Days Events:

The wx has been quite miserable since early this a.m. I had put out extra lines last night - 7 total - anticipating the winds and rains, but woke at 04:00 hearing a 'clunk' sound; don't like 'clunks' on a boat. Worried one of the fenders had deflated and the boat was hitting the face wall, went out and suspicions confirmed: of the 3 fenders, the middle and forward two had dropped down, allowing the hull to hit the wall. Corrected that, adjusted knots, and added 3 more, [total 6] just for redundancy. Adjusted several lines which had loosened with all the water movement: the storm is causing the river level to fluctuate about a foot, creating eddies, causing the boat to roll and swing constantly. Have to allow for some movement obviously. [couldn't see any marks/damage to the hull, fortunately];

The storm is forecast to withdraw this evening; at least as regards the rain; we looked at a webcam from the Old Fort Niagara, at the mouth of the River, and it shows the 9' waves rolling along; the rain has been constant since late morning now, with temps only 50F, and not warming until tomorrow pm. There are small craft advisories out for most of the Great Lakes. and gale force warnings on the western shores, with 10-13 ft waves! A miserable day! Tomorrow will still have lots of wind and waves but no rain.

Since can't do much due to the rain, we have continued to read or re-read the John Sandford novels -- good whodunit cop stuff.

However, can't be too frivolous with my time, so, given the recent issues with the fenders and lines, I worked on my knowledge of boating knots.

Everything onboard seems to be 'working' fine, although there is a new 'hum' from the salon a/c-heater unit [sounds like a transformer]; and the forward Vacuflush toilet system has an 'enhanced' "banging" when the bellows is regenerating the vacuum within the hoses, etc. I had ordered a bellows and seals replacement kit, just to have on-hand, to be delivered by Amazon to Geneva while we are there; may have been a prescient moment for me? [don't look forward to replacing the bellows in the 'pooperator'.]

We were hoping to go to the Clubhouse for their fish fry but at 4pm the doors were still locked and no lights on so I assumed the wx had closed everything -- then noticed at 7pm that people were in the bar/lounge area, so obviously I was in error. Maybe tomorrow. For now, Marg made a homey baked potato with caramelized onion/tuna hot salad over it - excellent for a cold and wet night.

Photos: one of the enhanced lines and fenders along the boat-wall, which includes the 'light at the end of the storm tunnel', i.e. the sky is clearing in the NE [if you zoom in, you can more easily see the fenders and lines]; and one of Margs evening creations - the sunset as the storm passes on.

One showing our power connection to the marina pedestal - they do not have a functioning 50Amp outlet so we used a 50/30-30Amp adapter to their 30Amp outlets [it's called a smart 50/30 Wye - zoom in for detail] which gives us actually 60 Amps to draw [2 x 30A], as long as don't use it continuous since the wire is only rated for 50; better than having only a single 30Amp source and having to use a 50Amp-30Amp single adapter which would have limited our a/c-heater usage and cooking.

Planning: Good news - email from our captain confirmed that the same crew was available Monday to take D.A. up the Welland! He will be here at 06:30 and leave us his wife's car to use for the day and exchange it for the boat in Buffalo. We will take our laptop and other electronics, and some personal toiletries JIC we have to stay overnight in a hotel if the Welland takes longer than average.

So, based on that, have confirmed marina reservations at Dunkirk, Erie, Geneva, and Cleveland. Hopefully will be able to get to each on time - wx permitting. It is fortunate that they all understand the fickle wx of L.Erie and boaters can't always arrive on schedule.

From the Desk of the Admiral:

It was indeed a miserable weather day. The temp never went above 50 and the real feel was in the 30s.

The big accomplishment in my day was dusting the mini blinds.😝. We had them cleaned over the winter so now I feel obligated to maintain them. Hateful job but I managed to read a couple of chapters of my book between each set to help maintain a positive attitude.

The annoying event of the day was having my drink slide off the counter Into the sink full of dish water. The river water looks smooth but we have been rocking and rolling all day in spite of having 7 lines and 5 fenders out.

Added later to the photos is an evening shot. It was a pretty view with nice evening light and reflections. Too bad the mat on the back deck soaked my socks. Phooey. Two annoying events in one day. Hard to maintain a positive attitude.

That's all from us today.

Comments:

Deedee - 29 May 2021 What a day! Just stay safe.

Ernie R - 29 May 2021 Definitely in a different weather zone! Sounds like biggest casualty was drink in sink! Replacing flush valves on bad weather day is always plan B ! Had dinner at Ray’s Bank last night at your old table!

Monte - 31 May 2021 Just started following... The ‘duck’ valves in the vacuflush pumps are prone to failure. Hopefully the pump is accessible. It’s not too difficult then (although smelly).

Robert & Margaret - 31 May 2021 Monte, good to hear from you. I replaced the duckbills last summer; the sound is more related to the bellows pump itself I think, as the loss of vacuum triggered action frequency [once every 20-40min.] hasn't changed since last season; I will have a look [maybe] once I get the replacement bellows in hand. [or wait for it to fail - and use the other unit while fixing the first one.