In the frenzy to exterminate mozzies last night we forgot to stow away the pool floaties and lost four of them when a storm passed through in the middle of the night. The weather today looks unsettled, but the trip to our friend Andrew’s place is not far, maybe two and a half hours.
After a big breakfast we have a swim in the lake then I make some calls to the insurance company. Fortunately, since the boat is still perfectly safe to operate there’s no need to get it hauled out and looked at right away – in fact, I was told this can wait until the fall then we can decide if an insurance clam is required after we’ve had a better look at it. I’m feeling a bit better about the situation today as the damage really doesn’t look too bad and I’m happy it’s not going to otherwise impact the trip.
We pull anchor around noon and power our way through the Thousand Islands with the incessant wind directly in our face yet again so still no sailing possible. Andrew is a long-time friend of ours and him and his partner Victoria are there to meet us when we pull up to his place north of Howe Island in the Bateau Channel, then we tie up at the recently extended dock. You see, last year when we docked here we touched a rock on the way in, despite Andrew having had the bottom recently dredged (he knows we prefer our slips freshly dredged). Andrew cannot stand for that, so he ordered up another 36 feet of concrete dock for this season, hoping to avoid such future embarrassment when we come to visit. Well, this time we came in on the undredged side of the dock in the hopes that we’d strike something with the keel and he’d be obliged to tack on another 36 feet for next season, but alas, we floated clear and he was overjoyed. So now I fear that the burgeoning land bridge from Andrew’s to Howe Island might never become a reality.
After a round of hugs and a quick tour of the massive dock house extension project, we head up to the house for drinks and laundry. Andrew once again offered us the “Diamond Docking Package”, which is all inclusive and a fantastic bargain at the low, low cost of free. He and Victoria are always getting new and interesting consumer items so quite often we’ll grab a few things we like and shove them in our bags, which we assume to be included in the package (I see Ana eyeing up a cupboard filled with new Yeti cups). The highlight of our yearly visit here for me is to check out the new toilet tech. After being completely awestruck by the high end Japanese super toilet he installed in the master bathroom last year, I’m thrilled to see he’s purchased upgraded models for all the rest of their washrooms so his yearly guests can also enjoy a luxury crapper. Actually, they kept a standard toilet in the half-bathroom off the kitchen, which was a stroke of genius. Turns out, fancy super Japanese toilets don’t work without power so during a recent black-out they had a manual flush to revert to when the automatically opening toilet lids refused to budge.
Around 8:30 Andrew and Stella take off in his truck to pick up Magnus, who is on the train from Brantford to join us for the weekend. Ana and I have a great visit with Victoria while they are gone and catch up on all the news. They return with Magnus and he’s all smiles – it’s so great to have him here. We stay up chatting for a while then Ana and I retire to the boat while the kids stay in the house in the luxury bedrooms that have already been made up for them.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day.
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