Moving Into Our Last Full Month in Canada

July was a very busy month for us.  Normally “busy” for us means boat projects, but not these days.  Our big boat projects have been completed and what remains (installing the water maker and a few maintenance items) are not essential until we cross the Gulf stream in late December.  No, our “busy-ness” is mostly appointments, paperwork and, on the fun side, visits with family and friends!  As it turns out, the two-year delay due to the pandemic was a blessing for us.  Yes, we would have been “ready” to leave in 2020 or 2021 but it may have been a rush of finishing off projects, frantically completing paperwork, maybe skipping a few details and, basically, skidding into home plate i.e. throwing off the dock lines.

Our reality now?  We have time to appreciate.  We can sit for hours and chat with special lifelong friends over drinks, have lots of family visits, and talk at length about our trip.  It makes our hearts sing to keep in touch with all the important people in our lives.

Of course, our reality is also peppered with finishing off Ocean’s paperwork and vaccines (thank you Carling Animal Hospital and Dr. Clement for making this so easy for us!), appointments for Covid boosters, eyes, dentist, doctor, finances – all that stuff that is easier done in person.  We are also stocking up on provisions we can only get in Canada (Swiss Chalet sauce, Clamato juice…), and making sure we have the critical spare boat parts we might need underway.

August will also be very busy.  The biggest and most important task will be building the mast supports for Wild Horses’ mast for our travel from Oswego Marina to the Catskills in New York.  This part of the journey takes us through the New York State canal system where bridge clearances can be as low as 15.5 feet.  Sailboat masts greatly exceed this (ours is 61 feet) so the mast has to be taken down and put on the boat deck, supported by wood structures.  We, and the two other boats travelling with us, will be designing and building the structures for our three sailboats.  An extremely stable set up will be critical to avoid damage to the boat or, even worse, a mast going into the drink!

Outside of that, we will be crossing more T’s and dotting more I’s as we get closer to our target departure date of September 11.  And, hopefully, we will be fitting in more visits with family and friends 😊.

Oh, one more thing, Happy 5th Birthday Ocean!  Our little sailing pup is celebrating her birthday today!!

A boat in the Bateau Channel with its mast on its deck - this is what Wild Horses will look like in September

One of my favourite purchases - a washer and spin dryer for the boat

Ocean receiving a special Benebone treat from her favourite pal Evelyn

Ocean enjoying swimming off the back of the boat with some of our lifelong friends