The next morning we had a nice walk and afterwards I did yoga on deck while John and Sue attended church, and John went to town to restock some supplies. We then embarked on a cruise to on glassy water to Sylvan Beach, NY. Sylvan Beach is on the east shore of Onieda Lake adjacent to the Erie Canal. Before European exploration began, the area was used by Native Americans, mostly for its supply of fish. In 1820, it became a shipping port. Now it has a couple of restaurants, some nice beaches, and an abandoned amusement park.
When we checked in to the Marina, the guy in the office (in fact the only person at all anywhere) seemed a bit slow and not particularly friendly. His name was Jimmy. We pried information from him – how far are the restaurants and which are the best and, as it was revealed it was 1 ½ miles to town, were there any taxis? He recommended the Crazy Clam, and no, there weren’t any taxis. That was a little problem as that was too far a walk for some crew members.
While we pondered what we were going to do to get some dinner, John decided to lower the swim step in to the water and launch the tender so he could clean the teak. Earlier, he had asked Sue and I to remind him to put the plug back in the little rubber dingy as he had removed it to keep rain water from collecting in it. Well, he didn’t tell us he was going to do it, so we couldn’t remind him, and you guessed it, as soon as the tender touched down on the river, it quickly started filling with water. With his quick reflexes, he managed to keep it afloat, and both Johns and I went for a pleasant mini cruise up and down river watching a mama duck with fourteen adorable fuzzball ducklings swim alongside us, and spotting blue herons and hawks.
When dinner time rolled around, we still had no answer for how to get to town. Sue suggested we ask Jimmy if he would drive us. I was unsure as I thought if he were willing to do it, he would have offered earlier, but to my surprise, he said yes. He only had room for two in the cab of the Marina truck, so John and I walked and met them in town.
We ate the Crazy Clam where the waitress assured Sue they had Glenfiddich which Sue promptly ordered. Sue thought it didn’t taste right, so she went to the bartender to see if he had accidently poured Glenlivit, and he said they only had Dewar’s. Hmmmm. When the waitress returned, she was adamant that they served Glenfiddich – they even had a button on the order screen that said “Glenfiddich” which she had pushed. We didn't bother to correct her as it wouldn't have done any good and went on to have an otherwise uneventful dinner.
And then guess who offered to come pick John and Sue up and take them back to the boat? Jimmy! John and I walked back, stopping to get ice cream along the way. As we approached the harbor, I noticed a man on a motor bike was looking at us intently from a stop-sign across the street, not going anywhere even thought there was no traffic. It struck me as a little odd and I was wondering why he was watching us. It was beginning to creep me out, when from under the shiny red helmet he said, “I got your parents tucked on the boat, nice and safe.” It was our kind and responsible friend Jimmy who had turned out to be a really sweet guy.
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