June 11th 

The last few days have been interesting to say the least.  We left a small anchorage in a nice cove on Cedar Island New York at about 8:00 AM Saturday June 6th.  When we retrieved the anchor it had about a 12 foot sunken log caught on it.  Fortunately we had a trip line on the anchor and were able to get it off without too much excitement.

Our next adventure for the day was Iroquois Lock.  The wind is blowing 15-20 from the aft and the boat begins to pivot, I have the rope on the rear and proceed to get a nice rope burn on my wrist.  The boat never touched the lock wall however.  FYI the drop in this lock is 6 inches.

The next adventure for the day was trying to clear Canadian Customs.  Anyway this turned into a fiasco and we had to dock for the night in this little marina on the New York side of the river.  The day got much better then as we met some very nice people that had done the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal and we had a wonderful time talking about the trip and what to see etc.  Sometimes things do work out nicely.

Sunday June 7^th we left the New York side, finally cleared Canadian Customs and went to a nice little Ontario Province run marina in Morristown, ONT.  After we cleared customs we decided to move Jejuda to a larger dock and the port engine starter solenoid decided it only wanted to perform its assigned task on an intermittent basis.  After plugging in shore power the AC battery charger decided that it did not want to perform its assigned task at all.

Monday the 8^th then became a repair day.  Luckily I had a spare solenoid so that repair was quick.  The battery charger was not repairable and they no longer make that model.  We are making do for the time being with a portable battery charger we purchased at Canadian Tire.

On Monday afternoon Judi and I went to very interesting “period” village called ‘Upper Canada”.  Set in the 1850’s it has a working sawmill, cheese factory, tinsmith, woolen mill, grain mill, bakery and much more.  We both felt it was well worth the visit.

Tuesday the 9^th started off raining with an easterly breeze of 20-25.  We were going to have to cross Lake St. Francis, another 20+ mile trip against the current and wind in a very shallow lake.  I learned my lesson on Oneida Lake and we waited till after noon to depart.  We went about ½ the way across and the rain started again so we snuck into a small marina on the north shore of the lake for the rainy evening.

Wednesday the 10^th we left early, went through two locks each a 42’ drop and took a left towards Ottawa and spent a delightful night in a small town on the western end of Montreal Island called Sainte-Anne-de–Bellevue.  We are docked on the town promenade just before the lock and there are it least 10 quaint restaurants that front the promenade and river.

We are off later this morning, after café and French pastries towards Ottawa.  The weather has improved and it should be ~75  and sunny.

Today we are in Cape Vincent, NY, Mile 1 of the US St. Lawrence Seaway. We are tied to the town dock which, as in many of the places we have visited has free dockage and, in some cases free electricity and water. This is a nice little town with the worlds smallest Aquarian with about 12 fish.

Yesterday we stayed in Sacketts Harbor, NY which is on Lake Ontario. Sacketts Harbor was a major Naval Port during the war of 1812.

We entered the Lake Ontario at Oswego, NY at 7:30 AM and had a great crossing in nice if very cold conditions. One great advantage of fresh water boating is that you can use your wash down pump and clean the boat as you go along.

We have gone through 30 locks so far on the Erie and Oswego Canals.

We had quite a day last Sunday when I decided to cross Oneida Lake with a westerly breeze of 15-20. The lake is ~20 miles across and about 30 feet deep. When we left the waves were 1-3 feet and half way across the wind built to 25-40 with one gust of 55. The waves quickly became ~10 feet 10 feet apart which were putting considerable water over the fly bridge bimini. I have a new found respect for the type of water you can experience on a lake.

One good thing though. We had the cleanest boat in New York after 3 hours in a power washer. Also nothing broke with only a couple of small leaks on the front windows.

May 29th Post

We are in the Erie Canal and cruising up the Mohawk River. The name of the game is “Log Dodge” as the river is filled with the spring debris from the runoff. The weather has been rain for the last three days but, in the river, it is flat with a downstream current, wind and waves not being a factor. Judi is at the helm about 50% of the time now and we are now adept at locks, after 16 in a row. We are now 320 feet above sea level, 415 NM from Plymouth, and tomorrow we will be at the maximum elevation on the Canal of 420 feet above sea level.

We have met a few other boats doing the loop and a number that are returning to Canada from the winter in Florida.

We expect to be in Lake Ontario by June 1st and then on to the St. Lawrence and the Thousand Islands, downriver to Montreal.

Catskill Marina

May 25th, arrived at lovely Catskill Marina. Trying to figure out out to add some photos. They are posted on facebookfor those of you that are interested. This is a lovely spot. Sipping my Cosmo and hubby is off cooking dinner on the grill. What more could a girl want. TTFN

Mid May Update

We are on our way. We departed Plymouth at 12:30 on May 17th to the rousing support of many of our great friends. The first afternoon took us to Onset, MA where we spent a quiet evening after Chinese food with friends. It was a great time to leave as the seas were flat, no wind and the Cape Cod Canal was cooperative.

We are now in Port Washington, NY some ~200 miles from Plymouth. We stopped in Point Judith, RI and Branford, CT where we met up with old sailing friends.

The trip down the sound has been really the shakedown cruise for the loop. A few minor problems have cropped up and been addressed. We are enjoying a lay day here at the North Shore Yacht Club awaiting a $3.95 drive connector for the tachometer to be shipped from Michigan. I decided to purchase two new ones, a great expense of $7.90.

The weather has been very nice except for Monday when it was 35 degrees in the AM. We hope to get through Hell’s Gate tomorrow AM then round Manhattan and head up the Hudson.

The SPOT tracking is now on so you can see where we are when you click on the link on the blog site.

Stay tuned.