King of the World

May 2012

Adventure opportunities sometimes just appear.  Take them before they vanish.  

 

I had flown to Torontoto visit ageing parents and attend a family wedding … where I learned that a boat was to be sailed from New York to Toronto. Crew was needed – Adventure was calling.  Five people and 5 days of provisions were unceremoniously stuffed into a Hyundai for a white-knuckled 7-hour drive to Troy NY. The pissing-down rain overpowered the wipers, so we joined a truck convoy and followed the trail of red tail-lights, arriving at our boat in the wee hours of the morning.

Our plan was to sail up the Hudsonand Mohawk Rivers, then through the 34 locks of the Erie and Oswego Canals, then across Lake Ontarioto Toronto … in 3-4 days.  On day-1, the big diesel motors were uncooperative, and we did just 1 lock.

Locks are giant water tanks that fill / empty to move boats between levels.

 

The crew’s job is to keep the boat away from the wall and other boats, as we are lifted up to 40 feet!

Adventure means new experiences 

... New activities, new landscape, new people, and new ideas.  And new food … quinoa may be the perfect food, and fermenting fruit may be healthy, but the combination is an unfriendly new experience for digestive systems.                             My ostomy-plumbing was the envy of the captain and crew.

It's a 7 hour journey across Lake Ontario, with barely a glimpse of land

This adventure was unforgettably awesome!  

Yet why did I hesitate to go?  

     Office or Adventure? … which should I do?  

Most adventures have vivid memories 

Weeks of office-time blend into grey nothings 

King of the World !

Ostomy and Cancer 

gave me the attitude to 

CHOOSE ADVENTURE