HOMEWARD BOUND

Thursday August 20, we rose to a very hazy sky, the weather forecast didn't look very promising. Hurricane Bill was making its way up the east coast and there were cold fronts coming in from the northwest. Having said all that we didn't expect to be spending the next 3 days in Catskill. Talking with the locals they advised us about storms on the Hudson and possibility of debris. When we came to our 'potential' anchorage we were glad we had called a marina 'just in case' because the anchorage didn't have much 'swing' room if the weather did kick up. So, we pulled into Hoponose Marina and tied up at the slip. Hoponose marina is tucked up in a very well protected creek.

For three days during the severe storms we tended to chores. Thanks to the hospitality of the marina and offering us rides we were able to get our laundry cleaned and the boat reprovisioned with not only fresh food but cleaning supplies. Dick found out about 'Iron Out" to help clean that nasty moustache off the boat. The brass on the lights gleam and the Summer Wind inside is in great shape. All was not work, there were times we were able to get out and explore and just have fun.

Catskill had these cute ceramic cats all along the streets which were beautifully and artistically decorated,sometime in October they will be auctioned. We found the home where "Uncle Sam" had resided for 5 years. We had also enjoyed some of the local cuisine, where they claim to have the best Calamari, and yes it indeed it was the BEST! On the third night we were treated to a fireworks display celebrating Hudson's 400 years. However during the display there was also a competitive lightening display!

Sunday morning we untied the Summer Wind and made our trek carefully down the Hudson River. That's right, carefully! There were branches, logs sometimes full trunks of trees floating up the river. Our destination today was Hyde Park which is known for the 'Mansions' (FDR home,Vanderbilt home and the CIA,Culinary Institute of America). The marina that we pulled into was very small and they ended up putting the Summer Wind on the fuel dock, shared with the gulls and the Canada Geese. Immediately after tying up the dockmaster offered to ride us up to the Mansions and to pick us up when we were through and yes we accepted. We visited the FDR home which we toured for free thanks to the National Parks Senior Pass.Enjoyed learning about FDR but not to downplay his role as a president, truthfully more impressed with Eleanor, she just seemed to be a great woman before her time. Had a great time walking around the massive grounds which unfortunately left us with no time for the other sites, oh well, next trip. We returned back to the Summer Wind to freshen up because the dockmaster told us he knew of a great restaurant and offered to drive us and take us back after we were finished. Enjoyed a lovely meal at a Greek diner and we came back stuffed. Dick and I discussed whether to stay another day, but we both felt that the dock just wasn't the best spot for the Summer Wind. So, early in the morning we untied her and headed down the Hudson.
Our destination on Monday August 24th was Haverstraw Bay. When we left early in the morning the sky was still grey and foggy but the weather man promised us that the rains were behind us. Well before we made a turn at West Point, we could see a clearing, the sun was actually shining!We enjoyed the anchorage in Haverstraw, many boats joined us for the evening.

The next morning we timed our departure down the Hudson with the tide. We had a few hours where the tide was with us and we were travelling over 9 knots! Arrived at our first anchorage only to be told by State Park police that the anchorage had been closed and secured for a golf tournament. Told us we could anchor between Ellis Island and Lady Liberty and that's exactly where we dropped a hook. Tourism was alive and well in New York City, the tour boats were jam packed, some were leaning just a little to the side! Had a great evening in the anchorage, talked alot about Ellis Island, Lady Liberty, New York City and our wonderful trip.

Wednesday morning we pulled up anchor and headed home for City Island. The New York harbor was bustling with the ferries, water taxis and tour boats. Headed up the East River at 10 knots, and shortly before 11 had the Summer Wind back in her slip. What a marvellous adventure!

COMING DOWN THE HUDSON

Early Monday August 17Th, we rose to mass evacuation. All the boats on the docks were heading out. We joined the foray and headed down the Hudson River to the Troy Lock. This was our last lock of the journey, we had traversed a total of 60 locks elevated a total of 420 feet and lowered back to sea level. We would highly recommend the Erie Canal and trying this wonderful system. There are many places to visit and the scenery is spectacular.
Our destination was Albany, NY where we would spend a couple of days. Dick has an Aunt Barbara that lives near Albany and we made plans to get together. We spent 2 wonderful days with her exploring Albany and its history. Dick's aunt took us all around Albany and to her home. We went to a lovely restaurant for an Italian dinner together. Our second day was filled with visiting the museum where they had a 9/11 memorial and pictures of New York during the 1920's., We toured the Plaza and the Capital with its million dollar staircase. We topped it off with a trolley tour around Albany and all we can say is Thank you so much Aunt Barbara for the wonderful time!!

Subway car from the 1920 A train State Museum memorial to 9/11

Early Wednesday morning we were off the dock and spent the next day in the Schodack Creek anchorage. It's a very good protected anchorage, which we definitely needed because in the afternoon there were thunderstorms because of the high humidity and temperatures. It was a great day to just sit back and relax.

THE LAST STOP ON THE ERIE CANAL

Friday, August 14 we got up at the crack of dawn and were off the docks in Amsterdam by 6:00 am. We were not alone. We usually never leave that early but we all wanted to get a space on the docks in Waterford. The trip was uneventful and upon leaving the last lock on the Erie canal we noticed the Waterford docks were packed.The 54' Ocean Alexander and ourselves squeezed into the last 2 spaces with electric. Luckily we had it for the next 3 days because the temperature went into the 90's with high humidity.
We met Jim,Sharon and, cute as a button, their granddaughter Kayla. We all went to dinner on Saturday and Kayla was a very well behaved little gal.

Decided to stock up on much needed food so started to walk to the food store. This place is very unique for the supermarket lets you take the carts across the bridge to the marina and they pick them up. Well as we started out the guy picking up the wagons offered us a ride and we gracefully jumped into his truck. Had a lot of groceries and needed some wine which they don't sell so as we were asking where a lovely gal offered to take our groceries and us to the package. Again we jumped into her car. Bought a nice stock of wine which we gave her 1 bottle for her efforts and she delivered us right back to the marina.

Talk about small town hospitality, that would never happen in the big city.

On Sunday the farmers market set up right outside the Summer wind and again we shopped to our hearts content.

Our next stop was to be Albany so we will let you digest this and continue another day.

ROME TO AMSTERDAM,NY

Early morning August 11, after a stormy night we rose to cloudy skies. The weatherman promised us it would clear up so we decided to head out. Our destination today was Little Falls, NY. Well the weatherman didn't disappoint and the skies slowly cleared up. We arrived in the afternoon at the Harborfront marina and tied up. Today was a one day stop. We walked into town and toured the little museum and learned about the Burrell family. They enhanced the development of pasteurization. Little Falls used to be known for the best cheese. We're finding that many farmers today have a different mentality. They are going back to growing organically.

Little Falls is a picturesque little town and we had fun visiting the antique warehouses. Dick and I had a blast looking through all the old wooden tools,spinning wheels and old sewing machines. The day had turned hot and we were looking for an ice cream store, hmmmmmm closed for the season?? Isn't this August?

Well we returned back to the boat and enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner on board and cool glasses of lemonade, YUM!

Wednesday, our day was going to be interesting. We planned to make 2 stops. The first stop took us to Herkimer House which offers boaters a dock just big enough for our yacht to land on for a few hours to tour.

Herkimer House was owned by General Herkimer who made his money before the War of Oriskany. Before the war he was a landlord and fur trader and built a lovely home which we were able to tour. General Herkimer was renowned for holding off the 1000 British and Indians with only 200 of his men. It was known as the bloodiest battle of the Revolutionary War. Herkimer was wounded in the leg and died 10 days after his injuries.

We were touring with two other couples from around the area, and had a lengthy chat about the history of the area. What a lovely time, but time to depart for stop #2.

Stop#2 was Lock #15, some of the locks allow boaters to tie up for the night. This stop enabled us to go to Fort Plain and see the remains of that wooden fort. As we were travelling through the locks one of the tenders gave us directions. The day turned hot but we decided to venture out and find the Fort Plain museum. Well the 1/2 mile turned into about 2 miles and it was blasting hot. We walked up the steep hill only to find the museum closed. We don't have to say we were disappointed, exhausted and very hot! But we did see a Stewarts Ice Cream shop, so yes we stopped and cooled right off. As we were walking back to the boat, we came across our first Amish buggy. The young man was sitting in the seat waiting for his mom to finish shopping.

Returned back to the boat but had to close all windows and doors because the bugs were overwhelming. It was a quiet night though with no boat waves or wind.

The next day we traversed 4 locks and docked in Amsterdam,NY which was a stop for us on the way up. This time the restaurant was open and the dock was full, but we enjoyed a nice treat and met 3 other couples which 1 couple were MTOA members. Walt and Bev live in Kingston, NY and we may see them on the way down. The main subject was whether the docks in Waterford would be full. We all were going there.

MORE FESTIVITIES AT SYLVAN BEACH

Saturday night we decided to take a stroll around the little town of Sylvan Beach. Our walk was worth the while, several things going on for Canal Fest. There was a jazz band playing under the gazebo, the music was great. We walked along the free wall and there were litterly hundreds of people out and we stopped to talk to several cruisers. Walked back to our boat in an RV park/marina and by now it was pitch black with several thousands of mosquitoes, yikes! There were some lights from the emergency department on the canal, a crane was chopping down a tree and something didn't go quite right. They had to rescue the arm of the crane from the tree.

Sunday, our plan was to spend another day in Sylvan Beach, but we wanted to be closer to town, so we checked out the free wall, closer to the action. Sure enough a boat was leaving and we slipped in. We heard a knock on our door and we met Tim an MTOA member who keeps his trawler in Oneida, great way to meet members. Later on Tim brought back his wife Joanne and we had a long discussion about traveling to Florida on the ICW. He and Joanne are contemplating that adventure.
The weather looked like it was going to hold off, so we decided to check out the festivities. Along the park there were vendors selling their art wares. There was a gentleman spray painting pictures, very unique. We walked down along the park and at the gazebo there was live music and they were getting ready for their first Canal Idol contest. Dick and I sat down and watched, lets just say there are a lot of brave souls out there. We did enjoy several of the participants. There was one young gal, probably a very young teen singing acappela. The contest finished with a tie sing off. Two contestants, Gregg and Brian who had 2 different styles but sang country very well. Gregg a young father in his 20's first had sung to his daughter on stage, she was quite shy and it was very cute. Brian a young man of 17 had the 'country' package and could sing but used the karaoke machine for the words in his first try. Brian much improved his stage presence and won the contest. It was great!

We took a break from the Karaoke singing in the gazebo and went for lunch at the local diner called Eddie's. Dick remembered this restaurant well from the Harlem cruise. After lunch we went back and found a military band setting up. How wonderful. So Dick and I sat down for a treat. It was the 10th Mountain Army band and wow they could play. They are a band of 40 members who have served valiantly overseas and are playing across the country. They played marches and there was a group of six that played Dixie style jazz. The small group went to Afghanistan and Iraq at Christmas to play for the troops.The full band then played the theme songs to each military division and if there were people who served they would stand. Dick proudly stood for the navy and claps were all heard for each division. The finale was a tribute to America and its troops and left a lump in ones throat, even a Canadians. What a fantastic festival!

Well we topped off the afternoon with wonderful ice cream and went back to the boat for the night. Had a wonderful dinner on board, settling down to a good movie and wouldn't you know it, that's when the skies opened up. We were safely tied up, but our boat was rocking because the winds were coming straight at us. Both of us jumped when a huge clap of lightening struck somewhere close by. We checked the local weather news and there were tornado warnings in several areas close by but we were fine. What a topper for the Festival!!!

Early the next morning, untied the Summer Wind and headed down the Mohawk River. Our destination today was Rome. Rome offers a 'free' floating dock and for people who require electric there is a wall, however the pilings weren't the best. There were a couple of things we wanted to do in Rome, all within walking distance. One was visit Fort Stanwix, a wonderful replica of a wooden fort known as the fort that didn't surrender and as the Oneida Carrying Place. They do have an original 'fireplace' that is in an air conditioned hut. We had a great time learning about the history and living conditions of Fort Stanwix.

The other thing we wanted to do was resupply some much needed groceries and the Freedom Plaza had a nice store with great prices and yes, we did purchase a 'few' things.

That evening we enjoyed a relaxing evening on board. Our next stop is Little Falls, to be cont'd

HEADING FOR NEW PLACES

Friday, August 7,2009 - Although it was fairly breezy, we decided to start our journey south. Our friends, Joanne and Larry came out to give us a hand off the dock. Getting out of the protected basin turned out to be a nail biting situation. A gust of wind kicked up and took the Summer Wind like a kite towards the slips. The wind will have its way, and the bow thruster just couldn't keep us away. We were never so happy to be out of the basin.

Our destination for the day was Phoenix, NY, Larry told us it was a stop worthwhile for the night. Locks #8-1 were fairly simple, the wind only gave us asmall problem in a couple of locks trying to get the boat secure to the wall.

Immediately after lock #1 is the Phoenix dock. It's a long wall with free docking space for approximately 10 boats. There is 15 amp electric, water and the service of the 'bridge house brats'.Phoenix turned out to be a pretty popular spot, when we arrived there was only one spot available between two boats. Dick pulled in with no problem at all, he made it look so easy. Two cruisers grabbed our lines, and tied us down. Before we could even get off the boat,we were also warmly welcomed by the 'bridge house brats', asking us if we'd like a complimentary drink. Bridge house brats is a summer program run by the town. Teens aged 12 and up can apply for the position like a regular job. They offer several services to boaters for a donation. Dick and I could not believe how enthusiastic these youths were in completing their tasks. The ones on duty today were mostly 12 year olds, and we were both impressed with their attitudes and enthusiasm, wherever we walked, we got a warm hi and welcome.
The counsellor came over and explained the 'bridge house brat' program to us and gave us a welcoming package with all the local information. We were told if we needed anything, to let them know and they can get it for us. If we didn't feel like going the 1-4 blocks for dinner, we could sit on the dock and be served by the bridge house brats. They would take our order, go to the restaurant and serve it. We took advantage of this and had a lovely pizza on the dock. Dick and I both remarked how some restaurants we don't even get a smile, and these young students couldn't do enough.

After our lovely dinner of Pizza, salad and a couple of glasses of wine we went over to the small park at the waterfront and grabbed a couple of chairs for an evening of country music. Dick and I even danced a few after he dragged me up. Apparently they do this every Friday night and it was delightful. Great timing on our part.
The next morning we parted and started back for Sylvan Beach. Again we had to cross Lake Oneida. Before the lake Dick decided to top off the diesel tanks because in Brewerton there was a marina selling diesel for @2.29 per gallon. So after fueling we started across the lake. It was a little choppy because the wind was coming from the east but the Summer Wind loved that attitude. She plows through the small waves without blinking. About 2/3rds of the way across it completely calmed down and we made it to Sylvan Beach about 1 in the afternoon. Got there just in time to realize this weekend was the Boati-Gras Festival and the free wall was loaded with all kinds of boats.

Found one available space in a nice little marina. the last one in the harbor.

Watched the "Boaty Gras" parade and had fun. Will probably stay here 2 nights so see you net time.............

SYLVAN BEACH TO LAKE ONTARIO

Left Sylvan Beach early Monday morning. The sun was shining and there wasn't a whisper of a wind. Crossing Lake Oneida was wonderful. Lock 23 was an easy ride down and the last lock on the Erie Canal, but our 'locking' isn't finished.Our destination today was Pirate's Cove marina, a lovely little spot Dick remembered visiting with the Harlem group from a few years back. Well we pulled into the marina and the alarms on the boat were screaming. The water is so clear, that the sea grass grows really tall in the water and gives the depth sounder a false reading.

Tied up the Summer Wind and the 'real fun' began. The Summer Wind required some much needed TLC, so out came the hose, scrub brush, vacuum and cleaning cloths. Dick and I worked together like a well oiled machine. The dirty laundry was tended to and by the time we were finished, the boat shone in and out, and we were tuckered out. Our plan was to dine out for the night, however it was Monday and the restaurant is closed. No problem, pulled out some chicken and made a lovely dinner on board with a nice bottle of wine. While dinner was cooking, we both jumped in for a much needed shower, whew!

Wednesday morning backed out of the slip so we could turn around in the marina basin. Again the depth sounder alarms were screaming. Well, we started down the last three miles of the Erie Canal and I ( Elle) said to Dick something didn't feel right about the boat, it was vibrating beneath my feet in the aft cabin. So, Dick went downstairs to investigate while I had the helm. Sure enough, he came upstairs and put the boat in reverse. There must have been some sea grass on the prop that gave it a shimmer. He slowly put it back in drive and there was no more vibration. The Erie Canal comes to a junction at Three Rivers. You can go left for the Seneca-Cayuga Canal or right for the Oswego. We turned right and started the Oswego Canal. The Oswego Canal is picturesque with many cottages or winterhomes along the way.

Lock 1,2,3,5,6,7,8- No we didn't count wrong, there is no longer a lock #4. When the state diverts the canal and doesn't replace the lock, its too expensive to rename all the other locks, so the number is just skipped. The day was fairly uneventful going through the locks. Before exiting the first lock required the bridge tender to lift a bridge before we exited. Lock 2 had a walkbridge that spans the bridge, and we were lowered enough to go under the span. The last three locks were tricky because the ropes were too far apart, it was windy and hard to get the Summer Wind to stay near the wall so I could wrap a line around the pipe. Arrived late in the afternoon at Oswego marina, the wind had kicked up enough to give us a hard time trying to tie the boat in her slip. Paid at the office and planned our stop. Many late arrivals, and thats when we met Joanne and Larry and Katie (their dog) from Hamilton, Ont. Canada. They told us they were travelling with another couple Del and Shirley, and we were welcome to join them for cocktails. Thats exactly what we did and it was wonderful. Happy hour aboard Flamingo Princess, 34 ft. Marine Trader.That night all six of us went out to dinner together and new friendships were formed.
Woke up the next morning and the winds were not pleasant so we decided to stay and go explore Oswego. Within walking distance was Fort Ontario. Originally built in 1755 of wood by the Brits, and through wars has been rebuilt in 1839 of masonry. Its enriched in wonderful history besides the Indian, French, British wars. The Fort was used during the WWII as a refuge for Jewish refugees. We both had a great time touring the fort and delighted by it being manned by college students and seniors. In the afternoon we went for a lovely walk and purchased a 'few' necessities and Dick had a much needed hair cut. That evening we joined our Canadian friends for cocktail hour and the topic again was the weather and the sailboat that had crossed Lake Ontario in 8 foot swells with some crests. We decided to wait and see in the morning if the seas would calm down.

NOAA in the morning said possibly 10-15 knots and 1-2 foot seas, but if we make it to the thousand islands, it would be calmer. Well, we set out and at first it wasn't so bad. However as we went further out the boat started to roll somewhat because the seas were on our beam and about 2 feet. There was a looming dark cloud ahead of us, we both said it would probably pass because there were clear skies behind it. However both of us saw funnel clouds forming and at the same time we said, no we are not going any further. Dick turned the boat around immediately and it was a lot rougher going back then coming out.

We called the marina to say we were coming back and she said we were lucky to have called because our slip was the only available slip and there had already been inquiries on it, whew. Tied the Summer Wind down and the captain went to check NOAA again, this time there were marine warnings for the next few days. So, our intended plans have been changed.

Dick and I sat down with our charts, guides and calendar. Normally we don't have a schedule but this time, we have to be back by the first week of September. We could make the trip, but would have to travel everyday and it would only give us 2 days to play with for rain dates. That really didn't appeal to either of us, so we made a team decision to back track and visit the places we missed coming north. It's still going to be a wonderful adventure and there are many places we have missed.

This morning we walked into town, explored the boutiques and had a lovely lunch at the Pressbox. Our plan is to walk back into town for the farmer's market at 4pm, where they close down the main street and have music and vendors. We'll also enjoy happy hour with our friends and enjoy a great night.

Tomorrow we start our journey south,, to be cont'd.