Anchored in Sandy Cove overnight and on to Trenton



Tuesday, June 17

Another beautiful morning! We had an early breakfast aboard and then walked up to the main street in Picton, had a second cup of tea and enjoyed the internet access at Miss Lily’s Café.

Miss Lily's Café was a great spot for an early morning check of email



Miss Lily's Café

Couldn't resist having my photo taken in front of a painting
on a local convenience store



When we got back to the boat we saw that John & Sue on Thanks Dad, with their three dog flight, had already left. As we prepared to leave we couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty of being on the water with reflections of boats, trees and homes everywhere. We are so thankful to be able to be traveling by boat on this extended trip.

Picton Harbor

We untied and cruised north along the narrow bay and eventually took a sharp turn to port to follow the waterway. We went under the skyline bridge, saw a couple of swans swimming along shore. The Telescope Narrows were clearly marked with the green and red buoys and the water continued to be very smooth.

Bridge ahead!

By 1 p.m. we were at our destination of Sandy Cove, our first anchorage of the trip. It was a restful afternoon until we turned on the weather radio and heard the forecast of possible thunderstorms. We moved the boat a little to allow for swinging in the wind and decided to ride it out.
We were in about 15 feet of water and John put out 100+ feet of chain. One big thunderstorm came through with high wind gusts, but our new anchor and all that chain held tight and we were just fine. Our boat neighbor back at Champlain Marina, Doug, kept texting us with radar reports from his home in Williston, VT. Nothing like getting a little long distance support! Most of the rain was over by nine we went to bed to the sound of the wind whistling and the water washing against the boat but not too much rocking.

Rainbow over Sandy Cove after the thunderstorm

Captain’s Notes:

Departed: Picton Marina 9:05 a.m.
Engine hours: 4.1 (ran engine during thunderstorm)
Actual hours: 3 hrs, 55 min
Arrived: Sandy Cove, Belleville, Ontario 1 p.m.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Things finally quieted down around 4 a.m. and we got a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep after that. When we woke, our boat was right next to our anchor ball so we were still in the same spot. We were the only boat in the bay so we didn’t have to worry about crossing anchor chains with anyone else.

We were entertained by a pair of swans nearby with their four young cygnets. The cob and the hen seemed to be in full feather with their wings fluffed out. When they glided out of sight we saw another swan family coming from the other direction with three young. Later, John heard a loon and one swam by, but it dove under the water a lot so we didn’t get a picture. I am sure we will see many more on our way through Canada.

Swan with cygnets

View of the Trenton bridge from the dock

We pulled up anchor and headed west again toward the town of Trenton, the beginning of the Trent-Severn waterway to Georgian Bay. We stopped at the small Fraser Marina which is in a lovely setting near a memorial park. Some of the boats that had gone ahead of us were there, including “Thanks Dad.” We were glad to see everyone and received a warm welcome.

Captain's Log:

Departed: Sandy Cove 9:35 a.m.
Engine hours: 2.4 hours
Actual hours: 2 hours 10 min
Arrived: Fraser Marina, Trenton, Ontario 1 p.m.

 Thursday, June 19

It was a windy night but bright and sunny morning. We caught up on a few things, cleaned a bit, walked over the bridge to do laundry and bought a few more things at the grocery store.




We bought some Nutella, a Canadian product
with chocolate and ground hazelnuts, and Christopher approves



View of Fraser marina from bridge - Serenity on left

This was the morning for the local farmer’s market nearby. It is early in the season so they didn’t have much in the way of produce, but I did buy some radish sprouts to add to salads. Everyone was very friendly!

I was tempted by the pretty peonies, but opted for the radish sprouts

We went out to lunch at Captain George’s Fish and Chips. In the afternoon we walked up to Mt. Pelion to see the view. It is actually a “drumlet” formed by a glacier centuries ago and it is believed that Samuel de Champlain climbed up to survey the waterway. Now they have stairs with a platform and it did provide quite a vista.

Mt. Pelion view of Trenton - we came in on the waterway at lower left

Fortunately we have a fairly good internet connection here so John could sit in remotely on a Champlain Marina board meeting and I published this new blog page.

Tomorrow we will start the Trent-Severn Waterway!

 

 

Crossing Lake Ontario to Picton, Ontario

Sunday, June 15

We were up at the crack of dawn, at least John was, and Serenity pushed off at 6:00 am to cross Lake Ontario. Lots of fishing boats were leaving at the same time so they must also know that it is going to be a good day…or it’s Father’s Day and they have all been given a pass. When we first hit the open lake it was a little rough with lots of rocking and rolling. Outside temp was 46 and inside the cabin it was a cool 62 -  just a bit chilly. As we hung onto whatever we could find we looked at each other as if to say, “Four more hours of this?!”

For some reason a prayer that my mother liked came to my mind. She always had a card on her dresser with the words, “Oh Lord, be good to me. The sea is so wide and my boat is so small.” It was comforting to remember that and feel that we were being watched over.

Thanks Dad passes us - also a Mainship - looks a lot like us!

After about an hour or two, the water smoothed out and it really was a good passage with no waves on smooth gently rolling water. We could handle this! We were traveling at about 6.2 knots and it didn’t take Thanks Dad long to catch up and eventually pass us at their quicker speed of 8 knots. At least there was another boat out there for a while until we watched it fade into a tiny dot.

The crossing took five hours, plus another hour and a half to get into the Bay of Quinte. From there it was two and a half hours to Picton, Ontario, our destination. We are at Tip of the Bay Marina, and it really is the very end of a long bay.

John phoned Canada customs at the marina office. I had to stay on board until we were cleared. We had been told that regulations state that a boat must fly a yellow quarantine flag until it goes through customs and then exchange that for the Canadian flag. We didn’t have a yellow flag, so John put up a yellow rubber glove – same color, different shape.

John taking down the yellow glove and putting up Canadian flag

 

Sailing vessel St. Lawrence used by the Canada Naval Academy

In the evening we walked up the hill and into the town of Picton. The one main street has lots of little shops and restaurants. We found a little diner and stopped to have a bite, but almost everything else was closed. Back at the boat we were asleep by 9:30 – didn’t realize we were so tired.

Captain’s Log:

Depart: Oswego Marina, Oswego, NY, 6:00 a.m.
Engine hours: 9 hrs. 20 min
Clock time 9 hrs 15 min
Arrive: Tip of the Bay Marina, Picton, Ontario 3:20 p.m.
Winds less than 5 knots – initially a little choppy, 1-2 ft waves or less, but smooth by 10 a.m.
Nice trip except for port engine oil coming out of dipstick tube at 2700 RPM
(John says that this is why you do engine checks along the way!)

Monday, June 16

Nice morning. Several boats left to continue their trip. John fixed an oil leak when he realized that the breather hose from the crank case ventilation had been crimped during the recent engine work. He did some other maintenance which took all morning. After lunch we walked back into town, went to the library to check email messages, and wandered around town.

Storefront - maybe I should get a tee shirt like this

Bay view

Steel hill boat looks hand crafted - Rosebud - notice the R on the smokestack
 

Note re blog: you probably already know this, but I just figured it out. If you double click on a photo you will see a larger version and all the other photos on the day's blog are available at the bottom. I am still learning this program. We are publishing tonight sitting on a bench outside Miss Lily's Café which is closed this evening. We were there earlier in the day so John got the password. He is always thinking ahead - good Captain skill!

 

 

Oswego Canal to Oswego, NY

Friday, June 13

Friday the thirteenth was a charmed day for us! Again, we woke up to the sound of rain and we groaned inside. When we checked the radar we saw a lot of wet stuff moving through, but it looked like it would clear later on. John spoke with some fellow Loopers on Thanks Dad, also on a Mainship, who had just come into the marina two days before and they said they were leaving at 7:30. We agreed to go with them so we put ourselves into high gear to get ready. The rain stopped and we were on our way once again.

Our sister ship, Thanks Dad, with a few different features

Following the M/V Thanks Dad with John and Sue and their three dogs aboard, we cruised the last leg of our stint on the Erie Canal, going through lock 23 at 8 a.m. when it opened and then moving on to Three Rivers where the Oswego River separates to go north. We had very pretty views with houses and camps dotting the side of the shoreline. We did run into a patch of rain for about a half an hour, scrambled to get below, but it had stopped by the next lock.

House with spectacular Japanese maples

 

Oswego Canal going northwest to GREAT LAKE ONTARIO (lake looks really big!)

When we got to lock 2 we were informed that the sheriff’s department had temporarily closed the lock because they had divers searching the water just on the other side. We idled for a while and three other boats caught up to us. John called the lockmaster and asked how long the delay would be. The lockmaster first suggested that we tie up to the wall and then generously invited all five boats into the lock and tie up there and wait.

Squeezing into the Fulton lock -
the green bridge in front cut the lock almost in half.
When the water went down we could pass through.

 

Seanna was behind us and Bluegrass was to our port
 

Everyone had time to take lots of pictures while we were stuck in the lock
and the folks on Thanks Dad took this one of us

Fulton lock had a bridge right across it which restricted the room to tie up. We all squeezed in and it wasn’t much longer before the sheriff called and agreed to let us through. We found out later that they had found a car with the driver still inside at the bottom of the canal. Sadly, it had been missing for 17 years and the police were preparing to bring it up.

I guess I have a thing for bridges reflected in the water

Our group of five boats continued on through each lock until the last one delivered us all right to the Oswego Marina, our haven for the night. We took on some fuel ($4.58/gal - ouch!) and were tied up in our slip just as we saw the sky darken to the west and heard a clap of thunder. We were so glad we got an early start!

It rained for a couple of hours and finally cleared. We hoped to get a sunset photo over the lake, but too many buildings were in the way. These two tired travelers were ready for a good night's sleep.

Captain’s Log:

Depart: Ess-Kay Marina, Brewerton, NY 7:35 a.m.
Locked through lock 23 on the Erie, 7 locks on the Oswego
Engine hours: 7.9
Clock time 7 hr 20 min
Arrive: Oswego Marina, Oswego, NY 2:10 p.m.
Winds: calm to southerly at 5 kts

Saturday, June 14

There was a cold north wind all day, so we were glad we could stay in Oswego, as planned. In the morning we took a walk and found the pedestrian bridge across the river/locks and picked up a couple of things we needed. We put up the radar mast and prepared for the next day's crossing of Lake Ontario.

As we walked around the marina we saw lots of fishing boats, some with very clever names. The Other Woman certainly is appropriate, and another winner is Blood Vessel.

Fishing boat named The Other Woman - good name for most boats!
 

After an early supper aboard we walked to nearby Fort Ontario to see if we could catch the sunset. When we got there we realized that they doing a reenactment of the British settlement at the time of the Revolutionary War. It was very cold and windy, but it didn't seem to slow down the history buffs who were participating.

I had two jackets layered on and it still felt cold!

We both had on our red coats and were asked if we wanted to volunteer. They said I would  be put on kitchen duty. No thanks! Those tents don't look very comfortable either.

Re-enactors posing for the camera in full regalia
 

Cold north wind coming off Lake Ontario at sunset

The Wi-Fi and cell phone connection in Canada may be sporadic so the best way to reach us is to send a text message. Tomorrow we plan to get up and start out at first light; hope the wind dies down by then as forecast.

A couple of photos that I didn't get a chance to use:

Most of the locks bypass a dam or some other unnavigable
change in elevation



How John spent his days when the generator wasn't working
 

Captain’s Stats for the trip so far, at the end of two weeks:

Went through 11 locks on the Champlain Canal, 22 on the Erie and 7 on the Oswego for a total of 40 locks
Traveled 331.8 statute miles
Used 120 gallons of fuel for an average of 2.75 miles per gallon

Four day Layover in Brewerton

Monday, June 9

We are staying put for a few days, but we saw three fellow Looper boats off on their way this morning as they headed for the Oswego canal. Priorities, Destinees and one other boat set out and we said our goodbyes. John was able to clean out the fuel line to the generator which solves that problem but he wants to polish (filter) the fuel so the line is not so apt to get clogged again. We moved our boat over to a slip near the gas dock to make it easier to polish the fuel but we could see that nothing else was going to get done today. We borrowed the marina courtesy car and went into Brewerton to do some laundry – always one of the enjoyable tasks of traveling.

Making our own fun with a selfie at the Laundromat.
We had to work fast, as you can see it was only open from 7:00-8:30

Later on in the day we drove to Cicero to go to West Marine and then to the Wegmans to pick up something for dinner. Not a very exciting day, but we need a quiet one once in a while.

For the vintage vehicle collector in our family - this big red Mack truck
is used to pull some of the smaller boats

Tuesday, June 10

A diver was here at 8 a.m. to look at the props since the marina couldn’t pull our boat  out because the sling was in use. He said they looked fine so Ethan, marina co-owner and chief mechanic, spent the rest of the morning aligning the engines and the prop shaft.

Our day perked up when friends from The Villages, FL arrived to share a picnic lunch. Mark and Melinda are staying at Verona State Park on Lake Oneida with their fifth wheel RV and they drove over to see us. We gave them a quick tour and then sat on the upper deck because it was a beautiful day. We enjoyed catching up on our news and taking in the 360 degree view.

John greets Melinda and Mark - Welcome Aboard!
 

They brought a whoopee pie from Maine that friends had given them and we split it 4 ways and savored every bite!

Yummy whoopee pie!

The fuel polishing process took most of the afternoon, but what a difference it made. The before sample from the starboard tank looked murky and full of sediment. After being run through the filter twice the resulting sample looked clear and sparkling like raspberry iced tea.

Mark and Melinda left to go back to their campground and at 6pm John was finally ready to take Serenity out for a spin. Ethan went with us and it was a perfect evening with water as smooth as glass. The engines performed very well as we sped across Lake Oneida with hardly hint of a vibration. Good finish for a long day.

Wednesday, June 11

We woke up to a howling wind and light rain. Mark and Melinda picked us up in their trusty Ram truck and we headed south, out of the rain to visit one of the Finger Lakes. We had planned to take our  boat to Cayuga Lake, but with the engine troubles, weather delays, etc., we decided to go by car. The rain stopped and it was a great drive along the lake, through wine country. We all had lunch at O’Malley’s with our Villages neighbors, Bob and Pat, and afterward we went to the lakeside house they are renovating. It is a lovely old Greek revival style farmhouse which they will share with their son and his family. They have put in some nice touches. The lake was pretty wild and windy and we decided we were glad that Serenity was tied up in a safe place.

Kathy & John with Pat & Bob at their lakefront house
 

Big renovation project - the porch on the front is all new



On the way home we stopped at nearby Lucas Winery, where Melinda and I sampled some of their whites. Our wine expert was very friendly and helpful. The wine was very good and we each bought a bottle or so to take home.

We enjoyed our samples

 

Christopher enjoyed his sample, too!

Good day with great friends ... but the weather doesn’t look so good for tomorrow.

 Thursday, June 12

It's another rainy afternoon. I worked in one of the marina perennial gardens in the morning - just for fun. John changed some fuel filters and then the generator wouldn't start...arghhh. Ethan helped him fix it - thank goodness we are here. We are going to get fuel topped off and the holding tank pumped and hope that it is a better day tomorrow to travel.
 

Rome, NY and crossing Lake Oneida

Week 2

Saturday, June 7

Forget counting the days! Since this trip will take over a year I think that would get a little tedious for reader and writer alike. So today on Saturday we start our second week on our trip, leaving Utica and motoring to Rome, NY.



This part of the canal is newer - very straight and peaceful

The dredging stopped while we passed by

 

The day was uneventful except for passing a dredging operation along the way. We passed through lock 20 and arrived at the municipal dock in late morning. We tied up right in front of Destinees on the short dock and had some lunch on board. There was no power or water, but a nice place to stop at the Canal Park. A little later we waved our friends Randy and Sherri on Priorities by as they moved on to a marina at the east end of Lake Oneida.

Priorities passes by while we were tied up in Rome
Love the pink fenders - faded from the original red!

We called up an old friend whom we knew when John and I were living here when he was attached to the North East Air Defense Sector at what was Griffiss AFB. Our friend’s former husband had worked with John  – he has moved on but Jackie is still living in Rome. She and her daughter offered to pick us up to go to her house for a visit and we gladly agreed.
We had a good time catching up on 15 years’ worth of news for both the city and old friends.
They drove us around Rome for a tour, so it was quite a nostalgia trip to go through the familiar streets. She took us onto former Griffiss AFB where we saw the house where we had lived and all the changes that had been made since the base was turned over to Rome, which has since developed it as an industrial park.



Tugboat Urger is the flagship vessel in the NY state
Canal Corporation's fleet

That evening we walked over to the Savoy restaurant, one of our old favorite haunts, with Sandra and Nelson, the fellow Loopers on MV Destinees. Good food, good laughs and stimulating conversation!

Captain’s Log:

Depart: Utica 8:45 am
Locked through lock 20
Engine hours: 2.5
Clock time 2.5 hrs.
Arrive: Rome, NY Canal Park 11:15 am
Weather clear, warming - super day!

Sunday, June 8

We were taking our time with Sunday breakfast because we only had to go through 2 locks and travel a few miles to a marina at the east end of Sylvan Beach. We planned to meet our Florida friends there who were vacationing with their RV. Did I say plans? Those are meant to change on a boat trip and change they did.
Our generator sputtered and died – we had no power for that second cup of tea. John tried clearing the lines to fix a fuel problem, but it just wouldn’t run for more than a few minutes. We decided we needed to get to a place where they had mechanical service. So we altered our plans, started the engines and pulled out onto the canal behind Destinees to make the trip across Lake Oneida to Brewerton, NY and Ess-Kay Yards, Inc. where we had planned to stop next week anyway, to have a few things checked out.

This one is for our granddaughter Iris!
The wild yellow irises were in bloom all along this section of the canal.
 

How many locks do we have left to go?
 

Waiting at the wall for lock 21 to open

We locked through gates 21 and 22 – this time going down to lake level. It was a great day to be on the lake and lots of other people thought so too! There was hardly any wind, but we saw boaters galore and were rocked by frequent wakes. The lake is about 20 miles across and the trip took us about 3 ½ hours.

View to the south on Lake Oneida - the countryside is very flat -
the green post marks a rock and the port side of the channel

Our boat is now tied up in Brewerton at Ess-Kay, recommended by the AGLCA. Parts will be ordered tomorrow and we are looking forward to an informative talk about the Trent Severn Waterway this evening. It should be well attended, there are at least four boats making the loop staying here at the marina tonight.

Captain’s Log:

Depart: Rome 8:05 am
Locked through locks 21 & 22
Engine hours: 5.2
Clock time 5.5 hrs.
Arrive: Ess-Kay Yard 1:45 pm
Winds less than 5 kts. hazy, nice day

Still locking up the Mohawk River

Day 6, Thursday June 5 & Day 7, Friday June 6

On Thursday it was a very quiet morning at the Fonda Wall and the water was like glass before the wind picked up.



Early morning view across the river

After yesterday’s long trek we decided to take it easy today. We had a relaxing breakfast and waved Moon Dog off when they left at about 7:30.

Moon Dog tied up behind us and the reflection of a busy bridge

We were ready to leave about an hour or so later, headed west again and were lifted up through 4 more locks throughout the morning. We stopped just after lock 16 and tied up on the wall for the night. We thought there would be power but it was 50 amps which we couldn’t use. We thought it would be quiet and serene but a mower started up soon after we were settled in and that put an end to the quiet.

The mowing finally finished and we had the peace we desired to read, or, in John’s case take a well-deserved nap. There was a paved bike path along the canal and we took a good walk later. Clouds moved in, a good westerly breeze was blowing and the fluff coming off the trees was filling the air. What are those trees, anyway? Cottonwood comes to mind, but I am not sure that is it.

Later in the afternoon Loopers Nelson and Sandra on MS Destinees, their 39' Marine Trader, tied up behind us and chatted for a few minutes, otherwise we have our solitude with minimal connection to the outside world.

Captain’s Log June 5:

Depart: Fonda Wall 9:00 am
Locked through locks 13-16
Engine hours: 4.3
Clock time 4 hrs 5 min
Today's miles: 22.29
Arrive: Lock 16 West side wall 1:05 pm
Winds picked up 10-15 kts.

Day 7, Friday, June 6

Very cool windy morning as we went "next boat" to Destinees to have morning coffee with Nelson and Sandra and go over possible stops for later in the day. They followed us out and we traveled along together through 3 locks. The first one, lock 17, at 40' is the highest lift lock on the NY canal system and it seemed like it took us over half an hour to get to the top!

We stopped in Utica at the Utica Marina adjacent to the Aqua Vino Restaurant...More like on top of the restaurant. We heard the background patter of voices from the diners seated out on the open deck throughout the afternoon and evening. After a walk to pick up a few groceries we had dinner aboard, saving a splurge for Rome and Sylvan beach where we will be meeting friends.

Tied up at the restaurant wall

As a side note, we brought a mascot along from Florida to keep us company and bring us luck on the trip.  I was looking for something to take with us when my eye caught a very happy and serene frog in yoga lotus position. He made me smile, was made of unbreakable resin and so I scooped him up, bought him and named him Christopher (patron saint of travelers) Croaker. He is right at home on Serenity. In explanation, some residents of The Villages, where we have our home, call themselves "Croakers" because they love it there so much they never want to leave and hope to live out their life there until they croak. They often have a decal of a frog on their vehicle declaring their intention. 

Christopher Croaker having a moment by the herb garden -
the flowers at the restaurant are very nice, too

Captain's Log, June 6

Depart: West wall of Lock 16 at 8:15 am
Locked through locks 17-18-19
Engine hours: 6.1
Clock time 5 hrs 55 min
Miles: 31.35
Arrive: Aqua Vino at Utica, NY 2:10 pm
Clear, cool, windy, winds 10-15 kts.