Spending quality time with the grand- daughters.  

We are doing the last minute chores and upgrades before the day comes to untie

our dock lines, which is quickly approaching. 

  Over the next little while we have numerous pieces of equipment to install. The time seems to have flown by and we are now in a bit of a rush to get things completed. We now have our solar panels which us to allow us to maintain all the onboard systems away from the dock.

Also, we ordered a windvane steering unit and have been assured that it will be ready. Still looking for a watermaker.

Quiet evening

This was the calm before the storm.

Taking off our winter cover

Sunday afternoon turned out to be such a bright sunny day, we couldn't put it off any longer.
We removed our winter cover,........
Then..... Mother Nature decided to have a little fun with us. The temps went down with rain, wind and a little snow mixed in. Right away, you could feel the difference below. ...........Where's that draft coming from?   We are not rocking as bad as we were with the cover up. Its funny that we can notice that it is now gone.

How to travel south to the Caribbean from lake Ontario

A lot of our friends ask us....How do you get to the Caribbean from Lake Ontario? Most have never really thought about it, not like us who have dreamt about almost every night.

First, you sail to Oswego, NY, where you enter the New York State Canal.

There are 7 Locks in this section plus Lake Onieda which must be crossed before reaching the Hudson River at Albany, Ny.

But first you just take your time sailing slowly down the canal enjoying the scenery.

Travelling down the Hudson brings you to New York City, where it is possible to anchor in a bay behind the statue of Liberty.

At Norfolk, Va. you enter the Intercoastal Waterway then travel to Florida, where you cross the Gulf Stream to reach the Bahamas.

Our Winter Community

Our winter community is decorated for Christmas. So far this year it has been very mild, with lots of rain. Haven't put the bubbler on yet. We have our fingers crossed that this continues.  

Winter 2010

We spent our first winter aboard Mistress which turned out to be not as most people would think, considering that we live on the Great Lakes. Early December was quite mild but we did have a few wind storms that kept us awake at night. Once we discovered that if you covered the cabin floor, underneath the Vee berth, and all lockers with insulation it stayed nice and toasty inside. During the day, our enclosure would heat up to 15c from the sun.