2009 Local Trips and Home Improvement
2009 was a sparse boating year for us. It was not the economy that
slowed us down, it was the home projects. Jim was laid off at the end
of April and decided that this was close enough - he retired for good.
A couple of long delayed projects loomed. New chimney and new
kitchen, smaller deck with a new surface, remove the bamboo forest, add
a three season room to the deck. The summer is the best time for all of
these, so we dove into it. We did not expect that it would consume
most of our tine for the next three months!
Still, we managed
to get near or on the water quite a few times.
New Year's Day at the PYC.
It is billed as a hot dog roast . .
Angus McPhee and Nancy Ann wait for warmer days.
The night the locks are changed on the clubhouse. First we go to the Town Dock on Pattaconk Creek and listen to the ice crack.
A sign of the bad economy, another store is lost.
Who
is this Leprachaun?
Jim & Pete are the only serious "Swampers" in the big swamp cleanup on the first work party day.
Work is well under way tearing down the old field stone chimney. Significant water damage shows behind the stone.
Holly's Black Pearl took the honors at the annual blessing of the fleet.
The new chimney is slowly coming up.
Lots of rainy days has slowed progress.
Notice Mystic Seaport in the background.
The chimney is almost done.
Nancy decided to try a water garden at our slip this year.
The old kitchen is nearly cleaned out. Work starts soon!
A week and a half and the old kitchen is gone, re-wired, new lights, new plumbing. Ready for paint.
Boating! Nancy Ann at the PYC Rendezvous in Mystic.
Later in the summer, Nancy and I and our son James will take a day trip on this same line.
Lots of progress cutting the size of the deck down and replacing the decking. A portion of the right side is left open for the Conservatory.
"Patching" the siding has become quite a job!
Work has started on cutting down our wonderful bamboo patch. Alas, it had become a maintenance nightmare.
The date is approximate, but sometime around the end of July we finally got the kitchen back. This photo is after we have moved back in for a while.
We took a trip up north to attend the Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors show in Rockland ME. First stop, the Desert of Maine in Freeport ME. Really cool, although not huge. Take the ride, it is worth it.
The Farnsworth museum is in Rockland. A must see for its collection of three generations of Wyeth paintings.
The boat show is not huge, but has some very nice boats in the water as well as on the shore. Many beautiful handmade canoes, kayaks, etc. Since this is also a home show, there are many incredible handmade pieces of furniture.
This is Montpelier, a reproduction of the house of Henry Knox. Revolutionary War artillery general.
Re-enactors have camped on the lawn for the weekend.
We usually see this bridge in the winter, and it is not very tempting to stop and walk out on it.
The Brunswick Topsham Swing Bridge was built to allow the folks in Topsham to get to work in Brunswick. It was built by Roebling, the same builder that built the Brooklyn Bridge.
We always stop in Portsmouth to see the waterfront, and in the summer the park is filled with flowers. We spotted this empty freighter headed slowly up river.
Back home, and there is a Bobcat in the back yard, ready to go to work digging holes for the pilings for the Conservatory.
Sure enough, the crew showed up the next day and prepared the pilings for our new Conservatory.
Almost boating! We enjoy a picnic with fellow PYC boaters in the club pavilion.
The helper seems to be talking to his fingers as the driver backs the conservatory onto the pilings.
We took a trip to Coecles Harbor on Shelter Island, NY. To our surprise, our boating buddies Rich and Sherry (Angus McPhee) were already there!
Angus McPhee swings quietly on the mooring.
Sep 11 2009 Mystic CT
On the way to Newport, we stopped in a beautiful cemetery in Mystic to snoop at the gravestones, and to see the exotic trees.
(In Victorian times cemeteries were often planted with unusual tree varieties.)
At the end of the road in Stonington you will find a lighthouse museum. From the tower you can see Little Narragansett Bay (Napatree).
A large cruise ship was in the harbor, and they used their life boats to ferry the guests into Newport.
The working boat fleet at Wickford.
High School mini reunion.
Fisherman rides to a hot spot on the access road by the Cape Cod Canal.
Horrible picture through the Amtrak window of Niantic Bay as we cruise the rails toward Westerly.
The lift section of the rail bridge is in the background, with the auto bridge behind it.
This was a great trip. It was interesting to see places from the train which we have previously watched the trains from the water.
Oldest ferry in the US is at the crossing in Rocky Hill.
We spend the night at Old Lyme Marina to cool the engine off for end of the season maintenance.
The marina is just off the CT River, and offers a new perspective on the auto bridge that we go under at the start of our trips.
The outgoing tide kicks up quite a current at the RR bridge in Niantic.
Granddaughter Eliza helps me pick up the gas receipts at the club.
Nancy Ann joins her long time friend Angus McPhee on the hard at Hays Haven.
