Sunday, June 29, 2008

Getting ready to cruise

We will be leaving Rochester on or about July5th. This year we are taking Water Colors, our Hunter 33.5, and going to circumnavigate Lake Ontario. This will be the first time for a 4 week trip around the lake.

To prepare for it, I bought a gain antenna for USB/WiFi and the Internet. Just checked it out at Amway Marine and it works great. Now maybe I can keep track of e-mail and enter new stuff on this blog about the trip. We can also attach images, so I am really looking forward to this.

A calendar has been prepared with two definite destinations. Kingston on July 11, 12, and 13. We will meet up with the cruising fleet from GYC there. Afterwards it's off towards the Port Credit Yacht Club on July 24, 25, and 26, and the Lake Ontario Hunter Sailing Association annual rendezvous, sponsored by Angus Yachts of Toronto. They are calling it the Angus Rendezvous because they are having customers with power boats come also.

The rest of of the trip will be south then east arriving in Rochester around August 1st. I try to publish more as time goes on.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Goose Poop. What to do?

It was a cold day in January when we noticed that some geese had stayed behind for the winter. I imagine food is scarce with snow on the ground, but these geese aren't so dumb. Just below the layer of snow on the lawn of Genesee Yacht Club is some good green grass. The geese decided to make our lawn their winter feeding grounds, leaving behind the turds they digested,

One of our members had explored the Internet and discovered a website with a device guaranteed to chase those pesky geese away. It was called "Goose-B-Gone" and sold by Absolute Bird Control, Inc. in Lake Forest California. This box had a digitally recorded warning in goose-talk that said "Don't come here... " It had a built-in speaker and promised to cover up to three acres, available as an option with two external speakers. The price of $195 covered the unit and the extra speakers were an extra $100.

This sounded like just the gadget we were looking for. I placed an order for the Goose-B-Gone (less the external speakers), and received the order a few days later. The unit was placed on our patio facing the river and left to squawk at our intruders.

It seemed to work, with the few geese remaining in the area looking for food, now going to the other side of the river, leaving us alone.

That brings us to the present. There are two families of geese that made our basin their home. One family has four chicks, and the other has six. They look so cute swimming up the river, but please stay away from our grass. No such luck. We now have goose poop everywhere. On the lawn, on the patio, even a few feet from the blaring Goose-B-Gone.

I called Absolute Bird Control today, asking what could I do. When I told them that was purchased in January, they said that the 30 day money back warranty was over, and there was nothing they could do. NOTHING! Of course they invited me to purchase the liquid to spread on the grass, but oh yes, that's another couple hundred dollars. Give me a break!

I wonder what other yacht clubs are doing with the geese problem. I know what it is like to visit a club only to find goose land mines everywhere. Hey... you can comment on this subject right here on this blog site. Please... give me hope.