Decisions...Decisions...Decisions

After much thought, research and conversation between us, Dottie and I have agreed that we will not be coming back to Oak Park Resort Marina next year for the full season.
Both of us feel we need to do a little more traveling and a lot less sitting around the docks.

So here are our tentative plans:

We should launch sometime in May 2010, and we will stay at Oak Park until after the Memorial Day Weekend.
The month of June will be spent cruising the Erie Canal, and our base will be the
Mid-Lakes Erie Macedon Landing Marina, in Macedon, NY. We will stay there for approximately one month then move on to the Finger Lakes region for a month.

The month of July we will be based out of Hibuscus Harbor Marina in Union Springs, NY.
We would like to spend some time exploring both Seneca and Cayuga Lakes.....the two largest of the Finger Lakes

The month of August we will head north to the Thousand Islands region. While in that area, we will be based out of The Thousand Island Club Marina.

We expect our friends, Craig and Mary Farnsworth, aboard their 40' cat "Rum Tum Tiger" to be there about the same time. Both of us want to do a trip up the Rideau Canal in Canada, and that trip will begin in Kingston, Ontario Canada, just 15 miles from our base.
Toward the end of August, beginning of September, we will return back to Oak Park Resort Marina for haul-out and winter storage.

So far, all of these plans are tentative, and as changes come about I will post them here.

The Weekend we all Hate

This past weekend was spent doing the final winterization of the Lucky Find III. Last year I contracted with Great Lakes Yacht Services to have this done for me, and after watching the excellent skills of Scott, their mechanic, I decided to do it this year myself.
We winterized both engines and generator, the domestic water system, the air conditioning system and the fresh-water washown. After that it was on to winterize the head, shower, and sump. Along with Dottie, we had this done in a few hours and then just decided to sit back and relax.
On Sunday, Dottie and I took off all the linens, towels, electronics and food. Packaged it all up and brought it home. Doug Parkhurst and I lowered the mast, and now she is about ready to shrink-wrap. I did order a new flybridge cover to be made by Cooper Canvas out of Mexico, NY. He promises an October 3rd completion date....we will see about that!

Once the cover is made, we will be able to bring down the bimini and flybridge enclosure and stow it all away. Then the marina will be able to do the shrink wrapping....and that will do it for 2009.

The Season Comes to an End

I can't believe that it is already September 23rd....and that marks the end of the 2009 boating season for us.
Some nights have already been in the lower 40's temperature wise, and today, although, it will be in the high 70's, the Lucky Find III will be brought over to be put on the hard.

We were scheduled for a 2PM haul-out, but the marina had a few cancellations, and so by 9:30 AM we were out and on the hard. Our friends, Doug and Donna Parkhurst aboard the Camelot, came out right behind us and we will be side-by-side in the yard for the winter.

Now, all the winterization chores need to get done. Hopefully by the time we leave to go to the Annapolis Boat Show on October 17th the boat will be winterized, shrink-wrapped and put to bed for a long, cold winter.

Final In-The-Water Chores

We scheduled our annual haul-out today with the marina. We will be pulled next Wednesday, September 23rd at 2PM.
This weekend will be spent readying the boat for haul-out. I changed the oil in both the engines and generator and put in new oil filters. Diesels are new to me, and I can't get over that each engine holds 16 quarts (4 gallons) of oil. I am used to gasoline engines that held only 5 quarts of oil. After the oil changes, I spent some time tidying up the engine room, and then went up above to empty the water tanks. Things all went well, and she looks like it is ready to be put on the hard for the winter.
I am already antsy for next season, and we are not even out of the water yet....but this gives both Dottie and I plenty of time to plan what we will do next year.

All in all, this year was really spent just getting to learn the in's and out's of this trawler. Not much time was spent doing any cruising, but I have to say, I did gain a lot of knowledge....so, at least it was good for something.
We are looking forward to doing a lot more cruising next season, althouh it will only be spent traveling around NYS.