The Last Post

I have been delaying this writing.  Our journey has come to an end.  Dream Weaver is for sale now and is listed by our marina broker here.  Our new home on land in Mallorytown will be our permanent home.  We love this area and couldn't be happier with our new place.

I have to report that our dear Spooky was diagnosed on Friday with cancer of the digestive tract.  Her liver was shutting down under the strain.  There was nothing that could be done to save her.  The last couple of days have been dreadful as she was a major part of our lives.  She came with us everywhere we went and was a great boat cat. You'll always be with us Spook. RIP.

The End

Day 45 - Rockport, ON, Canada

I knew the wind was going to raise today so we decided to make an early start at 0540.  Otherwise we would be delaying by a day or more.  It was dark when I uncovered the panel and dropped the window screens.  But plenty light by the time we cast off.

We had a bit of a rolly crossing with 3 foot quartering seas most of the way which the autopilot hated,

Pop up thunderstorms were being announced on both Coast Guard radios all day.  We managed to evade all of them until docking.

This was us passing Cornwall's Tavern...and us after we docked in a very brisk off-the-dock wind!

Home at last.  A great trip with very few issues to deal with for a change.  Here is our track with each colour representing one day of cruising.

Tomorrow we take Spook to the vet to try to get to the bottom of her problems.  Fingers crossed.

Day 44 - Oswego

En route to Oswego.  We use these headsets to preserve our sanity when trying to talk in the locks.

Jo snapped this oddity on the Oswego canal:

At one of the locks they had a local school class learning the operation:

Approaching Oswego.  The canal is on an elevated channel for a couple of miles before emptying out at Lake Ontario level where we have tied up for the night.

Tomorrow, early, we set off across the lake for the St Lawrence river and home...

Days 41, 42 and 43 - Brewerton

Long day from Little Falls to Brewerton.  Quite cool this morning:

The canal was more of the same gorgeous scenery; I won't bore you!  We also crossed Oneida Lake at its most benign. We will take a day off here to meet with Andy and then time our crossing of Lake Ontario.  Home is within sight!

While we were here I had the oil and filters changed on both engines and generator and renewed the associated zincs.  I cannot say I was impressed by the efficiency of the operation or the price.  Without sciatica I have done the whole job in 3 hours where their guy took over 8 hours and, of course the oil and filters were at full recommended retail price!

We had a great supper with Andy at Barado's on the Water.

Day 40 - Little Falls.

It was a picture perfect boating day.  We had left deciding to make as much distance as possible but changed our mind.  Instead, after taking two hours to do two locks (one being the tallest (40 feet) on the Erie Canal system), we stopped at Little Falls where we had had a great stop before.  The logic being that, from here we have a great chance of getting across Lake Oneida to Ess Kay Marina. I want to do an oil change before we head back to our marina and this would be the perfect spot.  We know the folks at Ess Kay and we spent a week there three years ago waiting for Lock repairs on our southern journey with Joe and Co.

So I booked in with Kim at Ess Kay and we stopped at Little Falls and had a relaxing day at Rotary park.

Tomorrow we will catch the first lock again at 8am and work right through to be at Ess Kay before they close at 8pm.

Day 39 - St Johnsville, NY

Locks 11 and 12 opened as planned.  A grey start to the the day but it cleared up and became warm quickly.

We caught up with these two when Lock 11 delayed opening due to lack of water.

Jo gets ready for the next lock.  We have been using our duplex radio head sets at the locks and it helps enormously.

Mist rolls over the hills...

Jo captured these two wooden wonders en route.

Buffalo is getting a new tour boat:

We haven't decided what to do tomorrow.



Day 38 - Schenectady, NY

We had joined the club members last night for their weekly $5 supper which was actually very good and the bar had some great beers.  We awoke to a beautiful sunrise.  I missed the best photos of it having left the camera aboard.  We departed Albany Yacht Club at 0650.  

We made contact with the fellow who actually writes the Notice to Mariners while underway out of Albany.  His name was given to us by the Albany Club members.  He told us that the locks would be open Saturday to coincide with an Amsterdam, NY festival.

North of Albany is Troy where a lock separates the tidal section from the rest of the system.  For those unfamiliar with the canal systems, the Hudson runs from New York north to the Champlain canal and then through Lake Champlain and on to just east of Montreal to the St Lawrence River.  But we take a different route.  After passing though the Troy lock the Erie Canal begins at Waterford off the Hudson and extends east to Buffalo with a spur north to Oswego and Lake Ontario.  

This just at the left turn off the Hudson at Waterford:

The New York State Canal System is a beautiful cruising area.  Locks raise and lower traffic is it winds across the state.  The first section was constructed out of the Mohawk River.  This is a typical approach to a lock which is built alongside the dam to enable navigation.

One of numerous waterfalls along the route.

This bridge had an interesting structure being a cross between a steel frame and suspension bridge.

This next lock approach really shows well.  The extensive waterfall dam indicates the lift we experienced going through the lock in the channel to the left.

We arrived at our marina around 1:30pm. This pictures shows it as a very rustic spot with an outhouse for a bathroom.

It's really much, much better with beautiful grounds, great bathrooms, a laundry and a pool.

We will be here for two days while we wait for Lock 11 and 12 to open on Saturday.  In the meantime we have visitors on the dock like this Giant Katydid.  The body is about two and a half inches long.  The are benign and apparently kept as pets by some!

Day 37 - Albany Yacht Club, NY

Note:  This posting is a day late, sorry!

We are getting into the habit of early starts but we delayed a little this morning to let some of the fog lift and to let the turn turn a bit.  This was the view at 0615 this morning

NOAA is itself and through contracts surveying the Hudson in this area to alleviate the passage of span parts of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction.  The bridge is being constructed just south of Albany and shipped down by barge.  The surveys will allow barges more freedom to manoeuvre out of the channel when necessary.

One of many quite elaborate Hudson light houses:

We see loads of barges on the Hudson but few ships.  Today we got a couple during some of the narrowest sections.

Here we are, tied up at Albany Yacht Club.  We have learned that Erie locks 11 and 12 are impassable until "further notice".  This allows us to proceed only to Schenectady tomorrow.  I called the lock and was assured they would reopen in a few days but couldn't say exactly when.

Day 36 - Kingston, NY

Before I talk about today, we had supper with Steve last night and he forwarded a few photos he took of Dream Weaver as we passed through New York.

This is Steve:

..and this is our boat in front of the Statue of Liberty.

We started early again, casting off at 0650.  We love cruising the Hudson.  Deep water, spectacular scenery, interesting places en route and, today, we timed the tides perfectly getting a push all the way to Kingston.  The view leaving Half Moon bay this morning:

Approaching Bear Mountain Bridge is typical of the scenery most of the way.

Freight trains run on the west side of the river and passenger on the west.

We never see CSX (northbound, above) in Mallorytown but we sure do see a lot of CN (southbound, below)!

This is West Point as we approached.

We passed a number of barges en route today.  I have an AIS receiver so I knew of their approach well before I saw them.

This is the CIA building.  Culinary Institute of America. 

This is our stop for today; Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston.  We love this place.  It's pretty, quiet and well protected.

Tomorrow we head for the state capital in Albany.