New York City

Wednesday Sept. 29th 2010 was the day that we went by New York City.

After 2 days layover at an anchorage about 30 miles from Manhattan we finally had some nice weather. We motor sailed at times and moved closer and closer to the downtown skyline. There were hardly any other boats on the water until we were almost at the statue of Liberty, then there were many tour boats and ferries going every which way across the river. We went by the Statue of Liberty and out towards New Jersey. There were huge freighters anchored everywhere and a few passed by us, which is quite daunting in a small boat. Once out in the open we motor sailed again to Sandy Hook where we anchored behind a breakwater at Atlantic Highlands.

Today and tomorrow a storm is passing through with high winds and rain so we will be staying put for a while. The next leg is from here around the coast of New Jersey to Cape May. We are still deciding if Sal and I will take the inside route or head out into the ocean for the whole 115 mile trip. It mostly depends on the weather.

Hudson River

So after a day in Waterford to shower, laundry and resupply we headed off through Lock 1 – the last lock and into the Hudson River. Sal and I put our mast up on a city dock in Albany. We then fueled up and motored to Castleton to help my parents put their mast up using the crane. They were almost finished by the time they got there. They decided to stay the night on a mooring ball for $5. There were none left by the time we got there, so we continued on about 10 miles and anchored behind Coxasackie Island. It was a beautiful evening, warm, quiet and best of all no mosquitos. About midnight the winds picked up out of the blue and we had a roll-y first night.

The next day both boats motored into a strong wind and waves to Catskills and docked in the day docks. We took a trip into the city and viewed all the decorated cats they have along the sidewalk. Away from the water it was almost 30’C. We stayed the night here because it was too windy to go on. We went out to a restaurant to celebrate a little early Sal’s birthday. Again that night we had increased winds overnight for about an hour, then they died down a bit.

The next morning (Sat. Sept 25) we got an early start and were out and on our way by the crack of dawn. Light winds until about 8:30 when they picked up a bit and since they were favourable we put up the sails and had the greatest sail that day until we reached Poughkeepsie were we had planned to stay the night. Dad needed to stay at the docks because when he had unfurled his ‘yankee sail’, the halyard holding it up broke, and the whole sail fell down. So he had to climb up the mast to retrieve the halyard so he could raise the sail again. The first 2 times up the mast were unsuccessful, until finally on the 3^rd try and with a bit of wire and tape, he was able to thread the rope through the pulleys. Again we had about 2 hours of really strong wind out of no-where. And no where was it forecasted….very strange.

We had another early morning (on a Sunday too!) as we had over 40 miles to travel and when against the current we go half our speed. Well we have never seen so many power boaters in our life!!! I think everyone who owned a boat on the Hudson was out zooming around. We were so annoyed by the end by getting rocked around by everyone’s wake, but finally made it to an anchorage near Sing Sing Prison by 5pm.

Mon. Sept 27 was Sal’s birthday!! We had a layover in order to rest up and recuperate after a long week. We had a big breakfast, watched a movie together and read in the afternoon. It was nice to be able to spend a day not on the go. Monday evening the winds switched to the south and increased and where we were provided no protection against the waves….so we had a very rocky & rolly night again, this time getting barely any sleep. We tried moving closer to the shore on a mooring bouy but that didn’t do much against the 2 feet waves, so we just endured it until the morning where we moved to a more protected area 3miles away. Lesson learned – always move to anchor where protected from the wind and the waves if possible.

We were hoping to be through New York City by now but the weather has not allowed this to happen, so we’re going to wait it out. We’re not in a hurry because after New York, we will have to go out into the Ocean around the coast of New Jersey and currently the weather is worse out there.

New York State Canals

Thursday September 16^th : We took our masts down, Mom and Dad needed the crane, while Sal and I could do it by ourselves on the dock – another advantage to a smaller boat. We were almost done when it started to rain, and continued raining for the rest of the day. Our first lock we went through was Lock 8 of the Oswego canal. Dad gave us some first time instructions and both boats went in together. We stopped along the wall and held on to ropes attached to the cement walls as the lock filled with water, bringing us to the top. The gates opened and we were successfully through our very first lock. We tied up along the wall, as we wanted to get some supplies in Oswego before heading further south. Most of the locks went smoothly for us, except the second day, when we went through lock #5… This lock is known for its bad turbulence (we unfortunately did not know this before hand, or we might have been a little more prepared, anyways) Sal had a hold of the rope at the bow of the boat, and since there were no ropes or poles at the stern, I tried to hang on to the ladder, unfortunately, when the water came in, and I had to move up to a higher rung on the ladder, I was not able to hold due to the turbulence of the water, and had to let go rather than risk falling in the water…so the stern swung out, and luckily Sal was able to hold on. I tried to reverse into the wall, but was unsuccessful. Sal hung on, and I held my breath until the lock was filled, and then the lockmaster threw us a rope and pulled our stern in, so we were once again facing the correct direction. Other than that little mishap, the locks went very smoothly.

Since we had our mast down, we had the motor on all day long. A typical day we would wake up around 7ish and be ready to go around 8am. We would motor all day until around 4ish and then tie up at a dock or just before or after the lock. We would have tea time on my parents boat and then do a little work on the boat or relax until dinner time. We would normally go to Chautauqua for dinner, sometimes bringing a dish, but always helping afterwards with the dishes. We averaged about 40 miles a day and by the evenings were so exhausted that we would sometimes go to bed before 10pm!

We went through the 7 locks on the Oswego Canal, then crossed Lake Oneida and went through 23 more locks as part of the Erie Canal. After the first day of rain in Oswego we had beautiful weather for the rest of the trip (other than some very cool nights). We reached Waterford which is just before the final lock yesterday (Sept 22^nd) and were able to shower, do laundry, have a fast-food meal and stock up on fresh food. Today we left the canal system and entered the Hudson river. We now have to be concerned with tides and currents and more boat traffic, but it is nice to have our mast up and be able to sail again.

Highlights of the canal system included seeing two bald eagles, free coffee on the dock at Phenoix at 7am, finally getting to shower after quite a few days in Waterford and having Mr. Summer’s 4 grade class come and check out our boat after we finished putting the mast up in Albany.

VIDEO TOUR OF SECOND WIND

Part 2

Crossing Lake Ontario

OSWEGO

After a couple busy days, we can finally say that we have officially left Canada!

We met up with my parents on Monday after a nice sail from an anchorage just outside of Gananoque. My parents had arrived Sunday after a rough sail in the wind and rain. (Sal and I decided to stay put that day). They were a little worried about where we had got to, so we decided then that we would make more concrete plans and have a set station on the VHF that we would use to check in at designated times. We spent Monday night in Kingston, buying a few little last minute things and some ice and bread. We both left Tuesday morning and had a windy sail up to Kerr Bay (12 miles west of Kingston, on Amherst Island). My parents are able to go much faster on their boat, so they arrived a good hour before us, but when we got there we rafted up beside and had a hot cup to tea to warm up. After a pot luck meal we separated boats and Sal and I anchored a little ways away.

Wednesday morning was a cool one! We both had our gloves, toques, and jackets on. Sal and I woke up at 5:45 am and got ready for a long day of sailing, we made extra coffee and some sandwiches for lunch. We set off an hour later heading around Amherst Island and finally SOUTH for Oswego. All morning we had the most wonderful sail (all sails up and averaging about 5 knots), the sun was shining, we saw monarch butterflies fluttering by and making their trip south, and not another boat in sight except for Chautauqua up ahead. Around 1pm things started to get a little rougher, the wind was stronger and the waves were starting to build. We tried reefing the main and finally took it down all together and motor sailed with jib and mizzen. I'm not very good at estimating wave height but I can definitely say it was the biggest i've ever experienced and something that I would not want to do again too soon. It was a tense 3 hours as we got closer and closer to Oswego. Poor Sal was on the cabin floor wedged between the two bunks trying to get rid of the sea sickness feeling. We both got wet from waves splashing over the boat and into the cockpit and were so happy to finally sail behind the breakwater and tie up to the dock. Mom and dad also had a rough time and we both drank our tea and discussed our amazement with the waves and relief to be in the safety of the harbour.

We both cleared into Customs and settled in for the night. Everyone was so exhausted and even though Sal and I were tied to probably the noisiest dock in the country, we both slept like babies. Today we will take our masts down in order to transit the Oswego and Erie canals. Another first for me will be going through a lock but my dad has promised to help with the first one. We will have lots of practice by the time we reach Albany.

VIDEO TOUR OF SECOND WIND

Part 1

LAUNCHING OF CHAUTAUQUA AND FINAL WEEK OF PREPARATIONS

As the summer is quickly come to an end, and Sal's beard has gotten longer and longer, it has finally come down to our final week on land. After a few delays, Chautauqua was finally launched September 2nd in Iroquois! We held our breaths as she was lowered into the water and remained afloat! Phil did a quick inspection of the bilge..wait a leak!!!!!!!!!!!! But no need to lift her out again, he was able to temporarily stop it, until my dad could fix it properly later, ok we can breathe again. I've learned very early on in fixing up boat (and this probably applies to a lot of things), nothing is ever simple. Something always comes up or there's a delay here or there, or you've discovered a new problem that now needs to be fixed. What I would plan to take an hour, would end up taking at least 4 sometimes. Anyways, we didn't end up getting the mast up on that day as planned because a broken connection in the fuel line for the engine would first need to be replaced. So the mast went up on the 3rd and we tried to remember how everything goes, which lines for what, what shackle attaches where, etc. etc. In the end, we had things looking pretty nice. Time to go home and get things set to go here. Mom's lists (there are numerous ones) get longer each day, and departure day gets closer and closer.

Our plan, as of this second, is for my parents to bring up their boat (Chautauqua) to Brockville to load up with last minute supplies on Friday the 9th of Sept. and leave for Oswego the following day. Second wind is going to be trailered and launched in Mallorytown Thursday evening and we will probably head off Friday or Saturday, and hopefully we'll meet up there. We'll just have to see how many times this changes, but no stress, we just have to get into the 'cruising mode'.