"...honey put your pants on, the police are right behind you..."

Yes, I uttered these fatefull words to Captain Francis as I caught a glimpse of the CoastGuard patrol boat out of the small cabin window above the sink while doing dishes one night. Our nature-loving Wayne needed to cool down and thought he could take a private moment to do so on anchor in Conneaut Harbor after a hot 3-mile run in the afternoon and a long, 5 to 6 mile walk to the grocery store and back. It was dark, after dinner. Even though I reminded him at 4pm as requested to turn the masthead light on, my reminder came too early and we forgot just as the dusk settled after dinner. Luckily his shorts were on deck with him, and he slid into them swiftly as they asked permission to board for a Safety Inspection. Everything was in order, but they were surprized by the flares which dated to 1984. Wayne asked innocently, "do they expire?" Yes, apparently they do and the young man conducting the search had to remark that those were the oldest flares he had ever seen. He asked Wayne, 'Do you have any more?". Wayne produced the other, spare flares. One could tell from the packaging right away that they were special. The Coasties stared at them, dumbfounded. Finally their leader stammered, "are these really from 1968?" Wayne said, "well yes - the boat was built in 1966..." to which the young man could only reply - "now these are REALLY the oldest flares I have EVER seen." I hope to sell them on the internet when we return, they are peachy with polka-dot packaging and trim! Highlights - Seeing the square-rigger Niagara in the early morning mist sail past us as we were leaving Put-In Bay at South Bass Island, a wonderful State Park harbor and marina in Erie, PA called Presque Isle State Park and arriving here in Dunkirk, NY in the knowledge that barring disaster, we should get to Tonawonda NY tomorrow and begin the Erie Canal phase! So excited that my sweetheart Sarah will be joining us there.