Flashback (Taking It All In)

     Although some lakes and ponds in the Adirondacks allow power boats, we did not kayak on those bodies of water. Because we kayaked on "remote" waters, we did not find trash, graffiti or other signs of the masses. I guess most of the lakes we visited required some work on our part to get there before we got the kayaks wet. That eliminated the hooligans who might destroy such places with their carelessness and disrespect for what mother nature has provided us. I believe on this particular day (see photo), we saw one other group of kayakers, who respected our privacy with a distant wave hello and paddled on.

     Here, in this photo, Sharon can be seen enjoying the peace and tranquility of Slang Pond. The rock outcropping Sharon is sitting on is part of a designated campsite, one of only 2 sites on Slang Pond. Most of the lakes we visited had designated campsites, and each one of those campsites was carefully placed to take advantage of something unique to that particular lake and its surroundings.

Flashback (Boot Camp)

     If you are familiar with our blog you are probably saying to yourself "I saw that picture before".  And your are right.  This photo has been published in the right hand column of random photos as "Our favorite spot in the Adirondacks".  We've been there twice, and we have never been disappointed.   Before I tell where this special place is let me tell how to get there.  From Paul Smiths, take NY Rt  30 north, turn left onto NY Rt 458 , go a very short distance and turn left onto a dirt road, drive  for about 8 miles to a small parking lot.  As you travel the dirt road, rub your good luck idol that no one is traveling in the other direction for there  are very few places to pull over and let another vehicle pass.  From the parking lot, you have about a 1 mile hike with your kayak. Note - we strongly recommend the use of kayak dollies to access this body of water.  Once you have launched your kayak, the paddle to Boot Camp Island is about 2 hours up the flow as the channel snakes through the aquatic vegetation.   Although there are other locations that are more remote, this  was by far the most remote location that we paddled in the Adirondacks.  This waterway is far off the beaten path of publicized places to kayak for the average Joe.  The place is Quebec Brook flowing into Madawaska Pond, also referred to as the Madawaska Flow. If you have a Adirondack Paddler's Map, you will find Madawaska Pond NNW of Paul Smiths.   If you have the time, this is a very good remote paddle.  Be prepared for an all day adventure, starting with the off road excursion by vehicle, a short hike, a great paddle to the cabin, and the return trip.   We do not know of any approved camping sites on this body of water.

     The second photo sums it up very well as to how we named the spot Boot Camp.  Yes, in the center of the photo is a boot that has been hung on the wall.  Having built and lived in a log home for 18 years, I was fascinated with the design and construction of this old log cabin, vertical logs instead of horizontal logs.  The vertical logs would shed water quickly and also dry faster.  We never did go inside because the floor was ready to collapse, and the cabin was probably a haven for snakes.  Rumors from the locals was that a crazy ol' trapper lived here many years ago.  I don't know about the being crazy part.  Was he deemed crazy for where he chose to live - remote location, beautiful scenery and no people!

Bitter Sweet Moment

     Just what exactly is a bitter sweet moment?   Bitter in the fact that we hauled the boat for the winter.  Sweet, that it's the last time we haul the boat for winter.  Next year we may haul the boat in the fall for preventive maintenance measures, but then its right back over the side and off we go at a mind numbing 7 knots speeding down the ICW.  The photo below shows Big Run in the sling of the travel lift being raised out of  the haul-out slip.

Who's a Slacker?

     I know what your thinking, another photo of the "event", the sunset.  I'll  have you know I was up bright and early (6:30 AM) today, in time to catch a magnificent sunrise.  The water was very calm, the birds were just getting started on breakfast and I was standing on Big Run's foredeck in a t-shirt as we were experiencing a unusually warm spell for November in Maryland.

PS - Don't expect too many sunrise photos!

Changes

    We all go through changes in our lives, so do blogs. We didn't change the blog template much, however we added a reactions and comments section to each entry. We did reserve the right to view the comments before they get posted. We don't expect to censor the comments unless they have profanity or malicious thoughts. In those cases, we will delete the comment in its entirety. Have fun, we can take it.

Still Hav'n Fun - Part 2

    This past weekend had the potential to be a good weekend on the boat. We had the fall foliage, cool temps and our favorite anchorage all to ourselves. Despite the rain, the one mile visibility, we had a great weekend. We fended off the cool, damp temps by firing up the diesel furnace, tuning in a football game, making pizza and later we watched game 3 of the world series.

     It was also a great weekend for wildlife sightings. During the cruise to the anchorage, we spotted a very large buck swimming across the creek. I tried to get a good photo of the deer, but he had no intentions of letting us get close enough for a decent picture. We did manage to get a photo of one of the two bald eagles, that have taken residency at Millstone point, as it flew close to the boat.

     So, rain, foggy conditions, swimming deer, bald eagles, good food, football and baseball - Yeah, were still hav'n fun!

T-Minus 12 and Counting

     It doesn't matter what you call it, 12 months or 1 year, it's a short amount of time. The countdown continues and so do the preparations. Sharon has finished those projects to reduce snail mail. Over the course of the next year we will still need to monitor all mail we receive. As mentioned in the T- Minus 13 blog entry, we will be subscribing($) to a mail service to receive our snail mail and forward($) our mail to a location of our choice with ample notice to the service. We want to reduce mail (weight) which has to be forwarded($). Most mail services also offer a scan option ($), where they scan($) the envelope so that you can then view the envelope online($) and make a decision to trash it or forward($) it. And if you would like to pay another fee($), they will open($) your mail and scan($) the envelope's contents for viewing online($) , so once again you can decide to trash it or forward ($) it with your next mail package($). Did you catch the underlying theme ($) here?

     As a preparations bonus this past month, Sharon has decided to enter all of her recipes into a database (RecipeMaster) she downloaded from the net. This will minimize storage of all the recipes she has on paper. RecipeMaster will also allow us to access recipes by categories, ingredients or country of origin . Sharon has also been able to adapt the program to our dining habits by modifying categories and ingredients. As our live-aboard adventures take us to different regions of the world, we will be able to enter those local recipes that we like into our database. I already know of one recipe, the Abyssinia Special, Sharon can enter into her database whenever we catch up Kim and Eric on board the M/V Abyssinia. The Abyssinia Special is a crab and halibut recipe we've discussed in our earlier blog entry "Flashback Alaska - Call me anything but late for Dinner".

Flashback (Can you say "Free"?)

    The Adirondacks is a great place to kayak, but you need a place to stay or camp. Sharon and I accidentally discovered that, within the park boundaries, there are free campsites on park lands. In this photo, our RV is at site number 11 on Floodwood Road in the St. Regis Canoe Area. This particular campsite is well isolated from other campsites (there are only 11) and within walking distance of a group of lakes connected by streams. So, with the use of our kayak dollies, we can be paddling within minutes of leaving the campsite. You are permitted to stay for 3 days without a camping permit. However, with a camping permit you may stay up to 2 weeks. We did not have a permit when we parked the RV here one Sunday in July. On returning to the RV on Monday after a day of kayaking, we discovered a note on our windshield from the local park ranger informing us of the length-of-stay policy. On the note was the ranger's name, phone number and address in Keese Mill, a small town about an hour away. As it was early Monday evening we decided to call the ranger's office on Tuesday during business hours to make arrangements to stay longer than 3 days. The next morning, we got up early to kayak on Long Pond, a local pond on Floodwood Road, and planned a early return to the RV by mid-afternoon. We would then take the Jeep to find cell phone coverage so that we could call the ranger as there was no cell phone coverage at the campsite. Also, we thought we may need to travel to the town of Keese Mill to secure a permit. While we were on the lake, we stopped for a early lunch at one of the designated campsites. On our departure, as we were back-paddling the kayaks away from shore, we noticed a canoe approaching us. In the canoe was a single paddler. As we exchanged greetings with the gentleman, he asked us if we were enjoying our visit. We replied that we enjoy kayaking and camping in the Adirondacks. Somehow it came up in our conversation that we were camping on Floodwood Road. Without hesitation the gentleman said "Site No. 11?" to which I replied yes. The only way he could know this was if he was the park ranger who had left the note on our windshield. So I asked him if he was the Ranger Smith (fictitious name) and he replied yes! We informed him of our plans to call him later that day to learn how to get a extended stay permit, to which he replied "I can issue you a permit right now". So there we are, in the middle of the St. Regis Canoe Area, getting our 2-week camping permit. Then to our further surprise, we were informed the permit is issued without fees. The site was free and the permit was free - Thank you state of New York. Note - Park policies (camp sites/permits) may have changed since our last trip in 2006.

The above photo is a view of campsite No. 11 from Floodwood Raod. Also shown is the Jeep with the kayaks loaded ready to go on our next Adirondack kayak adventure.

Flashback(Which way is up?)

     The Adirondacks, a kayaker's paradise, are filled with vistas such as the one in the above photo taken at Low's Lower Dam. But, which way is up? Hint - one of the 2 photos in this particular blog entry is correct.

     New York state has managed to get one thing right - The Adirondacks - especially for kayakers and canoeists. The Adirondacks are filled with remote lakes that are accessible by water only. Most of these lakes have designated camping areas available to anyone on a first come first serve basis. It is very possible to be out and about and never see another person, see any kind of civilization or even hear a jet passing overhead. Believe it or not, canoes are the main mode of transportation in the Adirondacks as families pack up their canoes for a couple nights of camping on their favorite lake. For the locals, the Adirondacks is a way life. I remember one gentleman, who was done paddling for the day, got out of his Kevlar canoe, threw the canoe up on his shoulders to portage the canoe to the car, looked at Sharon and me and said "Not bad for an 80 year old man, eh!". On another occasion, we spotted what was obviously an elderly grey haired woman paddling solo in her canoe. As we progress through fall and winter in Pennsylvania, we will provide more flashbacks to our adventures in the Adirondacks.
     The photo below was taken on the Oswegatchie River as we were returning to the river access point. Have you decided which photo is oriented correctly?

Getting Educated

     This past week I went to the boat on Sunday. Then on Tuesday, I traveled to Solomons, MD for Trawler Fest sponsored by PassageMaker Magazine. Although Trawler Fest did not start until Friday, I was there for what is billed as PassageMaker University (PMU). On Wednesday and Thursday, I attended a 2 day workshop for the Lehman Ford Diesel Engine. I enrolled in this workshop back in June to make sure my reservation was accepted, for this class quickly fills up. The instructor was no other than the legendary Bob Smith of American Diesel Corporation. If you are not familiar with the Lehman Ford diesel engine then you would probably not know who Bob Smith is. Bob Smith was instrumental in the marinization of the Ford engine when the program was started in the early 60's. Today, in his seventies, Bob Smith conducted a workshop at PMU that included lecturing on the Lehman Ford diesel engine on the first day. Day 2 was a hands-on instruction with a Lehman Ford 120. Also on day 2, the class of 14 other fellow boaters and myself applied what we had learned and pulled the injector pump, valve train and injectors. We then retorqued the head, reinstalled and timed the injector pump, bench tested the injectors and reinstalled them, reinstalled the valve train and set valve clearances. Next, we were tested on what we had learned. We wheeled the diesel engine outside and started it. Imagine being at a Holiday Inn and see a bunch of guys fire up a diesel engine outside the hotel without a muffler on the engine! Yes the engine ran, and we all "passed the test". Although I do have a mechanical background, I found this course very enlightening. It will greatly help with our Lehman Ford 120 on board Big Run. If you have a Lehman Ford 120 or 135, you will find this course very beneficial. I especially recommend it for those who have the 120.

T-Minus 13 and Counting

     First, I would like to state that I am not superstitious - 13 is a cool number. And in this case, 13 refers to the number of months till we cast off all of our ties with land. 13 months is not very long and I'm sure we will be asking ourselves where has the time gone. Although we will be doing some extensive cruising next summer, November 2010 is the expiration of our slip contract at Long Cove Marina. November 1st is also the date in which insurance companies allow you to head south beyond Norfolk, VA. At that time we will be heading down the ditch(Intra Coastal Waterway [ICW]). We have already starting developing lists of what has to be done and what needs to purchased for our adventure to begin as full time cruisers Hopefully, all preparations will be concluded by August 2010. There is so much to do - and I 'm not talking just about boat work. Sharon will be handling all the legal/financial issues and other matters related to converting from land based to live-aboards. I, on the other hand, got the easier task of boat preparations. Right now, Sharon is working on reducing our snail mail to something more manageable for a mail service to handle. Most statements are available via the Internet. Sharon is also working on setting up accounts to be paid through the internet. One project Sharon just completed was the scanning of all of our photos that were on paper. All photos are now stored digitally with a backup to a external hard drive. Hopefully we will able to continue our countdown and provide an insight into the transition.

Road Hazard

     And you think potholes do damage to your car's front end! This tree trunk would cause considerable damage to the hull and/or running gear. Fortunately, we were anchored when this log came racing by with the outgoing tide. When we departed from our anchorage on Reed Creek the next day, we kept a watch for this hazard, but it was never seen again. And you want to cruise at night?

Difficult Times

     The month of August has been one of the most trying times of our lives. Sharon and I did take 2 weekend cruises in August, one after the loss of my sister Linda, the other cruise was also a "mental health" weekend because of other events that have been playing out during the month. And it doesn't end there, just recently we were delivered with yet another emotional setback when a family member was hospitalized unexpectedly. Hopefully, September will bring favorable closures to those things that have been testing our fortitude. Looking forward, October offers some great times to be gunkholing on the Bay. Cool temps at night and the prospect of good fall foliage color due to the weekly rains this summer should provide for some interesting times.

Flashback (Honeymoon Suite)

   The day after our wedding, Sharon and I left to go on our honeymoon in the Four Corners region, the Grand Canyon being our ultimate destination with other scenic stops in the surrounding area (states). This photo was taken in Monument Valley. Our customized van served as our honeymoon suite for those 3 weeks, I guess that you can say we have always been adventurous or crazy.