The Lewis R. French – Aug 20 – 24 Part One

First Night:  Camden

We finally got to board at 6 pm!  Bring all our stuff aboard (thank goodness for those little carts), see our quarters, one last trip to “town” for anything else we needed (bottled water?), and get to know the other guests.

Jenny checked us in, Cap’n Garth showed up about 7.  They lit kerosene lanterns, and there was a huge awning, so plenty of room to schmooze.  Several couples had been on the French before.  One couple started as an entire boat charter for their camping group, and has been coming for over 15? Years.

The accommodations:  We were upgraded to the captains quarters.  Open the tiny door and you could stand on a spot maybe 2’ by 2’. 

At your knees was a bed not quite the size of a double.  Your feet tucked under a little sink (8”?) with a little push button faucet.  There was a cup holder with toothbrush holes, and two little soaps.  A shelf above that had a window to the outside, and above our heads was a porthole with a little curtain that looked out to the navigation station and the captain’s knees.  Lots of ventilation.

However, once you sat on the bed, beware accessing anything aft.  There was a huge beam about temple height, and I bashed that hard at least 3 times. 
But there was tons of space over there, and we had two sets of shelves, some with books!  I can’t count all the hooks, and those were our primary storage.  Open the door, get or take things off the hooks.

Cook (aka Amber) gets up at 4 to start the wood stove. 

Coffee and fresh muffins and fruit were served at 7, and breakfast (blueberry pancakes anyone?) was served at 8. 

Then Amber had to scurry to the grocery store to get all her perishables before we got underway at 10. 

As soon as people had eaten, Cap’n Garth walked everyone up to get their cars and park them en masse in an empty warehouse.  Pretty neat.