Advertisement
Published: July 27th 2017
Well, this is it. The last day of our voyage…well, this particular voyage anyway.
I am sure you will forgive me if this post is a little more contemplative, as I ponder the journey we have taken. It has been 330 days since we watched over our shoulders as Port Dover receded into the distance. And today, as we come full circle to where we started this adventure (physically), we return 330 days more experienced, 330 days wiser, and yes…330 days older. But I am ignoring that part!!
Yesterday, we left Tonawanda and the Erie Barge Canal to join the Niagara River leading into Lake Erie. Here is where I learned I had lied in our last post, although completely unintentionally! We had not gone through our last lock at Lockport, we had one more to go (but hey, after 60+ locks, what’s one more thrown in for good measure?).
We had assumed the river was a straight shot into the lake. But apparently, under the Peace Bridge joining Buffalo, NY to Fort Erie, ON, the current can be as swift as 7 – 12 knots! If we tried to run against that much current, we would be fortunate to make any headway. To facilitate cruising traffic through this stretch of turbulent waters, a small 5-foot lock and short 3 mile canal was built along the NY shore of the Niagara River just north of Buffalo. As we cruised the canal, we could see the river to our right; sure enough it was a-flowing. Fortunately, we found out about this section the day before from a fellow boater; although, if we would have given it a shot, we probably would have figured it out anyway!
Yesterday, we finally crossed the border back into Canada. We arrived early afternoon in Port Colborne, and after calling customs (SO much easier to deal with Canadian customs and immigration…one phone call, and done!) we made use of the showers and spent part of the evening entertained by some wake boarders. They have an interesting set up across a small bay at the marina; boarders are dragged across the water using a pulley on a cable strung between two A-frames. It was fun to watch the newbies try it out and the obviously more experienced use the ramps to do flips in the air.
Last night as we sat on the boat, contemplating our return home, talk turned to what we have learned over this year. My grandmother has a great saying: “We never stop learning; from cradle to grave”. I agree with her; when we stop learning, we die. Maybe not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual, soulful sense, learning is what keeps us alive. While this year has been one full of life for me!
Most obviously, I have learned about boating; kind of hard not to when you are on a boat almost 24/7 unless you make a concerted effort to avoid it (which seems like too much work to me!). It is hard to imagine when I look back a year ago, that I knew nothing about tides, waves, currents and how wind and weather affects them. I didn’t know how to read an electronic or paper chart. I didn’t know how to set waypoints or a course, follow navigational markers or assess anchorage locations. Had never hailed anyone on a VHF radio, gone through a lock, or docked at a marina. I know there is still a lot I don’t know, but this year has been a crash course in boating 101.
On the other hand, the more valuable lessons I have learned are about myself. Like Lukus jokingly commented last night, in some ways this year has been like being in prison, minus the free meals…lol. (If this is prison, “serving time” ain’t so bad!) Much of your time is confined to a small space, and depending on weather and access to land, you are not always free to just get out and do things. But this can be a good thing; it leaves a lot of time for contemplation and discovering yourself and each other; just “being”.
I think our society has become so busy “doing”, we sometimes lose sight of how to just “be”. Our perception of personal value has become so entwined with how busy we are, what we accomplish, how much money we make, or what we have as a result, we end up pushing ourselves far beyond necessity. But what is important to remember is that we are loved not for the things we do, but for who we are. Cooking elaborate meals or “bringing home the bacon” is not as great a gift as just being present in someone’s life. And sometimes getting caught up in too much “busyness” just gets in the way.
Not that we should all just stop doing anything. Hey, there are things we all need to do; nourish and take care of our bodies, earn a living, have some fun. But maybe sometimes we need to evaluate why we are doing all the things we are doing. Weed out our to-do list a little and make time to discover you.
Another thing I learned on the boat is flexibility. I had thought before that I was a pretty accommodating, adaptable person, even though I did like to plan. Hey, my plans were always flexible, or so I thought (perhaps having “back up” plans to a plan isn’t the exact definition of flexible…that’s just being more prepared!). On a boat, you might have a general direction, but plans and schedules are thrown overboard. You truly learn to go with the flow! All the pre-planning in the world is futile when you have no idea where you are going or what to expect. But I will tell you, there is a real freedom in just letting go of it all. What may come will come and embrace things as they happen, no expectations.
Because expectations are based solely on what you know. If you try to imagine what is going to happen in the future, what you will see, or how you will feel, that projection is limited by your own past experiences. You can’t imagine something you have no knowledge of. As I have discovered, if you go into something with certain expectations in your mind, nothing will EVER be as you predicted. But if you aren’t preoccupied how different everything thing is from what you expected, you are free to discover the beauty of what simply is. Living the moment as it is presented.
I could probably fill pages with the insights and lessons I have gleaned over the year. But we are nearing our destination and I want to take the last couple hours to savour the journey. To look out the window on the lake of vast opportunity, to watch the clouds as they slowly close around us in a fog, to reflect on the blessings in my life, and to smile. Not for something to do, but because that is who I am.
Abigail Out.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.22s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 47; dbt: 0.1277s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dad
non-member comment
Keep It Up
Emy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog during your journey with Lukus on Abigail for almost a year. You are such an excellent writer and I was drawn to keep reading to see what picturesque expression you come up with. You are funny and write just like you talk. I would like to read your journey Blog even after your voyage is over. Thank you for being who you are. Dad