Not a kind month, November. For Canada at least where
(notwithstanding the odd freakish example) it spells the end of what can be optimistically
construed as ‘the summer’ and offers a bleak, telescoped view of what’s to come;
the kind of view that one usually regards through the wrong end of the
telescope. Certainly it might be a gentle winter that follows in terms of the
sub-zeroes and the snow that, when it first alights, seems to send drivers into
a paralyzing panic every year. Perhaps we won’t even need the snow-tires that we
put on at considerable expense. Nevertheless, we are forced to contemplate at
least five months of uncomfortable coolness and, in the case of the boating
world, probably six.
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| Uh-oh... Gotta haul-out sooner next year. |
When Hurricane Sandy blew through a couple of weeks back we
really only got the tail portion of it. But that was enough. In case you didn’t
know, the highest recorded winds (106 km/hr) in Ontario landed in Georgian Bay.
More to the point, near Port Severn and even more to the point, about ten
kilometres from where Mary Mary sits, silently shelved in her plastic cocoon.
When I read about this it was already several days since the event and my heart
stopped beating irregularly when I realized that they would surely have
contacted us from The Starport Marina if any calamity had occurred. As
mentioned earlier, we had the boat shrink-wrapped for the first time this year
and I had visions of the whole vessel bouncing along the highway like some
huge, heavy runaway balloon. My fears eventually abated except for the arrival
of one email from Starport that had as its subject line… “We regret to inform
you…” The surly pump in my chest again threatened mutiny until I read the rest
of the message and it turned out to concern a much-loved employee of theirs that
was moving on to another position. I mean… really.
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| Hurricane Sandy heading our way. |
So now we begin the onerous job of waiting out old man
winter. We do have a couple of bright spots however. It was my birthday in
September and Brooke decided to surprise me with a most potent gift. She has
arranged for the two of us to spend a week in Bonaire in January to go
scuba-diving. Incredible... We went out the other day to replace some of our
equipment that we lost in our big storage fire. We found an excellent deal on
two fins/masks/snorkels/booties packages and we are pretty primed to try them
out.
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| Me in my dreams... Brooke is taking the photo... in a bikini... Brooke, that is. |
I have also taken on the challenge of preparing for my
Captain’s exams. (Although, it’s mostly for the knowledge, not the thought of
actually becoming licensed). The course is quite intense and the aid for it
comes in the form of a huge course text. The knowledge contained therein is
what you supposedly need to know in order to properly command vessels up to 100
tons. One hundred tons… can you imagine? By comparison, Mary Mary is 12. I’m
already pretty good with the rules of the road, but most of the ones I know
pertain to smaller pleasure craft like ours and the rules governing larger,
working boats are many and varied. And they come in two types: those pertaining
to the inland waterways and those pertaining to international waters. But I’m
ploughing along and have finished the ground work on the first chapter.
Although a brief oral test by Brooke revealed my level of retention isn’t what
it was. So it will definitely be one thing to focus on during the
aforementioned snow time.
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| The Captain's Tome |
Soon we will be looking into over-hauling the battery system
on the boat and figuring out the best scenario for us. Right now I am leaning
away from the old 8D system that is problematic and weighs a ton. We will
probably look at the newer, component systems if the price isn’t too prohibitive.
That’s it for now.
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| Two on a boat |
