6/28-6/30/2012

Thursday - found a Panera in town Cicero, NY close to the marina so headed there for breakfast. Back to boat, did some cleaning and just lounged around today. Decided to spend another night here, dockage is only $0.90/ft.

Friday - Pushed off about 9:45am after breakfast at Panera again. One more lock on the Erie Canal then we are on the Oswego Canal. Windy today. 

 Lock 1 on the Oswego Canal.  This lift bridge carries cars across.  Once the lock doors open, the lock tender opens the bridge so we can pass. 

Lock 2 comes with a caution regarding the 5' clearance bridge in the middle of the lock.  The cruise guide warns to tie up south of this span if you require more than 5' clearance, duh.  Once we dropped 18' we drove right under it. 

Water is flowing in from the rear gate.

I did a lot of driving on this stretch.  It was only 24 miles but we went through 8 locks.  One on the Erie and 7 on Oswego.

Our last lock for the day.  I am so tired of locks.  The wind has been fighting me all day.  Jerry swears I've done really well, and I guess I have but man it takes a lot of attention.  It can be unnerving when the wind catches the stern of the boat and pushes it out away from the wall.  Trying to get it back in is a lot of work manuvering forward then back.  Just venting, I love this trip!

We stopped on the wall just past Lock 7 in Oswego.  Jerry is looking for a 4MG SD card for a download of an update for the chart plotter,  we found a Staples about 2 miles away.  We hoofed it there and stopped for dinner on the way back.  This is the view from the boat looking towards Lock 8 this evening.

Saturday - Watching weather on Lake Ontario.  Our next crossing, Oswego, NY to Kingston, ON.  We're thinking about checking out Thousand Islands before we head to Kingston.  We hear it's beautiful. 

Today we chilled.  Too windy to be on the Lake.  Jerry changed the oil on the generator and needed a filter.  Found one at an auto parts store a few blocks away.  Went to a local restaurant for lunch while we were out. 

Watching boats coming and going through Lock 7, just behind Wind Song.

Spent the afternoon blogging.  Kind of warm but have a little breeze.  Once we are in Canada, may not be able to use the internet.  We hear it's pretty expensive and not worth changing service for only a month or so.  We'll see.  Anyway, I'll try to send out something over the next month with our progress.

6/22-6/27/2012

Friday - decided to stay another day in Waterford.  Walked to Don and Pauls for breakfast.  Afterward we toured the first lock on the Erie.  New York Canal Corporation requires boats to purchase a 2-day, 10-day or seasonal pass for any locks in the system which includes the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga-Senaca  and Champlain Canals.  We opted for the 10-day pass, $50 for boats over 39'.  The lock tender at the first lock sells the passes.  While we were there he shared with us some of the history of the lock system and showed the mechanisms that operate the locks.  Pretty cool.

An excerpt from the Skipper Bob Publication
The Erie Canal was started in 1817 and opened to traffic in 1825 .  Over 340 miles long, it is the most famous and best known of all the New York Canals.  The Erie Canal connects Troy, NY on the Hudson River with Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie.  The Erie has been enlarged and modified over the years but is still the mainstay of the New York Canal System.

Rode bikes to the grocery store, Hannafords, really nice store.  Loaded up the backpacks. 

This wooden sailboat was docked behind us on the wall.

 This is a replica of what is said to be the first ship built entirely in America (January to April, 1614), the Onrust.  The original ship built by Adriaen Block was 44.5 feet long and capable of carrying 16 tons.  Check out the interesting figurehead on the prow of the ship in the pic below.

From 2006 to 2009 New Netherland Routes, Inc., built a replica of the Onrust at the Schenectady County Historical Society's Mabee Farm HistCohoric Site. Construction used authentic 17th century Dutch ship building techniques rediscovered by the organization's master shipwright. The material is mostly white oak with pine decking. The replica is held together by more than 4,000 hand-made black locust pegs.

Jerry and I went to dinner at McGrievy's.  We had tried to catch up with Glenda and Carl on Goldleaf but weren't able to so invited them over for a drink later.  While we were visiting another couple, also loopers, came by.  We invited them up as well.  I think they are on What Knots.  Wonderful evening with friends.






Saturday - Did a bike ride this morning along the canaltrail.  Also looking for a hardware store.  Found one in Cohoes, the next town.  Rode back meeting these not so friendly geese.

These guys hissed as we passed and reluctantly gave up the trail.

A view of the Waterford wall.

Wind Song is just under the bridge.

Erie Lock #2, the first of the Waterford Flight of 5.  No stopping between Locks 2-6. 

Jerry managing the lines.  It was rainy so had to wear his raincoat.

Guard Gate #2 remains closed except for passing boats.  This Gate serves as a control of boats entering the Waterford Flight of Locks. Additionally, in the event of a break in a canal wall, the guard gates prevent water in long stretches of the canal from being released (to isolate the damaged section)  

Height restrictions on the Erie mean we have to lower our antennas to stay below 20 feet.  Some bridges provide only a 20' clearance between the bottom of the bridge and the water.  This can be controlled by locks releasing water allowing for more clearance.

Check out the rocks under this house

The dam at Lock 7.  We locked through 6 locks today, traveled 16.2 miles, total time 2 hours, 45 minutes.  We anchored barely off the channel today. 

 Sunday - Lounged this morning waiting for the Schnectady Yacht Club to open so we could get more fuel.  Our fuel gauges are less than accurate.  Added 147 gallons to starboard side only.  Now we list to one side.  Open the refrigerator door and it immediately closes. 

 Some views from the boat.

These are stone arches, remains of an early aqueduct which used to span the Mohawk River at this point.  The wooden portion of the aqueduct is long gone. 

 This sort of shows how close the bottom of some of these bridges are to the top of Wind Song.

Holding the lines

At Lock 10 the lock tender called on the radio.  One of the gates wouldn't open.  The opening is only 21ft, he wanted to make sure we could get through.  We have a 15ft beam so that was 3ft on either side.  Thank goodness no wind.  I got us through, no sweat. 

Canal boat cruising the Erie Canal.  Jerry and I had looked into renting one of these before we did the loop.  Looks like fun!  But we like our boat/home.

Did 8 locks today.  Tied to west wall after Lock 15.  Canal boat found a place close to us.  Traveled 48.3 miles today                                               

 Fixing dinner on the sundeck.  Glass of wine, paper plates.  Who could ask for more?

 Monday - Cool morning, low 60s. 

 Another Guard Gate, permanently up.

 Raining now.  We pulled over to this wall  waiting for lock tender to respond on the radio an open the gate. 

 Approaching Lock 17.  This is the highest lift  (40') on the Erie Canal and only one of two locks in North America that lifts the gate above the boater (guillotine type). 

 After lock 17 today, we stopped at Little Falls for lunch. Walked around town a little just to be off the boat. Little Falls has a free wall to tie to for day visits.

Guide book warned not to go past the bridge until the gate was open and you have a green light as there is no room to manuver once past the bridge. So we idled in the water just before the bridge.

Anchored on the west side of Lock 20 tied to the wall.  Nice canal trail close to wall.

Tuesday - Took advantage of the canal trail, got the bikes down and rode about 10 miles.  Great way to start the day.  And we only plan to travel 10 miles today to Rome, NY. 

 From the back of our boat, we watched as the tug pushed the barge into Lock 20.  We are tied to the wall on the right side of the picture

We rode our bikes across this bridge.  What a wonderful morning for a ride!

 YEAH!  No locks today.  Wind Song and me in Rome, NY.  Cool day.  Walked into town, had lunch at Savoy.  Rome has quite an Italian influence (surprise, right?).  Saw the restored Fort Stanwix, a reproduction of a Revolutionary War wooden fort.  Takes up an entire city block. 

Another boat joining us on the dock.  We spent the night here.  Had several town people come by just taking in the evening.  Jerry visited with some as they walked by the boat.

 Wednesday - Locked through 21 and 22, 25' drop each.  Both locks going down previous 20 locks lifted us up.   Lake Onieda is coming up.  After the locks, we pass many marinas and touristy type summer resorts.

Lake Onieda is rough this morning, 3 foot waves for most of the crossing, then dropping off to about 1 foot, Winds are WNW @ 17 knots.  Had to kick up the speed to around 9.5mph to stop the pitching.  Knocked 40 minutes off our crossing time.

 

 Our destination is Winter Haven Marina, cheap fuel, a courtesy car and overnight stay with power.  Arrived  about 1pm, fueled up 173 gallons @ $3.799.  Paid with check and got $0.10/gal discount.  Such a deal. 

Took the courtesy car into town, picked up a prescription, went to WalMart, and Target then back to the boat. 

6/18-6/21/2012

Monday - Happy Birthday Grace and Craig!
Trudy did laundry this morning.  Her family is driving to New Hamburg to spend a few days with her mom, Carolyn.  Kendell and Pearl are traveling to New Hamburg with us on the boat. 
We took off after lunch leaving behind Jersey City and Manhattan.  Jerry thought it would be more interesting to do the Statue of Liberty, East and Harlem Rivers on our way up the Hudson.  I think Kendell and Pearl agreed. 
Passed the sloop Clearwater belonging to an organization founded by folk singer Pete Seegar and his wife.  The organization, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater was established in the 60s to clean up protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education. 

Cruised passed the Palisades.  I was expecting a much more dramatic site.  It may have been if the sun would have been shining from different angles.  Our pictures are dark so not even going to offer them up.
Kendell and Pearl took lots of pictures, unfortunately we didn't get them loaded on the computer before they took off.  If I get them I'll update the blog.  I'm sure their pictures are excellent and cover much more than I have for these few days.
Our travels took us to Croton Bay on the Hudson.  We anchored in a lovely cove not far from a beach.  Arrived about 7:30pm.  Had dinner and just enjoyed the evening with family on the boat. 
Tuesday - Decided to hang out another day.  Kendell and Pearl got the dinghy out and rowed to the beach.  As they got closer, signs were posted that prohibited wading, swimming and water craft.  They decided they weren't in a watercraft so beached the dinghy and walked around.  After awhile, they rowed back to Wind Song. 

Jerry offered the motor for the dinghy so they could go into Croton.  No question, they were into that.  The 4hp Evinrude motor is carried on the bow of the boat.  It weighs over 50 pounds so is too heavy to carry on the davits.  We towed them to the front of the boat, Jerry lifted the motor down to the dinghy, Kendell tightened it down and after a few basic instructions, they were off. 

They cruised into Half Moon Bay Marina.  To leave the dinghy there while they went into town cost them $10.  Kendell saw fellow loopers loading their boat.  He asked if they knew Wind Song.  They did, it was Carl and Glenda on Goldleaf.  They were returning from a trip home to Iowa.

Kendell and Pearl motored back late in the afternoon.  The day had gotten quite warm so they decided a dip would be in order.   

Kendell was first in the water. Just jump in and get it over with is his philosphy. Pearl was hesitant. Not so sure she liked that idea, in fact as she was sitting on the side of the boat, Jerry standing next to her, she kept saying "don't push me". Finally, she went to the swim platform and eased into the water. Looked tortuous to me. Once they got used to the water, it was great, so they said. I didn't get in. 

Next thing  I knew Jerry was in his trunks and jumping off the side of the boat. 

After a shower, Pearl put a fishing pole in the water using lures and didn't get anything so she helped with dinner.  What a great evening, it cooled down and we enjoyed the sunset.

Wednesday - we were out early, just after 7am. Want to put some miles under the boat.  This morning our journey took us by some incredible scenery

We couldn't get over the number of trains rolling past us.  Both freight and passenger trains on both sides of the Hudson.

This was just a neat shot with the train in between the deck and the house.

One of the many bridges we passed.

Pearl and Kendell taking it all in from the deck of the boat.  And the temperatures were perfect until about 10:30am.  This was the beginning of a 3-day heat wave.

 Our first view of West Point.  In the past, pleasure boats could dock here for the tour, but no more.  Security wasn't to be seen which kind of surprised me.

\Just another view of West Point.

Shortly after we past West Point, we arrived at New Hamburg.  Jerry wanted to add some fuel to make sure we could make it to the cheap fuel close to the end of the Eastern Erie Canal.  So we fueled up at White's Marina.  We could see Trudy at the New Hamburg Yacht Club just past White's.  She walked over along with Carolyn, Joe, Grace, Dylan and Rose. 

It was really getting hot so while they waited for us to get fueled, they either found some shade or got on the sundeck to get out of the sun.  We invited Carolyn on board to see the boat.  She in turn invited us to their home for brunch.  White's said we could just leave the boat on the fuel dock while we were gone.  It was only a couple of blocks to the house.  Michael was busy cooking.  We all sat around the table for a wonderful meal.  Enjoyable having everyone together.

Jerry and I said our good-bys and were off again.  The heat was miserable so we kept going just so we could have a breeze.  At 3pm the heat index was 104F, water temp 72.4.

The barge has a slot in its structure specifically for the tow to fit into.  We saw other barge/tow vessels like this

No passengers on the Statue Cruises tour boat.  Not sure what this boat was doing this far from NYC.  Maybe just lost its way.

Mansion looking over the Hudson.  Saw several tucked away in the trees.  Couldn't get much of a picture of them though.

The Esopus Meadows Lighthouse was originally built in 1838 for $6000 appropriated by the US Government to warn ships of dangerous shallows and mud flats.  It was rebuilt in the 1860s and is considered a "family lighthouse" for a keeper and family.  There are 7 rooms, kitchen, dining and sitting rooms on the first floor, bedrooms up.  It is fully automated now and is the only existing lighthouse built with wood frame and clapboard exterior.   It's considered unsafe to visit at this time.

This barge/tow showed up on AIS and we could tell it would quickly overtake us so we just slid over to the side of the channel and let him pass.  You know when the law of tonnage applies.

Another lighthouse on the Hudson.

We finally stopped about 7pm at Middle Ground Flats close to Athens, NY. We traveled 83.3 miles today in 10 hours, averaging 8mph.  Total miles traveled to date, 4,063. Our anchorage was just off an island with the channel on the other side.  Fishing boats and jet skis continued whipping around us for an hour or so more of daylight.  We closed up the boat, turned on the generator and the AC to cool down so we could sleep.  It's amazing how being on the water makes such a difference in temperatures especially at night, thank goodness.  So turned off the gen before going to bed and opened the windows.  It was warm, but tolerable.

Thursday - Our destination today is Waterford Visitor's Center at the beginning of the Erie Canal.  They offer a free dock with power so we wanted to make sure we got a place on the wall since it was still extremely warm.  Out on the sundeck this morning we are visited by many small butterflies.  The isinglass was open all night and they came in on the bridge and sundeck. 

Kayaks along the shore.

Water was glassy smooth.  A little hazy this morning.

Just an interesting house with a totem pole in the yard.

Usually the tows pull barges if the water is particularly rough.  Saw this mostly on the Chesapeake. Kind of surprised to see on the Hudson.

Beautiful house with a gorgeous view on the bluffs of the Hudson.

Skyline of Albany, NY

NY State Capital building

A restaurant on the river in Albany

Troy Lock, the first of 31 locks.  This is a Corp of Engineers lock, the others are operated by the  NY Canal System.

 

So I'm driving into the lock and I haven't done a one in quite awhile.  I am apprehensive of course.  The winds are fairly strong from the west, so we do a starboard tie thinking the winds will just push us into that side of the lock.  Jerry is on deck.  I get us close so he can tie up.  The wind caught us before he could get a line on.  I tried to get us back but the wind was wrapping around us and pushing the boat off the wall.  After several attempts, I changed places with Jerry.  The lockmaster offered a line.  He tossed it to the boat and we were finally lifted 14' and were out of the lock.

Not far past the lock we made a left turn at this sign to Waterford and the beginning of the Erie Canal.

At the Visitor's Center, MaryJo gave us the scoop on Waterford.  She told us where the restaurants are that we need to try, the laundromat and grocery.  One of the grocery stores lets boaters bring the carts to the Visitor's Center then they come by once a week to pick them up.  Along the walkway, bricks have been layed showing the Erie Canal and each lock.  It's a very nice place to stay.  Free dock and power for only $10/day.  Such a deal compared to the $3/ft + $20 for power in NYC.

We walked into town, had an ice tea at Don and Paul's cafe, found the laundromat then walked back to be in the air conditioning of the boat.  After it cooled off, we hauled laundry to town (about 3-4 blocks).  Treated ourselves to ice cream while the laundry was running.