Month: July 2019

After spending the night between Locks 7 & 8 on the Oswego Canal, we set out at our standard time of 7:00 am. Just a 1/4 mile from the inlet into Lake Ontario, we were gifted fair winds and following seas. It started a little “dicey” with the seas on our beam, but after about an hour, the “great” lake settled down and we had a relatively calm 44 mile, due North, crossing into the bay that serves Kingston, Ontario.

As we approached Kingston, we were overwhelmed by all the wind generators. I don’t think I exaggerate to say there were several hundred in our view. The winds coming off this lake, I’m sure can be pretty significant. We experienced winds around 10 knots. With temperatures in the mid-70’s, it was still a little cool to be on the flybridge. I will be glad to be back in the South when the temps these folks call cool arrive. It is hard to imagine how these people can handle the cold, so extreme and for such a long period of time. Meanwhile, these folks make a lot of electricity using the wind as the source.

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About 4:15 we arrived in Kingston. Our marina for the night was Confederation Basin in downtown. The wind was pretty stiff as we came into the marina. With very poor communications from the dock hands about where I was supposed to dock the boat, I came as close as I have come yet to hitting another boat. I was very fortunate and frustrated at the same time, as I have been so careful. It would have been totally my fault, if something had happened. Thankfully, it didn’t. Lesson learned.

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Tuesday morning, we continued Westward toward Trenton, Ontario. Our planned destination was Belleville and we made it by a little after 2 pm. Made good time for a slow boat, as there were no locks or anything to keep us from maintaining a constant 7.5 knots. We pulled off the side of the bay into an anchorage marked on our waterway guides.

After a little downtime, we threw the dinghy into the water and cruised into Belleville for a walk and dinner at Paulo’s Italian Restaurant. I got a couple gallons of gasoline in a can because the dinghy tank was getting low. We got about a mile from the marina, on the way back, and….well, I decided this would be a good time to put gasoline in the tank.

A day filled mostly with clouds and occasional showers, while we were underway, turned out to be a gorgeous evening.

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Tomorrow, we enter the Trent River and will go through our first Canadian locks.

Setting out from Brewerton, NY at 7:00 am, we were soon through our last Erie Canal lock, turning North on the Oswego River/Canal, with 7 more locks ahead.

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The Oswego has 7 locks, though numbered through No. 8. Apparently, somewhere in the planning, 8 locks were designed, mapped, and numbered; they were able to eliminate 1 lock, but kept the numbers as originally assigned.

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Early afternoon, we arrived in the town of Oswego. There were 3 locks very close together, with the last 2 in sight of one another, and our marina.

As I pulled into the fairway at the marina, the dockmaster (female–so maybe she’s the dockmistress?) pointed me to my slip. As my mentors have warned me: never pay attention to those watching you maneuver your boat. Focus on the wind direction, your speed and direction, and go slow. The bystanders will only distract you and cause you headaches. So far, I have avoided doing damage to anyone else’s property or my own. I want to keep that record in tact. As I began to back “stern-in” to the slip, I saw 5 folks on the finger piers of my slip. Ugh! But within 20 seconds, I realized 2 were marina hands and 3 more boaters had joined in to assist in getting our boat into the hole. BOATERS are great. Within 5 minutes we were settled in and instant friends with those on both sides of us. As previously stated, Southerners have nothing on the Northerners we have met. Nicest people ever.

Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, we enjoyed the Oswego Harborfest. This is obviously the biggest event of the year. Four different parks host food trucks, a carnival, live bands, and a huge fireworks show over Lake Ontario. We ate well, watched the fireworks from the bow of Honey Queen, ate well again, washed the boat, and we may have eaten well again.

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The plan was to leave Sunday and start the 48 mile Northbound crossing of Lake Ontario, but the weather forecast called for a little wind and maybe rain, so we opted to stay close to Oswego for another day. We moved out of the marina and took advantage of the free city docks again, as we were gassed up, pumped out, watered up, and really ready to go. There was no need to waste that money when there’s plenty of good food to waste money on just ahead.

Lord willing, tomorrow morning, we enter the foreign waters of our friends in Canada.

I am combining these days, not because they were boring to us, but out of fear they may be boring to the reader, assuming there are those that are following our little adventure. With a fan base as small as ours, it’s pretty critical if we lose one or two. So to my mom and dad, who I know still read and look at pictures, this blog will be fewer words and more pictures.

The canal is so interesting, but unless you are experiencing it with your own eyes, the pictures can start looking a little redundant. Each lock has its own personality, it seems. The current, the lock master, the way you hold the boat in place are just some of the variables along the canal. Through today, July 25, we have traversed 22 locks, since we started the Erie.

The towns where we have stayed are: 1. Dunsbach Ferry– Blain’s Bay Marina; 2. Amsterdam–Riverlink Park Dock; 3. Canajoharie Riverfront; and tonight 4. Brewerton City Docks.

Blain’s Bay was pretty rough and it won’t make the cut if and when we are crazy enough to do this again. The Riverlink Park Dock in Amsterdam was great. The restaurant directly behind the docks was closed Mon-Tue, so we stayed close to home for the evening, but the location gave us great dockage and an opportunity for me to change the oil in the engine. To all my southern friends, the things we think about Northerners, generally, are not correct. I find that more often than not, they go out of their way to accommodate and communicate positively in the day-to-day of life. To my Northern friends who know me well, and love me anyway, I apologize for the gross generalization of people from a different part of the country. For example, the supply house for the oil and filters was 10 miles from the Riverlink Park Dock. I told the guy I planned to call an Uber and have them pick up and deliver me. Long story short, 30 minutes later, Hudson River Tractor Supply showed up at the dock with the delivery in their truck. I know that’s great customer service, but he did go the extra mile, understanding we had no transportation. We have found that most folks are fascinated by what we’re doing, so they just start talking and asking questions. Who doesn’t love boat people, right?

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After Riverlink, we drove 18 miles to the village of Canajoharie. They offer free dockage to transients on a first come first serve basis. Though there were some minor negatives to the environment, by 10 pm, all was quiet, and we slept great.

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The next leg was to Utica. More locks, 35 miles, and a beautiful day on the water. We woke up this morning to 58 degrees, feeling like late October to us, but just another day to the locals. Like home, one day we’re looking for shade and light clothing, and the next looking for an extra blanket at bedtime.

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The restaurant, Aqua Vino, sits on the dock. We literally stepped off the boat, walked 30 feet and were seated at our table outside. A lovely dinner of shrimp scampi for Amanda and Veal Parmesan for me and we had our long walk back to the boat. Our calorie intake today certainly exceeded the burn. I enjoyed visiting with several Canadian boaters docked near us. I’m amazed that they can turn their mind’s switch from French to English and never miss a lick.

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Rising again at 7 am, we pulled off the wall at Aqua Vino’s and began the home stretch of the Erie Canal. More locks and more beautiful water made for an interesting 43.4 mile day. About half of the trip was spent negotiating the canal. The other half was crossing Lake Oneida. Almost 25 miles long, East to West, we enjoyed setting the autopilot, sitting back, and letting the boat do most of the work. Long straight stretches, typically enjoyed when “outside” in the ocean are rare when doing the canal. We know we will have more of these days as we approach the Great Lakes.

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Arriving at 2:30, we tied to the city dock in Brewerton, NY, one of many free docks offered to transients. This was an especially nice respite, in that we didn’t have a train driving through the bedroom window every 15 minutes the whole time. My bride prepared a gourmet meal, we watched Jeopardy and Andy Griffith, and I got caught up on the blog. What a productive day!

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Oswego Canal, here we come!

With a short distance planned for the day, we left at 9:00 and headed North for the last day on the Hudson River.

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We arrived in the little town of Waterford, NY. Located at the East end of the Erie Canal, they are the kick off town. Especially popular because they offer free dockage for boaters, the proprietor of the visitor’s center met us at the dock, helped us with our lines, and promoted the little town as best he could. Tourists like us are the bread and butter of this little community. After a brief discussion with our buddy boat friends, we took a short walk to stretch our legs, opted to skip the 2 restaurants and bar in town, and were back on the boat 30 minutes later.

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Locks can be a little intimidating because of their massiveness, close quarters, boats almost bumping yours, and the huge volume of water that comes into a confined space in a very short amount of time. The next few hours gave us our crash course on how to “lock through” the Erie Canal.

The first lock is known as the Federal Lock. It is the only one operated by the Corps of Engineers and located in Troy, NY. After Waterford, the first leg of the Erie Canal (operated by the NY Canal System) consists of 5 more locks, virtually back to back. They call them the flight, like a flight of stairs, because you gain a total elevation of 154 feet in a distance of 1.5 miles.

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We quickly got familiar with the process. Some locks have cables recessed into the concrete walls where you can loop your line and ride the water up or down. Some have ropes that dangle from the top to the bottom, and you and your first mate hang on to those nearest your bow and stern and ride it out. The maneuvering into place without scraping the walls is a challenge. Managing lines while the current sort of takes control of the boat is the next. We got a little more comfortable through each lock, but still focusing on safety and protecting the boat on each entrance and exit. The lock masters are all friendly and cordial, always focused on their jobs, but offering any input to our many questions as we progressed through the learning experience.

By the last lock, we had pretty much run out of gas (personal), though we still had plenty of diesel. We found a little dive of a marina, Blain’s Bay Marina, which had the essentials but none of the extras. Barely enough water to get my boat in (we draft 4′-9″ and the bottom was 5′-0″), we tied up, and called it a day.

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Our new friends, Dale and Sandy, were behind us in Kingston, NY. We connected with them, allowed them to nearly catch up with us this morning, going North on the Hudson, and we agreed to meet at Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore, NY.

Our day was pretty uneventful, with temps in the low 90’s, and a light breeze. The journey was only 15.4 miles and 2 1/2 hours (yes, I’m retired and this is the new pace, thank you very much).

We saw the bald eagles again. This is the only time I wish for a high quality camera with a powerful zoom. The eagles don’t come close enough to pose for good pictures. But I am thrilled EVERY time we see one.

Shady Harbor Marina welcomed us with open arms. Most of their high season is now past as most Loopers are now in the Great Lakes. They are glad to have the business, with a nice ship store, friendly staff, a delicious restaurant, and perfect temperature salt water swimming pool. The pool is a great classroom to learn much about the Erie Canal and locking from the local marina residents.

Because of the hospitality AND the heat wave that came across this part of the country, we decided to stick around another day (Saturday). After reviewing our charts, I realized we had reached the part of our journey where our mast had to be dropped. Our air draft (height of the mast) is 22 feet. We will be crossing under bridges that are lower all through the canal. So, with assistance from my friend Dale, Amanda and I learned how to break down the mast on the Honey Queen. As simple as it should have been, it took more than 2 hours to get it down and secured for the ride. We put it back up, thinking it really didn’t need to be down until Monday. But during the Saturday night trip plan, I discovered bridges on our Sunday leg that were less than 22 feet. So, Sunday morning, we dropped it again. Thirty minutes and we were in business. We will leave it down for a week or more, until we hit Lake Ontario, which is now in the foreseeable future.

Our last little adventure here at Shady Marina was our dinghy outing, looking for eagles. With Dale and Sandy, we flew down the Hudson and turned into a creek that is home for a few eagle nests. As previously mentioned, we got several glimpses of them, but none were close enough to appreciate their beauty and grace. They sit in their trees looking for fish (I hear their eye sight is 7x that of a human eye. Oh, for the day I see one of these flying carnivores swoop down and pull lunch out of the drink.

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Good days here. Tomorrow, we head to the Erie Canal. Somebody pinch me.

Left Newburgh this morning a little after 8 am and traveled to Catskill Creek. We anchored out here. We were probably 200 yards from the shore of the Hudson where railroad tracks parallel the river. Amtrak trains run all day and into the night, so we saw/heard a good many during the course of the afternoon, after our 6 hour journey. But we had a nice breeze, a cool evening, and a good hold with the anchor. Sleep is sweet.

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We left our beautiful anchorage this morning around 11:00, as our leg today was only 17 miles. The natural highlight was spotting the bald eagle. Only the 2nd one we have seen since we left Georgia. The picture isn’t great, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

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We traveled to Newburgh, NY to the Front Street Marina, tied up and caught a Lyft to West Point.

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I loved seeing West Point. Not just the buildings and hearing the history, but more, what it stands for. Duty, honor, country. Duty, what you do; honor, how it’s done; country, who it’s for. I will neither lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those that do. Leadership of character. We benefit from this moral code. O, to count it as that thing to be grasped. This was, indeed, a good day.

Today was a big day in our complicated world of decision-making. As you have read, after our delay due to boat repairs, we had abandoned the idea of doing the Great Loop. The rule of thumb says you should be off the Great Lakes by Labor Day to ensure you don’t encounter rougher weather. And we felt we would be too rushed if we pushed the Loop idea. However, we have talked to so many people who are still doing the loop, and are in the proximity of where we are. Some are slightly ahead of us and some behind. After much deliberation, and the assurance of having friends nearby on the same route, we decided this morning to revert to Plan A, The Great Loop. A new sense of relief and excitement builds as we are looking forward again to the journey.

So we pulled out of Liberty Landing into the Hudson River and turned North.

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How quickly the landscape changed as we left the city. A short distance North revealed high banks on the Hudson, covered in forestation. No more high rises. The structures turned to an industrial look, reflecting the history and culture of the working class from that of the busy city life. The boat traffic all but disappeared, providing a wandering, relaxed navigation on the river. With plenty of deep water and a relatively calm current most of the day, we soaked up the rays from the flybridge and mellowed out till we found our anchorage at Stony Point.

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We arranged for a walking tour of the 911 Memorial for 9:30 am. We boarded the water taxi at 8:30 and had a short walk to St Paul’s Church, the starting point for the tour. If you ever make the trip to NYC, please tour the memorial. The day that changed all our lives won’t be forgotten. No question. But to relive here is a reminder that the freedom we enjoy, and the evil we endure is not to be taken lightly. I appreciated watching the people from every political view, every nationality, every belief (or lack thereof) system, walking together, and sharing the experience. The museum has done an excellent job of re-communicating the events of that day. What has happened to us since then? Why aren’t our government leaders standing on the steps of the National Capitol now and praying and calling on our God to lead us and protect us, like they did then? I fear that the only time we will do that will be in the aftermath of another ruthless evil attack on the greatest place in the world to work and live and raise a family.

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An hour and half walking tour and then 3 plus hours in the museum weighed heavily on us, physically and emotionally. This sobering tour is worth the time and effort.

After leaving the 911 Memorial, we hopped in a Lyft and went to DUMBO.

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Don’t ask what this stands for, but it means something. Not very good marketing if you ask me. We inhaled a pizza at Juliana’s, walked around another neighborhood, got Amanda a chocolate fix, and then caught a cab back to the other side to meet Haley, our daughter’s friend from high school, who lives in NYC. We caught up with her life and then she showed us how to buy a subway ticket and put us on the right train, so we could find “home” before morning. It’s tough being a senior citizen in the city.

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We made it back fine and even caught the water taxi before they closed down for the night. We packed in all we had energy for today and slept real well.

After a lazy Sunday morning start, we drove just over a mile to the Liberty Landing Marina, our home for the next couple nights. It’s on the Jersey side of the Harbor and though a nice marina, it’s terribly overpriced. We have since learned there are other places that are more reasonable in the area. But we splurged, because after all, we’re in New York City.

After getting all lines and power connected to the dock, we jumped on the water taxi and headed to the city. We wandered the streets looking like 2 people from the south, taking a few pictures and trying to make a game plan for tomorrow. We looked up Redeemer Church, a Tim Keller established church, and headed that way for their 5 pm service. Tim is a renowned teacher/pastor.. With 4 campuses, Tim Keller is obviously not the lead pastor for each campus. But we heard solid encouraging teaching from God’s Word and the music was awesome. The 6-piece band consisted of fiddle, guitar, upright bass, mandolin, and banjo. We sang contemporary and traditional songs. These guys were gifted musicians, and the arrangements were very nontraditional. I loved every beat of every song.

After the service, we walked just over 2 miles back to the water taxi station, in time to see the last taxi of the day pull out (without us on it). We caught an Uber across the river and crashed for the night.