the SciFi convention

Today was the last day of the SciFi convention in Toronto and I went in hopes of seeing Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) whom I've had a crush on for years. Unfortunately she'd already left by the time I arrived, but I got this great photo of me, Fresnelly and Aberkok from the TFP with Juliet Landau from Buffy and Angel. In case anyone has missed this: DRUSILLA IS TOUCHING ME!!!

life at sea

Life at sea isn't the romantic adventure that most people think it is. Most days for me consist of staring at the water, eating, sleeping, watching tv and staring at the water again. Every couple of days I get to either load or unload the ship, but then it's back to the staring, eating, sleeping and watching tv. I think it's kind of funny that I used to get yelled at for staring out the windows in grade 4, and now my job mainly consists of it! For some reason, I just haven't been off the ship that much this summer. It always seems to be my watch in port, but last night I managed to go for a walk in Ashtabula, and got some pics to prove it. These pics came off my phone which explains their quality. Ashtabula is one of those towns on the south shore of Lake Erie that seems to exist simply as a railhead for the iron ore and coal towns of West Virginia and Pennsylania. Had some nice houses, and I ended up in a bar on the main drag with tin ceilings and walls.

Heading up in the Welland Canal on our way to Fairport to load Salt for Picton (back to the dock with the cliff). It's been a busy couple of weeks here on the Algowood, but great news, I'm being put up 2nd Mate at last for the month of August. We are doing the crew change in the canal on the 30th, and they are sending us a Nav Cadet, (figures, just when I'm going up 2nd) so that will make it pretty crowded here. Here's a nice shot I got the other night on our way to Detour.

The Picton Salt Dock (or the dock at the bottom of the 100ft cliff)

2nd Mate on the top of the cliff directs the boom (cause the Mate on deck can't see the top of the dock)


I'd like to meet the man who thought, "hey, here is a 100 ft cliff - I think I'll build a dock on it and make ships come here to unload!" Seriously though, what kind of person dreamed this up? The Algoma Manual for self unloaders states that the ship should always be in a white condition (or even keel) for unloading. Obviously that person has never been here. We did the whole unload on a red light (or slightly listed to Port [left for you landlubbers], or even better two red lights, just to prevent the boom from coming into contact with the top of the cliff! It's a scary sight to be down on the deck, and swinging the boom out (the boom, that to cause even the slightest damage to it means being fired) and watching it come so close to the top of the cliff, that wildflowers on the cliff are being bent over.

In the Welland Canal on an incredibly slow transit. Just as well, as Frasers have a crew on board welding up the crack in the port heavy fuel tank. If we are going to have a fire, I'd rather have it here than on the lake. There is still fuel in the tank, which the guys are standing in. They've covered the residual fuel in fire retardent foam, but I'm glad it's them down there and not me.

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Fairport, Ohio. Loading salt at what my be the slowest loading rig in the Great Lakes, about 1000 tonnes per hour. It will probably take about 20 hours or longer to load. Thankfully, the former Columbia Star got out of Nanticoke in record time, about 13 hours. I went over to see it after lunch to get an ETA and the mate kicked me off!! I still can't believe it...

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The moon came up orange qnd nearly full tonight as we made our way across to Nanticoke. Columbia Star arrived at the anchorage @ 2300 to wait for the Enterprise to finish and leave. We are arriving at the East dock, to do the crew change, before going out on the hook to wait for the Star to get done. Hopefully we won't spend the weekend on the hook.

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Currently heading down Lake Huron on our way to Nanticoke, to unload our 30,000 tonnes of coal, our little contribution to global warming. 3 other ships, including the former Columbia Star (62,000 tonnes of coal) are there ahead of us, so that may delay our arrival for the canal.

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testing

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View from the Algowood of Cherry Street Slip in Toronto

What I look like after unloading 30,000 tonnes of coal in the rain


Trip #13 went off about like you’d expect from a trip with “13” in it. It was uneventful until about halfway through the Welland Canal (in #5, for anyone who knows just how bad that is) when I spaghetti’d the #4 wire. Imagine a dropping a pot full of freshly boiled pasta on the kitchen floor…now imagine that pasta is 1” thick steel cable…now imagine that it is attached to a winch that has the capacity to pull 11 tons at 50ft/minute. Or in practical terms, that winch can pull a Ford F-150 truck (with the driver in it, in gear and pedal to the metal) backwards off a wharf (don’t ask how I know this). It was, as my friends in square-rig ships would put it, a cluster-fuck. We held up traffic for about 45 minutes before giving up on it and using the tag wire as a #3 and the #3 as a #4. We finally got it straightened out at on the way to the #3 lock.

On arrival in Toronto, I got woken up at 6 and during a shift at around 10:00 the #4 wire (which we had slaved over the night before), broke a strand at the swage fitting. So I had to call another mate and two more guys to replace the wire. Thankfully the rest of the trip went off without a hitch. Now we are on our way to Sandusky to load coal at the most clockwork loading rig in the lakes, and then back through the canal to Hamilton.

The Weekend Past...

It's been a busy weekend here in Ontario. Friday night was Sarah's concert at the church. It's always fun when Sarah shows up in Cobourg and this time she brought a friend, Shiona, with her. So Friday's concert was 2 sopranos (no, not those kind) and an accompaniest. They were fabulous, and then there was a post-concert party at Sarah's parent's house (The O's) where Sarah broke out someones (borrowed? stolen?) fiddle and graced us with some tunes.



Saturday morning, I went to the city to meet my old friend Kathi for lunch. Kathi and I were great friends when I was in college in Toronto years and years ago, but I lost touch with her. We meet at the Queen Mum for lunch at 1:30 and were still at the table laughing at 5. This could have continued for a while, but it started to rain, and I had to go check in to the Delta Chelsea and go out to the TFP meetup at Hernando's Hideaway. The usual TFP crowd showed up (Charlatan, Seige, Cellophanedeity, Fresnelly, Aberkok) and a new addition, Mantus, as well as some spouses. This meetup didn't go as long as the Christmas one only from 7 to 10:30-ish, but was great fun.










Fresnelly met me for brunch at Pappas Grill on the Danforth and then we went to a movie. He was one of the few TFP'ers free on Mother's Day, on account of the fact that his wife and infant son had left to fly to France the day before.

The Move is Complete!

Finally, at long last the endless (at times, it seemed like it was going to be) move has been completed. I took the last load of stuff from Owen Sound to Cobourg, in the middle of a howling rain storm yesterday (and of course, today is beautiful) and got it into storage. This is the last time that I will ever use a trailer, the jeep just really hates it. Next time I have to move (which will be Christmas) I'm using movers to do the schlepping.

Now I've got the TFP meetup this weekend in TO to look forward to and meeting up for lunch at the Queen Mum with my old friend Kathi from Centennial College. Haven't seen her in about 15 years, but got in touch again through the power of Google.

Here is a photo of Prince Rupert playing in the packing paper from the move:

Gromit Sees Canada (well, ok, the Eastern Part!)

Here is Gromit and I at the apt in St. John's prior to setting out on the great trek. We got off to a late start due to having to pack the jeep in the morning, rather than the night before (I don't trust my neighbours that much!), but got away by 10 to drive across Newfoundland. Here is a couple shots of Gromit on the road and taking in the view at Terra Nova Park.


After a long drive, Gromit made it to the night ferry at Port Aux Basques where he (and I) made an uneventful crossing to Cape Breton.
While driving through Cape Breton, we stopped at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, and gave two Comissionaires the highlight of their day (and probably their week).

Our next stop was my old shipmate Rigel's house in Sunnybrook, Nova Scotia. Gromit enjoyed watching Rigel re-leather his oars in his kitchen, and then he watched from the shore as Rigel, his wife Ariel, and I went for a nice sail in the inlet.

This is the Dory Shop in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where my friends Kim and Jill build dory's and sew sails, respectfully.

We left Nova Scotia behind and headed on to New Brunswick pausing now and again, so Gromit could stretch his legs and look at the scenery.

It was absolutely pouring all the way through Quebec, so we didn't get a chance to stop and look around, but headed straight on to Cobourg, Ontario, where my parents put up with us for the night, and Gromit was able to go for walk on the beach.
We left Cobourg behind and headed on to our final destination, Owen Sound. Since then Gromit and I have been busy emptying out our storage unit and moving things around, but we took time out for our traditional Saturday brunch at the GingerPress Bookstore and Cafe (shameless plug), where Gromit snuggled with MaryAnn, met the Mole Sisters and enjoyed a cup of Denise's java.

Boat Trip

Currently sitting in Rigel's Kitchen, where his wife and I unsuccessfully trying to talk him out of launching a major expedition in his newly launched boat. Rigel seems to go through life by the seat of his pants, but it's never dull. We think it would be a good idea to go as far as the end of the inlet, but he is busy packing up his charts and instruments and planning a trip out to Tancook Island.

I'm taking a bit of a break from the road trip, and accepting Rigel's generous hospitality and staying for 2 nights before taking off again. I'm still planning the next stage of things, and I'm thinking of going along the Gaspe, instead of going inland to Edmunston, like I did last time, although that might add some time to the trip.

While I'm here, I'd like to see Jill the sailmaker and see the recently restored St. John's Church.

In Nova Scotia

on the road in Newfoundland

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Who is that, prowling out of the fields! It is Izenkumon, hands clutching a jeweled meat hammer! And with a vengeful roar, his voice cometh:

"I'm going to reduce you to ash, and sell you as spice!"

What Is Your Battle Cry?

How To Bathe A Cat

1. Thoroughly clean the toilet.

2. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and have both lids lifted.

3. Obtain the cat and soothe him while you carry him toward the bathroom.

4. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids (you may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape).

CAUTION: Do not get any part of your body too close to the edge, as his paws will be reaching out for any surface they find.

The cat will self-agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from your toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.

5. Flush the toilet three to four times. This provides a 'power wash and rinse' which I have found to be quite effective.

6. Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door.

7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.

8. The now clean cat will rocket out of the toilet, and run outside where he will dry himself.

Sir Paul visits New Finland