New York City

Holy crap. Who would figure that finding wifi in a place with 10 million people, would be so damn difficult. So, I write this blog offline, in the hopes that I can make it to a signal sometime today.

Sorry about the last entry. We had free wifi in Kingston NY, but the evening was just so nice, we had a great meal on the boat, a couple of beers, a movie in the park, and just a real nice time. It seemed a shame to ruin it spending an hour writing a blog entry. We are stuck in a laundry mat off 79st and Broadway in New York; now that is time to write a blog.

Anyway, we left Kingston early in the morning, wanting to get the travelling over with early, so we could just sit back and relax.

We passed some lovely light houses in the middle of the river, here and there protecting mariners from the nasty shoals.

Saw some interesting houses, or in this case a gazebo over the water supported only in the middle.

Shared the channel with some larger traffic.

And in one case, large traffic in both directions. It was a tight fit, but luckily the oncoming barge and tug where a little faster than the ship behind us.

Getting passed takes on a whole new meaning here.

And look at the water being pushed up on that bow. Not a good place to swim.

And here is a family of tugs we saw on the way into Kingston. Daddy, Mommy, and Baby tug. Sorry, they were cute, we had to.

Some of the houses along the Hudson River get a little large.

And some of the areas are void of houses, both interesting, and both beautiful in their own way.

So at the end of the day Saturday, we anchored behind Pollepel Island with our new friends, Jorge & Kim, and Gil & Diana. We launched the dinghy, and picked up Kim & Jorge for a ride around the Island. We were not permitted to go on the island for safety reasons, but we toured around it. I hit a rock with the dinghy motor, but no damage done. This can be a dangerous place. Then we settled in for beers and appetizers aboard Serenada. Our first official sundowner. And after returning Jorge and Kim to their boat we went back to Vita, dinner, cleanup, and cockpit showers before bed. A great evening.

The next morning we left early, wanting to get to Nyack for laundry and grocery shopping. A futile attempt. The engine quit on the way out of the anchorage, so we had an emergency anchoring drill. Which worked out good. Apparently if you want to keep the engine running, you have to remember to turn the fuel back on after your done playing with it. No harm done. We got boarded by US Customs and Border Patrol, and the local Police. It was a great meeting, and the highlight of our day. The laundry ended up being a flop, and groceries were pretty scarce. Tired and wet, we went to bed early.

Next day, similar scenario. Up early. Wanting to get fuel, somewhere, and to West 79^th St. Basin Boat Club in Manhattan NY. No one in Nyack had fuel, so we tried calling the marina on the other side of the river. Nothing. Crap. Serena says lets just pull in and see, so we did, and wouldn’t you know it, credit card, self-serve fuel. I’ve seen it all now, and I can come home. Lol

We passed by the famous West Point, and its pretty impressive. No expense spared.

Made New York while the tide was going out, and the current was crazy. We got tied up to a mooring ball, with little difficulty, using our patented lasso methed (thanks Larry), then retired to a couple of cold beers and a nap. Lunch didn’t seem to sit well, and Serena was having a rough time in the rolly-polly anchorage. So, other than dinghying in to pay for 3 nights, we spent the day watching tv, laying around, napping, and just generally taking a badly needed break.

So far the trip has been a bit of a bag drive. Everything takes so much more effort to do, and there just isn’t enough energy in the day to get everything done. As evidenced by the 3 loads of laundry we are doing at the Laundromat right now. The blackwater tank is full, and there is no where to pump it. We have to drive two hours just to empty the tank. Not sure if that will get done just yet. Groceries; is a marathon even which usually ends with us exhausted and disappointed. However, I don’t think we would change it for anything. We have the next two days to see a little of New York before we head on. So far we have been unamazed. Expecting something bigger I guess, it reminded us of Toronto. It’s a neat place to be, with a different culture. We will probably tire ourselves out just walking around. I can’t wait to walk through Central Park, but I think that will wait until tomorrow when, reportedly, the sun will be out.

Until next time…. Not yet in paradise.

George Washington Bridge, Night and day. The current under this thing was 4 knots, 8 km for you non-boaty types.

Sorry, have'n too much fun

We are tied up to the town dock in Kingston NY. It wouldn't have been our first choice, because it cost us $58.00 for the night. Showers, good music, nice people, and a movie in the park, that we can watch from our cockpit. Dinner was awesome, the company even better.

So, that's the end of the entry. Having too much fun to spend the time blogging.

Love as if its your first time, smile as if its your first day, and live each day as if it were you last.

S/V Vita

Vita is a Sailboat

But I am getting ahead of myself. Two days ago we left Waterford NY, heading for Castleton on the Hudson, to step the mast. We got an early start. Our new friends left shortly after we did, and we held the lock at Troy for them, as they showed up in the rear view mirror while we were entering. Then the three of us traveled down the river, "the Canadian Navy". Vita in the lead. Turns out that we run about the same speed, different rpms, but the same speed. We honestly though they would blow by us, and there is still some belief by the crew of Vita that the other boats were just being nice.

Cs'ta Time, Jorge and Kim above.
Serenada, Gil and Diana below.

On the Hudson, the traffic gets a little bigger.

Okay, a lot bigger.

And apparently so do the birds. This nest was perched on top of a bridge support, we didn't see the bird, and its a good thing too. With a nest that big, I am thinking that people might be just the right size for a light snack. lol

The restaurant/bars look a little different to. Can you think of a better use for an old barge? I can't,,

We all managed to step our masts after a long afternoon in the hot sun, then beer and pizza were in order. Showers, mooring balls, and the finish to a great day. Some had to work a little harder than others. This is Jorge, a long way up.

Net effect, sailboat....

Castleton on the Hudson

This place is great. $5 per night for a mooring ball, and that includes showers, a bar with $1.25 draft, bathrooms, and all the services. They gave us free pump outs when we got gas; even though we only took 7 gallons. $50 for the mast crane, and the reason none of the club members will help, is because they are not allowed to. The insurance company for the club will not cover it, they have tried over and over, but the liability is too great. It was fine for us, between 3 boats, we had a ton of help. I highly recommend this place to anyone, but try and find a friend to come with you. Serena and I had figured out how we could step the mast, safely with just the two of us, but for other larger, or more complicated boats, this would be tough.

The dinghy

I have been fighting with this thing all season. I have tore apart the carburetor, cleaned it, the tank, the lines, everything, and it still hasn't run well. Today it ran out of fuel, and I gave myself blisters trying to get it started. Finally, I decided to take out the spark plug and clean it. It was dirty, but not overly. It started first pull. I was talking to a fellow boater, and he told me that after a while oil will get into the plug and fowl it. Well, the previous owner poured oil into the cylinders to preserve it over winter. I am thinking that may have caused part of the problem. So top of the shopping list, new spark plug.

Here is what happens when the dinghy motor doesn't work. In her defense, Serena did offer to row. Shivery is not completely dead.

Tomorrow we continue down the road. If we had more time we would stay here a few days and relax. We did manage to get some cleaning done, and Vita is looking a little better.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, the local Stewarts convenience store has beer for $13.19 for a 24. If we were taking back the empties, that's 50 cents a beer, and its 5.9% alcohol. This alone would be cause to stay here longer. I bought two cases, but only because Vita already had 84 beer on board. That brings us up to 132, just enough to get to New York, 130 miles away. Okay, maybe a little further.

And; I need to start making these entries sober. Its really hard to get spelling and grammar right after a few sundowners.....

Bye Bye Erie Canal

Or almost. We are docked in Waterford, NY, which is really the end of the canal, but we still have one more lock to go through at Troy. And of course, there is always next year.

I made our last blog in Canajoharie, while we were out walking around town, reprovisioning, and grabbing a bite to eat. What I didn't mention was that for an hour while I was writing that blog, Serena had become a tour guide for the locals. No matter how many times it happens, it still feels weird to be an attraction. There was a young lady yelling at us from the top of lock 17, "hello Vita", over and over. One gentleman and his grandson were taking pictures of at us at a lock, and then showed up later while we were docked in town, and had a tour of the boat. It is amazing the novelty we become to those that dream, but are not sailorly afflicted. I think Serena gets a kick out of it though. Vanna, show me a T.

Also in Canajoharie, Serena fell in love with the Geese, which she calls, gooses, geeses, and/or big ducks, depending on the moment. I am not quite sure how the domestic geese got there, but they seem to be free. Serena particularly befriended one goose that the other geese and even the ducks chased away. Coincidentally that goose got fed more bread than the others. I know, the sign says don't feed the geese, shoot us! I guess that makes up for somebody retying our dock lines. We think perhaps it was the harbourmaster, but since we never got to see him, then I guess we'll never know. It does bug me that someone would retie our lines, like we didn't know how to do it. I suppose, there are some boaters out there that don't, and I have seen some of the abominations that people use, but if it works, what the hey, leave em' to it.

I'm jumping around here, sorry. But this post has a lot little stuff. Below is Serena's new shirt that we picked up while we were fueling up. The Redneck Boat Club. If people remember the Trailer Trash shirt she was wearing all summer, then this fits right in. I almost bought a second one for our friend Denis, because this just had his name all over it. Maybe in the spring on the way back.

The flooding has changed the navigation a bit in the Erie Canal. Not only are there a lot of temporary channel markers around, but some markers are not quite where they should be. We gave up looking at the numbers to figure out where we were, because they were moved all over the place. At first we thought someone was playing a game, but apparently not. The ones below seem to be slightly out of place.

 These two pictures show lock 9, I think. Where you see the gravel behind the lockmaster, and the water, was pretty lawn and a lock house just a few short weeks ago.

Below is a house we saw on while we were travelling down. I was curious whether the insurance company would cover it when it eventually fell into the river, which should be soon. The picture doesn't really do it justice. And, this wasn't the only one.

 We got stuck waiting for lock 6 because this barge and tug were coming through. Looking at the size, I think you would have let him through too. Now were the ones taking pictures of the barge and crew, you could tell they got a lot of that from people too, They took it well, smiled and waved. Celebrity status, just like Vita.

For the last too days we have been sitting in Waterford, NY. We spent some time visiting with our new friends from Lake Simcoe. Cs'ta Time (CS36) and Serenada (Ontario 32). They are headed south too, left there snow shovels at home. Both crews are snowbird virgins, just like us, so its nice to compare notes with somebody else, six heads are better than two. We also managed to get some shopping in, laundry, and some boat chores. I think I may have temporarily solved the fuel problem, but I won't know for sure for a few days. Serena got some badly needed cleaning in, and some reorganizing, but not too hectic.

Tomorrow we hit tidal waters for the first time. We aren't too worried about it, but we are making an effort to understand it. Like everything else, we know in a few weeks it will be like we where sailing in tidal waters our whole lives. We also get our mast up tomorrow, hopefully, then Vita will be a sailboat again. She did fine as a powerboat, but as I mentioned before, sailboats were meant to be free, like a bird on a good breeze.

We are starting to run a little low on time. We need to be in Annapolis, MD., for about the 18th of Sep. I fly to London, England on the 20th to crew in a boat delivery, from England to Spain, for a couple weeks. Luckily I come back on the 7th of October, just in time for the Annapolis sailboat show. But that means that we can't spend too much time sitting around drinking beer and watching the world go by. Now I know why everyone says, "don't set schedules", because having a deadline, blows. We could have spent a month coming through the Erie, and every place we've stopped begged for further exploration, but there just isn't enough time.

Okay, I'm done, go do something fun.

Erie Canal

I’ve been lucky enough to add several blog posts over the last little while. Time and wifi enabled. So I wanted to make an entry dedicated to this wonderful canal system that the state of New York is kind enough to maintain for our boating pleasure.

I won’t bore you with the history, which in itself is very intriguing, and I’ll try not to talk about the not-so-friendly lockmasters, because they are easily outnumbered by the good and the great ones. What I really want to talk about is the atmosphere, and how it feels to be travelling down an old waterway, made by man, but still belonging to nature. And if I get some of the small facts wrong, I apologize, those who know me, know that perfect is not something I am capable of, nor willing to strive for.

First of all, for lock virgins, those who have never been through a lock, relax, its way easier than you think. The first couple will be tough, and you make little mistakes, but by the end of this system, you’ll be a pro, hopefully with very few scratches in the gel-coat, or dents in the end of the mast for those sailboaters with the stick hanging out either end. My only advice would be to get a 2”x6”x8’ fender board for the starboard side of the boat, or the port if you prefer using that side to tie up on. Two boards if your boat is longer. I almost didn’t get one, but found one laying in the pile in Oswego, and figured what the hell, its here. Without it my fenders wouldn’t have made it this far. Some of the lock walls are rough concrete.

Also, if you are the type that needs to have clorinated water, hot showers, and cafes, every night, you will probably miss the real feel of the system. You need to stay on lock walls, talk to the lockmasters. Or, as I have found out, lore-masters. These are the guys that know the system, history, structure, and happenings. To really get a sense of the how incredible this place is, you need to part of it, and the “lore-masters” are your doorway to a great experience. Don’t get me wrong, the little towns along the way are great, and the people for the most part have been extremely friendly, and helpful. Driving us around, offering to drive us around, directions, information, etc… Some places that have become popular have started to charge like marina’s, and unfortunately are loosing some of their appeal, especially to those like us, on a restricted budget. But there are still plenty of places along the way who will welcome you with open arms, and a free place to tie up your little ship.

The only thing that you really need to watch out for is the debris. From the eastern end of Lake Onieda on down there is a trail of debis left over from the floods back in June of this year. Most of the dead heads are stuck on bottom near the shores, but it is still important to be vigilant. And, don’t drive at night, especially if you have exposed props like a power boat.

Lock 16 provided us with an awesome view of natures power. When the flood came this year, lock 16 was where the torrent found its way back to the river. The water surged over the lock approach walls where a hoard of boats were tied up, ripping out the road, and tearing a swath down an old creek bed. When we originally saw the gorge left behind, we thought it had been made by machines; it was inconceivable that water would have done that, especially in such a short time. We were spared the real picture, because so much work had already been done to clean up the mess, and it was still phenomenal. We had stopped over in Little falls to do laundry and get a pumpout, and I made a trip over town to the hardware store. Little Falls, was the start of the flood of 2013, still not totally cleaned up, and in the hardware store the shelves from about waist high down were still covered in mud left over from the flood. A storm drain blew out just above the store, and the flood waters rushed in the back door breaking out the front window on their way through. Destruction was everywhere, and the cleanup effort had hidden most of it. This is a pretty common experience along the canal. Every few years somewhere gets nailed. 2006 was especially bad, and then again in 2007, like the gentleman in the lumber store said, “its happened before, it’ll happen again”. Sometimes it almost seems like a badge of honor for these people to have survived mother nature’s onslaught; but I have a feeling that they would rather have not had to go through it.

I am afraid that I really don’t have the words to explain how wonderful this trip has been so far. This is something that needs to be experienced first hand, no one can tell you.

For us, it is unfortunate that we have so little time going through, we would love to stop at every little place that had a free dock, and explore. Perhaps another time, when we have a different agenda. We know that we can never go back, so we’ll take this great experience with us and create a new one our next time around. 

I think the lock troll lives in here.

Define Cruise - Fixing Your Boat in Exotic Places

We had a nice relaxed itinerary for yesterday. We stopped and had coffee, used the wifi, and bought bagels. Then we were headed for a marina, fuel, pumpout, showers, and laundry. By the time we got there is was closed. So we decided to keep going to the next town to stay on the free wall. But the wall was full, so we kept going to lock18. They don't have a place to stay, but the lockmaster let us tie up to the end of the dock. It was after 7:00, and we had been travelling for 11 hours, we were done.

I managed to get an oil change in after dinner. Made a big mess that we had to clean up, ruined the rug, and there was no garbage cans. Then we boiled water and had a nice shave and cockpit shower before bed. Not a bad evening, but long.

This morning we were ready to go when the lockmaster opened the locks. But Vita wasn't. Her engine promptly died. It took two hours to go over everything, and I found some loose connections in the fuel system. Diesels don't like air bubbles. I got everything tightened up, bled the system, and away she went. I wanted her to run for awhile before we decided to leave. Plus I figured if I was playing with the engine, I might as well give everything a little tweak. Tighten the alternator, changed the air filter, clean up around the engine, etc....

We got off just after 10:00, thru the lock and stopped in the Little Falls, NY. What a gorgeous spot. We got a pumpout, showers, wifi, shopping, and did our laundry. Where will end up tonight, who knows, but I think tomorrow is a stay put day. We need a day off. Sleep in.

Little Falls, NY.

 Little Falls, NY.

A Pair of Canadian sailboats. A CS 36, and an Ontario 32, from Barrie. We've been chasing each other down the canal. They are ahead now.

Oswego Canal – Erie Canal

Poor Vita has been turned into a power boat. Her mast is on deck, and her sails are all bagged. The good news is that she is handling it far better than her Captain. Not that I have anything against a nice diesel trawler, but something about a sailboat says freedom like nothing else, and its hard to see something free with its wings clipped. Not long though, a few more short days and she will be soaring with the birds once again.

We finally got to leave Oswego on Tuesday, 21 Aug 13. The crew at Oswego Marina were amazing. Laurie and Bernie, who pretty much run the joint were an absolute hoot. Friendly, helpful, and figured me out right away. Definitely going back there on the way home.

I wanted to take a minute to tell you about our other crew member, Ray. No, Serena did not pick up a cabana boy, just yet. Ray is the name that we have given our Raymarine X5 autopilot. He is an invaluable asset, steering long periods, and saving us from sore shoulders. However, we have found that he is not to be trusted at all, and must be watched all the time. He has little quirks that we are figuring out as we go, and if you tick him off, he’ll up and do a 360 on you. He likes to stray a little at a time, like he’s falling asleep, so you have to wake him up and give him a little course correction. Then he has this thing about meals, if you open the pot drawer, he starts jumping around widely and throws the boat into a tail spin, forgetting the reason he is even here. But we love him none-the-less, and appreciate his tireless duty. (read; I installed the autopilot compass too close to the pot drawer.) There were a few people who told us before we left, that we should tie Ray to the chart plotter so that we could lay in courses and let Ray do his thing. But the picture below shows why we do not let the two of them talk to one another. Between Ray’s little idiosyncrasies and the GPS not having a clue where its going, our cruise would be over all ready. Same reason we don’t put a GPS in the car. Nice reference, but it doesn’t make up for good ol’ human eyes.

We did the Oswego canal in one day. Its only 24 miles long, and stopped along the upper wall of lock 23. It’s a beautiful spot. Lots of wildlife, but the mosies chased us indoors at dusk. The lockmaster gave us a tour of the power station that used to run the lock when it was installed. The power comes in through the transmission lines now, but most of the old gear is still able to operate. Flashbacks to Serena’s childhood when her Dad worked on the power stations in Campbellford.

We left lock 23 on the Wed and did the stretch across Onieda Lake. It’s a big shallow lake, and has a reputation for being a real bear. But for us yesterday the winds were light, and she was more like the teddy variety. We stopped in Sylvan Beach on the other side for Wifi, and ended up staying the night. We met a fellow named Joe who runs the visitor centre, and owns an ice cream shop; I love ice cream. He was kind enough to run me all over hells-half-creation to find 30 weight oil for Vita’s oil change. I offered him something for his time and gas, but he would have none of that. So, we figured if the people here are this nice, we need to stay around for the night and provision. Groceries, beer, pop, water, etc….

Today we are headed out yet again. We start going down river towards the Hudson this afternoon, after we find some wifi in “Rome”, NY, so we can post this update. We passed a dredge this morning leaving Sylvan Beach, which was kinda neat. Its like a big vacuum sucking up the mud out of the bottom of the canal, and it was tight, but they made room for our little boat to get by.

All along the canal are these little remnants of the original canal system. It was a lot smaller back then, accommodating smaller barges towed along the shore by horse teams. I hope they always keep this system up and going. It is an interesting piece of history, and a grand way to see NY state. To this point most of the politics has stayed out of it, but if it ends up like Ontario’s canals, it will become a liability, and possibly slowly disappear, which is sad.

Vita and crew continue on down the Erie Canal system. We still miss our morning coffee on the bench at the CFB Trenton YC, but life must forever move forward. For us that means to where there is no snow.