Wednesday -- December 14, 2016
Water Level at Little Falls: 3.2     Water Temperature: 41

They say that it is supposed to get a lot colder tomorrow so I'm getting everything on the Island ready for the cold snap. I installed the temporary insulating walls in the men's bathroom. I turned off the water to the Club house and to the ladies bathroom. I drained all of the pipes and added the special anti-freeze to all of the toilets and drains. There is still a working toilet and running water in the men's room so if you need water you can get it there.

I locked up all of the Club canoes and kayaks so that no one will be tempted to go out on the river when the water is so dangerously cold.

I did some more caulking and I'm installing the wall insulation under my living room.

I also took down the hammock, with this cold weather coming I didn't think that it would be missed. Plus, it was taking a beating flapping in the wind all day. If the Island was a ship, that hammock would have sailed us all the way to Georgetown by now.

We received a letter from our long-time printer, Morris Cobern. I cut and pasted his letter below. It seems that he has decided to retire after being the printer of the Sycamore Islander for over twenty years. We are so deeply grateful to Morris for all of his years of service to the Club and we wish him all the best as he struggles with his illness.

"I'm reluctantly going to take Carol's retirement to do the same. There are only 4 subscribers to the paper version and I am living on borrowed time. At the beginning of this year I had no expectation of still being around now and had made arrangements to continue printing the Islander. If you want to continue with a paper version I will help with the transition to the new printer."

"I appreciate the opportunity to have printed the Islander for about 20 years and consider it as more than simply a commercial relationship. If you can, please add me to your email list to receive the Islander for the next few months."

Morris Cobern

We'll be sure to include you on the list Morris, Thanks!!

Saturday -- December 17, 2016
Water Level at Little Falls: 3.0     Water Temperature: 33

Yesterday morning, as you can probably imagine, I had to break up some ice that had formed around the ferry and across the river, but this morning we had a completely new winter problem. This morning, for the first time that I can remember, the ferry bell was so covered with ice that it would not ring.

When Eric, the Saturday caretaker, arrived I did not hear him ring the bell and I did not realize that he was here until I stepped out and saw him standing on the landing. I immediately went to pick him up on the ferry but that's when I ran into another little problem. There was so much ice on the cables that the pulleys would not budge and the ferry would not move. I tried to get the pulleys free but it was hopeless. I guess I could have disconnected the safety chains and made it across but it certainly didn't seem like it was worth the risk.

Since I could not make it across the river on the ferry and since the weather was so poor, we decided that it would be best if Eric just volunteered to run the ferry on another day.

By 2:00 the ice had melted enough and I was able to pull the ferry across no problem.