Monday -- December 3, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.4     Water Temperature: 45

The ferry is closed and it looks like we will be above five feet most of week.

Tuesday -- December 4, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.4     Water Temperature: 45

The ferry is closed again today but there is hope that the ferry will be running again on Thursday of Friday.

We finally had the workfest on Sunday. We had somewhat of a skeleton crew but I was surprised at how many people actually knew that the workfest was happening. I learned that an announcement email did finally go out on Friday or Saturday but apparently I am not on that email list, so I had no idea that the members got the notice. I'm glad that they did and we had a rather successful work day. It was nice to have Stan, the club captain, here to help with getting the floats onto shore. There are still a few leaves to rake up but all of the canoes have been bailed out and we stacked up a respectable amount of firewood.

I'd like to send out a great big THANK YOU to George and Shelly Malusky. Sunday was their last day as serving as the entertainment committee. They took over the grilling and filled the big shoes of George and Marcia Loeb way back in 2003. In 2004 George brought down our first big grill, the Smoker Joe. That original grill wore out and George brought down another Smoker Joe last year. I'd say that that's a pretty good run, to wear out a grill and need a second before you retire. Way to go George and Shelly!!

So we are now looking for a new grill master to take over for the Malusky's.

Thursday -- December 6, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.9     Water Temperature: 45

The ferry is officially open and running normally again! Hallelujah!

Sadly, the swimming, fishing, and canoeing season is over, but it's still nice, and worth the trip, to come over the Island in the wintertime. There is a space heater in the kitchen if you want to get warmed up while you make some hot tea or cocoa(bring your own cocoa). There is also a woodstove in the clubhouse if you feel like making a fire, gotta love that smell of wood smoke in the fresh winter air.

I had to winterize the plumbing yesterday, so there is no running water in the kitchen. However, the men's room has been converted into our "winter bathroom", so you can get potable water in there

Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow is the day that Verizon promises to come down here and replace our old copper phone wires with the new, state-of-the-art, fiber-optic cable. This will be a big change and my internet will be much faster and maybe there will be better WIFI in the clubhouse. Verizon tells me that I should be excited but I'm keeping a damper on my enthusiasm for now. There are some major obstacles (two roads, a canal and a river) that Verizon needs to hurdle before we get new service out here on the Island. Tomorrow will be their forth trip out here and so far they haven't been able to overcome those challenges. The other thing I'm concerned about is that with copper, the phone and internet work even if the power goes out. With fiber optics no dice. When the backup battery dies you're screwed.

We had the woodstove vendor out here yesterday to give us an estimate for a new stove. After what I heard, and considering the frequency of use, maybe we can get by with the slightly faulty stove that we have now.

BTW, I posted some new pictures on the Canal By Canoe website. Go to canalbycanoe.com to read our blog all about the Potomac River and C&O Canal. You can also subscribe to the blog if you want.

Sunday -- December 9, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 4.5     Water Temperature: 45

Alright! They installed the fiber-optic cable and we now have high-speed internet and limitless WIFI possibilities!

Just kidding, the technician showed up on Friday and he had the same dumbfounded look that the three previous technicians had when they realized that the phone service was out on an island. We may be making progress though. They said that they would send out a surveyor next week. I'd never heard mention of a surveyor before so maybe that's a good sign. Will keep you posted.

Totally dead here today but it looks like a few people signed in yesterday.

Saturday -- December 15, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.5     Water Temperature: 45

The ferry is closed.

What the heck!

Thursday -- December 20, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 6.7     Water Temperature: 45

It looks like the ferry might be closed for the rest of the year!!?

I just finished flipping all of the canoes that we pulled out of the shed so that they won't fill with rain water later today. Then I'll have to flip them back over after the rain, so that they can float up with the eminent flood that will follow the rain. Oh brother.

The last flood caused some minor damage. One of the anchor points on the cable came loose. It's the back-up cable that holds the pulleys for the ferry chains. The cable was hanging real low yesterday so this morning I connected a new come-along to the cable and I was able to crank it back up to where it was. Probably not a permanent solution but with the coming high water I'm glad that I got it out of the way at least.

I started to put the birdseed out again, and the suet for the woodpeckers. Nice to have such a variety of birds at the feeder. there are also red-necked grebes in the channel.

Monday -- December 24, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 7.7     Water Temperature: 45

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy, non flooded, New Year!!

Thursday -- December 27, 2018
Water Level at Little Falls: 5.8     Water Temperature: 45

The river is going down but with the rain coming on Friday it doesn't look like it will get below five feet for the weekend. Bummer. I guess we'll just leave the ferry where it is floating out in the middle of the river. The receding water did expose a long stretch of the the board walk to the ferry. Of course it's covered with a deep layer of mud, but unlike the mud from the June flood, this mud is layered with the wet leaves of Autumn. Not worse to shovel, just different.

We had a wonderful meeting/Club Christmas party at Vicki Judson's. Thank you Vicki! The exciting part was that the Club surprised me with a special 15-year anniversary bonus! I was really surprised since my 15 year anniversary was back in August 2017. No matter, it's the sentiment that counts, and I really appreciate the gesture. Thanks everyone!

One little caretaker fact. Of the top 99 floods since recorded history, I have been living at Sycamore Island for 18 of those high-water events. Luckily for me, the highest flood that I've seen was only the 31st highest on record.