Captains Blog - August 8th 2015

This weekend was a day to re-connect with family.  A cousin (Tracy) who I really never had the chance to know, and her daughter (Ella) joined us for a day on the Merrimack River at Camp Woosah.  Deb and I thought we would get to camp a little early, and set things up for our guests.  We were on the water by 9:00, and headed to camp.  When we pulled up close to shore, our hearts sank a little.  Apparently the heavy rains during the week, caused a small mud slide just behind the big oak tree where we store the bulk of our beach items.  There were rocks strewn across the beach, along with a ton of sand and dirt.  It had washed across the beach, down the bank, and created a beach where there once was none.  Luckily, nothing was lost or seriously damaged.

On a positive note, we now have a nice beach for the kids to play on!  Another thing worth mentioning, the stairs and railing survived the deluge.

Just about the time Deb and I raised the frame for the canopy, and put the top on, it was time to pickup our guests.  We had Jazzy travel with Tracy and Ella to the dock, so that Ella and Jazzy could meet, and so Deb and I could setup quickly.  I met them all at the rowing club dock in Nashua, and we headed over to Camp Woosah.  I have to give a shout out to the rowing club, and their dock.  It is so much safer, and convenient. 

 This was Ella's first boat ride, so you never really know how small ones react.  As soon as I pulled away from the dock I knew it was going to be a good day. The grin on Ella's face stretched from ear to ear.

The girls spent the morning swimming and building Fairy Houses, while the adults got to know each other.  After burgers and hot dogs, and assorted lunch items we decided to go for a boat ride.  Jump in, turn the key, and a terrible noise issued from under the engine cover.  Apparently we are having starter issues!  Not to worry, pull out the handy dandy emergency pull chord, and we were running.  Glad I have all the emergency gear one could think of.  If we weren't prepared, it would have been a very bad day.

We took a cruise down river, and stopped at another spot Jazzy likes to swim at. 

As you can see the girls had a blast swimming and burying themselves in the sand.  You may have noticed me attempting to take a snooze through all of that.  It seems the older I get the easier it is to sleep through the kids playing!  After a bit, we headed back towards camp.  I let the girls take turns piloting the boat, which they absolutely loved.

It was just a great day.  One for the books.  The pleasure I receive from hearing the sound of the girls laughing, and exploring, and just having fun being kids, is worth all of the work we put into Camp Woosah, and Third Generation.  My advise, come out with us for a trip.  You'll never want to go home.  So until then, "See You on the River".

Captain's Blog July 18, 25 & August 1&2 2015

I've been bad these past few trips about getting the Blog posts done right away (not to mention they get a bit repetitive as well!).  So I thought I would link a few trips together in one post (At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

Starting with Saturday July 18th.  This particular weekend Jazzy spent with us on the boat.  Not a tremendous amount to write about.  Started the day about 11.00 out of Lowell.  It was sunny and hot.  As you can see Jazzy and I were perfecting our shoulder jump for the next summer Olympics.  I give her a 10!  Most of our day was spent swimming, relaxing, boating a bit, and then more swimming!  Below are just a few of pictures for the record.

The following weekend started out with just Deb and I.  The first thing we accomplished was helping another boater (or soon to be X boater).  He and his wife had launched their boat to take pictures to sell.  In the process, his brakes failed and were trying to figure out how to get the boat out, without launching his truck as well.  Luckily we had some 4"x 6" post  sections that I was going to use for our beach steps with us.  So Deb and I placed the blocks behind the truck to save it from making the plunge.  It took a few minutes, but in the end all was safe.  Good deed for the day done!

We spotted our bald eagle in Lowell again, but he was too quick for a picture.  We headed to the beach at about 10:00.  It was another warm day, but very nice.  We didn't accomplish much but enjoyed the quiet morning.

Later in the day our son Rob joined us.  Its always nice to have him spend time with us at the camp.  It's a great way for all of us to spend quality time.  One change I did incorporate onto the boat was the addition of an old brass ships bell.  Gifted to us by Deb's dad.  It polished up so nice and makes for a fun little add on.  What do you guys think?

The following weekend (August 1st) was Deb's birthday.  For this trip it was just Deb and I.  We haven't done breakfast on the beach in a while, so we decided to start the day early.  We were on the river before 8:30 am.  We took a nice slow put up river to our camp.  We had a few extra items on board with us to make life on the beach a bit more comfortable.  We had an old 10'x10' canopy that had seen better years.  So we decided to add it to out beach inventory.  Once we were set up we were trying to figure out how we made do without it.  It provides added protection against ticks, sun, bugs and rain.  What wasn't I thinking!  Now I sit inside and feels like I'm on my riverside porch.

Once were set, It was time to brew coffee and cook some breakfast.  What a pleasure, not a soul around.  It was as if we had our own private haven.

After breakfast I started to install the stairs going from the water up the bank.  It has always been a little tricky getting up and down (especially when wet), and especially unloading and loading.  I had already carved foot holds, so adding the stairs just made it better.  What do you think?

The latest addition

The view from the new canopy

The clouds did start to threaten about 3:00 or so, but we stuck it out, feeling more confident with out shelter.  It did shower on and off for an hour or so, but never felt a drop.  It was a great day and we even contemplated sleeping under the canopy, but I need my air mattress!  So we headed back about 7:30 pm or so.

Saturday was so great we made a plan to go out Sunday as well.  We made it an early start again and were on the water by 8:30 am.  We started brewing coffee right away, and about 9:30 or so Rob called us up and we met him at the Nashua rowing dock.  It was nice having Rob join us for breakfast.  Once our bellies were full Rob and set out to construct a railing for the stairs.  Deb went to work raking and clearing our camp area.  We even transplanted a few wild flowers to the area in front of the canopy.  After all the work was complete, it was time to kick back and enjoy the views.

You may have even noticed the two pylons for securing the boat to.  At the end of the day, we put all away and headed into Lowell.  Instead of getting off the water we headed into The Lowell Basin to watch the sun set, and eat a sandwich.  It was beautiful and none of us wanted to go.  But it was getting dark and we still had to get home.  When we got to the ramp there were more than 15 jet skiers buzzing around the ramp.  Everyone trying to get the machines onto trailers at the same time.  What a cluster &^%$(&^%(!  There is nothing more aggravating than people who don't care about courtesy or even common sense!  After a few choice words we finally were out of the water and heading home.  Hope you enjoyed the ride, so until next tome  . . . See you on the River!