Friday, July 21, 2023 Gore Bay

I got up about 7:00 and started making ice for margaritas tonight. I made coffee and toast while updating today's blog. At some point I invited Peter over for the same. I lured him with the promise of a brand new box of cappuccinos that I had just opened. It was easy!

There is a nice marine store in the marina here and we took off for it when our little breakfast was done. They have a nice selection of boating items, and the prices are reasonable. We made a visual inventory of what they had to compare it to that of the hardware store we would be visiting later. We wanted to get some items to rig our ducks to be real anchor ducks. 

We went back to the boats to pick up the mates. There was a special market today from 9-1 which we all wanted to shop. It was like a craft show with a few booths offering baked goods. Marianna bought some sticky buns for Peter. There is a big flea market store here and we spent a fair amount of time in there. 

The big deal was the hardware store. I bought a three tray tackle box, some Gorilla glue and a plastic putty knife to finish cleaning the double sided taped off my closet doors. Then I met Kerry in the grocery and helped carry all her goodies back. A leftover pizza lunch followed. Dessert was a piece of delicious key lime pie we bought at Buoy's last night. We washed Annie once lunch was finished. We made ice all day long so we would have plenty for margaritas. 

Peter and I walked the docks to do our own little boat show. There's always a lot boats to admire, interesting things to observe and ideas to be had. My favorite one from this walk was a fancy dock table set up.

Kerry wanted me to get her up at 3:15 to start dinner. I set an alarm but it did not go off. I was happy she was up when I finally remembered to call at 4;00. Shortly after that I went back to Annie to help prepare for the Orros coming to dinner at 5:00. It was Mexican night.

I made my first margarita pitcher of the trip. We enjoyed them on Annie's top deck. There was a lovely breeze and an excellent view of the harbor just drenched in color by the declining sun. I used the ice from Jimbo's machine. It worked well, but is not quite as solid or cold as purchased ice, I could not get them quite as frozen before I ran out of pitcher space. Still, they were delicious and this would be a great way to have them while at anchor. We were annoyed by tiny little gnats swarming around until I got our electric bug zapper. It sure wiped them out with a satisfying machine gun like popping sound. Our boat neighbors were impressed. 

We moved inside for dinner. Just as we were going in our neighbor, who had been standing in his dingy while on it's davits, ran into trouble. One of the bridle knots slipped and the dingy turned sideways, that is hanging parallel to the transom, with him still standing in it. Peter and I ran over to assist. We had remarked prior to this happening that we had never seen anyone doing that before. 

We had a taco salad dinner that Marianna said was the best dinner of the voyage. She and Kerry both contributed selections to it. I contributed a second pitcher of margaritas. We had great fun. It lasted until almost 9:00. Peter and I smoked little cigars on the top deck while the cleanup took place below us. I got back in time to help finish washing dishes. 

Some time during the evening we decided to go out anchoring for 5-7 days more before we start for home. We will likely return here, provision and then head home. We'll go down the Michigan side, uncertain what Voyager will do. If they go back the Canadian side we will try to reunite in Port Huron.

Tonight was the lighted boat event in the harbor. Only 4 boats other than Annie participated. I was lucky we had our lights with us so we could light our mast. Very dramatic looking.

There was a band playing when we were looking at lighted boats. They were good. They played until at least 12:30 AM. I enjoyed listening to them as I drifted in and out of sleep. I found out why the 3:15 alarm did not go off in the afternoon. It went off at 3:15 AM which was quite annoying. 

Tomorrow is the cardboard boat race and the live play at the theater. I would like to do a couple little projects before we leave, perhaps tomorrow. I want to clean the starboard burgundy stripe, and put tiny wire ties around the tape I have marking the anchor chain. The tape comes loose from the moisture. I know we have some shopping to do also.