Of course there was no wind when we finally arrived at the boat. We got there a bit later than we had wanted as we both had to work and then someone, no names mentioned (Cindy), discovered that she had left the lights on in Juicy when she went into work so I had to go rescue my damsel in distress before we could head to the lake. We got to the boat to discover a literal mess all over the top of her. Seems the spiders have taken over and their nest provide to be highly effective at trapping more flying critters than they could eat. All the dead carcasses were laying on the decks. So while Cindy motored us to Boy Scout cove I gave our girl a bath with the new collapsible bucket I got.
After dropping anchor and pitching the pop top and cockpit tent I aired up Cindy's paddle board so she could go paddle while I cooked dinner. I had pre made shrimp kabobs at home while I waited on Cindy to get done at work so they were ready to go. I mixed up some cheddar bay biscuit mix and fired up the grill to bake them in. I am really getting into baking in the grill and if I say so myself I am getting pretty good at it as well. Here they are going on the grill
Baking on a grill is not a set it and forget it type affair as the wind blowing past the grill can greatly affect the temperature of the "oven". I had to stop up the vents on the right side of the top to get it to stay warm enough. But after 15 mins of baking they were ready to be coated with melted garlic butter!
Cindy came paddling back up just as I was finishing the biscuits and trying figure out how I was going to get the cooking stone off the grill so I could cook the kabobs. I did not think of that before I started. Well my idea of using my pot holder to hold onto it as I dipped it into the lake to cool off turned out to be a bad idea as it cracked right in the middle and dropped into the lake. I let the other piece I was still holding join it on the bottom and went about cooking the kabobs. Lesson learned.
Dinner was delicious and we both ate way more than we should have. Seems 5 biscuits is very filling. Ask me how I know?
The last sunset on the water for 2016 turned out to be a real beauty!
It is such a shame we loose the whole month of October. The wind that has hardly evened puffed for the last 2 months usually starts blowing again in October and the leaves typically start changing color although that seems to be getting later and later each year.
After doing dishes we cuddled up into the v birth and watched a movie on the fire. Well, one of us watched the movie, while the other one napped. I am proud to say I saw all this movie as it is usually me who is sawing logs before the first scene is even over. Cindy was pooped from working all day at a volleyball tourney so I let her snooze peacefully with her head resting on my chest.
The moon finally started to rise about 3 am and it was a gorgeous night. The stars we out very bright and the sky was clear. We stood in the cockpit to take it all in for a few minutes and then retreated back to bed till sometime past 9:30 the next morning! I awoke to the sound of fish jumping so I swiped Cindy's paddleboard and headed off with my fly rod in search of a lunker. The fish evaded my every cast but the biting black flies sure found me. Heading back to the boat to make breakfast I found Cindy swatting flies while she tried to read her book.
We debated our options but wound up choosing to go ahead and load our girl onto the trailer and then go up to the Log Cabin for breakfast before returning to break her down for the ride home. There was no wind and no wind forecasted so we figured we might as well get it over with. It wasn't going to be any easier if we waited till evening. Cindy dropped me off at the boat ramp dock so I could retrieve the truck and trailer. Cindy did her usual excellent job of expertly guiding the Memory Maker into the keel slot as I hooked the winch hook onto the bow eye. In mere minutes she was hooked, winched and locked down ready to pull out. We actually look like we know what we are doing now.
After dropping the trailer in the trailer lot we headed up to get breakfast as I was getting a bit hungry. The Log Cabin does not look like much but the food is super yummy and very reasonably priced. After eating way too much of my hay stack special which is a large platter of hash browns covered in biscuits and gravy with two eggs over easy on top we headed back down to the boat to start preparing her for the journey home. Someone had a 7 month nap coming up.
Once we were all done taking her apart and securing all the pieces we headed out en route to get our weekly skillet cookie dessert at the Big Woods brewery in Nashville IN. Talk about yummy! Just think about two large dollops of chocolate chip cookie dough in a small cast iron skillet cooked just long enough to turn brown on the outside but still be soft and gooey on the inside, then cover that with ice cream, whip cream, and caramel sauce. Can we say heavenly??? We have been on a cast iron skillet buying spree so we can try to make these at home. Our first attempt will be very soon.
Looking back on our sailing season it was the typical up and down of sailing in Indiana. We started the season with good winds and new sails. We sailed every chance we could and even made it to the dam and back in one day! Then there was the honeymoon trip that did not go anything like I had planned or hoped. Bringing the boat back to the lake after returning from the North Channel and making repairs at home I was not even in the mood to sail. The boat really let me down after all the work I had done to her but I think I let myself my down even more. We had good wind maybe one time after we returned then it just died. We still came over to the boat at least once per week to check on her and give her a bath but several times that is all we did as the wind just wasn't there. We got suckered out once as the flags at the boat house were blowing but the stopped as soon as we got out of the slips. We sat in the lake bobbing up and down in the wakes of power boats as butterflies passed us by. We dropped sails and returned under motor power. It just really sucks to pay for 5 months slip rental and only get wind descent enough to sail in for maybe less than half that time. I can see why people loose interest in sailing so easily around these parts. It is just so dam frustrating!
Monday after I got home from work I started the yearly task of removing the mast and getting it hung up in the garage so I we can back our girl into my slot in the garage. While I am not thrilled at the thought of having to scrape frost off my car each morning the thought of having to get the rain and snow off the tarp covering the boat if we stored her outside sounds even less appealing to me. I did that the first winter we had her and ripped holes in two pairs of jeans getting in and out of her. A boat bay addition on our garage is in our future and I can't wait!
With or girl all tucked away safe and sound in the garage it is that time of year that our, ok, my thoughts start drifting off to snow days and ski trips! Maybe a little early yet to be thinking about snow but hey, we did have our first fire of the 2016 fall season that same night
So the snow can't be far behind! We also tried our first skillet cookie at home
I need to fine tune the ingredients and cook time but I think we are on the right track!
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