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HAWAIIAN HOUSEBOAT CRUISE 2005 |
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Friday August 12, 2005
Fourteen of us met at Clark's Marina near Gananoque Ontario at 1:00 pm for the annual houseboat weekend on the St. Lawrence River. Pictured above are; Brian Vintinner, Kathy Sandhu, Rob Sandhu, Wendy Workman, Keri Evers, Deborah Dowker, Kelly Allen, Sylvie Gagne, Karen Matthews, Don Murphy, Harvey Guy, Sue Collins and Paul Nixon. While the boat only sleeps six, we were invited to be the guests of my uncle, Bill Browning, on Lyndoch Island. This years theme was Hawaiian so it was grass skirts and leis for everyone. Despite what we all thought, once we packed all our gear on board, we were not cramped at all. Wendy and Don came to see us off and would join us the following day.
Neil of Houseboat Holidays gave us the usual lecture - "this lever makes the boat go forward and pulling it towards you makes it go in reverse…enjoy". I piloted our craft up the creek to the open water where Brian and later Harvey took over the wheel. We made good time and by 3:30 I docked us into Bill Browning's dock with surprisingly few deaths. Bill told us to make ourselves at home and donated his farmhouse for our use. We chose our rooms and unpacked all our gear. Karen and I had previously reserved the best room when we were there the week before. We did some swimming and jumping off the boat. Once we were settled in, I steered us back to William's Marina where, dressed in our grass skirts, we invaded Peck's Restaurant for supper. We left there at dusk and I navigated us back to Lyndoch Island. The majority retired to the farmhouse kitchen for a rousing game of thumbmaster. Kelly, Keri, Deb, Karen and I watched Robin Williams live on a CD player that Paul brought. As expected, Karen and Deborah slept through it.
Saturday August 13, 2005
Karen and I got up semi-early and joined the long bathroom line. Later the two of us and Harvey made bacon and eggs for everyone. Brian manned the toast. Bill and Greg joined us for breakfast. We pretty well filled up the kitchen. When we were done, we all lounged around on the dock swimming and tanning. The upper houseboat deck makes a good diving platform. The current is fairly strong and provided us all with a good workout.
Coach Guy organized a touch football game after handpicking some key players from the NFL. Since I was a little rusty, Rob filled me in on the rules, "You count 10 steamboats then throw the ball". I took it literally and held the ball for the full count while everyone else ran around wearing themselves out in the high heat. We made some good plays and had a great time. We retired after an hour or so and vowed to have a re-match after lunch...but it was never arranged.
Around noon I steered us back to William's Marina to pick Don and Wendy up. Karen and I carried Wendy part way on the "Big Kahuna" chair we brought that was outfitted with poles and bullrushes. I turned my captain's badge over to Don and we returned to the island. We watched the 150 cigarette boats parade by and then took a tour through the Thousand Islands to Alexandria Bay to catch a glimpse of the Pirate Weekend. The women (and sometimes me) stayed on the roof doing a line hula dance for the entire voyage. Apparently it paid off as they were finally mooned by 3 college students. On the return trip, the grape launcher was perfected. Using Don's balloon launcher we were able to throw a grape onto the top of the international bridge. Paul also parted the hair of an old geezer who didn't believe we could come close to hitting him. Eventually we made our way back to the island. Paul made us some awesome burgers for supper along with corn on the cob and other goodies which we ate in between swimming.
Karen and I deposited ourselves in the farmhouse easy chair and began watching a Billy Crystal movie. I thought it was pretty good but 20 minutes into the movie, Karen woke up and said she couldn't seem to follow the plot and didn't understand what was going on. I changed it for a Richard Gere movie. The exact same thing happened. Actually, I don't know that Karen has ever seen a complete movie…not that I'm much better. We gave up and went down to the tower room for the ceremonial giving of the gift to our host. Later we returned to the farmhouse. The usual group got back into their thumbmaster game and could be seen running out the door every few minutes clucking like chickens disturbing Karen and I napping in our chair. Later I grabbed a broom. Karen, Kelly and Deb hopped on behind me and we rode around the card players and then down the hill to the tower room to terrorize Bill, Don and Wendy.
Sunday August 14, 2005
We arose early. It was raining. Karen and I started the bacon and eggs again. Later we did some more swimming even though it was raining and eventually we packed up and pushed off from Lyndoch Island.
Just past Gananoque, we dropped anchor and had a ceremony for our fallen comrade, Estelle, who passed away early last Thursday after losing a long battle with cancer. While Sarah Maclachlan's "I will Remember You" played in the background, we all stood on the outside deck holding roses that Wendy and Don brought from her funeral. At the conclusion of the song, we each dropped our flower into the river and watched them float slowly away.
Ten minutes later, Captain Don was motoring us along when we were bullhorned to "PULL OVER"!! It was the local police. We all looked at Don with bated breath knowing he could go either way - was he going to comply or gun the engine and attempt an escape using the world's slowest craft? Don elected to pull over. Someone suggested turning out the lights and hiding on the floor. Before we could do this, Officer Dinky (as we later respectfully refered to him) pulled up alongside of us yelling at Brian several times, "YOU...get to the front". It was a little bit of overkill on his part, as I don't believe Brian was making plans to escape...although he did have a bathing suit on and could easily have slipped over the side. However we understood, as he was trying to impress the two trainees he had with him. Apparently he had spotted Brian on the deck with a beer. He said he found it disrespectful that Brian had tried to hide his drink after being spotted. Most of us felt that it would have been more disrespectful not to. I gathered he was more upset with what he took to be disrespect of the police, than with the fact that the law had been broken. He told Brian that next time, he should put the beer in a styrofoam cup so it would not be so obvious. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seemed to be something wrong with a police officer who tells you the proper way to break the law. He wanted to make sure we all knew that he had the power to confiscate all our liquor. Don kindly offered him my entire cooler. Trying to be co-operative, I suggested Don's cooler had more liquor than mine. We confused him enough that instead, he lovingly gave Brian a $125.00 fine and a ten minute lecture and reprimand. Once he'd finished stroking his ego, he sped off up the river. We all chipped in $10 towards the fine. As we discussed Brian's recourse, I suggested he check his ticket for mistakes. It turned out to be dated incorrectly so chances are good it will be thrown out of court in which case, Brian is financially ahead. The best part was that it gave us something to talk about all the way to Clark's Marina. Regardless of that episode, it had been a rewarding weekend with a more than excellent and capable crew of friends.
Back at our port of call, we unpacked and refilled the houseboat with gas and oil. The owner checked it over to make sure it still had a propeller, roof etc and then assured me I would receive my full $300 refund cheque in the mail. Everyone headed home except for Harvey, Kelly, Brian, Don, Wendy, Karen and I, who drove to Gananoque and had supper at Anthony's. Once we got our land legs back we headed home as well.
Don't forget o cllick on the link below to see pictures from the trip.
http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLanding.jsp?shareCode=A03D003BDCB&cb=PW
NOTES
Individual List:
At our meeting tried to divide things up equally expecting everyone to purchase approximately $20 worth of the below mentioned items.
Don Oil
Dave 5 Gallon tank full of gas, Big Kahuna chair & Poles
Harvey 5 Gallon tank full of gas, bungee cords
Debbie 5 Gallon tank full of gas, bungee cords
Karen Bacon, paper plates, plastic cutlery
Wendy 4 doz. Lorraine eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn on cobweb, vegetables
Paul Ground beef, tea, flashlight, air mattress, ghetto blaster, DVD & CD player
Sue Bread, buns, bagels, hot dogs, air mattress, bungee cords
Kathy Tuna, cold meats, tin foil, saran wrap, SOS pads
Rob Milk, orange juice, dish soap, hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels
Brian Munchies, chips, cookies, trail mix, etc.
Sylvie Fruit - green apples, grapes, bananas, oranges, limes for scurvy etc.
Keri Butter, salt, pepper, peanut butter, jam, sugar, coffee
Kelly Cheese, cheese slices, mayonnaise, potatoes, onions
Here are some things everyone was responsible for:
Passport and or Birth Certificate
MONEY - Balance will need to be paid before departure plus eating out etc.
Hawaian Gear - Grass skirts, coconut bras (for the men), Leis etc.
Snorkeling gear, bathing suits, towels
Sleeping Bag
Bug Spray
Sunscreen
1 cooler
Booze
Ice
Jacket
Camera
Clean underwear in case we get into a boating accident
Optional Items
Pillow
Tents and camping gear - best to combine with tent mates.
CDs, DVDs, Tapes - Paul will be supplying a player
Goodies (chips choc bars etc.)
Games
Breakdown of Costs
Boat $650.00
Tax $ 97.50
Insurance $ 30.00
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Total $777.50
(less $40 x 16) $640.00 (non-refundable deposits received)
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Total Owing $137.50
Each $ 9.82
So the total price we each paid was $49.82 plus a further $10 each for gas on the return trip.
Grand Total $59.82
