A CLOSER LOOK AT TWO ‘SMALL’ TALL SHIPS & AN ENGINE CLEAN-UP

 
 
AN UP CLOSE LOOK AT THE TALL SHIPS THIS MORNING
Right after our morning walk we hopped in the Jeep & headed on down to the Bayfield harbor.  Knew it would be a good time to have us a close up look at the tall ships without a crowd of people around.  Should mention the two ships are the smallest of the Tall Ships that travel the Great Lakes during the summer.  These training vessels are about 45' long by 15' wide with a young crew of 18 hands on board.

A TRAILER SITS LOADED WITH 2 SETS OF STEPS FOR FOLKS TO CLIMB ABOARD THE TALL SHIPS SATURDAY
 
THE ‘PATHFINDER’ ALONGSIDE BAYFIELD’S SOUTH PIER >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
We arrived on the pier just in time to see the local septic tank truck (honey wagon) pumping out the tall ship ‘Playfair’.  The crew of youngsters were in various stages of waking up & attending to morning chores both on the ships & off.  Looked like they had a full fledged house (boat) cleaning going on.  One young girl was busy cleaning a pile of boat pillows on the pier.  Another young fellow seemed to be keeping a sleepy eye on a bunch of backpacks stacked in a row.  Cans of food, tools, ropes, ship's gear, & a box of well attended Cheerios lined the dock.  Two youngsters seemed to be up to their ears amidst a bunch of pots & pans scrubbing away at the morning dishes.  Saw more gear being handed off the ships/boats & piled up on the pier.  Definitely a big early morning cleaning job going on for sure.   No doubt getting everything all ship-shape for Saturday’s visitors.  And the Playfair even had a cute little dog aboard.  Think his name might have been Loakie.    Tours of the Playfair & the Pathfinder  will begin Saturday morning but I think we will skip that.

THE LOCAL ‘HONEYWAGON PUMPS OUT THE PLAYFAIR’S BLACK TANK

HOPE THAT GREEN HOSE DOESN’T SPRING A LEAK & MESS UP THE KID’S CORN FLAKES & CHEERIOS
 
TWO CREW MEMBERS BUSY THEMSELVES SWABBING POTS & PANS
 
THIS YOUNG CREW MEMBER WAS HARD AT WORK SCRUBBING BOAT CUSHIONS WHILE A SLEEPY YOUNG APPRENTICE SAILOR EMERGES FROM BELOW

LOACKIE THE PLAYFAIR’S DECK DOG LOOKS ON

It was another good morning for doing outside things.  The engine in the Sunbird wasn't dirty but the compartment had been sprayed with undercoating at some point so decided to clean that up.  Didn't need to be cleaned up but I have always had this thing about keeping an engine clean.  Needed some solvents so fired up the Motorcycle & headed off to Canadian Tire in Goderich.  Nice morning for a bike ride.  Resisted the urge to stop into Tim Horton's for a coffee & carrot muffin & headed right back home again.  Took me awhile but I did manage to get most of that undercoating over spray removed & the engine compartment is definitely looking much better.  Besides it gave me something to do.

MOTOR IS ALL SPIFFED UP BUT YOU CAN STILL SEE THE YELLOW UNDERCOATING ON THE FIREWALL & UNDERNEATH THE ENGINE HOOD
 
LUCKILY THE STICKY YELLOW NON-DRIP UNDERCOATING WASN’T TOO HARD TO GET OFF BUT I DID USE UP A BIT OF ELBOW GREASE ON THE JOB
Soon as it was dark Thursday night long time readers might have guessed where I was.  Yep, out sitting in the Sunfire to have me a look at all the groovy colored dash lights & stuff.  I just get like a little kid sometimes over simple things like that.  Now don’t you go switching the words ‘simple’ & ‘little’ on me………………….:))

LOTS & LOTS OF ROPES ON THESE SAILING SHIPS
 
 
YOUNG FELLOW ON PIER IS CAPTAIN OF THE TALL SHIP ‘PATHFINDER’ & YEP IT’S A REAL WOODEN DECK ALRIGHT

I THINK THIS YOUNG FELLA WITH ALL HIS LUGGAGE STACKED UP ON THE PIER HAS HAD ENOUGH OF THE ON BOARD SHIP LIFE & IS TEXTING HIS MOM TO COME GET HIM!!
Jerry from 'Detailers' in Hensall phoned mid afternoon saying he hoped to have the rig done by 5.  We said we weren't in a hurry & could pick up the rig Saturday morning if it was more convenient for him & he said that would be great.  So Saturday morning it is.  8 a.m. sharp
 
NO THIS IS NOT ONE OF THE TALL SHIP’S CREW MEMBERS BUT SHE IS CAPTAIN OF THE GOOD SHIP ‘BAYFIELD BUNCH’:))
 

BY THE TIME WE LEFT THAT YOUNG GIRL WAS STILL WORKING HARD SCRUBBING THOSE BOAT CUSHIONS
Our weather these past few days has just been so perfect with daytime highs of 70F & no humidity.   Only another month to go before the nights & days begin to cool off in mid August as we make our way towards another beautiful Autumn.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Late one night I stopped at one of those 24-hour gas station mini-marts to get myself a fresh-brewed cup of coffee. When I picked up the pot, I could not help noticing that the brew was as black as asphalt and just about as thick.   "How old is this coffee?" I asked the woman who was standing behind the store counter.   She shrugged. "I don't know. I've only been working here two weeks."
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A golfer took his tee shot and watched the ball sail into the woods. His next shot went into a few trees. He tried again and managed to hit the ball over the fairway and into more trees. Finally, after several more shots, he ended up in a sand trap.
Throughout his ordeal, he was under the watchful eye of the local golf pro.
"What club should I use on this shot?" he asked the pro.
"I don't know," the pro replied. "What game are you playing?"