Away all boats (on trailers, anyway) time to head to California

VALOIS, New York, USA - The last few days have been a flurry of activity, all aimed at closing down the waterfront at the Valois Point Yacht Club, closing up the cottage, and readying our Watkins Glen house for four months of non-residency.

This shutdown comes right as the whole Valois-Hector-Watkins scene is in the middle of the end-of-summer parties and other rituals.

Sign is up, but season is over

Today, for example, is the Peachy Dandy Party and Sailboat Regatta, an annual event on Hazlitt Beach. Two years ago we sailed the Red Rocket and the race was called for lack of wind. Last year there was soooo much wind, the race was called because it was too dangerous to be out on the water.

And although the VPYC has two sailboats in its fleet this season, both are safely stored already and won't be participating today.

Next year, next year!

But even though I won't be sailing, the Spirit of Louise pontoon craft will be pressed into service as a 'crash boat' to help anyone who gets into trouble. I'll also be taking along the big video camera. There could be a rockumentary in all this today.

Even with the shutdowns, close ups and assorted packing for our sojourn to California, we've been having a lot of fun.

Thursday, I closed up the dockside bar at the VPYC, but not before Joseph and Yvonne sailed up for one last bit of time there, a few beers, and to enjoy the still-warm water to swim in.

And no doubt there will be at least one more trip to Garcia's the new Mexican restaurant that just opened its doors in Watkins Glen. In very Mexican tradition - because they don't have a liquor license yet - the owners said it's fine to bring in beer and wine to have with meals there. There's a move afoot to expand that to include margaritas, pre-mixed to pour over ice.

!Arriba!

 

Sailing in to the VPYC

 Here's a short video (made up of stills) from the 2009 Peachy Dandy race:

Countdown to shutdown: Closing up the VPYC and away all boats

VALOIS, New York, USA - Adm. Fox and I have slightly over a week left before we hop a US Airways jet from Elmira, NY to California, back for a our final foray into teaching at California State University, Sacramento.

On the trailer this week

And that flight means starting in on the house shut-down list: put boats on trailers, store solar lights, drain hot tub, put away garden tools, arrange for mail forwarding... The list is two pages single-spaced, so naturally I am writing this piece.

This season we have two houses to consider, the lake cottage and our casa in Watkins Glen. The cottage we have closed down for years now and it's almost routine.

Almost.

We have a few quirks with the new house, especially now that will be our official permanent residence when we fly back in December 15.

Fly back in December? Yup, that's right, we will be coming back to Watkins Glen right as the winter cranks up to full cold & snow. What few possessions we have in storage in Calif. will be shipped east, along with my red Nissan truck (something I could have used here a dozen times this summer hauling cement, lumber...).

Shutting down the Watkins casa is pretty easy: turn the theromstat to 55 degrees, close the storm windows and make sure the lawn furniture is put away under cover. And we will have a new amiga staying in our attached apartment for the winter, so she will ensure the utilities are taken care of, etc.

When we get back in December, all we have to do (I hope) is turn up the thermostat and check the wine cellar to make sure the wine didn't freeze. (It shouldn't, the boiler for the heater system in the basement and seems to be a steady temperature year round.)

Sen. Schumer with Jim Hazlitt

The writing gig with the Finger Lakes Times newspaper will continue however, with my Friday column. I'll be reading the FLT electronic edition and getting the hard copy in the mail, just as I do now in Watkins Glen.

I'll miss some of the news story writing, though. Last week I covered a talk by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and got to chat with half of the politicians and assorted mucky-mucks from the county. Some of those folks expressed interest in having me do some videos for them, too.

Woo-hoo.

But the time will fly in California.

Within a few days of arriving we will be getting together with cruising buddies Dan and Lorraine Olsen, trips are planned to Yosemite and other California landmarks, and, of course, we have granddaughters Samantha and Kami - and their mom Anne - to visit as much as possible. Perhaps even the elusive Dylan Fox will come leave the city limits of Berkeley for a visit - or we will head there.

And teaching?

Oh yes, teaching! We have our final semester of teaching set up. I have my usual four classes, which include a section each of magazine writing and column writing. I am still considering giving only one of two grades for all students: A or F.

They either get it, or don't get it.

But that decision can wait a couple of more weeks.

Time to take down the yacht club sign

Awash in the news business - but the boats are launched for summer

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - Admiral Fox and I arrived home safely from our Erie Canal jaunt, leaving the 72-foot motoryacht Ziggy in son Dustin and amiga Elizabeth's good hands at the port of Oswego, right at the outlet of the canal/river into the chilly waters of Lake Ontario.

That dynamic duo, plus a new captain hired by the boat's owner, took Ziggy the rest of the way to Michigan where the ship nows rests with its happy owner.

Almost the minute we returned, I had to complete a number of writing/video assignments for local newspapers, including a one-hour video shoot (and print version) about U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-NY) visit to a local middle school to check on how well the federal dollars are being spent on a project to help children get access to wireless devices.

You might think the feds would be offering incentives to get kids off digital media, but that's another issue.

Here's the video:



I've also been chasing a local political/environmental struggle. A major propane supply and transit company, Inergy (of Kansas City, MO) wants to store 2 million gallons of liquid propane gas in salt caverns a few miles north of town. The critics of the project have a litany of potential safety and economic issues they believe disqualify Inergy from moving forward, even an inch.

Inergy is hanging tough and fighting back - it's a very lucrative deal/project if they can get past the state Department of Environmental Conservation (which deals with environmental issues) and the Town of Reading Planning Board, the ruling authority.

But here's the bummer. A pivotal meeting about the topic - by the very Town of Reading Planning Board - is the same night as a major brewfest here. And the brewfest is being held to raise money for the legal fund for the people fighting against the project. So, Brewfest or a community meeting?

Gawd.

Here's a link to the group opposing the project: GasFreeSeneca website.

 The best news off all is that the Spirit of Louise pontoon craft is in the water and is sitting at the Valois Point Yacht Club ready for service. The blue rowboat/launch is on shore and ready, too. The Red Rocket sailboat should hit the water this week, in plenty of time for my boat-partner Jennifer Fitch's arrival in a couple of weeks.

After launching the Spirit of Louise last week at Village Marina, we motored from Watkins Glen to the VPYC, taking a couple of hours to do so and making two stops along the shoreline: Mike & Karen Schamel's and Eric & Tina Hazlitt's. It was long, hot trip (temperatures in the 90s) but thanks to plenty of hydrating fluids (largely Labatt's Blue) we made the trip in fine shape.

I even jumped in the lake at the VPYC dock that day to celebrate the beginning of summer. Water temperature - 64 degrees, according to Eric Hazlitt.

It felt a little colder, but still, ahhhh.

That size lighthouse would look great on the shore at the VPYC