A great birthday cruise - and The Red Rocket gets delivered

VALOIS, New York, USA - My birthday cruise day around Seneca Lake yesterday was fantastic. Great weather, warm temperatures, cold beer and wine - and flat water.

What a B-day.

We started with a lunch-time cruise to a restaurant up the lake a few miles called The Showboat, where you can get almost any food you want - provided you like it fried. These people probably fry lettuce before they put it on your hamburger. Now that I think about it, the lettuce and tomato on my burger were extra crunchy.

Hmm...


Cousin Ruth and Michael toast at The Showboat

Cousin Ruth went along on the first leg of the day's outing, having lunch (fried, of course) with the Admiral and I at The Showboat. We had pondered taking Ruth's boat on that first part of voyage, instead of the Spirit of Louise, but our pontoon boat is soooo comfortable (and easy on gasoline) the we took with our vessel instead.

And it was a great trip.

We hope save Ruth's gasoline for later in the summer when it's time to water ski.


Tina and Eric Hazlitt sailing home

We did a wine cruise in the evening, going from dock-to-dock (begging for Sauvignon Blanc or other white wines) and had a great time, running into lots of amigos including Eric and Tina Hazlitt sailing their rig home after an nice evening on the water.

By then, we had already picked up amigo Brad and his faithful companion Arnold-the-dog, and as Brad works at the Hazlitt Winery, our begging for wine was no longer necessary.

Good thing - we were running out of daylight and it was getting a little chilly.


Arnold sights in on the Hazlitt sailboat ahead

Today, post birthday, the Admiral and I spent the morning recovering from yesterday's festivities (me much more than the Admiral) and then late in the day, we went down the hill to see if my boat partner Jennifer had arrived from Arizona and was interested in starting to do some sailing.

We didn't have to ask twice and within a few minutes of catching Jennifer at a party at her family's home, Jennifer and I had launched The Red Rocket out into the lake and were zooming across Seneca Lake - the third time I have actually sailed the rig.

I discovered that the boat has a slight design flaw. With two crew members (sitting too far aft) the open center board pours water into the boat like a fountain. And the automatic bailing system doesn't work all that well.

Regardless, we had a great sail, but cut it a little short when the wind piped up to over 15 knots and we started lurching a little too far over when tacking. But now the boat is at Jennifer's beach (400 yards from ours) and ready for some sailing lessons.

Tomorrow is another day. And we have a duct-tape solution to the leaking in the planning stages.

After the sailing voyage, the Admiral and I hung around at the Fitch house, where a party was in full swing. The party was to celebrate the high school graduations of several family members. And the dancing just got better as the night wore on...