Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Last night was not a very quiet one! Although it didn’t seem to bother Gale, Maureen was kept awake by the sounds of the city: trains passing on overhead bridges, bridges being lifted, and highway traffic, barges and other watercraft passing by. Added to the mix were some very noxious smells – mostly from the trains. Oh well! We rose to a picture perfect morning and began to prepare Blue Heron for the crane.

By 11:30 am we were ready with the sails down, the cradles up, the mast electrical works disconnected, and the turnbuckles on the shrouds loosened. Eric from Crowley’s Yacht Yard was in charge of the operation and he and two other men worked on the boat while the crane operator followed their directions. The mast was lifted up and placed on the cradles by noon and we had the rest of the day to secure the mast and the rigging. We were very happy with the service provided and would recommend Crowley’s to anyone for any kind of marine service.

Mid afternoon we took a little break and walked up to the boatyard’s office to pay our bill. We also checked out the ship’s store and escaped without picking up any parts, pieces, or paraphernalia. We had been told about the smoked fish shack on the drawbridge on the other side of the river so we crossed the bridge and picked up some smoked salmon and smoked shrimp. This truly was a “shack” but it had been around for many years and visited by celebrities from near and far as evidenced by the pictures, newspaper articles and signed posters on the walls. One celebrity of particular interest to Maureen was Anthony Bourdain who currently has a show on the Travel Channel called No Reservations. Maureen liked to watch this show during her workouts on the elliptical machine at the health club in Clear Lake. Other celebrities that everyone would know would be “The Blues Brothers,” John Belushi and Dan Akroyd.

At 5 pm we were satisfied that the mast was secure and would travel well downriver. We chose to leave our place on Crowley’s dock and moved back to the anchorage by Calumet Beach hoping for a quieter spot and a better night’s rest.