Happy Holidays!

 

Sunrise

 

Wow! 😲 

Winner!

We recently participated in the first meet of the season for the South Florida Gator Chapter of the Antique Outboard Motor Club, which was held on the Caloosahatchee River in La Belle. We brought the canoe with the 1936 2.5 h.p. Johnson outboard and even launched it to be part of the short demo race. We were honored that we ended up receiving the blue ribbon award for best running motor of the day!

Here are a few more boats and motors on display during this event. Someone even copied Dave's idea for a motor stands made out of old walkers. 

The highlight of the show, besides our win 😉, was that we met 15 year old Levi, who was already buying, fixing, selling, and trading antique outboards. His knowledge and enthusiasm was amazing, and we need more younger people like him to continue this tradition. We also got a kick out of a very excited 8 year old boy who bought his first motor..."start 'em young!" We also commend the man who sold his outboards to the kids for next to nothing, to help get and keep the kids involved. Levi's boat and motors (before he bought a few more)...

😎

Back To Clear Water

We took advantage of a short wind reprieve and headed down to Peanut Island in Palm Beach. The incoming tide was perfect for Dave to snorkel while I watched the ships and yachts go in and out of Lake Worth Inlet. We also took a walk around the island to see the port, and iguanas were scattering everywhere along the way. We even got to see one jump in the water to go sun itself on a rock breakwater. The one in the photo below was the granddaddy of them all.

It sure felt good to be back!

😎

We Are Warm

Yes, we have arrived in Jensen Beach. It has been a couple of weeks and the whole time it has been windy but in the 80s. The wind has given us time to deal with a few issues like irrigation pump and sprinklers, and the a/c fan not turning off, besides the usual trimming and cleaning. We did go kayaking in the lee of Hutchinson Island to block the 15 mph east wind. Dave's request for his birthday was to go to our favorite ice cream restaurant. How could I refuse? 😆

Now that we are pretty much settled in, we await better weather to get our winter activities going.

😎

Frosty

This morning it was 31 degrees out and there was a hard frost. The birds were looking at the birdbath and trying to figure out what was going on, until Dave broke up the ice.

Jensen Beach is calling us...😎

A - OK

Our place in Florida dodged another bullet with Hurricane Milton, which spawned several tornadoes in the area. Tragically people died in Ft. Pierce when their modular homes were destroyed. That must have been so scary and devastating for everyone down there. Several homes in our park did sustain some damage (mainly carports), but we lucked out...this time. Strapping down the carport must have really helped.

Soon we will start migrating south as our gorgeous fall weather up here has changed to 40 -50 degrees. Brrrr! 😉😎🌴

No-Octane to Lots of Octane

It has been quite a busy weekend! On Saturday we were at the No-Octane Regatta on Lake George in Bolton Landing. First they had a paddling/rowing race for the antique canoes and kayaks.

Then there was a sailboat race that Dave was asked to skipper a sailing canoe in. Even though he wasn't familiar with that type of boat, he ended up coming in second over the finish line and first in his class!

The races were then followed by a parade including a couple of gorgeous electric launches.

On Sunday we went from no octane to lots of octane at the Annual Schroon Lake Wet. We brought our favorite matched pair, the AristoCraft Torpedo towed by our Chevy SSR.

We launched the boat with the help of friends Mike and Sue, and went for a ride and demonstration for those people on shore.

Here are a few more photos of the some of the other boats and motors at this Mohawk Chapter of the Antique Outboard Motor Club's event.

We have been so lucky to have such gorgeous weather for these events, and amazingly the whole fall has been this nice.