Last Friday evening, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Shayne (Snoshi) jump in my car as I waited to drive on the Amherst Island Ferry. He had told me he would be there but I kind of thought he may get called away at the last minute. In fact, our friend Ted (Rico) was suppose to do my radio show with the two of us but he apparently forgot. (He had to move...I forgave him even before I was mad at him) So away we go to the little building known as CJAI! As soon as we got Shayne's music uploaded and moved over to the On Air studio, Shayne started trying to get my laptop connected to the internet. To no avail, our signal was not strong so I just packed it up and enjoyed the company of a friend who I hadn't really SEEN or TALKED to (face to face) in almost a year!
Here is a picture of Sir Snoshi as he played with my system:
The next three hours went by in a blur and all our on air time was spent reminiscing and discussing our favourite indie bands and some of the concerts and shows we have enjoyed together. I was very sad to see the night end and I only hope I can convince him to join me on the air again real soon!
The next day we got up early to go to the market. We went to Morrisons for breakfast (which is always great for an entertaining time) then crossed the road to find the organic farmer from Picton who told us a month ago to come back around the third week of August for some HOT peppers! Well, he had lots and we stocked up on them some nice red field tomatoes and these very tasty items called ground cherries. By the time we got home it had started raining, so we packed up the car and took the ferry over to the cottage. Our friends Ken and Cheryl were already there with their daughter, her husband and their two children. It was pouring rain for the majority of the day so we were all kind of bored. Then Jimmy went down to the basement and dug out the minibike. This was done for the kids but they had to get the adults off of it before they could test it out. Here is Jimmy popping a wheelie for all to see:
Then Judy decided to take the green beastie for a spin:
I know Brenda must have been impressed that night as we had too many people to fit around the over-sized harvest table. We even had to seat a few on and around the staircase:
The next morning, we checked the LIARS Network and low and behold it said 40% chance of rain and winds at 5 kph. After buying stuff to make lunch with, we launched from the marina, after telling our friend Roger that we were taking off for Black River. We slipped across the gap and I remember commenting how calm the water was and how that had to be the quickest trip across to the county EVER!! This is one of the sheltered harbours just before we got to The Rock:
Remember this place, it comes into play again later in the story. So we traveled west around The Rock. We noticed a few places where the rocks had fallen since last year:
When we got to Wapoose Island, we threw the anchor and we had a bite to eat. Just as he grabbed the anchor, it started to rain. The water was very still at this moment and after we ate we put the bimini cover up ... well part of it...the sides and back of it were still at home. Great place to leave it eh? Billy turned the boat around(when we heard the thunder) and started to head East. As we started to get soaked from the sides, I suggested that attach the mooring cover at the stern for added protection. As the wind picked up, the rain/hail got harder and then the lightening started hitting the lake. The effect looked like boiling water in a pot. I started crying and hyperventalating and praying to God, under my breath. (Normally I would not be frightened as Billy and I are both very strong swimmers but the lightening made that whole thought obsolete. I knew was having an extremely hard time seeing where we were going as my hot air was steaming the windows. I was trying to 'REMAIN CALM' (my favourite saying) but it wasn't working. Nor was the depth finder and we knew there was a shoal somewhere close by. We managed to get around to the other side of The Rock and bounced over to the 'sheltered cove' we spied an hour earlier. This is what the same spot looked like in the storm:
Somehow Bill managed to slide under the bow cover and dig the anchor out. This helped as we just sat in the same place and bounced...But we knew we were safe as we had passed the shoal we were so concerned about. We sat for almost an hour (it seemed longer) and I tried not to act as hysterical as I felt. Then I got thinking about Bryce and how things would be explained to him if anything happened. This made me cry even harder and I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. Somehow those shots would tell the story, if we did not survive. This is Bill saying how sorry he was this was actually happening to us:
You can see how we had to rig up the two covers behind Bill's head to try and keep dry.
Once the storm subsided, we traveled back across the gap and it was one bumpy ride. I took my book out and started reading at an alarming pace. It took my mind off how scared I was.
Long story short, by the time we got back to the marina, the sun was coming back out.
Note to self...Check the MARINE Weather forecast, Online, before venturing out to the lake!!!
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