One Blustery Day

Saturday morning started with the winds a howling and the boat was rocking and those skies well they were cloudy and gray and emitting a drizzle.  Oh how quickly the weather can change.  Suprisingly everything from the festivities the night before had been cleaned up.  All that was left were the two tents.  Since the weather was not conducive to a morning walk we decided to stay on board enjoy a warm cup of coffee and some breakfast.  

I even lite the candle as to give us the illusion of some warmth.  You see the boat doesn't have heat and well the temperatures outside had dipped to a chilly 50 degrees.  Time to pull out the long pants and shirts and oh yes even a sweatshirt.  Boy we have seen the change in weather on this cruise.  From days of 90+ degrees, to down pours with hail, thunder and lighting, to beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds.  Then let's not forget the 50 degree weather I just spoke of.  That is why you come prepared.  You come with a smattering of clothing for all seasons.  Not a lot of clothes as there simply isn't room, but enough to get you through these changes. 

After some long morning discussions about weather, wind, which was currently 16 mph, and where to go from here we decided to head out after lunch.  By this time the clouds were slowly being replaced with blue skies, the wind though had no desire to leave at all!  Our thought was to carry on to Palmyra and if they were full up (they only have 3 spaces) we would head on to Macedon, our home port. 

So we finished lunch and prepared the boat for departure.  With our rain coats on for warmth and to block the wind we were off.  We had about 2 hours of cruising and 2 locks to get through.  The locks were the only real concerns we had at that point, not knowing how the boat would react with the wind when we were entering and exiting the locks.  

Well the wind was crazy!  Nothing the Captain couldn't handle, but when you could almost see waves starting to form on the canal you knew the wind was a contender.  What a difference this was from just a day ago when the water was like glass.  Oh Mother Nature you do keep us on our toes.  

We transited through both locks with ease.  Luckily this time the wind was on our side and kept us close to the lock walls.  It all went really smoothly.

We approached the Palmyra landing and it was evident they were completely booked up. There was even a small sailboat tied up on the end of the dock.  So our minds had been made up for us, on to Macedon it was.  

I don't have any photos of our arrival in Macedon as the wind was still pretty strong and I needed both hands to maneuver myself around the boat to help Mike get her tied up at our dock.  I am happy to say though EVERYTHING went without a hitch.  We had luck on our side when coming into our dock, the wind pushed us right up against our dock as opposed to pushing us into the boat next to us.  

After getting the boat settled Mike had our friend Steve come by to take a quick look at the boat.  The temperature gauge for one of the engines wasn't working correctly and well after a quick discussion between the two men and a trip over to the marina garage, they came back with a part and had it fixed.  It's good to have friends!  

The day ended with a quiet dinner on board and a quick trip to get a little ice cream.  Hey after that cruise we deserved it.  Then it was off to bed and a good nights sleep.   

I awoke early, I know what's new.  Not a cloud in the sky this morning and the wind well at this point was non existent.  So I put a pot of coffee on and settled in to get this blog post out.  We will be heading back to Ohio on Monday.  No nothing is wrong, the boat is great and so are we.  After some discussion yesterday we decided that we would make these adventures with Kismet a couple of weeks at a time as not to get bored with it.  We have some projects at home that we would like to get started.  This is one of the great things about being retired, you can do what you want and change your mind pretty much whenever.  So today we will be doing some preparations for leaving in the morning.  We will be back though for sure in August and possibly for a quick trip in July.  So stay tuned.  Also may have a post tomorrow of today's "stuff".  

Happy Sunday and Happy Father's Day 

to all those great Dad's out there!