Post-Pottahawk Party Pandemonium

     "I got my swim trunks and my flippie-floppies..."
                                               -the Lonely Island




         The annual Pottahawk Pissup is over.

          Here's a recap, by the numbers:

          2000 boats*
          1500 boat trailers*
          10000 people*
          1972 pirate flags**
          174 designated drivers*
           437000 cans of Busch Light consumed.*
           2.5' average water depth.
           5 degree (celsius) increase in water temperature compared to the day before*
           (It's not called a Pissup for nothing.)
           6 arrests.
           8 sent to hospital

           And then, they all came home.

           See, here's the thing about the Pottahawk bash- boats travel to the uninhabited speck south of Turkey Point throughout the day, and even the day before, staking a claim and getting a head start on festivities...

       But most boats return from whence they came in a crush in the evening, everyone wanting to get home and loaded on trailers before dark.

   

        For some, the ride home was a long tow on a short rope...

     ...only to meet the same fate as all the other rampies who trailer their boats- a long wait to get off the water at the end of a long day on it.

    Some decided to cool off  by swimming in a working fairway:

  Which didn't seem to be working much at all...

       

 
    You just know at least one skipper couldn't find his truck keys when he got to the front of the line.



                                  *All figures PFTA (Pulled from thin air)
                                 **Except the pirate flags.  That's pretty accurate.  Those damn things were                                                     everywhere.




    "Talk the Dock!"
   

New Crew and Visitors, Too!

             "I'm just trying to make some sense."
                                   -Rolling Stones


   
  It's been raining down here on the Dock.

   A lot.

   Yeah, those worries about water levels I voiced a few weeks back?

    Water's way up.

     Thanks to all of you who prayed to whatever deity floats your boat.

     We're good now.

     You can stop.

      Please.

      In between cloudbursts, we managed to get some time on the water and drink some rum with some new, crew, old friends, and new friends I've known for years.



      I joined the SailNet community back in the fall of 2008, as a way of getting a sailing fix throughout the winter, and to  learn from the experience of others.  Interest-specific internet forums and chatrooms have been invaluable in every aspect of my life, from occupational advice to repairing my latest home improvement attempt.  I have learned a lot from crawling the web, and made some great friends as well.

    Back in 2008, I was one of the few Canadian members of SailNet, one of even fewer who lived in Ontario, and when it came to representing Lake Erie?

    I was it.

    Then I see a new username asking some good questions about a boat he had just bought and was fixing up to sail the next season.  He mentioned that he planned to sail on Pittock Lake, and my curiosity was piqued- Pittock Lake was where I learned to sail back in the 70s.
 
  And it's also less than an hour from here.

    Hey, cool, somebody local!

    In the years following, Eric and I would fire messages back and forth, trading advice and ideas on small boat repair, maintenance and sailing.

    But, even being less than an hour apart, we never sailed together.

    A couple of seasons back, Eric got a slip down here on the Dock for After School.  Now I could put a voice and a face to the name. We say hello and wave to each other in passing...

    But we never sail together.

    Last month, I'm walking down the Dock to Whiskeyjack, and Eric hails me as I pass his boat. He asks if I was heading out, and enquired whether I wanted company.
 
    Come on aboard!

     Great day, great sail, great company.

     One of the blogs I follow is Jaye Lunsford's Life Afloat ,  an excellent peek at the day-to-day of living aboard a smallish ( a 33' CSY ) sailboat.  Jaye and her husband Dan have lived aboard for more than a decade, ever since they both retired from government employment.  Jaye and I are both SailNet members, and we began corresponding semi-regularly when I started scribbling the D6C,  as I often picked her  helpful brain for advice. I got an email from Jaye in early June, informing me that they were going to be passing by on their return form a vacation in Michigan, and asked whether they could stop in.

    Oh yeah, and they would have rum.

     Come on aboard!

    The weather was dismal, but we had a wonderful time, meeting, eating, tasting rum, talking and laughing.

     Last month, on one of the rare  sunny hot days, I see a guy walking down the Dock, with a double-double in his hand.  He asks me about Whiskeyjack, and we get to talking:

    John has recently moved to Port Dover from Hamilton and is currently off work due to a bout of throat cancer.  As is often the case, a tap on the shoulder by the Big C will cause on to re-evaluate one's priorities, and  John had found himself spending a lot of time down here at the marina, just walking the docks, sipping coffee, watching the sunset or the sun rise.

   A lifelong interest in boats had gone from interest to passion, and "buying a sailboat" just shot to the top of John's bucketlist.

     Now, this is a fairly common occurence that usually takes one of two paths:

    Years of searching for the right boat, lots of discussion about what exactly is the right boat, some failed offers, and finally a new boat owner is born.

   Or, after some thinking and ruminating and examination, the boat ownership dream is quietly shelved.

    Over the following couple of weeks we'd talk about boats once or twice a week, and then John announces he has a slip.

   He got the last available slip on the Dock this season.

   Okay, John's not playing around!

   Now he just needs a boat to fill it.

   The slip was filled this morning.

   He's got some rigging yet to do, but he's hullwet, and that's a great start.  Good on ya, John!


     In Other Dock  news, Oriel C has new owners.


Glen and Debbie decided it was time to ditch life on land in Alberta and go sailing.

 So, they bought a boat.

Then they retired,  sold everything that needed selling, packed the camper and headed east.  They had sailed on Oriel, liked her and knew she would be a good fit for their next life-chapter.

    Glen and Debbie got here Tuesday, and two hot sweaty days of work later, got her splashed and settled in on Dock 1A.  After a couple weeks here, they plan to head into Lake Ontario and points East and South for the next year or so.

   New folks new to boats, new folks on new boats, and friends new and old.  We've met some good folks down here on the Dock with great stories to tell.

  You should come down and join us some time.








"Talk the Dock!"



   
   

From the "You Can't Make this Stuff Up" Files

                    "It ain't no joke."
                          -Billy Squier


                  Spotted on a nearby dock.  Thanks to Gavin for pointing it out:

    Apparently, the person in charge of slip assignments has a sly sense of humour.




    "Talk the Dock!"

New Shoe Long-term Review, Part Deux

     "Before you come to any conclusions, try walking in my shoes..."
                                                              -Depeche Mode

   
    SWMBO and I have been wearing Crocs daily for two months.

    Not to get all Dr. Seuss, but our Crocs have been:
  On the boat, off the boat,
  On a bike, and on a hike,
  Walking the dogs on the Lynn Valley Trail,
  In Wednesday Night Races, where jib sheets I tail.

    Been worn on the floor, in the store,
    And walking to the job.
    Been worn all dressed up,
    And when I'm a slob.
    They've been worn naked footed,
    They've been worn with socks.
    From decks to dinghies and dinghies to docks.

       To date, they haven't let us down.

     GREAT grip on all surfaces, in all conditions-  an asset with the recent run of rainy weather causing all surfaces to be perpetually slippery.

      These shoes are getting better with wear- the laces that I complained about in the preview post  have softened and  now knot much better.

      These shoes are easy to clean, and dry quickly.

      After two months of daily, often damp, use, they don't smell.  BIG plus.

      The leather uppers have held up VERY well- no scuffs, no wear.

       The one aspect which has been mildly disappointing is tread wear. Two months in, both pairs are showing noticeable "flat spotting."

SWMBO's at the toes, mine at the heels.

    That's the only criticism so far.  Otherwise, these shoes are surpassing our expectations.  We'll continue to keep you posted.


  "Talk the Dock!"

Book Reviewsday Tuesday*: Boater's Pocket Reference: The Beer Bet Book.

     * I started  writing this post on Tuesday, so it counts.  pbbbth. 


  "There's no need for argument, there's no argument at all..."
                                                             - Van Morrison


           True story:

             Whiskeyjack  is in the slings, just about ready to get wet (which is not nearly as kinky as it sounds).                              Rod, the crew I had shanghai'd to help get her into her slip was busy gearing up,  inventorying and loading the boat, while I was hanging canvas or drinking beer or something equally vital, and asked me,
             "Where's your paddle?"
               Paddle?
               "You need one aboard to be legal on a boat this length, don't you?"
               Hmmmm.  Good question, and frankly (to my chagrin)  I didn't have the answer off the top of my head.
                I thought back a few seasons:
                Whiskeyjack didn't have one when we bought her.
                 I'm pretty anal about making sure we meet the letter of the boat safety equipment law, and didn't add a paddle to her stores when we outfitted her for our first season, all those years ago.
                So, here we are today, paddle-less.  I was pretty sure we did not need a paddle to be legal.
                 Pretty sure.
                 But not positive.
                 And I couldn't explain why  I was pretty sure.
                 I said as much.
                 Rod jogged home and grabbed a paddle.
                 (Rod lives enviably close to the boat yard.)

                 Splash Day usually sees Whiskeyjack getting hull-wet in a pretty stripped down state.  minimum equipment, virtually zero stores.
                 
                  No books other than manuals and logs.

                   If I had had my Boater's Pocket Reference  handy-  I could have saved Rod a trip:

                 We don't need a paddle, because we have an anchor.

                   Thomas McEwen  has compiled a clever little compendium of boating knowledge that should be aboard every boat.  While small in format, capable of fitting in a drinkholder,

   this mini-doorstop clocks in at 800ish pages of  valuable information.

      Everything you could want or need to know about recreational boating regulations, seamanship, boat handling, and boats, of both the wind and fossil powered species,  is in here.

      The difference between a ketch and a yawl?  It's in here.

      VHF channel frequencies and designations in the US and Canada?  It's in here.

       How to tie over a dozen knots?  It's in here.

                Customs and Immigration info for USA and Canada?  It's in here.

                 Pre-departure, maintenance and general winterizing checklists?  It;s in here.

                Anchor sizing charts and anchor options for bottom conditions?  Yep, it's in here.

               
                 This little book is a  Dock discussion go-to resource  and has settled numerous beer bets.

                 F'rinstance:  If a vessel is using signal flags, what does displaying the "M" flag indicate?
                                    Page 601 has the answer.


                All of it is written in a clear, easy-reading style that isn't  too jargon-heavy for the novice and also not too dumbed-down for the old salt - a rare feat.

                   First published in 2006, some of the information, such as web addresses and telephone numbers listed in the appendices,  is out of date.  It would be nice to see a revised edition, but the vast, vast majority of the info contained is still relevant.  If you really need a web address and the link in the book is dead, the publisher has an excellent website with updated links .  They also have downloadable versions of the checklists in the book, a great bonus.

                  Sure, lots of this info is available in a variety of other publications, as well as on the web, but never has this depth and breadth of info been available in a package this compact... that doesn't rely on an internet connection.

                  As the author writes in the forward:

                 "The book ended up containing all the info I would have liked to have had, all in one place...."

                  Available from all of the usual suspects, or  direct from the publisher .



                 
             
  "Talk The Dock!"          

SODA: State Of the Dock Address

   "All this debating goin' 'round..."
                      -Kim Mitchell


   The parking lot is almost empty of boats  and the docks are almost all full, so this is as good a time as any to take a look at how the season is shaping up.

   Good news:  The Dock is full.

   Booked up.

  No empty slips.

  The view from the deck of Whiskeyjack:

   Popularity is a double-edged sword- full slips mean more marina revenue which hopefully translates into steady rates and improved amenities.  But, increased demand also meant that, this year, the "balance -due" date was strictly enforced- if you didn't have your slip bill  paid in full by mid-May, you didn't get a slip.
   That has meant at least one change to this season's starting line-up.

  Dock Six isn't the only full capacity Dock this season.   Every dock in the Marina is fully booked, or near enough to it.

  More good news:  Water level is up.

  A wet May has helped ease some of the concerns sparked by low water earlier this spring.  Depth has increased by about 20 cm. in the last three weeks or so.   The Lake is still down from last year, but we're heading in the right direction.

WEEKLY WATER LEVEL BULLETIN

  For the week ending:  10/06/2013

  SUPERIOR     HURON      ST CLAIR      ERIE     ONTARIO   MONTREAL
                                         PORT
 THUNDER BAY  GODERICH   BELLE RIVER   STANLEY   KINGSTON  JETTY NO.1

 Last daily mean available
    183.25     176.03      174.95       174.19     74.99       6.64

 Latest weekly mean
    183.23     176.05      174.95       174.17     74.99       6.53

 Highest water level during the week
    183.30     176.16      174.99       174.25     75.04       6.67

 Lowest water level during the week
    183.14     175.93      174.90       174.08     74.91       6.35

 Latest weekly mean relative to chart datum
    + 0.03     + 0.05      + 0.55       + 0.67    + 0.79     + 0.97

 Change from previous weekly mean
    + 0.02     + 0.03      + 0.05       + 0.02    + 0.07     - 0.38

 Change from last year's weekly mean
    + 0.08     - 0.05      - 0.03       - 0.08    + 0.12     + 0.62

Dock conveniences can still be captured in a single photo:

    But, there is now a bike rack in the picture.

    We also have a new porta-potty...

 which appears to be a two-storey model, according to the pictograph on the door:

   Men, unfortunately, are confined to the ground floor, apparently.

   Redshirts were busy last week installing solar lights on the Dock, a nice touch.

Got an email earlier this week:

   "Marina Management Services, Inc. has been hired by Norfolk County to develop a Marina Sustainability, Development Strategy and Business Plan for Port Dover Harbour Marina.

Please join representatives from Norfolk County, Port Dover Habour Marina, and Marina Management Services, Inc. on Saturday, June 22nd from 8:30am to 10:30am.  This will be an informal "meet & greet" with the staff and the consultant as well as an opportunity to sign up to participate in the process.  The meeting will be held in the Pavilion at Port Dover Harbour Marina."

   Those of you who have skin in this game, those with boats on the Dock, or any of the lesser docks, please attend this meeting, or email Tim Keough at tim@marinamanagement.com to let him know you are interested in being part of the solution.

   *insert clever segue here*
   *if clever segue fails to appear, revert to default workmanlike style, below*
  Right then, with the business side of things out of the way, who does have skin in the game this year?

  Many of the usual suspects are back for another season:

   Jim and Mariann  have both boats in the water, looking as perfect as ever.

  Gordon and his lovely wife have returned with Quidi Vidi  .

   Rick has docked 20th Hole- rumour has it that his boat has left the Dock more than once so far this season.  This shot is from last year- no one can verify it has actually happened this year...

   Ivan and Rick and Grant and the rest of the serious fishermen are back.
   Jordan has docked  Saphira in the shallows.
   Cholita returns with Len at the helm.
Ralph and Julie are back beside Rick...

 and beside them Mark and Erica have returned.
Hilary is back, and his boat still doesn't have a name.  This may become a contest.  More on that later.
Eric has splashed After School, and Bruce has brought Prolific back for another season, but moved farther down the Dock,

  Other Jim has classed up the joint by slipping his Bluenose, Carpe Diem:

   Brent has slipped Lady Dee,

      Cocobliss and most of the other bowriders and pontoon boats are back and of course Jack is in, with Blew Orphan:

BUT...
   JD and Wheelin' & Dealin' are MIA.
   Bryan and his Siren are not in.
   Will's Tanzer is on the hard.
   Ed decided to trailer sail his Siren this year, looking to get more time on the water in more places.

   For the first time in years, there is not a single Siren on the Dock.

   Marco and Dee have moved back to Sarnia, which opened up a slip, which means we have new neighbours:

   Frank and Lorraine  have moved in next door with their Northern 24,

  Beside them is another new good old boat, a Tanzer 7.5,  in the hands of returning boaters,  Randy and Monique.  Welcome aboard!

                Down toward the end of the dock is another newcomer, another Jordan, and his go-fast boat,
        Boss Nova,

     The sailboat count is higher than in any previous year, Siren absence notwithstanding; Team Tanzer is certainly making up the difference.

   In short: Some old friends, some new friends, some old characters, some new, some wild cards, some old favourites, and some gone, but not forgotten.

    There will be new stories told, adventures shared, lies swapped, rum consumed, food eaten,  songs sung and laughter laughed.

Forget the hokey-pokey.  That's  what it's all about.  Come on along.


"Talk the Dock!"

 

From the "This Has to Sting" files- 2013 Edition

"And we took off with a gust..."

                  -The Playmates

      The Dock Six Sail Rescue Squad's  newest members strut their stuff.

Frank And Lorraine, aboard their Northern 24, towed in a hapless and helpless Bayliner.  

      Bonus points for completing a portion of the tow under sail.

       The Sailpast of Shame is humiliating enough for most boaters...to be  at the end of a sailboat-tugged string is  just  lemon juice in the dead-in-the-water wound.

Yep- looking happy,

 

Nice work, Frank and Lorraine- welcome to the Dock!

"Talk the Dock!"