July 13-14, 2007 – Personal Log – Jimmy Harrell Jerry Hardin and I arrived at Spanish Municipal Marina, Ontario, at about 5 PM on Friday, July 13 with Miss Jo’s Catalina 22, Sandpiper, in tow. This was two days before the scheduled departure. We arrived early because we allowed time to deal with any problems which might occur on the long trip from Georgia (three days for me) and Tennessee (two days for Jerry). A few other boats arrived the same day, but most arrived on Saturday, July 14. Air temperature was in the low 60s, it was overcast and the wind made it feel much colder. I began to wonder if I had brought too many warm weather clothes. We slept in the boat at a slip in the marina Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday we woke to a cold, windy, rainy day. We dressed in several layers, including fowl weather gear. Jerry and I spent the day helping others launch and getting to know the cruisers.. I decided to reallocate my clothes between my boat bag and my stay-in-the-truck bag in favor of taking more long sleeves and long pants on the cruise. This turned out to be unnecessary because after the first day, the weather warmed up. (Note to self: Next time, take a full compliment of cool and warm weather clothes). By 3 PM the rain had stopped and the temperature was up to 65 degrees F. By this time most of the boats had been launched but they kept coming in until about dark. At about dark:30 we gathered in a meeting room at the marina complex for a pot luck dinner; there was a lot of good food. By the end of the meal we had met a lot of friendly and helpful folks who we would get to know better over the next two weeks. They went out of their way to make sure that the Southern contingent felt welcome. I will post more of the log as I have time to edit it. Two of my grandchildren are arriving today for a 17 day visit and they take a lot of my time. [Click on the link below for a few pics taken at the marina. Click on the thumbnail pic to enlarge. ->http://osyc.net/photos/July%2013-14%20Launch%20Day/July_13_14_Launch_Day/].
