Hurry

9/19/06
Wilson, NY to Oswego, NY
120 mi, 5.5 hrs

Well the threatened winds and rain haven't arrived yet so we are headed to Oswego, without delay.

We leave Wilson around 9:30 AM and head out into Lake Ontario in 3+ waves. The sun is out and it's warm, and there is little to do but enjoy.

Around 12:00 we pull into Point breeze to fuel up and tourist. Lots of fishermen with Salmon and Brown Trout.

After a break it's back into the Lake and onto Oswego. The waves are picking up and the sky is starting to threaten the forecasted change in the weather.


About 2:30 we enter Oswego harbor

and tie up to wait for the weather. From hear on until NYC the trip is inland so the wind and waves should not be too much of a factor.

Some wings and a burger in the local sports bar, a little reading, and it's off to bed.

The Welland Canal

Mon 9/18/06
Port Colborn, Ont. to Wilson, NY (Welland Canal)
48 mi 8 hrs.

Today we do the Welland. The canal is 27 mi. long with eight locks. I have hired a guide/line handler to help us since these are big commercial locks that are designed for freighters. Only 2 people are required going from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario; but it seemed like a good idea, and the guide was a wealth of interesting and fun information that made the trip much more fun.

Norman arrived about 7:30 AM and we motored up to the check in point at 8:00 AM. We were cleared to enter the canal at 8:30 with a sail boat. Sometimes the wait can be 4 - 5 hrs, so we were lucky.

The canal and the locks are very large and the entire trip had a commercial feel to it.

The locks are large and almost intimateness. All of our locks we will be going down about 45 ft.



Some of the locks are double locks and at one we were preparing to go down while a freighter was rising in the lock next to us.


We exited the canal about 2:30. Norman was thrilled with the quick passage. The weather was around 70 and the threaded winds hadn't arrived so we started out into Lake Ontario with 3 Ft wave and headed east to Willson NY to get further along before the weather caught up with us.

We entered Tuscarora Bay about 3:30

and after finding a video phone checked in with Homeland Security (immigration & Customs) , then tied up at the Tuscarora Yacht Club for the night.


Tired, we did frozen dinners and called it a night.

Another good day.

This Is Blue Water Cruising

Sun. 6/17/06
Fairport Harbor, OH to Port Clorborn Ont.
132 mi. 6 hrs

We pull out of the Grand River about 8:30 AM and head northeast accross Lake Erie

headed for the enterance to the Welland Canal at Port Clorborn. The temp is in the high 60's, the sky is clear, the sun is bright, 3 ft wave are pushing us on our way, and the boat is running perfectly. It's truly beautiful. There is just nothing I can say, talking is not necessay, it is just about being at peace and aware of the moment.

We arrive in Port Clairborn around 2:00 PM and fuel up and tie up at the Sugarloaf Marina.

After a nice dinner at the marina resturant there was a fantastic sunset,

and it's time to call it a day.

The wind is picking up, and the forcast is for rough seas tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a good day to be in the canal. The guides say that the trip thru the canal to Lake Ontario can take anywhere from 6 to 12 hrs, depending on traffic, so we'll need a good night rest.

So far so good.

Away We Go

Sat. 9/16/06
Toledo - Fairport Harbor
136 mi 8 hrs (incl. delays)

What an interesting start! Jim and Lois picked me up right at 8:00 AM to take us to Maumee River Yacht Club to start the adventure. Lois and I had packed and provisioned the boat on Fri. and everything was ready to go; except that when we arrived I remembered that I had left the key to the boat at home. So we turn around and back to my house to get the key. OK so we get underway about 9:30 AM. Everything is looking good as we say goodby to the club...

and head out into a foggy Maumee River.

As we take it up to speed I see that the tachometers are way out of synch and showing that the engines are over reving. Since the Cat mechanic had just worked on them on Thurs and they were OK Thurs night when Mike and Nicole and I went out to dinner I'm wondering what's going on. They sound good but those engines just cannot turn 3500 RPMs. Well let's give it a minute. Then the low oil pressure light for the starboard engine lights up. The pressure gauge says all is good; but the alarm is sounding so I shut down the engine and we idle into Brenner Marine in downtown Toledo and I call the mechanic. This is one hell of a way to start off!

Well after a couple of hrs of checking and a test run in the river with the mechanic, we determine that the engines are running perfectly and there is a problem with the gauges, perhaps just some moisture. So again we cast off with hopes and prayers.

About 11:45 AM we clear the new I-280 bridge, which just might be finished, when we return next spring.

At about noon we clear the Toledo Harbor light and turn east and finally, we are out of here!

The lake is calm, the sun is out, and the gauges are now right where they are suppose to be. This is going to be great!

This is prime perch fishing season and everyone with anything that floats is out in the lake. I have decided that the traffic in New York harbor is child's play. The Coast Guard is constantly broadcasting another distress call for people who have gone overboard, vessels sinking or taking on water, disabled boats; and to add to the fun Camp Perry is having live fire exercises, and then we hear a report of a helicopter crashing at the nuclear plant that we just passed. Boy it just doesn't get any better than this. To add to the fun, I have to take the busy southern passage between Middle Bass Island (Put-In-Bay) and Catawba Island so that I can stop in West Harbor to get fuel.

Ok so about 1:45 PM we pull out of West Harbor and head east for Fairport. The crowd thins, then disapears, and it gets real beautiful and peaceful.

Really it just doesn't get any better than this. Peaceful, serine, and just plain humbling. I truly love it.

About 5:15 PM we pull into Fairport Harbor

and tie up at the Grand River Yacht Club.

We catch a nice dinner at Brennans (yes, we passed on Pickle Bill's) and called it a night. It's been a long day, and not the way I would imagine, but truly "These are good days".

It really is good to be cruising again.

Let's try this again

To those of you who were tracking my Progress north in the spring, I am sorry that I didn't keep up with the blog. Once I got behind in my entries it just lost it's priority. Writing from my notes just didn't do it for me. Now that I'm getting ready to head south again, and so many people have ask me to, I will try to keep up with it again for this trip.

The remainder of the trip north was fabulous. I really had no problems, and the scenery was great. The weather did it's thing and I had to cancel the Chesapeake tour, and we saw some snow in the Erie Canal; but all in all it was a wonderful trip.

The summer was entirely too short, and I have so many trip in the Great Lakes to do in the future. Most of the time was spent around the west end of Lake Erie just getting use to the area.

There have been no problems with the boat except for damaging the props in the Detroit River when I was on the phone to US immigration and I forgot to drive the boat.

So now it's time to start South. The boat is serviced, packed and provisioned and ready to get back into salt water. Lois and I are heading out this morning (9/16/06) and headed to Fairport today and then on to the Welland Canal, into Lake Ontario, down the Oswego Canal and into Syracuse. I'm really excited to get going again.

I will really try to keep you up to date this time.