We're a sailboat!

Monday 21 August we cast off from Albany Yacht Club at 0630 hrs so that the ebb tide would help us down to Catskill, N.Y. where Hop O Nose marina is located.  I discovered that my electronic charts include tide and current tables and graphs. Bob and I have also found some Tide apps that predict the timing of the tides and currents.  I wasn't quite sure of how to interpret the current chart on the chart plotter (this is all new for we lake sailors) but found a very clear explanation of the relationship between tides and currents on NOAA's site. We had an uneventful motor down the Hudson, initially quite industrial around Albany, then giving way to beautiful houses and little marinas along the shore. 

Hop O Nose marina had been recommended to us by RCR in Buffalo for raising the mast, and they do so on a first-come first-served basis.  When we arrived late in the morning, there were three boats ahead of us, but Tim and Brian thought they would get our mast up by the end of the day.  But ... as Karen explained in Boat Time, Boat Dollars and Boat Projects, everything on a boat takes much longer than planned, and mast stepping is no exception!  Ultimately we were rescheduled for 0800 hrs Tuesday.  Tuesday dawned bright and HOT! First the mast was lifted off the boat onto a couple of saw horses so that I could reinstall our wind instruments and antenna and finish fitting the shrouds and then, after a last check to make sure all the halyards, lazy jacks etc. were on the right side of the spreaders, up she went! 

Tim and Brian raising Trekker's mast

The forestay, shrouds and backstay were all pinned and we were good to move back to our slip to finish tensioning shrouds, installing the boom and vang, solar panels and leading all our control lines back to their clutches in the cockpit. Brian and Tim helped to install the boom, with much less effort than it took us to get it off!  It's all in getting the angle right!  Tuesday evening we played a couple of games of Euchre with Sheila and Bob (still even between boys and girls), and had a very sound sleep!

Wednesday morning Sheila and Bob very kindly cooked us breakfast to celebrate Karen's and my 37th wedding anniversary and in the evening we went to the Creekside Restaurant. 

Wednesday was dedicated to some final reassembly and cleaning.  What a pleasure to be able to walk around the boat without stepping over lines and straps tying the mast and supports down! In the afternoon Sheila, Karen and I walked into Catskill and enjoyed the Cat'n Around Catskill felines spotted around town.

We've really enjoyed our time in Catskill, and what a relief to have the mast vertical again!

Good bye Erie ... Hello Hudson!

It's hard to believe that we have actually completed the Erie Canal. I'm sure we have talked enough about it that you know as much as we do about the canal. But I must say it truly is quite the engineering feat! It had 35 locks, is 340.7 miles long (more than 7 times the length of the Panama Canal), and we did it all!
The last few days on the canal were very pleasant. The scenery became very pretty,  with rolling hills and nice houses along the banks.
Amsterdam was a quick overnight stay at the tallest wall we have been on so far, so tall we had to climb up a ladder to get on shore. There was also the main train line going right beside the dock, so all night long I swore that there were freight trains going right through the cockpit. Not a good night!
It must be a Dutch area, as we passed by Rotterdam the next morning!
Our next stop was Schenectady, where we had made a reservation at the Schenectady Yacht Club.
We woke up to a grey morning and rain in the forecast. We did quite well going through most of the locks staying dry (7 in total), but of course it rained through the last lock and absolutely poured as we docked at the yacht club. We did note that with all the locks we have done over the two weeks it was the only one we did in the rain! Pretty good record I'd say!!
Hugh and I took an Uber into town and did a little sightseeing ... we even managed to find a brew pub!

Schenectady City Hall

I was very excited about getting to Schenectady as we had arranged with our daughter Alyssa and her boyfriend Steve to meet us there and go down to the end of the canal together. They arrived in good time Saturday morning and hopped onboard. Our journey for the day included 6 locks, five of which are called The Waterford Flight. This is a set of locks that drop 169 feet in five consecutive locks. We were surprised to learn that this is twice the lift of the Panama Canal! Once you go in the first one you don't stop until you reach the bottom. This takes about ninety minutes and we thought it would be a great adventure  for them, and it would nice to have some crew to help along the way too!

Luckily it was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and we ventured off down the canal for a few miles and one small lock until we reached the flight. We had to wait for a little while until we could enter, and then we were off and running (so to speak!) It really is quite spectacular entering the first lock, overlooking the valley that we will be going down into. Each lock is about 34 feet down and the fifth one opens up to the town of Waterford and the merge of the Hudson River and Erie Canal.
After tying up along the Visitor Centre wall, we went up to sign in and get the key for the washroom and shower, only to find it closed!! At 3pm on a Saturday?? After asking a couple of people we found out that it is run by volunteers and she had gone home. We all walked into town, and went to look at the lock from the "other side"! 

Lock 2 control panel 

Luckily the lock master wasn't busy and gave us a short tour of the locking system, which is the original from 1900's. Amazing!

Lock 2 Gates 

After swizzles on board Trekker we had dinner at the only nice restaurant in town and then the kids got an Uber back to their car in Schenectady. Great day and so great to see them!
So now we are traveling down the Hudson River!

The Egg

Our first stop was Albany, capital of New York State. We stayed at the Albany Yacht club, and after settling in, we took an Uber with Bob and Sheila into downtown and the State Capital Mall area. Very impressive place, with beautiful buildings and the coolest concert theatre I have ever seen called The Egg! But since it was Sunday everything was closed, so unfortunately no tour of the beautiful State capital building. But we did manage to find a brew pub that was open!!

Hudson Athens Lighthouse

I will miss the calm, quiet, serenity of the the canal.
Now it becomes very interesting, and a little daunting, dealing with tides, current, salt water and traffic. And of course being a sailboat again, and sailing!
All new experiences again.
Our next big challenges will be putting our mast back up, and going into New York City Harbour. I hear it is very busy with barges, ferries and cruise ships. But going under the Statue of Liberty on our own boat will be very cool!!
Stay tuned as we continue our journey ... one day at a time!

Upper New York State

Saturday, after our exciting day in Syracuse we had a lazy day in Baldwinsville, N.Y. We walked over to the Ace Hardware store because Bob and I needed some supplies.  In particular I needed some washers which I swear are made of a material my Dad referred to as Bakelite for the port over the galley that would not stay open.  A quick Google search reveals that Bakelite was an early plastic developed in 1907 and used for its electrical non-conductivity and heat resistant properties, neither of which seem relevant to a port.  Anyway, Ace didn't have Bakelite washers but did have fibre washers that worked just fine thank you!  To reward ourselves for walking to the hardware store we stopped at WT Brews, a local B'ville craft brewery.  If you haven't noticed, we are really enjoying sampling the craft brews at each new town we visit!  After dinner Sheila and Bob came over and we played Bananagram ... the girls put the boys to shame.

Sunday we motored to Brewerton, located on the west side of Oneida Lake.  We arrived early afternoon and walked into town, looked in a couple of "Antique" (junk) shops and at the blockhouse Brewerton's first settler Oliver Stevens built in 1794. We then repaired to the Waterfront Tavern patio for beers (surprised?). We had to celebrate Bob and Sheila being off the dock for one month. Any excuse!


The docks we were on were quite a tourist attraction so we spoke to several families about where we were from and where we are going.

Entering Oneida Lake

Monday morning we left for a long day of crossing Oneida Lake and then continuing down the canal to Utica.   Thankfully Oneida Lake, although a little windier and rougher than forecast, didn't cause any problems for Her Diamond or Trekker.  It was pretty late when we got into Utica so except for Sheila, no one was keen on exploring. Sheila was up bright and early Tuesday and discovered Utica's Union Station which, judging by her pictures was quite spectacular.  Lesson learned ...

Entering one of the "up" locks

Tuesday we had a short trip with two locks to Little Falls N.Y.  The only real excitement on the trip was that a dredge was working just west of Lock 18.  The captain gave us explicit instructions to stay close by his pontoons and keep any marks to port, and we made it by uneventfully.  The geography has become much more interesting with the foothills of the Adirondacks pushing up around us.

Adirondacks with the Erie Canal in the foreground

Little Falls is hailed by Skipper Bob as one of the nicest stops on the  canal. Certainly it's terminal building and harbour master Mark were fantastic! Mark drove us around town and pointed out historic landmarks and scenic views like that above.

Wednesday we stayed to do some shopping and in the afternoon Karen and I went to the local museum and browsed Canal Place, a couple of restored mills full of "antiques". We went to dinner with Sheila and Bob at the Copper Moose Brewery whose owner gave us a ride back to the harbour.  Another example of how considerate Upper New York State folks are.  Back at the harbour terminal building we played Euchre. So far 2 for the boys and 2 for the girls!

Next stop Amsterdam!

Opportunity Knocks!

I believe there is a saying to the effect that when opportunity knocks you need to open the door. So a couple of days ago I received a notice to mariners from N.Y. Canals saying that the lock that we are docked beside would be staying open late to accommodate boaters returning from an event at the Lakeview Amphitheatre in Syracuse. So a little online sleuthing revealed that the Goo Goo Dolls (Iris was a hit) and Philip Phillips (American Idol) were playing Friday evening. In my mind this was a great opportunity not to be missed! Karen says I'm like a dog with a bone when I get an idea like this ... I initially started investigating moving to a marina on Onondaga Lake across from the venue but the marina needed to do some research to see if they could accomodate a 40' boat with a 60' mast and would get back to me. 

While researching the lake, marina etc. I discovered that as Syracuse grew and industrialized they used the lake as a sewer, dumping everything from waste water to heavy metals and bacterial waste into it. Swimming was banned in 1940 and fishing in 1972. Lake Onondaga was designated a Superfund Site and Honeywell, the successor corporation to the worst polluters has done an incredible amount of work to remediate the lake. Today, fishing is permitted and the water apparently meets EPA standards for swimming. 

After an evening of gentle persuasion Karen agreed to a field trip consisting of a visit to the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, dinner and the Goos! Ever the one with common sense, Karen pointed out that we were only 10 minutes away by car "can't we get an Uber instead of moving the boat?"  Hmmm ... that would be easier ... "and maybe Bob and Sheila would like to join us". 

We had a lazy morning yesterday, packed 4 of us into an Uber Kia Rio and headed down to Syracuse in the afternoon. 

The museum was very well done with textual, graphic and interactive displays as well as a gallery of art inspired by the canal. Several of the pieces highlighted that the canal was a vital link on the Underground Railroad. They even had a unit price contract between the canal corporation and a consortium of individuals to build a few of the original locks. It was interesting  (to me) how similar the wording was to our present day contracts!

After the museum we walked around downtown, had dinner at the Erie Brewing Company and hopped another Uber out to the concert.

Civil War Memorial and Banking buildings

I had no idea who Philip Phillips was but he and his band were excellent! I just might buy an album (I know I'm dating myself).  And apart from the few songs from one of their early albums, Superstar Car Wash, when they said they were trying to be reclusive indie rockers, the Goo Goos rocked (but not too hard!). 

Lakeview Amphitheatre

Today we're going to have a lay day in Baldwinsville, move to Brewerton at the western side of Oneida Lake tomorrow and cross the lake in predicted calm conditions Monday.

All is Calm....

The Erie Canal is all I thought it was going to be, so far! 

There is something very calming about smooth water and a canal that goes on for miles and miles. No big winds, no big waves, no big deal.

Erie Canal near Clyde, N.Y.

We have a chart book that tells us where all the bridges and locks are and a book called "Skipper Bob" (really!)  that is like a guide book and tells you where you can stop for the night and what is there for facilities and shopping. It's very useful and everyone seems to have it. I have been ticking off places as we go by so I can keep track of where we are. Hugh drives Trekker as this is not something Helmut can do very well with all the bends and curves, as well as avoiding debris (there are a lot of branches floating down the canal!)
Sometimes I feel like we are in deepest, darkest, Upper State New York. A little bit like a jungle in some places with trees and vines hanging over the canal. We have seen quite a few herons and hawks flying by, I'm still waiting for my first croc!! Lol! 
Then suddenly, you turn the corner and you are in a cute little town with, always, a church steeple towering above. 

The first two questions we find we are frequently asked are: "where are you headed?" and "where are you from?". These are hard questions to answer as there are many ways to respond. My usual answer is: "we are headed down the Erie Canal, to the Hudson River, down the ICW to Florida then to the Bahamas". People look at us like we are either crazy or very brave ... or both !

Where we are from is harder ... "we live in Kitchener, but our boat is out of Georgian Bay, and we have been down Lakes Huron and Erie to get to Buffalo and now down the Erie Canal"!! Again crazy looks! We have become used to people staring at us, and quite a few will come up to say hello and ask more questions. I guess we are quite a spectacle with our Canadian flag flying high and our mast cradled on top! As we cruise down the canal most people will wave to you. It's all very nice. 

Trekker docked in Brockport, N.Y.

Brockport turned out to be a very nice town. We stayed the next day and did a walking tour of the downtown. Very old, very beautiful architecture.  After lunch the skies darkened and it started raining, so we decided to go to the movies. The town's only movie theatre was showing Dunkirk at 4pm so off we went and had a private showing!! I think that is a first!

The Strand Theatre, Brockport, N.Y.

Tuesday we moved to Fairport. We had dinner out with our new cruising friends Sheila and Bob. Next stop was Newark where we visited a Clock Museum and Heritage Museum. Apparently it was the rose growing capital of the states for a long time. I wonder if my Dad bought roses from there? The other excitement was the free laundry by the dock. I never thought I could get excited about doing laundry, but, hey, it was free!!
We are currently heading for Baldwinsville. So far we have gone through four locks this morning. We are becoming very good at them. I am keeping track of how far down we have dropped ... so far, 150ft. 

Slow and steady down the Erie Canal ... one day at a time. 

The Erie Canal

Wednesday August 2nd, one day later than originally planned, we motorsailed from Port Colborne to Buffalo, New York, United States of America!  Many of our friends had related their nasty experiences checking in to the States, and obtaining their cruising license, so it was with some trepidation that I made the call to the pleasure craft reporting number of Customs & Border Protection. Supervisor Frank was very pleasant on the phone, took our NEXUS card numbers, boat information and welcomed us to the USA ... "safe travels"! He confirmed that we should go to the Port Office in Buffalo to get our cruising license.  So after we berthed at the Erie Basin Marina we hopped an Uber and headed off to the Port Office.  The receptionist at the Port Office looked at us as though we had two heads when I said that we were there to get our cruising license.  Oh - oh, not a good start ... but at least when I gave her the pages I had printed off the CBP website she sprang into action; "hold on and let me go check with someone".  When she returned she said "You'll have to go to the Peace Bridge". To which I replied, "but Ma'am, the CBP website says that the Port Office will issue the cruising permit, is this the Port Office?" "Yes, but you'll have to go to the Peace Bridge".  "Can you provide me the name of the person I should talk to at the Peace Bridge?" "No, I'll give you the general phone number".  Now I'm usually pretty calm but this was getting me a little riled. Then, in walked Officer Diamond, "can I help you folks?" We gave him the same explanation. He left for a few minutes and came back, "follow me ...". Thirty minutes later we had our cruising permit!  Karen says she just about gave him a kiss ... I'll admit I could easily have given him a hug! We celebrated by finding a Brewpub and having a local beer.

Thursday was dedicated to getting the mast ready to be pulled. Pulling all the halyards from their clutches followed by tracer lines to reinstall them, disconnecting the jib sheet and the boom vang. We thought we would save ourselves some work by not taking the mainsail off the boom but having the sail on the boom made it very difficult to get the boom off the mast!  We'll remove the sail before trying to put the boom back on at the other end! Finally the vhf antenna, wind instruments, steaming and anchor light were disconnected at the deck. We also decided to take the solar panels off the arch so they wouldn't be damaged putting the mast into it's support.  As it turns out it also opened up some lashing options at that end of the mast.  Hot, tiring work!  We rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner out on the patio at the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery!

Friday we were at RCR Yachts at 0845 to have the mast taken down.  A crew of four descended on the boat and in short order had the mast horizontal and wrapped up ready to come aboard.

Safety first, notice the worker on the ladder is tied off!

Chris the foreman didn't like my centre post support so he fabricated a saw horse style support and after strapping it down fore and aft and athwart-ships and weathering some thunderstorms with hail (!), we made our way back to the Erie Basin Marina.  I had been warned in the morning by another boater that has his boat in the marina not to come back due to the forecast 25 knot SW winds and the surge that sets up in the marina in those conditions, so I spoke to the marina manager and he said he would put us at the extreme end of the marina on a floating dock "because it's not too bad down there ...".  Suffice to say, that was probably the worst night we have ever spent in a marina! First off, as the water from the rest of Lake Erie filled the marina basin the floating dock rose 4' nearly popping out of its tracks on the basin wall. The surge was probably 6" to a foot, and it would alternately push the boat forward and then aft to fetch up against our spring lines in spite of my having them tightened as much as possible.  At least the mast didn't come crashing down from it's supports so that gave me some confidence in our supports and lashing and that we can transit the Erie Canal safely!

As soon as the marina opened on Saturday we returned our washroom key cards and bid Erie Basin Marina farewell.  The wind was still blowing 20 - 25 knots but it had veered to the West so the breakwall outside the north entrance to Buffalo harbour was doing its job and it was a fairly calm motor down the Black Rock Canal to the Black Rock Lock that allows boaters to avoid the strong currents created where Lake Erie drains into the Niagara River.  Our first lock, and although we only dropped 5 feet we were very proud of ourselves for negotiating it without creating a spectacle!

Welcome to the Erie Canal

From the Black Rock Lock we continued up the Niagara River until we turned right into the Erie Canal. 

Leaving Lock 34

A few miles up the canal we entered lock 35, the first of two back to back 25 foot locks that it turns out are quite a tourist attraction!  Thankfully the lock master was very helpful when we told him it was our first lock ... and the onlookers gave us a round of applause as we slowly motored from the lock 35 into lock 34!

Motoring up the canal is a little monotonous, but what I found interesting is that the canal in many places is higher than the surrounding farm land.  The banks of the canal are much like the levees in New Orleans.  We also went over an Aquaduct, built in 1823, the only place where the road goes under the canal.

Nearing Middleport, our stop for the night, we noticed a lot of runners on the path adjacent to the canal, and speaking to folks in Middleport, it turned out that they were participants in the Beast of Burden run / walk, where runners can do a 25, 50 or 100 mile distance! The 100 milers have 30 hours to complete the distance ... crazy ...

Trekker docked in Middleport

From Middleport we motored to Brockport where a group of very considerate boaters made room for us on the wall in the town's centre.  Two of the welcoming committee were a couple headed our way to the Bahamas. Very exciting, since, in five weeks, these were the first people we have met going our way. So of course, we had Sheila and Bob over for swizzles and made fast friends!

Tomorrow will be a lay day exploring the quaint town of Brockport.

Shuffling off to Buffalo

The last couple of weeks have been full of highs and lows ... welcome to the cruising life!
We arrived in Port Colborne at the bottom of the Welland Canal Wednesday 26 July from Port Dover and docked at the Sugarloaf Marina. 

One of our main concerns at that point was Hugh's finger. You may recall that in the very first week of the trip he cut it, it got infected and was diagnosed as cellulitis. Antibiotics seemed to take most of the swelling and redness away, but there was one area on the side of his knuckle that was still slightly swollen. So before we entered the USA we thought we should make sure it wasn't anything that was going to flare up. 
There was an Urgent Care right beside the marina, so at 0630 Thursday morning Hugh went over to have it assessed.  After an X-ray and exam the determination was that they did not know what it was! Maybe gout? Maybe go to a plastic surgeon to assess? More antibiotics? Yikes ...
And of course there is our Out-of-country emergency medical insurance that we bought. Following the trip to Urgent Care Hugh called to advise them of the situation, and they told us if he were to see a specialist he would not be eligible for the insurance. WHAT??  
It's amazing how your mind works, thinking about all the scenarios that could happen if we were denied insurance ... do we go back? Do we keep going but through Canada only via the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence? That would mean no Bahamas this winter! That would mean being home for the winter! Oh my ...
So, we decided to call our family doctor at home and talk to him. But, of course, he was on holidays! So after speaking to a nurse it was decided that we would go home and have the doctor look at it Monday morning. Another trip home!! Our wonderful son, Trevor and his girlfriend Kate drove down Saturday to pick us up ... with laundry in tow of course!!

It was very nice to be home and visit with my mom, my brother Richard and his wife Sheila, and have dinner out with "the kids", Alyssa , Trevor and Kate. 
Monday's assessment at the doctor's was good. He made a careful examination of Hugh's finger and his belief was that he had probably aggravated some arthritis in his knuckle but that there was no infection ... it could take weeks for it completely heal. Hurray!! So we called the insurance, advised them of the status of his finger, and they said "No Problem".
We were back on our regularly scheduled trip!
So once again Trevor offered to drive us back ... his morning was clear for work and we were set to leave at 9am. 
But of course things don't always work out as planned, and as I was flossing my teeth before bed, a crown fell out! Right into my hand. WHAT!!  I'm sure you can imagine the words that came out of that now one tooth less mouth! So much for leaving first thing in the morning!
But I am lucky as I have friends in high places! I called my old employer as soon as they opened and they were able to see me at 2pm. Thankfully it was a quick fix, thanks Dr. Mike!
So Trevor, following his afternoon appointments, drove us back to the boat, stopping for dinner in Port Colborne before dropping us off at the marina. 
We were back on track,  and would be off to Buffalo the next morning. 
The next few days will be stressful, especially taking the mast down so we can head down the Erie  Canal. 
We have officially finished "phase one", the Great Lakes!
Phase two, Erie Canal and Hudson River. 
Stay tuned!!
One day at a time!