(Click to play: Tomorrow I'll Go Cruising by Eileen Quinn)
Our Bon Voyage party was a great success. It was held at the Marina the
weekend before our departure. We had a huge turnout. The original invitation
list included about 80 people but as I thought of more, Kelly estimated the
number invited to be closer to 100. Only a handful of people could not attend
and of those we were able to say good-bye to many of them in the few weeks
before we left. The crowd was a mix of family and friends (landlubbers and
boaters). Even Rick’s sister Elizabeth flew in from Vancouver.
We had a tent in case of inclement weather. But as it turned out the weather was almost perfect, with a small sun shower that lasted only a few minutes. The tent proved of more value to protect some from the sun. Our friends Ian and Colleen made us a very large banner with plenty of room for everyone to sign. We promised to send back photos of it tied between palm trees and us in the foreground relaxing on the beach sipping Pina Colada’s. Our surrogate grandson, Jack shared his inflatable swimming pool with the other kids. His mom and our good friend Darline, was the master of ceremonies and with Jack’s help held raffles throughout the party.
Our butcher catered with a great barbecue and salads.
Eileen Quinn, a musician with
a wonderful insight into the world of cruising was a treat. Kelly had been
saying just a few weeks earlier when discussing the plans for the party how nice
it would be if we could have Eileen at the party. (We had been listening to her
music almost all summer.) I agreed but Eileen, or at least we thought, was in the
Caribbean. Then at the boat show, who did I run into? She was in Toronto cutting
her latest CD and was happy to perform for us. We dedicated "My Grandma and
Grandpa went to Sea" to our son Darrin and his wife Dominique because they are
expecting in November. "Radio Widow" we dedicated to Huguette and her Ham Radio
buff husband, Bill. I had fun learning the
"Anchoring
Dance".
The party continued into the night with lots of hugs as people reluctantly said their good-byes.
Our plan was to leave on the 15th of September no matter what. If the weather was bad we would just go to the anchorage and wait it out but we were definitely leaving dock. We were all ready to go so when a few friends dropped by the night before we relaxed and enjoyed our last evening with them. As it turned out the weather was fine. Dubi, still wrapped in his blanked helped us push off at 6am. We left dock blowing our horns in goodbye and our friends on their boats woke to return the farewell signal.
The forecast was for NE winds 10-15 knots and sunny. The temperate was a little chilly in the mid teens Celsius. Cockpit crew got comfortable with blankets for the long trip ahead. We began with 4-5 knot winds but as the BIG wind generator at Pickering came to a halt we started up the Iron Lung. In all of the years we have sailed this route we had hoped this trip we would be able to sail right through to Cobourg.
Along the way we picked up a hitchhiker. The little nuthatch stayed with us from just off the filtration plan until Pickering. Rick figures he didn’t have fare for the Go train.
We arrived in Cobourg at 7pm and with 3-4 foot swells entry into the harbour was rough. With low water levels we could not get on the wall, so we took one of the many open docks.
We awoke leisurely the next day with plans of a visit from my Uncle and Aunt (Ross & Marilyn). We went for a nice drive to Port Hope with them and had lunch. When we returned there were four other boats in the harbour heading for Oswego.
On the 17th we woke early – 1am - to prepare for our 2am departure for Oswego. The wind was light, from the north and skies were clear. The forecast was for variables, sunny and cool. Through the night we each saw a number of falling stars. We debated the term, whether we should call them meteors or falling stars and decided the later was more romantic - forget science. Daylight found us just south of Scotch Bonnet there we were able to cross the shipping lanes in daylight.
We saw two of the boats from Cobourg on the horizon behind us and as usual they made it into Oswego before us. We arrived in Oswego and checked in with Customs and Immigration by 7pm then immediately started to prepare for our 9am demasting. There was much to do and we worked until 11:30. The next time (if there ever is a next time) we will remember to request an afternoon appointment.
We spent most of the next day working on the mast carrier. The mast was down by 9:30 but Rick had designed a mast carrier to survive an Ocean crossing. We met a few boats that crossed Lake Ontario with their mast already down and they said they would never do that again. Work done, a trip to the Library for Internet Banking and we were just in time for Happy Hour at Admiral Wolsley’s
Up early, a nice breakfast, then off to tackle our first lock by 10am. This
is certainly an experience and we are glad for our third hand. Each lock proved
a little different for securing. Some had lines, some had poles, others a
combination of the two. Winds were quite noticeable in the locks but especially
in one lock where we almost lost the ramming rod (a 2x4 attached to the masthead
for protection). Kelly applied our newly learned motto "Flesh before Fiberglass"
by throwing her shoulder against the lock wall to push off. And this from the
woman afraid of being spit on by zebra muscles. No harm done. The ramming rod
was rescued as we left the lock and a good washing got the grime out of Kelly’s
shirt. There are 30 locks in total to complete. 7 Oswego Locks, 22 Erie Locks
and the Troy Lock.
Around 4pm we stopped for the night in Phoenix, just after Oswego Lock 2. We completed 6 locks today. The Oswego locks are numbered 8 to 1, leaving out number 4. Apparently number 4 had been in the plans but was decided unnecessary during construction. Pheonix had a free wall and an inviting vegetable stand visible from the canal. We stocked up and enjoyed a nice dinner in the cockpit. During the evening we heard what sounded like an air raid siren. Cars crossing the bridge didn’t seem to change in anyway to suggest concern but Kelly wondered since there is no basement on a boat were we suppose to crawl into the bilge? We reasoned that the siren is probably used as an alarm call for the local volunteer firefighters. Three more boats showed up and stayed the night.
The next day was a little overcast but after our fresh Blueberry Pancakes and seeing the other boats leave we decided to head for Brewerton. Again a free wall and time for a trip to the library before the rain. This took us through the last Oswego Lock and our first Erie lock (# 23). From here we will wait to cross Lake Oneida. We heard that Ripcurl had continued across and reported back that it was quite rough.
We left Brewerton at 7am. It was sunny and Lake Oneida was calm. Kelly had a shower while transiting the lake. This is the first use of the shower this season and possibly the first since we got Wind-Borne. Up until now we have been using the facilities on shore. She even used her hairdryer, who says you can’t live well electrically on a sailboat. Some of the boats crossing with us stayed at Sylvan Beach. We decided to push on in light of bad weather forecasted for the next few days.
We stopped about 6pm at Ilion, just before Lock 19. The crew agrees the down locks are much better than up locks. Fortunately the rest of the locks are all down.
The next day, it was still overcast but the weather seemed to be holding. When we asked the marina manager about the local library, he offered us the use of his car. We’ve been very impressed with how friendly and accommodating everyone has been so far. We decided to walk, with the library only half a mile away and a rare chance for exercise.
On returning, we set off for Little Falls, just a short trip, one lock down steam to another free town wall. Pilgrim, a steel hull boat out of Oak Orchard was already on the wall when we arrived. Many of the boats we have met along the way - Salt & Pepper, Shadowfax, Solstice Moon, Ripcurl and Suvarov showed up followed by Vitamin Sea. We went for a short walk to town for groceries, wine & beer. Later that evening we had a nice social where we learned from Vitamin Sea that because it was the Equinox we could stand a raw egg on its end. Apparently this can only be done twice a year.
We held our morning departure until the ‘Grand Mariner’ a canal cruise ship about 100 feet in length locked through. We were just about to cast off when we heard their radio call. One of our books described Lock 17 as a guillotine style dripping dirty water and possibly leaving a stain on the canvas. As a precaution we covered the dodger with green garbage bags but as it turned out the water was clean. We stopped past Lock 13 at the wall in Fultonville, just south of Fonda where Henry Fonda was born. Suvarov pulled in with us, and Ripcurl showed up before dark. We have been making water along the way and we’ve had enough for 3 people to shower when they wish.
The next day the Lock Master at Lock 12 told us the weather was closing in and the best place to stop was Amsterdam on the Lock 11 wall this side of the lock. He said the town wall was on the other side but the lock wall was better. We radioed ahead to Suvarov to let them know we weren’t going though. We spent a lovely afternoon on the wall with no sign of rain. Ripcurl showed up about 3pm. Kelly, Rick and I went in search of the Library, which turned out to be quite a ways.
When we returned the three boats decided to go out for dinner together to the restaurant the Lock Master had recommended. We had an enjoyable, leisurely dinner and arriving back at the boat to discover we had been broken into. Rick was the first on board and discovered the companionway doors open. The lock had been forced and the laptop and his wallet stolen. I called 911, and the Police arrived within minutes. A K9 unit and a detective showed up as well but with the rain and the length of time we had been away, the scent was gone. We were very impressed with how the Police handled things. Fortunately they recovered some of the contents of Rick’s wallet and a few phone calls canceled the credit cards and bankcard. It could have been much worse. They didn’t take the GPS equipment, digital camera and passports, which were all in plain view. There was no damage except for a small chip in the fiberglass where they forced the lock, and the laptop was insured. I still have a credit card and bankcard so we still have access to cash. Now I appreciate why some credit card companies give separate card numbers on their supplemental cards. Our biggest loss is the pictures from the Bon Voyage Party and up until now in the canal. Fortunately for the other two boats they were untouched but they shared in our lesson.
It rained throughout the night and was still sprinkling by morning when we decided to move on. We took on fuel and pumped out at the Schenectady Yacht Club and received a discount because of our Boat US membership. We pushed on a bit further stopping on the wall at Lock 7. This was a quiet lock away from any towns or train tracks. As the sun set, the water came alive with jumping fish on one side and water bugs in the shallow water on the other side of the wall. We have seen many jumping fish along the way but tonight was exceptional. The temperatures dropped a bit making for nice sleeping weather. The lock provided free shore power so I made bread in the bread maker.
The next day would take us through the rest of the Erie Locks. Lock 6 though Lock 2 are a series maybe 20 minutes apart and each drops about 30 feet. There is no stopping once you start these because they are so close together. Lock 2 was in the worst condition with plenty of sharp corners and gouges all the way down. Waterford is just on the other side of Lock 2, where the Erie joins the Hudson. This is by far the best terminal wall we have found. It’s free for the first two nights and then $10 per night. They have a computer with Internet access in the volunteer run office along with plenty of information sources. The town of Waterford is beautiful with many amenities. We had to chuckle when we saw that some of the vegetables in the grocery store were from Canada.
Well ahead of schedule we decided to enjoy
an extra day in Waterford.
Accompanied by Al from Suvarov we went for a walk
in search of a pail to replace the one lost overboard. We were given directions
to the nearest hardware store. This was a slightly longer walk then expected and
the pail is now called the 8 mile pail.
Oliver Plunkett (from Outer Harbour marina) showed up about 2 pm and invited us for cocktails that evening. Brian is 79 years old and has done this trip numerous times. He is single handing his way to the Bahamas.
We have been travelling together with Suvarov and Ripcurl. Ripcurl will not be leaving with us in the morning. Shauna is returning home for a week to write her LSAT’s and Gary will stay with LB, their Miniature Dachaund and wait for her. Best of Luck Shauna!
This completes our trip through the Erie. Tomorrow we will start down the Hudson and through the last lock.
The wind was from the north and cold. With the tide in our favour, we were making 6 ½ knots between Athens and the Catskill Mountains. When we turned to go into Hop-o-nose, we were barely making 5 knots. We pulled into a slip at lunch time. The mast was stepped by 3PM and we had her fully rigged and dinghy in the davits by 7PM.
We awoke to another cool morning. Rick finished some small jobs and
cleaned the cockpit. Kelly and I washed the decks.
After a light lunch of cheese and paté we departed at 12:30PM. to catch the tides. Several Tugs passed us going up and down stream.
We pulled into the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club against the tide because we were running out of light. It was a trick and a half trying to dock with the tide against us. It was only possible because we had three people on dock assisting us. We need a little practice docking with strong currents.
