonight but we will just see how it goes for tomorrow.
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