We dreamed of leisurely cruising, bathing suits as our usual attire, exploring palm-fringed bays looking for ideal anchorages. Instead, we find ourselves in an alternate universe of sorts,
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Hanging out along Kingston’s waterfront.
No, “on-the-hard” isn’t another reiteration of our grounding. We have almost gotten over that. It’s a nautical term to refer to boats out-of-water, and although Ariose WAS on the hard limestone for those few hours of pounding, she was still technically in the water, therefore not on-the-hard. Oops, I promised not to go there again – we covered that incident in more than enough detail in the Launching & Grounding posts. This Ariose Note holds no drama, no suspense, no cliff-hangers. READ MORE
We ended our last Ariose Note at the point of gently grounding on the first day out on our grand adventure. It was too shallow to get into the dock at Main Duck Island, en route across Lake Ontario to the New York Canals that were to take us south. We needed another option. READ MORE
We’ll start this Ariose Note with this image from a peaceful early evening at anchor off Main Duck Island, in the middle of eastern Lake Ontario. Our serene mood on our first night out on this long-planned for adventure was mirrored by the calm waters. We felt grateful for all the support that we had, and for our life circumstances that allowed us this opportunity. We were buoyed by quiet confidence that had grown with each accomplishment over these last months and in the more recent days. Had we known what we would be facing a mere 12 hours later, that mood would have been shattered.READ MORE
So, have we launched or not? The last week has been a frantic whirlwind as we’ve pushed through many troughs and swells of challenges and mini-triumphs, and yes, the occasional breaking wave of hopelessness and exhaustion the likes of which