Still on Catskill Creek

Friday 26th September
Rainy, rainy day. Not a day for putting sails up which is the next task. So we go shopping for provisions. This involves a long walk up a hill and a long walk back carrying stuff, as our attempt to get a taxi is a failure.

Saturday 27th September
Using our final day on a dock with power to drill some holes and install an anchor roller for our second anchor.

Then in comes this boat to have their mast stepped and it's someone well known in Canadian Sailing circles. Paul and Cheryl Shard have a TV program called Distant Shores documenting their travels across the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. Right now they're doing the Intracoastal and the Bahamas and they use Hop-O-Nose to get their beautiful new boat (an English built Southerly 42) in sailboat condition.


We both got a tour of the inside and got some good tips from these very experienced sailors.

It`s time to leave the marina but we have to hang around the area to get the wi-fi antenna that failed to get delivered before we got here. So we head out into the creek and anchor out round the corner from the marina. It`s good to be `on the hook` rather than at a dock.

Sunday 28th September
Time to get the new outboard engine operating to take Buddy a walk, so with Carol winching a halyard we raise and lower the motor from its mounts and on the to the back of the dinghy - not that difficult really. The motor starts on the second pull and Buddy and I are off.

It`s a funny old day weather wise, intermittently raining, but we get the sails on to the poles and we`ll be ready to roll as soon as our part arrives.

Monday 29th September
By the time we got the missing pieces it was mid-afternoon, laundry needed doing and other odd jobs, so it`s another night on Catskill Creek.

We've added a new thing to the blog. You can see where we are and the places we stayed on a Google map by clicking the link on the left of the web-page or clicking this: Where are we now?.

Waterford to Catskill Creek

Saturday 20th September
A day at the dock in Waterford doing various boat-like things like finding and (hopefully) correcting source of a water leak from engine while Carol shopped for provisions.

Sunday 21st September
Another day at the dock in Waterford sorting stuff in the aft cabin to make way for imminent guests.

Monday 22nd September
Clean the boat and otherwise prepare for the arrival of Ira and Ann in the afternoon.

Tuesday 23rd September
Stayed at the dock one more day while Ira and Ann ferried us round Albany's suburbs to visit West Marine, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Pet Smart. to buy more stuff for the boat. Why Pet Smart? New lifejacket for Buddy!

Wednesday 24th September
Time to move on and get our mast put back up at the marina where it's been shipped to and is waiting for us. So with an early (for us) start at 8 am we're off down the Hudson to the last lock we have to negotiate at Troy.

That's soon over and we're into the Hudson with currents and tides for real. We start off motoring at 5.5 knots past the New York State Capital, Albany.


and on down the Hudson past barges being pushed by strange tugboats,



and picturesque lighthouses

to our destination at Hop-O-Nose Marina on Catskill Creek to pick up our mast. By the time we get there our speed is up to over 7 knots without changing the revs, thanks to the current from the ebbing tide.

After our safe arrival, it`s time to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary! The marina has a not bad restaurant with lots of seafood on the menu and so, accompanied by Ira and Ann, we ate and drank our fill and a good time was had by all.

Thursday 25th September
Frantic day getting the mast ready to be `stepped`(put up); fixing wiring problems and spreader tip problems, but with Ira`s experienced help all is OK and by nightfall the mast is up, the dinghy`s inflated, off the deck and floating obediently behind the boat. Still lots to do to restore the boat to full sailboat status but tomorrow`s another day.

Ilion to Waterford

Sunday 14th September (Cont)
Decided to start installation of new alternator and associated multi-stage regulator.

Monday 15th September
By late afternoon still working on regulator and alternator installation and since we are now immobile we stay another night at Ilion Marina.

Tuesday 16th September
Complete alternator installation only to find fan belt too long. Remove new alternator, replace with old and continue on our way transiting Lock 17, the deepest lock on the system at over 40' where, instead of doors on the down side there's a massive steel gate that lowers and raises like a guillotine:


After transiting Lock 16 we tied up on the East side for the night.

Wednesday 17th September
Woke up to a cold morning with mist rising from the water all around as we headed for Lock 15 - those numbers are getting near the end. When we got to Lock 14 however, we had to do that very rare thing and actually wait.

Turns out they were fixing the dam on an island in the middle. The only way to do that is to drive cement trucks over huge steel plates onto a barge floating in the lock and then off again the other side. Here`s a digger `collecting`the steel plates so the barge can be moved out of the lock just to let little old us go by.


So after about a 1/2 hr. we were on our way again through Locks 13 and 12 to tie up for the night West of Lock 12, at the approaches to Amsterdam, clearly announced by this artifact:

It's an old style Beetle by the way.

Also on the wall was Pleiades, a trawler heading in the opposite direction with Tom and Trudy Hosey aboard. We got talking and ended up going for supper with them to Russo's, a local popular dining establishment. They live in Florida and if you want to talk conspiracy theories (9/11 and the US banking system) Tom's your man. We had a great time and promised to drop by on our way South, by which time their boat would be left up North and they will be back down South.

Thursday 18th September
The lock numbers are flying by now: 12, 11, 10 & 9 to Schenectady to pickup the outboard motor we bought over the phone from a dealer there.

Lock 10 has an interesting recent story in that $25M worth of damage was done 2 years ago when it flooded - a 500 year event. To give you some idea of the scale of the effects, the weir/dam that you see in the picture had debris jammed half way up the vertical struts and the lockmaster's building was moved 800 feet, with basement, sideways.


We initially intended to dock for just a couple of hours at Schenectady Yacht Club which oddly enough has no sailboats. This was to allow time for Carol to tale Buddy to a vet, as he'd hurt his back again which happens occasionally while I waited for my outboard and mount to be delivered to the dock. It was 5:30 before the stuff showed up by which time the next lock was closed so we ended up spending the night at the club dock which gave me time to install the mount and with the help of a couple of guys, lift the motor up onto it.

Friday 19th September
Now we're really down to the nitty gritty lock-wise. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 and we're out of the Erie Canal. Mostly the journey involves long periods between locks, 1 to 2 hours of winding river with not a lot to do. This is what one crew member does to pass the time:

For those not familiar with the addiction, she's working through her big book of Sudoku or 'Sod You Co' as we refer to it (with a nod to RH).

Having transited most locks on our own, we did the last 6 locks in the company of three boats from Nepean Sailing Club and a small power boat. Where is Lock 1 you say? Well it isn't part of the New York Canal System, it's federally operated and is free.

At the end of the canal where it meets the Hudson River is Waterford that has a marina with free electricity, wi-fi and dockage for two days after which you pay $10/day - can't beat that.

It was very full when we arrived and we were quite lucky to get dock space, which gave the opportunity for this unique view of Incognita.

Friday 12th September (Cont)
We headed out across Lake Oneida where it soon started to rain on us. Just so you don't think this sailing thing is all sun and fun:

We got across the infamous (usually for people carrying their masts on board) lake arriving in the rain at Sylvan Beach on the start of the continuation of the Erie canal. Sylvan Beach is a real holiday town complete with fairground and rides. All closed for the winter, we presume, as there was no sign of life.

We spent the night at the dock there and witnessed the arrival of this hundred-year-old tug owned by the canal commision:
Saturday 13th September
The morning started gloomy and overcast, but after filling with fuel and water we headed off down the canal. Before long it brightened up which considerably improved the views along the way:

After transiting Locks 22 and 21 we were now at the highest point in the system, it was all downhill now.

We stopped at Rome for some supplies and then docked for the night on the wall just before Lock 20, at which point the heavens opened.

Sunday 14th September
We had a lazy start after our traditional Sunday omelet breakfast and by that time the gloomy weather had turned to sunshine and we went through our first 'down' lock and intended to stop at Utica Marina but that turned out to be locked up and deserted. So we dropped down Lock 19 and stopped at Ilion Village Marina where, although it cost us 34 smackers, we got showers and free Internet. But it's really hot here.

Ilion is famous for being the home of:

Tuesday 9th September
Woke up to high winds and torrential rain which went on and off until the afternoon. We decided to stick around another night and I worked on making a mount for our Garmin GPS Chartplotter.

Wednesday 10^th September
Beautiful morning to start moving again, so it’s round to the fuel dock to get a pumpout and fill with diesel and off we go to transit our first lock in the Oswego Canal. We were the only ones in there and it went without a hitch and here we are docked on the other side.

We are actually facing back the way we came towards the lock, to face into the prevailing wind.

This was prime opportunity to do the head (toilet) replacement we never got to do in Waupoos, plus move the BBQ to the other side of the boat to make room for an outboard motor mount for an outboard we don’t yet own. Plus the Garmin got hooked up to power and is now fully functional and reports that we are on land in Oswego(?)

Carol did lots of food shopping and various bits and pieces I needed to get things working.

We fired up the BBQ for the first time and had great supper of salmon, stir fry and potatoes sliced with onion and BBQ’d, all washed down with a Cabernet Sauvignon that came in a 5 litre box that cost $14.95(???).

Tomorrow we hit the locks again and hope to get to Lake Oneida and maybe across it.

Thursday 11^th September
8:30 am and we’re heading for Lock 7. Here’s what locks look like before you go ‘up’:

Here’s Carol doing the lock thing:

Coming up is ‘Battle Island’ where the French fought the British sometime in the 1700’s.

Here’s Buddy looking a little more concerned:

We stopped in Phoenix for lunch and a leg stretch (mostly for Buddy), lovely facilities for anyone transiting the canals:

Whoo Hoo! Bought an outboard motor on the phone. To be picked up in Schenectady.

Lots of motoring with sometimes Carol at the helm (with a disinterested Buddy):

Sometimes Lynton – who is not growing a beard but hasn’t had the motivation to shave:

At about quarter past five we arrived in Brewerton, after exiting the Oswego canal and entering the Erie Canal and transiting lock 23 on that canal. The same place that we tied up on a free dock 7 years ago with Geoff and Bunkey when we went as far as New York City with them.

We are at the West end of Lake Oneida and should cross it tomorrow.

Friday 12th September
About to leave Brewerton to cross Lake Oneida and stay in Sylvan Beach.

Sunday 7th September
Well it ended up being Sunday not Saturday that we finally left. We left the gas dock in Waupoos at 6:17 precisely and headed out into Lake Ontario under power with just the main sail up.

It was fairly cool but sunny and we bundled up a bit.


Buddy was unconcerned.


We crossed to Oswego in the US in 9 hours at between 5 and 6 knots and were somewhat disconcerted to be overtaken by two Monarch butterflies. There was very little wind but there were still some rollers left over from the big winds from the previous Friday.

We checked into the Oswego Marina to facilitate our mast un-stepping (taking it down to get under the bridges on the canals to the Hudson river).


Monday 8th September
Up bright and early to be ready for taking the mast down. Third in-line and by noon it was done. Now we had to bundle it up ready for shipping.


Also we had customs problems as we didn't have the decal which allows you to get a cruising permit. We were told we might have to wait two or three days for someone to come and 'board us'. However, turns out all you have to do is fill a form out on line and away you go. By then though the day had gone and we're still in the marina for one more night.

But the boat's all ready for the canals with the dinghy on the deck.


Progress so far:

Posted by Lynton & Carol at 9:47 PM

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Well, it's time to fire up the blog again, after a summer in Waupoos (near Picton Ontario) Marina preparing the boat for the next big adventure.

We are about to leave from here, initially it was to be Friday but due to a few last minute snafus it now looks more like Saturday. We will be heading for Oswego in the US on the south shore of Lake Ontario where the mast will be removed and we start our journey through the canal system to the Hudson river and down to New York City.

The eventual destination is the Florida Keys and/or the Bahamas.

Posted by Lynton & Carol at 9:24 PM