pirates?

Last night we finished the C & D canal, not a whole lot of traffic and the current was with us most of the way, we anchored out near Havre de Grace in a quiet inlet on the Bohemia River with a few other boats and enjoyed a cockpit shower and the breeze booster in the hatch made for a good nights sleep.This morning met with lots of explosions and gunfire, not pirates but from the military's Aberdeen proving ground site.Not much wake from freighters but some go fast powerboat wakes. We did start out powersailing but the breeze died until just near Annapolis.We met with the Woodwind sailing vessel in the bay here, as beautiful as when we go out in her at the boat show, this is the boat from the Wedding Crasher movie.We are at the Petrini boat yard, not fancy just a working boatyard just over the downtown bridge in Eastport. We enjoyed dinner at Chick and Ruths Deli-so  different when not crazy busy-excellent fun service and I got the worlds biggest loaded bake potato- a few more meals in my refrig now.  chris

Some tips for anyone viewing the spot location page at the bottom of this blog, if you click on a location you can zoom in and switch to a satelite view or the road view to get a better look at where we are.

Seafood Heaven

Today finished laundry and shopping for groceries-about 1 mile each way for an Acme market.We enjoyed dinner last night and tonight-fresh fish,walked and saw spectacular victorian homes here in Cape May-the town is prettier than the tourist hype.Tonight took a cab home from town-feet are tired.  I hope our pictures come up on the website- I want the purple octogon house that is for sale up the street. And yes, people watching here is the best. We are at the Jersey Shore after all.   chris

People have asked if the trip is worth it,  I will say definitly yes. We have some bad days and good days, but the good ones far outweigh the bad ones. We get anoyed at times but we are having a great time overall. I would not miss this trip for anything, the things we have seen and done so far are just great. We can't wait for the next adventure!
 Oh yes, it has been almost a month on the boat and Chris is still with me!!

cape may

Well Atlantic city was a nightmare-music until after midnite that had the bass shaking the hull-so out of there early into the Atlantic with 5-6 foot rollers but this time no pounding-a nice motor sail until the inlet into Cape May-cigarette type boats,fishing boats, ferryboats all going full steam past us leaving wakes that shook the boat so bad things flew about all over that were secured from the ocean trip-no manners in Jersey and cars  go like lunatic fast in this  cute resort town too.Once again Skipper Bob was wrong-no bus here and a solid 1 mile into town and taxis wouldnt pick up-too busy.We walked and loved the gingerbread mansions-taffy shops and had a great meal at the Lobster House near the marina.Utsch`s Marina is run by a family and well run, local package of wine,cookies and handmade soaps given with your keys-free cable and lots of clean showers.we will stay here another day to do laundry and boat maintanance and I will shop of course.   chris

The Channel into the marina is a little tricky, call ahead for directions, don't head straight in after passing red 14, turn toward 16 at entrance to Cape May canal then run 20' out from bulkhead paralel to it then turn in at small lighthouse.
 When leaving here we will head up the Delaware Bay to the C & D Canal into the Chesapeake Bay, to make this passage we have to time the tides so that we are not going against them up the Deleware bay for 54 miles.

More new pictures have been posted to the slideshow album at top of page.

atlantic city

What a long day on the water, began well with favorable winds and sun but after supper the winds and waves cranked up until I felt like I was in an episode of deadliest catch with steep waves crashing over the bow. We went from 8 knots down to bearly 5 knots-made us crawl into atlantic city 16 hrs later and pitch black and nobody to guide us to a dock. too pooped to gamble even, hope to go to Cape May in the AM if waves calm down.

sandy hook

Today we sailed down the Hudson into N.Y. harbor and past Ellis Island and the Statue of liberty-awsome site-others have said that it looked small but not at all.We have caught a mooring ball at Sandy hook,N.J. at Atlantic highlands yacht club-nice facility and will attempt the Atlantic in the am if the forcast holds.

Big Apple

Today was heavy rain so we took the commuter train just outside the Tarrytown marina and caught the segment of the Today show outdoors-while there we were offered tickets and attended a taping of the Dr. Oz show to air next month-he made a few goofs and they had a good comedian to get us going -fun. Also walked through the Theater Distric and Times Square.We had lunch at Carmines-great italian food  at a good price-beautiful sit down with tablecloth meal and plenty of leftovers in our refrig.We did lots of window shopping-loved the windows on 5th avenue and went in several stores but no room for new stuff. I did buy a cupcake for desert tonight from Magnolia bakery and real NY bagels for breakfast. I finished the day at St. Patrick`s cathedral and lit a votive in Dad`s memory-such an awsome church that I had tears from the experiance.Hope to finish the trip by water to Liberty Landing tommorrow-weather permitting.   chris
  I have added more pictures to the slide show at the top of the page, if you click on the slide show you can see it in a larger format for easier viewing. I will add more pictures as we travel down the coast.   Mike

tarrytown

Another long day, we made it to Tarrytown,N.Y. Today was drizzle and 1 to 3 foot rolling chop-lots of freighters but a wide channel.I did not care for Kingston-most of the walkable area of town was closed on monday and although showers were clean you had to feed them quarters to work-also wanted pumpout but it never materialized-same story everywhere on the Hudson, this marina actually had a functional pumpout and secure marina and  upscale, the subway station is just next to gate too.We were entertained all day by so much history-very old mansions,mountains,West Point,Culinary Institute of America.We saw large soft shell crabs stuck to walls of fuel dock and pumpout area-seafood  restaurant is in the marina too.     chris

kingston

We hated to leave Hop o Nose Marina and Creekside restaurant-Sean at the marina and all the waitresses were so helpful and friendly also a few wonderful live a board boaters who gave advice. We took advantage of the tide and headed down the Hudson a little until the rain returned with wind, tied up at Kingston city dock, many restaurants and maritime museum but many stores closed (monday).Only about 90 miles to heart of New York City now.    chris

mast up

Today the mast went back up again-no problems but much work to re-attach all lines and sails-all done but the weather may keep us here a bit more-nice people here and good restaurant/bar so won't mind being stuck here.

hop o nose

We made it down the Hudson river to Catskill,N.Y. today-experianced the effects of tides,winds and freighters but had a pleasant day-tommorrow we get the mast back up then slowly down the Hudson to New York City,weather and fatigue from mast raising will keep us here another night or so but they have a nice bar/restaurant and pool here.We had one last lock at Troy,N.Y. first thing this am and this lock had no ropes just widely spaced fat poles to slide one rope down-fortunately we had a mid ship line for Mike and I just fended off the bow.A hint for Ray and Debbie- one fellow had a hop o hop kids ball from a garage sale as one large bow fender-sturdy and cheap. This marina is called Hop O Nose marina and other pleasant cruisers to get advice from tonight.    chris

Chinese Fire Drill

Woke up this AM on the Waterford wall with a tug boat hailng us and telling us and one other boat that we had to move as we were in his space (nothing was posted). On the positive side we were able to get under way quick and tie up to the only available floating dock in front of the visitor center! The engine has been running fine, no more overheats or clogged strainers. On to the Hudson and south tommorow.

34 locks done

Went all the way to Waterford-survived the last 9 locks including the flight of 5- back to back 35 foot drops each and windy so control was tougher- free docks here were full at 5:30 so tied to wall and must clim up rescue ladder to sidewalk-got here and visitors center was closed so no shower but headed to dinner all grubby and a local girl reccomended Mcgiveys restaurant- cool-fancy but good prices and excellant meal-we then walked to nice grocery store for fruit and found the visitor center open so paid a deposit and got a shower key-life is good again.I really liked the canal until today- lots of train and semi noise and locks so close together- the train tracks and freeway run right next to the canal at this end-Waterford seems quiet though.May take a recuperative day or head down the Hudson river-wine tonight if I stay awake.    chris

Lock 17 warning

Before you enter Lock 17 make sure you close all upper hatches and be prepared for a short shower on deck. The East gate of this lock is a lift gate and you motor under it leaving the lock as it drips on you. We scrambled to close everything while in the lock so as to keep everything below from getting wet!

Progress

7 more Locks down today, only 10 more to go! Stopped for the night at Riverlink park in the town of Amsterdam, NY. A nice park with restrooms, showers, and laundry. Paid $1 ft. When we arrived it was after they closed so we had to call a phone # that was on the power post and wait for the Dockmaster to sign us in and give us a key to the restrooms and showers. The only bad thing about the dock is that the RR tracks pass 100 ft. behind the park and the trains blow their horn for the crossing. The small restaurant is only open Thursday thru Sunday evenings for dinner and Tuesday thru Sunday 11 to 3 for lunch. There is a bridge over the RR tracks to town but not much in walking distance. Still making progress and still having fun seeing all of the sights along the way.

Little Falls Monday

Woke up to thunderstorms this AM so we decided to stay here for one more day and move on tommorow. One more hint for motoring down the canal is to mount a bicycle mirror on the steering pedastal so you don't have to keep turning around to see if you are being overtaken by a large trawler or cruiser.

on the road again

Left the marina yesterday and motored 10 hours down the canal with no problems-yeah! Spent last night outside lock 20 with no services so left early and weather on phone chased us to Little Falls town dock for nice showers- and a lock festival in town so walked the mile downtown for music and carnival food- funnel cake-mmmm, rain held off until almost to the boat.Locks in windy weather are tough for me to keep the bow from hitting the lock wall so happy to make it a short day after 2 windy locks today-no mast so wind is no fun.Yesterday we crossed Onieda Lake-supposed to be the 5th deadliest lake in the U.S.- Shallow so very choppy-a boat capsized yesterday but we have seen worse for sure in Lake Erie.      chris

 So we have a new ball valve on the water intake thru hull, a strainer over the thru hull, a cleaned heat exchanger, replaced the waterpump impeller, a new Mixing Elbow, a new radiator cap, and a new thermostat. Probaly a combo of all the weeds in the canal and some blocked tubes in the heat exchanger is what caused our problems. On our first sea trial after the repairs we overheated due to the weeds plugging our sea strainer, so that is when I decidedto have the boat hauled and have a strainer installed over the intake and have the old gate valve replaced. The weeds are thick in the canal and you really need a good strainer over your water pick up. The Ball valve was not leaking when I checked in the AM and operating it does not cause it to leak so it must of been the water in bilge I was seeing after the install.

Almost ready!

Overheating issues all taken care of, but one new issue. When I had the boat hauled to put a strainer over the water intake thru hull I had the yard replace the valve with a new ball valve. When I inspected this evening the new valve was leaking slightly, so we will have the yard look at it in the AM. We just want to be back traveling!

waiting

Still awaiting parts/repair- I thought we had spares to everything but I guess not. I spent the day cleaning the interior yesterday and getting a handle on where I stuffed everything, I sure did bring too much stufff- oh well it will work once we can't go to a store each day.We had a tall ship from Vermont pull up for gas yesterday- the had a tug boat alongside- We need that.The marina owners family called over to offer tomatoes,peppers or fresh herbs from her dockside plants- they are so nice. Can`t wait to move on though.    chris

Still Here

We left Winter Harbor marina this AM and as we got to Oneida Lake the overheat alarm went off, so we turned around and returned to Winter Harbor. We checked the strainer, through Hull, and raw water pump impeller, all OK. Next step is to change thermostat and check the heat exchanger, so we ordered gaskets and parts. Will be here until parts arrive and we get things back to normal.

lazy day

Stayed here at Winter Harbor Marina another day due to predicted bad weather, this is such a deal here with clean showers,helpful staff and one of the free loaner cars is a Mercedes station wagon. We called my uncle Duane and he picked us up for a wonderful breakfast and offered a ride wherever so we went to West Marine and got  a handheld marine radio-need backup available as locks must be called first for opening. I really enjoyed our visit, he has been so helpful to my mother also. We read and reorganized our clutter and now the rain has me lazy.    chris

8/8/10

Today started off early,we were just outside a lock that opened early and scooted down the canal and breezed through canals ending in Brewerton,N.Y. where our diesel overheated-fortunately in front of a marina-just a bad hose and the friendly people atWinter Harbor marina had a dock and even found just the right hose and brought it to the boat.Next is Onieda Lake crossing that can be nasty if windy so we may sit out the rain here another day.Todays trip also had eagles above us and quiet solitude until just near this town.The boat is so dirty from the mast raising and slimy canal ropes so I tried to clean the exterior a bit but the mast and spreaders on deck meant partial cleaning.The interior is all tossed about from finding tools and me quick opening the strainers when it overheated, but all is well now-chardonnay from Harpersfield Winery is chilling-thanks Patti and Adolph.               chris

eagles

Today we headed down the canal and aced all the locks.We were in pretty desolate territory all day and saw at least 10 eagles while in a wildlife refuge,one even swooped down next to the boat and grabbed a fish-eagles were my dads favorite so on the eve of his birthday I felt him smile from heaven. We pulled into Baldswinsville late and all the docks were full due to a concert in the park where you usually  dock. We had to spend the night next to the lock without services but are enjoying the music and soon fireworks.   chris

long day

Today we slept in-cool weather at last.We headed out from Brockport and aced our first lock but the next lock nearby had strong winds inside and Mike had a hard time catching a rope inside-ended up dropping the boat hook and the lock tender came to our aid and grabbed our dock line to corrall us in-no damage other than our nerves and the boat hook floated up to us when the water receded.In spite of that we plunged forward and aced the next locks.We follow 2 guide books-Skipper Bobs and the official ny canal book-both 2006 and very outdated- the ongoing diesel saga continued with the books touting Pittsford as having a large Citgo dock with diesel but this town went yuppy with a Birkenstock store in place of Citgo-fortunately we did get diesel at Macedon at a friendly little marina.This stretch today was filled with charming little towns where everyone makes an effoort to wave at you as you roll by and one stretch near a highway had cars beep at us and wave, not a whole lot of traffic in the canal this week.We stopped tired and dirty from the windy lock escapade- at Newark,NY.Nice docks-electric,free laundry,clean shower,friendly and no charge so enjoyed a late dinner in town.You can take a short walk to groceries,movies,many restaurants

Radio Waves

One thing I forgot was that when we dropped our mast I did not have a VHF radio to call all the locks and bridge tenders! Luckly I had a spare antenna that I was able to mount on the mast step, hook up and keep in contact.

brockport

We spent a restless night in Medina due to the heat and then lightening storms-another boater described the weather as being a human rotisserie-tossing all night and baking.Made it out this am and found beautiful farmlands-corn and apples and grapes surrounding the canal ,it was all wonderful until noonish and heat and humidity and lack of sleep had us pull into Brockportport,N.Y.-This is a super friendly college town,tied up downtown in the canal and showers and bars near.I found a coffee shop that roasts their own beans,a quilt shop,a huge book store and the second oldest movie in the U.S.A.Mike cooled off at the movie "Salt" while I did all the laundry-yeah for clean sheets.This area is an antiquers paradise but so many old barns and houses need a good carpenter soon.   chris

surviving locks

Made it through 3 locks today,always anxiety learning new tasks and manuvering around mast on deck but arrived in 1 piece here in Medina,N.Y. We were very upset with the acclaimed Wardells boatyard-saw the diesel sign and pulled up to the pumps where Mr. Wardell said in nasty voice that his diesel is only for sailboats that he takes the mast down, sure glad that we did not use his services, made worse by the next place that advertised the last fuel for 60 miles-all guidebooks listed diesel but he has no fuel so we used the 2 5 gallon tanks we brought.The bridge masters have been very helpful-even tonights dinner suggestions.Love the scenery and the adventure but not the heat.    chris

We are now a motorboat for the Erie Canal. Had the mast dropped at RCR Buffalo, cost was $265 and we supplied the mast supports. They charge to make the supports and for the lumber if you do not bring your own. This is more than what I was expecting but we were here and they did everything and we did not have to help. On to the Canal tomorrow!

Buffalo

Rested in Erie yesterday and headed off today for Buffalo,N.Y. We had over 3 hours of real sailing followed by motorsailing and roller waves.I managed to bake bbq ribs for supper and only wore a little sauce.Still finding that I have too much stuff in here-hard to fit a 4 bedroom house into 31 feet.I feel that more would fit if it weren`t for all the tools,he would say too many clothes of course.Enjoyed a clean long airconditioned shower even though this is a work yard for boats-maybe Geneva Marina should figure out how to make ladies happy.bye for now-Chris