white-caps on the horizon

Time has not slowed down since the kids have left, we are just doing different things. Here are Bec and Ellen under the umbrella at Sandy Beach, renamed "Black Creek Provincial Park" once the idea and purchasing of the land had filtered down to Toronto and the name change got done down there. Another object lesson for physically remote government.

The Sun was out yet the temperature was a bit cool for this time  in early August. Also, the wind has been blowing almost every day with white capped waves pounding the shores. 

Our week with two of our grandchildren was focused entirely on their needs. Marcus was not willing to go on any boat through the week, requesting going into the rowboat  with his mother's encouragement and sitting in Bounty as she was still sitting on her trailer in front of the boat house. He is willing to try next year going in boats again.

Having driven the crew to their Grandma Betsy's, arriving close to 1 AM Sunday morning, for their trip back to the West Coast later Sunday afternoon, I went onto East Lansing and returned Tuesday afternoon to the Cottage. 

One of the pleasures in my life is sailing, and I now have had several sails, you see, it does not matter if the wind is high and the waves are high, I feel I am in my element. I breath deeply through my nose and smell the water, feel the breeze, and ride the boat, each rise and fall, twist and turn.  A great day to be alive.

Yesterday, Kathy and I took Bounty around Little Pike Bay Point and along the South shore of Stokes Bay. We entered areas I had never been before. The sun was overhead and I could see into the water, weaving our way around the rocks and shoals. Then a run through Split Islands, site of the front range for entrance into Stokes Bay and then onto the East shore of Lyle Island. We turned South and hugged the South shore of Lyle Island as the wind had shifted from Southwest to West North West and the waves were building. Kathy, of course, wants a fast smooth ride. Fast is not the operative word since most of the South Stokes Bay area has foul water. So the best that I could do was keep from heading into mounting seas; which we did, sort of, until we lost the cover of Lyle Island and her reefs, then we headed into a confused sea, built from the earlier Southwest and rising West North West wind. A little spray here and there does not dampen the spirits. Our run into Little Pike Bay was otherwise uneventful.

Today, the sun is bright, the water deep blue in the deep areas, turquoise to brown in the shallower regions. Wind from the South again; could it be the influence of Tropical Storm Fay way down South? The air is soft, only the slightest of breeze here at the cottage. The humming bird is feeding on the red flowers. Flies are biting, maybe it will rain soon.