Newark NY, Erie Canal August 6, 2015

It was a long travel day today. It was a beautiful morning - clear, crisp and with a mist rising from the still waters. We left at 7:00 AM and arrived here a little before 3:00, a trip of 47 miles.  None of it could be steered by the autopilot. Even the ladies got tired, that is once they got up! A lot of sleeping going on today. Marty got up first when she realized she was missing some great scenery. We went under a 16' clearance bridge. Kerry went on the top and said we cleared  by at least 2'. Yea. The lowest bridge has a clearance on 15'5", so it appears we will be OK on Annie.

We saw lots of beautiful birds today. It was like a sanctuary. We saw eagles, ospreys, herons, night herons, hawks, etc. I took too many pictures of birds, but most did not come out. Here are a few that did:

Our chart books are good. The only problem is that they have different ways to measure the distance. Skipper Bob's uses miles from the Hudson River. The NY Canal Book uses the marker numbers. This makes it a little bit more difficult when we are trying to follow along in the two books. I am going to call Skipper Bob and suggest they add the marker numbers, as their book is really the best. 

Our electronic charts have ended. That is, all the detail is gone. There is still a blue ribbon that is the shape of the canal, but no detail at all. This is true of my Garmin chart, Jim's Navionics chart and also my phone app. Strange. Fortunately we have the books I just discussed. Marty is doing a great job of advising me as we go along. 

The lock masters are quite nice and helpful. They maintain the locks in a pristine condition, and it's easy to see they take pride in their locks. The only trouble is that they are yellow and blue, and remind me on Michigan colors. I suggested to one that they would be nicer looking if they were scarlet and gray. He said that was not the first time he has heard that suggestion. 

We stopped at Millers Marina  right after Lock 27 and bought fuel. Very few places sell diesel fuel on the canal, which we thought surprising. We asked the owner about that. He replied that it is a lot of trouble selling diesel, because a many sailboats come by and purchase 7 or 8 gallons - more trouble than it is worth. 

The facilities here are wonderful. It is a free dock, with free showers, electricity, washers, water and wifi - can't beat that, plus it is clear and new. The attendant suggested we try Parker's Sports Bar for dinner. We did and it was very good. The sandwiches were huge, so we have lunch tomorrow.  The ladies went to a farmer's market after we ate, while Jim and I came back to the boats to listen to the "Little 7" Presidential Debate on Fox. 

We received some pictures from Anne from a recent photo shoot of the Clark family. This one is my favorite, and shows Nate with Grayson and Andrew. Nate reminds me of a papa lion.

We listened to the Fox Debate last night. It was pretty interesting but we found ourselves annoyed with the gotcha type questions asked by the moderators at the beginning. From what I hear on Fox and Friends this morning, we were not alone.

I sat on a park bench and enjoyed a cigar after a nice shower. Soon I was joined by Jim and Marty, and another boater who stays in Buffalo. He gave us some good local knowledge and helped us firm up the rest of our canal voyage. He was a great help. 

Our 4x4 fenders are working great. No problems at all. They just slide up the walls with no problems. Some of the walls are really slimy, and we end up with a couple inches of slime on the top of them once their trip is done.

Finally, I spoke to the current owner of Excalibur last night. He called with a question, but said he has done the Erie Canal, and thought the coming part was the most interesting. Apparently the canal is elevated down the way, and it is over the top of the roads. That should be fun to see. 

Baldwinsville NY, Lock 24, Erie Canal August 5, 2015

Marty and Kerry let me know last night that they were both sleeping in. So why were they both up before 8:00? Perhaps an early morning rain shower woke them. In any case, it was a very nice morning in Phoenix.

Lock 1 is the home of the Bridgehouse Brats. The cruising book said they were college kids who would do errands for tips, but ours turned out to be cute little kids who would take your order and bring breakfast to you from the local restaurant. Coffee was free, and Helena served mine.

We enjoyed our breakfast on the dock. We took a walk around town, which was small but nice. Jim had dinner last night at a local bar called Dukee's, and said the food was excellent, kind of like Rudy's in Vermilion.

We left Phoenix about 10:15 and arrived in Baldwinsville at 12:15, a trip of 14 miles. It was a very pretty trip, and we are now officially on the Erie Canal. Prior to leaving we decided to add another day to the Canal trip part of the voyage and cut out a day later. There are too many interesting places to stop and we want to spend 2 days in Tonawanda so we can visit Niagara Falls. Kerry climbed up on the cabin top to check our bridge clearance as we went under a low bridge - we made it!

The scenery was very pretty along the way, The channel markers are not the most elaborate we have seen, but we pay great attention to them anyway.

Lock 24 is an old lock, but it works great. This sign was posted near where we tied up.

Dockage on the wall with power and water is $5 per night, on the honor system. Showers are $.25. We were all ready for a shower and it felt great!

Jim came over and diagnosed my water leak problem in about 3 minutes. I was way off track thinking it was a leaking heater. It was the air conditioner condensate leaking out of the drip pan. The drain for the pan is on the side of the pan, so there is always some water in it, as it does not drain until the water reaches a certain level. When we were on lake Ontario Annie was rolling so much the water just spilled out of the side of the pan. At first we thought the drain tube was clogged. After we took half the boat apart to clean it, we realized it was not clogged and then deduced the problem. Thanks to my favorite engineer, Jimbo! BTW, Jim bought a bottle of jug red wine today. He is really getting with the program. I told him I was very proud of him!

Jim thinks his vibration problem may be caused by an engine alignment issue. I loaned him my Skipper Bob book so he can see where he may be able to find a mechanic. He also found a pin hole leak in his shower hose which may explain some of the water seepage issues he is having. A successful day of problem solving for Jim. Before dinner we walked to the local Ace hardware and got new hoses for Liberty. 

Dinner was shish-ka-bobs, potatoes and fresh basil and tomato salads. We ate on a picnic table near the boats. Everything was delicious, as usual. The trip tomorrow is 50 miles, so we plan to shove off at 7:00. 

KERRY"S COMMENTS:

My sister Marty arrived and we are having so much fun together.  She is serving as our Canal Cruise Director and doing an excellent job.  She, unlike me, is very detail oriented and very focused when it comes to helping Don chart our way.  He loves having her on board.  I am so lucky!!!!

I have to take this opportunity to recognize my wonderful son-in-law Nate.  Most of our readers know that our lovely daughter Anne Marie has a beautiful little girl Aubrey, and two very active, darling little twin boys, Grayson and Andrew.  They are a handful---actually a handful is an understatement.  Every third weekend, Anne Marie has to work so Nate  has the sole responsibility of the "handful".  This past weekend Nate, by himself, took the three children to Lowe's and to a grocery store!!!!!!

Amazing!!!!!!At Lowe's apparently Grayson was in the cart seat and Andrew & Aubrey were in the cart.  At the grocery store the boys got to sit in some firetruck or something seats and help Daddy drive, while Aubrey, and not to happy about it, had to ride in a regular seat without a steering wheel Bummer!!!!!  We were so impressed that Nate ventured out, all by himself, alone, no help, and successfully managed the entire situation.   

Oswego Canal, Lock 1, Phoenix NY August 4, 2015

Annie left the dock at 5:55 AM this morning. We wanted to cross Lake Ontario when the wind and seas were at their minimum. Once we left the bay and entered the open waters we found that the left over waves from the previous winds were still significant - 3 to 4 foot waves. I took a video of the rolling, but was unsuccessful at trimming it down to a size Google liked. Kerry and Marty slept while I read a murder mystery. The trip to Oswego was 42 miles, much longer than the 34 predicted by the guide book. We arrived at 10:30. Kerry always gets our dock lines and fenders ready.

Jim arrived much earlier than we did, even though he left 1/2 hour after us. We were still 9 miles out when he radioed that he was tied up. At least I could be happy that his antenna worked from that range! Once in the harbor we tied up at a dock before the first lock. Kerry and Marty went to a grocery while I visited the canal office and bought our 10 day canal pass. This mural was painted on a building near the lock office. 

Suddenly Jim and I have developed problems. His is a vibration near his exhaust manifold, Mine is wet carpet on the floor into the V-berth. It happened for the first time when we went to Cape Vincent. I thought it was because we had water busting over the top of Annie. It was dry while we were in Sackets Harbor but got wet again today, and there was no water over the top. The leak must be internal. So, tomorrow while the ladies shop we will be problem solving, we hope.  

We had a lovely trip up the Oswego Canal. We did 7 locks and rose 118 feet from Lake Ontario. The Oswego locks are in very good condition. The trip up the Oswego River was beautiful. It was just liked the ones I watched on You-Tube. We went through rural areas and manicured lawn areas, with the river as flat and as calm as you could imagine. We are now ready to enter the Erie Canal where we will be on the rise again. We had planned to stop at Minetto, but did not even see it when we passed. Then we were going to stop at Fulton, but it turns out that their marketing department is much more developed that their facilities. Finally we stopped just south of Lock 1, in Phoenix. This place is very nice. It's a free dock with wifi, power and water, and it is lovely. I am told they are going to build restrooms too.

Marty strongly hinted that she wanted a frozen margarita, the house specialty. So, for the first time on this trip, we made margaritas and enjoyed them on Annie's upper deck.

The trip through the canal's 7 locks was really uneventful, and much easier than transiting the Welland. The lock rises went from 8 feet to 28 feet, while the Welland's locks rise 51 feet, and are much larger. Marty accepted the role of Cruise Director and read the guides we motored along.

 Marty also snapped some pictures during the transit. 

Slime on canal walls!

Tomorrow we think we will go to Baldwinsville, which would be our first major stop on the Erie Canal. We have about 167 miles to travel on the Erie Canal. Marty wants to visit Niagara Falls while we are in Tonawanda. 

Sackets Harbor August 3, 2015

At 3:00 AM this morning it got really windy. We figured today would not be a good travel day and that appears to be the case. We are waiting to hear from Marty to learn if she will come here today or meet us tomorrow in Oswego. There appears to be a travel window tomorrow morning, so we will make our escape early.

The Battle of 1812 they were reenacting yesterday was pretty interesting. It ended is a draw, I guess, although the British accomplished their objective. Sackets Harbor was a major ship building facility. The British wanted to destroy the warship General Pike under construction. They were unable to take the city, but the Americans thought they were taking it, so they set fire the General Pike so the British would not have it. Then the Americans rallied and pushed the British back. Eventually the ship was finished.

I just received pictures from James Dudt who transited the Welland Canal with us. I posted them on the Port Dalhousie July 26th post. So if you would like to see 20 additional pictures of our Welland transit, please go to that post and check them out. I think they are pretty interesting. Thanks, James!

Marty arrived about 2:30 today. She rented a car from Enterprise, drove to Watertown and then had them drop her off at Sackets Harbor. It was a good plan and cost less than half of cab fare. It wasn't long before she, Kerry and Jola were in full shopping mode.

Jim and I were with them initially, but decided to go back to the boats and do some planning. Tomorrow we start the part of the trip that is entirely new to both of us. We reviewed our canal guide books while we sipped on a rum and tonic. Annie will leave about 6:00 AM when the seas are forecast to be tame. We agreed to meet at Oswego Canal Lock 8 at 10:00. We need to stop there to purchase our 10 day canal pass. We are hoping we can get a space at Minetto which is about 6 miles into the Oswego Canal.

Dinner tonight was Kerry's pesto shrimp linguine, with a tossed salad and Jola's fried cheese bread. It was all delicious. We ate on Annie's upper deck and enjoyed the beautiful evening as well as the good food. Jim had to sit on Annie's pilot house deck as we only have 4 chairs. We agreed he and I would take turns sharing that special seat. 

When Marty is here I move out of the V-berth and sleep in the main salon. That's because both Kerry and Marty sleep as long as possible, and I am able to get up and at 'em without walking over sleeping bodies.  

Sackets Harbor August 2, 2015

Kerry was up and at them this morning. I slept in. And we both got up at the same time, 7:20. She wanted to be at the bakery at opening time, 8:00, to get fresh bread. Surprise - no bread. They don't make it for the public unless you order it 48 hours in advance. We made the best of a bad situation by buying chocolate chip and strawberry scones and enjoying them with coffee under a big shade tree. We walked by the Owl, the tall ship, and snapped a few pictures of the boat and marina. The Owl is not very ship shape.

Once we were back at the boat I dug out the material on the Oswego and Erie Canals. We have never done the canals so we need to do some preparation for this part of the voyage. Kerry started cleaning in preparation for Marty's arrival tomorrow. When she starts cleaning that is a signal for me to abandon ship, which I did. I biked to the grocery and picked up a few supplies, and also toured the city. The forecast is for 15-25 knot winds from the southwest tomorrow, so we will undoubtedly stay here another night. Marty will need to arrange transportation from Syracuse to here, a longer trip than originally planned.

Jim got ambitious and washed his boat. The color on the picture was bad so I made it B+W, but I hope you can see that his new gold stripe in his hands as it came off with his scrubbing. Not Jim's fault though, the other one fell off in Clayton, or was washed off by big seas. It appears the installation was flawed, or the stripe material was old. The installer of Annie's letters also did Jim's stripes. I better be careful!

The afternoon was just as perfect of a summer day as you could want. Blue skies, warm, but breezy and cool in the shade. I sat on Annie's upper deck and read. There was a concert by the Tenth Mountain Division Band going on in the town gazebo, which was right across the bay and loud and clear on Annie. Jim came over for a beer and soon Kerry and Jola joined us. We are going to dinner at the Tin Pan Galley which is the best restaurant in Sackets Harbor judging by the lines that form at each meal time. Jim is treating tonight as a thanks for all the planning we did for this cruise, and for talking him and Jola for going on it. Thanks, Jimbo!

Cocktails were on Liberty. We agreed no food at cocktail time. No problem. 

We were talking about the process of splitting a chicken and grilling it flat since last night when Jola did that to grill their chicken. Tonight I remembered what it was called. The Wall Street Journal had an article about it that I saved. I told Jim the technique was called spatchcock. He did not believe me, and googled the word. I wish I could post a picture of his face when Google said it was the process of splitting a chicken and cooking it flat. He was flabbergasted! 

Dinner was delicious, and the setting was perfect.

KERRY'S COMMENTS:

The V-Berth usually has a long shelf on either side that runs the length of the cabin.  While it is great storage, it is open storage and most unacceptable for most things that are not worthy of display. On the starboard side I arranged all of our reading materials which gave us a library that was not in the bathroom.  Ha Ha.  Notice the leather chest on the left,  This chest is our pharmacy, nice, neat, and compact and full to the top of all the things that keep us going.  On the right is a wooden basket like accessory which conceals my blow dryer, straightening iron, and my cosmetics bag. I have found that the items remain secure even in rough, rolling waves,  I love my "Tiny House".

My sister Marty is joining us tomorrow for the remainder of the trip so I spent the day cleaning.  

Sackets Harbor August 1, 2015

We had a good rain last night. A couple of drops hit the Princess's pillow but she was asleep - so no real problem! I stuffed a tissue in the side of the hatch which stopped further droplets and put a dry towel on the pillow. Captain's are natural problem solvers!

I was up at 6:00. Jim was already awake. We agreed to leave as soon as possible, which turned out to be about 6:30. Both of us escaped our docks without incident. I love my stern thruster!

The trip to Sackets Harbor was 23 miles and took 2 1/2 hours. The seas were 3-4' and expected to build, as a small craft advisory went into effect at 10:00. The course was like a horseshoe where we started on one open end, going into the seas. By the end of the trip we had experienced every direction for seas so I got to make some observations about how Annie handles in different points of seas. Kerry took her first Dramamine of the trip today.

On a beat into the seas - just bumpy. Lots of water comes over the top of the boat, but not an uncomfortable ride. On a beam reach - nasty. Annie really rolls in the big swells. probably the worst situation for her. I dumped my coffee pot on this leg today. And I got drenched when I leaned out of the cabin to grab a spring line we had left out inadvertently. On a broad reach - not bad at all. Downwind was fun. Annie likes to surf. We hit 13.8 knots on one ride. When we come off the surf the bow drops and water flies out on both sides which is a neat affect. Kerry and I agreed that overall this ride was almost as bad as the Clayton Dock.

Annie liked this trip. We were in a hurry to get off the lake so we went faster than normal, with an average speed of 9.7. Annie got to run near the 80% sweet spot for a change which she seemed to enjoy. We fueled when we arrived. We took 35 gallons of diesel for a rate of 3 gallons per hour since the last fill up, which includes the generator running time.

The harbor here is just beautiful, on the other end of the scale from Cape Vincent's Anchor Marina.. We arrived before the office was open- well Jim did anyway. I was still 5 miles out when he was tying up. We had hoped to motor by Charity Shoal on today's trip which is the location of the original Vermilion Light House, and snap a picture. The one in Vermilion now is a reproduction. But Charity Shoal was 3 miles off our course (one way) which was too much for the sea conditions.

The Navy Point Marina as seen from across the bay.

There is a War of 1812 reenactment going on here today so it will be fun to see the festivities.

Navy Point Marina where we are staying has 13 boats coming in today, so it was fortunate we had reservations (which I made in March). Today is the first time in a very long time that I am actually able to use the marina wifi.

Sackets harbor's own tall ship participating in the festivities, courtesy of Jimbo. Following are two signs that were posted at the reenactment. 

They say, live and learn. I learned today. My Ohio State flag is gone! Major Bummer! I saw it was missing and surmised it came off it's clips. But no - the clips are gone too. It was clipped to my radio antenna, which is narrower at the top. The clips must have loosened and the flag then launched itself off the top of the antenna pole, lost in Lake Ontario like a shipwreck from the past. Note to self-  next time tape a wire tie to the smaller end of the antenna.

We called Kerry's sister, Marty, and said we may be in Sackets Harbor on Monday rather than in Oswego. The weather forecast is not for favorable seas for traveling west. She is flying into Syracuse on Monday and will join us then, wherever we may be. Happy hour was on Liberty tonight. I grilled ribs and Jim grilled chicken for dinner. 

KERRY'S COMMENTS:

For our new readers, Kerry's comments are intended to be a humorous look at living on a tiny house tug boat, and a comical attempt to apply principles of interior design.

Lets look at my galley today.  (Refer to Picture #1) In one corner I have a microwave which is adjacent to a shelf spanning a distance of 18 inches.  In that space is of a premium, I stacked two different sized trays which serve as the basis for my coffee/water bar. The items in the bar include coffee pot, cups, a stack of coasters and a slim water dispenser. In addition, note that I artfully :-) added my aloe garden and my beautiful, picked daily, wildflower arrangement.  The resulting composition is form and function at its best greatly enhancing the the appearance of my main salon and reducing the clutter factor to a bare minimum.  Great arrangement for the dock, but what about rolling waves which would reduce the center and its component parts to a broken rubble heap on the floor (like Don's coffee pot today)?  

Picture #1

Please refer to Picture #2.  In this picture you will see the solution to the problem.  (I always told my design students that there were no problems, just solutions).  Upon command from Captain Don that we are shoving off, I quickly spring into action and skillfully relocate the coffee/water bar and its accessories to the sink.  The tall vase with flowers is tied with a dish towel to the soap dispenser to keep it in a vertical position.  This new composition ladies, works.  The rolling seas, and believe me they were rolling, did not impact upon one thing in the sink.  Note, being a detail person, that I took the time to add a bow to the bungy cord holding the vase. 

Picture #2