Dennis seems to think that he is going to start a new trend in Summerside – folding mini bike with a baguette. Where is his beret?
I have nothing else to say about this – absolutely nothing! 🙂
Author Archives: JH
Summerside – July 16th – 17th
We’re still in Summerside and will most likely be here for a few more days. Eventually, we will be sailing to Pugwash. In the meantime though, we have been able to amuse ourselves very well!
We went to the Summerside Harness Racing track the other night – Red Shores. We had never been to a racetrack before and I’m sure it was quite obvious! However, a couple of kind young ladies happily took our money for our bets and helped us figure out how it all worked. We bought the racing program and I picked out a horse to win based on its name. So, I placed a $2.00 bet. Dennis picked out a horse too (I’m not sure what his method was) but he placed three $2.00 bets – win, place and show. Needless to say, my method paid off and my horse won in the first race! So, I went back to see the young ladies and they had a great laugh as my winnings were $2.30.
Since my betting method proved immediately successful, I repeated this four more times and won three of the five races. In one race though, my horse came dead last and of course Dennis thought this was hilarious! Overall, I came out ahead. I spent $10 on five races and earned about $8 in profit. Dennis lost overall, but he still had lots of fun. Perhaps, he will adopt my selection method in the future! Here is a picture of one of my winning horses as well as them in action.
We walked over to Credit Union Place which was right next door. This is a HUGE fitness facility. Unbelievable! Included in the building is a swimming pool for doing laps, another pool with a waterside, a hot tub, steam room and sauna. There is a bowling alley, a fitness room with tons of equipment, two racquetball courts. There is also an indoor stadium which has an ice surface in the winter. The stadium has seating for 5000! Gordon Lightfoot played there in May. At the top of the stadium is a walking/running track. Apparently, there is another ice surface somewhere else in the building. Here’s the good thing – if you want to use any of the facilities, you can buy daily tickets or a monthly membership for $35 (senior rate 55+) ($45 adult). The bowling alley is extra but pretty much everything else is included. Here are some pictures of CUP.
That’s all the news for today – my parents made it and are staying at Linkletter Provincial Park in their RV for the next few days. We’re going on a walking tour today.
Summerside – July 14th – 16th
We picked a good week to stay in Summerside because the Lobster Festival is on. We’ve been enjoying all the activities – lots of outdoor concerts, all sorts of vendors and tons of things for kids to do. Monday was the parade. Of course, it poured rain all morning but finally at 1:00, the rain let up (just in time for the wind to blow a gale) for the parade. There were 80 floats in all – the highlight being the giant lobster. I thought that the wind would take it away but it did not although its giant claws were waving wildly! One of the highlights was seeing Heather Moyse, the Olympic bobsledder from Summerside. Here are a few pictures.
The College of Piping was also in the parade – they were excellent. Here is a video of them at the parade plus plus a couple of other activities during the festival. They are certainly unique and hard to explain so watch the video. 🙂
Last night, we had the opportunity to see The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom and it was excellent! If you do get a chance to see it, please do so. Here is some information on Stompin’ Tom – he sure had a rough start to his life. Of course, my favourite song is… (Click the link!)
That’s all the news for now. We are expecting company from Canmore tomorrow – looking forward to a visit with my parents. They’re driving around in a rented RV. Pretty windy ride, I bet!
July 11th, 12th – Borden-Carleton to Summerside
We anchored at Borden-Carleton on Thursday night. We didn’t didn’t get off the boat to look around because of the tide and the windy conditions. Last year, we dinghied ashore at high tide, left the boat on the beach and when we came back, we (as in Dennis) had to drag the boat in the PEI red muddy sand forever to get it floating back in the water. So, this year, with the winds being up, we just stayed on board.
We got the anchor up without a problem and headed under the bridge. Here are a few shots of Borden-Carleton and the bridge – it is very impressive from the water. If you want to learn more about the bridge, click on this link.
We arrived in Summerside with no problem and were tied up by 11:00. After Dennis cleaned off all the salt from the boat, we went for a walk along the boardwalk.
Summerside seems to have a lot to do. There is a Farmers’ Market every Saturday, harness racing, The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom, concerts in the summer by the College of Piping, and all sorts of events happening such as the LobsterFest which takes place next week.
After our walk, I went for a bike ride and rode along the boardwalk. There is a 7 km boardwalk along the waterfront. As I was returning to the boat, these two girls stopped me and asked if they could talk to me. (Hmm… well I really didn’t have that much planned for the rest of the afternoon, so what the heck!) They introduced themselves as missionaries from the Church of Latter-Day Saints. They were very nice and I learned that they were on PEI for 18 months. One was from Edmonton and the other was from Idaho. I asked them if I could take their picture for the blog (I really didn’t have much exciting news so…) so here is their picture as well as the Summerside harbour at low tide. If you look closely, you can see people way out in the distance – they were able to walk out there.
That’s all the exciting news for now. We are heading out to the Farmers’ Market.
July 9th – Souris to Woods Island Ferry Terminal
July 9th was Nick’s birthday, so we wish him well! Last year, on July 9th, our boat was surrounded by belugas so it was very exciting. If you want to see that video, click this link. This year was not as exciting. We did see a seal popping his head out of the water and a whale taking a couple of breaths but that was about it except for the gannets – which are always entertaining when they dive head first into the water.
We left Souris at about 7:20. John (the guy who was offering advice to his wife while she was up at the top of the mast) was going to help us cast away but he was still in the shower when we decided to leave. Maybe he’ll make a comment and then we can get in touch with him. He and Dennis beat Kim and me in Euchre the other night, so we will definitely have to catch up with them for the rematch…
It was fairly windy when we left Souris – the wind metre said it was 20 knots, which is ok. It went up to 25 for a while and we got quite a spray of salt water all over the boat. Of course, we were motoring right into the wind so it was slow progress. When we rounded Cape Bear (which seems to be PEI’s equivalent to Cape Horn where all the winds meet and create horrible conditions for sailors), the wind went up to 47! Yikes – that was not much fun. We bounced around quite a bit and tested our skills in ensuring that everything was properly stowed. Our big worry is always the dinghy but Dennis had tied it down well. It is tied down even better today (although the wind is only 5) but you never know.
We arrived at the ferry terminal at about 3:00 and tied up to the wall. We did manage to put a small dent in the rub rail (it wasn’t me!) and then went ashore. We checked out what time Crabby’s closed and then I went to see how the ospreys were doing. We then had supper (lobster rolls – excellent!) and met up with David and Joy for an hour then went to bed – we were pretty tired!
Here are some pictures of the osprey nest and of Woods Island. Notice the captain having a nap!
That’s all the news for today. I am writing this while we are underway – going to Borden Carleton and anchoring. We should be in Summerside tomorrow sometime.
July 7th and 8th – Souris
We might be leaving tomorrow as the weather looks good. Today, Dennis worked on the generator with no luck. He had to order a pump and the man is going to Charlottetown today and will drop it off tonight. After several hours of working on it, he gave up and decided to became a spectator for another boat’s mast operation. Kim, the lady at the top of the mast, had to go and fix something. Yesterday, she was at the top for well over an hour but was unsuccessful. Dennis then gave it a try but he too was unsuccessful. So today, Kim tried again and I think she was able to fix whatever needed fixing.
These pictures are of Kim at the top of the mast and Dennis and John at the bottom shouting their opinions about how the mast should be fixed. Hudson, the dog, was not amused.
I forgot to mention that the other day, our friend Dale arrived. Dennis had met him in Quebec City last year. We met him again in Rimouski. Dale is on the Tranquillium and is travelling with his friends Dennis and Jean. I think he is staying here for the summer.
That’s all the excitement for today! I think we’re going swimming now.
July 6th – Souris
So, we survived the storm – Tropical Storm Arthur. It was really windy here in Souris and the power kept going flickering on and off for a while, but we were pretty safe behind the break wall. The wind did change direction though at about 5:00 am so things got a little rough in the marina for a while. But, since we were up, it was ok. Souris did not get much damage but Charlottetown sure did! Three boats sank and judging from the pictures, it looks like there is not much left of the yacht club.
Yesterday, while it was still sunny and nice, we went to the Cardigan car show. It was quite interesting but because of the hurricane, there apparently weren’t as many cars as in previous years. Here is a collage of some cars. Included in the collage is the result of the high winds – I hope that someone wasn’t in it! Dennis is posing beside a car that is identical to one that he used to own. The orange car is his friend David’s.
Today, we basically cleaned up from the storm. There wasn’t too much to do – just cleaned the red PEI sand off of the boat.
The highlight of the day though, was the Village Feast. It is a non profit children’s charity that supports children around the world as well as helping the local food bank. Chef Michael Smith is a big part of it and of course, we had to get his picture with Dennis in his favourite shirt.
The whole event is organized by volunteers and there must have been over 1000 people there. You could get either a lobster dinner, steak dinner or both. I had the lobster and Dennis had the steak – both were excellent!
Part of raising funds for the local food bank at the dinner is an honorary Islander citizenship for $100. Twelve people signed up and were initiated on the stage complete with a potato sack, Anne hat and various tasks including shucking an oyster and peeling a potato. Here are some pictures of the event.
Tomorrow, we do some work on the boat (I am not sure what Captain Bligh has in store) and probably go for a bike ride now that the winds are back to normal!
Hurricane Arthur – July 5th – Souris Marina
I have uploaded the video of the boat going into the water. It is not quite as exciting as an episode of Gilligan’s Island but if you want to watch it, click on this link. I also have all of our videos stored on our YouTube channel. It’s not too organized but you’ll find all of our videos there.
The first hurricane of the season has arrived. We are in the middle of it now. It came up from North Carolina and has been pounding the Maritimes since yesterday. PEI has not gotten the worst of it – New Brunswick seems to have been hit really hard and lots of places are without power. I guess the worst of it should arrive around 9:00 pm (of course – just as it gets dark!). We are well protected here behind the break wall so it will just be a noisy night.
I made a video this afternoon of the storm. I will post more stuff tomorrow.
July 4th – Charlottetown, July 5th – Souris
Yesterday (July 4th), we decided to go to Charlottetown by car. It only took about an hour to get there unlike when we travel by boat which usually takes several days! We did a bit of shopping and then went down to the waterfront. Charlottetown is really celebrating the 150th Charlottetown Conference. There is a pavilion right on the waterfront and all sorts of things to see. What really surprised us though were the free concerts. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the summer, there will be concerts – Natalie McMaster played last night, Serena Ryder is playing next week, Burton Cummings, The Sheepdogs. We must have looked a bit confused – we were trying to pay to get into the pavilion and when the security guard talked to us about this, we were really surprised about the free concerts. We would like to take the boat there for the Burton Cummings concert on July 24th but we will see. Here is a link with the information.
I took some pictures of the pavilion, the sand sculptures and of course of us being goofy tourists. Included in the second picture is Dennis with his old navy buddy and his Joy. They moved from Halifax to Montegue, PEI. David (nicknamed Zipper) was in the navy with Dennis many years ago. He and Joy moved to the island in June. They bought, as David describes it, a small blue house with a big red barn. He was right! David loves fixing cars and has a beautiful orange Mustang in the yard. We are supposed to go to the car show today but because of the weather, we may just hang around the boat.
Today, we are waiting for Hurricane Arthur to land. The winds are starting to pick up but no rain yet. The marina has all sorts of extra lines on the docks and we do too. The wind is from the south-east which is a good direction because the break wall will take most of the pounding. Here is a collage of the scene at 9:00 – not too bad yet!
Well, that is all the news for now. Maybe more later after the storm. We are thinking that it might be a good time to go and look for sea glass (after the storm, that is – not during!)
By the way, so far we have travelled 0.65 kilometres by boat – from the storage area to the water. We will eventually leave Souris – maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. Dennis says the winds will be good for a sail to Pictou!
July 3rd – Souris, PEI
Since the boat is now in the water, we were able to finish a lot of work, so today was kind of a slacker day. Only a few hours of boat chores! 🙂 We still have stuff to do but we can take our time as we aren’t going to be going anywhere until after Hurricane Arthur which is supposed to arrive on Saturday evening.
Louise LaBrech, the lady who fixed the canvas work on the dodger/bimini did a great job! So, now all the pieces are back and we are able to put the whole thing together. The dodger/bimini is really important in all kinds of weather – it protects us from wind, rain and sun.
So, today I drove down to the beach. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will go again and look for sea glass. Down at the beach, there is a great boardwalk as well as a few little fishing shack stores. These are new and are really pretty – one of them sells sea glass jewellery.
Anyway, the entire boardwalk is totally accessible for wheelchairs – you can even take your wheelchair below the wall and get onto the beach (although, I’m not sure if I would do that, but it can be done!). The other neat thing about the beach is the outside shower – it is used for cleaning off the salt water and for cleaning your feet. What a great idea!
Here are a few pictures of the Souris beach.
That’s about it for today. We’ve moved closer into the harbour in order to be prepared for the storm. Much closer to everything too!
Split Crow 