Celebrating Independence Day, Canadian Style

We celebrated Independence Day by rubbing shoulders with the passengers and crews of (mostly) large yachts. Our motley crew of 8 C-Brats on 4 C-Dorys was virtually the only indication in Sullivan Bay that middle-class folk go to sea in small boats: surveying the assembled flotilla here one could logically assume that the boating world here consists primarily of yachts 50' and larger, several with crew. Our C-Dorys were grouped near several floating houses, each often with its own luxurious fishing vessel and either an airplane on floats or a helicopter.

The 4th in Sullivan Bay gave us an opportunity to experience how the other half celebrates. The day began with an 11 AM parade that wound its way down every floating boardwalk between the privately-owned houses, restaurant, store, etc. here, led by an Uncle Sam on a Segway. Patriotic colors were the order of the day, the more outrageous the better. Interestingly, 3 of our 4 C-Dorys were the only boats decked out with patriotic bunting.

The afternoon's entertainment featured dinghy races in which every boat in the marina was represented, whether by their own crew or by more-athletic volunteers. The racing vessels consisted of cheap bathtub-shaped play boats with a crew of two paddlers, one of whom was blindfolded, which resulted in few boats proceeding in straight lines around the course. I did not count the number of boats "competing", but it was over 25. Lori and the resort manager competed in 3 heats before being eliminated. Roger and Janice, from the C-Dory Tom Cat "Dreamer" competed in one heat; the other two boats' owners decided that non-competition would be healthier for their marriages.

Just as the final race was held, it started to rain again. We had been rain-free for nearly 2 days but it was probably too much to ask for that to continue. The resort offered a BBQ with ribs and chicken but the C-Dory group decided to put their own party together with hamburgers, beans, potato salad (my contribution), deviled eggs, and brownies from Dixie's toaster oven. Much better fare, and for much less than the $40 per person the resort was charging for their BBQ. We all congregated on Dreamer and enjoyed a delightful C-Dory evening together, warm and dry.

Tomorrow sees us all leaving together to go to Shawl Bay for the night, followed by Tuesday night back at Echo Bay for Pierre's famous prime rib dinners, which promises to be almost as good as the roast pig we enjoyed a week or so ago. After Pierre's we will each go our own separate ways. Lori and I are going to start heading south; how fast we go will in large measure be dictated by the weather.