Champlain, Quebec
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Tue 24 Jul 2007 23:40
|
46:25.621N 72:16.954W
Sorry for the glitch in the blog (large picture
size). We haven't been able to browse the internet, so have no way to
view the blog - all we can do right now is send emails to update the blog.
When we get to Quebec City, we'll try to fix the previous two postings.
Hopefully this posting is ok.
We left Montreal as planned on Saturday (7/21) and
motored (no wind) fast (lots of current) down the river through Lake St. Pierre,
past Trois-Rivieres, and have been anchored ever since in the middle of the
river, away from the shipping channel, behind an expanse of shallow water for
protection (good anchorages deep enough for our boat are nonexistent in
this part of the river).
It has been hot with no wind. The no wind
part is good since our anchorage is not protected (being in the middle of the
river and all). The hot part isn't the greatest since the quality of the
water has gone downhill now that we are downstream of Montreal and the
paper mills of Trois-Rivieres. Swimming is not an option unless you have a
high tolerance for murky, slightly smelly water.
We plan to leave today (Tuesday) for a better
anchorage downstream toward Quebec City. We'll stay one night there
and head down to Quebec City on Wednesday where we have reservations at a
posh marina.
So, it's been hot, we can't swim and we have been
in the middle of the river with no access to land for more than 2 days.
You may be wondering if we are bored, ready to kill someone (which could only be
each other since there is no one else around), suicidal, or some combination
thereof. Actually, no, we are none of the above. Strange, but
true. We are finding that one would have to work really hard to
be bored on a boat. Below are a couple of examples of boat tasks
that fill our days and keep us from committing acts that we'd be sorry for
later.
The first picture below shows Don waving
from the top of our main mast. Yes, it's true that he's afraid of
heights, but his compelling need to wax the mast was stronger
than his fear. One cool thing about Don going up the mast is that I
have complete control of his destiny. I control the winch and the line
that takes him up and down. So, this cuts down on any murderous feelings
Don may have for me since I basically hold his life in my hands while he is up
there. See how this works?
In between raising and lowering Don on the mast, I
spent my time cleaning up after spiders. We are infested with them
(outside, not inside the boat) and they take pleasure in making a mess of the
entire deck every night. If it is buggy, the mess is that much
worse. The bug filled webs in the attached picture are hard to see, but
look close. Then picture all the railings, lines, winches, flag, and
every corner and crevice on the boat covered with them. I've declared war
on the spiders and spend at least 30 minutes per day doing what I like to call
'spider dusting'. I've heard that spiders don't do well in salt water - I
am looking forward to arriving at the ocean soon.
Anne |
