Lock Up, Lock Down, Lock Down, Lock Up

The perfect summertime weather is making our experience through the New York State Canal System a real holiday. We've been told we're ahead of the flow of Canadian cruisers heading South for the winter. So far, we have only seen 3 other boats heading East on the canals so where ever we go, we always have 'the place' to ourselves. The canal system will be closing for the season a month early this year – hopefully that doesn't ruffle the feathers of any late Snowbirds coming through.

Many of the towns along the way have free docks for transient boats and most of the locks have adjacent walls where we can tie up for the night for no charge as well. We spend a portion of our day motoring through the canal and normally we take either a morning or an afternoon for visiting ashore. This segment of our journey is very tranquil and I'm savouring it because I know the ocean will be different. For now, it's 'easy peasy lemon squeezie'...most of the time...until something goes wrong...

The other morning, our muffler went from sounding like RrrrRrrrRrrrr to PuhPuh...Puh....Puh and soon after, the engine began to overheat. Certain boat problems can be half-ignored for a while but this obviously demands immediate attention so we stopped the boat mid-canal. Luckily we were in a wider section where we could anchor with a bit of swing room. Dave found the problem in the water intake pump – it was full of eelgrass! He basically pulled a large order of wakame out of there! I helped by standing over his shoulder repeating « Oh my God!» as he cleaned out the filter. The greens had been sucked into the water intake pipe and were choking our system. Our boat clearly can't handle weed; makes her cough big time. And then she had the munchies. We have a grate that we can/should place on the end of the thruhull so that nothing chewy gets sucked in, but neither of us is willing to risk an ear infection by diving under to put it in place. I just say no to canal water in my ear canals.

There's not much going on in small town Phoenix, NY. The kids are friendly though. A boy (about 10 years old) biked over to our picnic table and said: «So where you guys from?» This led to a long convesation; he told us about everything from the local bad guy to where I can get a haircut (same place he goes). All good info. He asked about Canada and told us we have accents. He eventually left saying: «I'll let you go back to what you were doing and I'll go back to what I was doing» (which was biking back and forth around us as we used the public WiFi).

A sailor who says he has never run aground is either lying or has never left the dock. It has only happened to us a few times and it was bound to happen again eventually. So it's good we got it over with early on...

We debated stopping in Rome, NY. They have a hardware store within walking distance and since we need a few items, we decided it would be nice to stop there and stretch our legs - plus they have newly renovated town docks we could use. It all looked very inviting and I was eager to start making «When in Rome... » jokes. I was at the wheel on approach when the depth sounder beeped in warning. In about a second our depth went from 4 feet under the keel to -0.4 feet. We ran aground on a mud shoal!

We tried the usual manoeuvres to get free but nothing worked. We were good n'stuck. In hindsight, I still can't see how this was avoidable. I blame the town of Rome for building a dock where the current from a nearby dam creates a mud shoal directly on approach from the West without signage to warn boaters. Neither the navigation chart nor the guidebook mentions it (though another sailor noted it on the Active Captain App but we only look at that when we're anchoring).

About 10 days ago, we bought a TowBoatUS membership so we put that baby to use! We would have to wait 3 hours for our tow to come but we much prefer to wait than to risk damaging the boat by attempting to free ourselves on our own (we'd already done a number on our winch but I'm not getting into that story except to say that replacement parts have been ordered).

We read that now and then, the town mayor comes to the dock to talk with visiting boaters. So I began shouting to people on shore: « I demand to speak to the mayor! » « Get the mayor down here! » Dave said : « Forget the mayor, we want the Pope! » (Get it? We're in Rome?) I'm kidding – we didn't shout - we had lunch and went about our life like normal people stuck in the mud.

Jeff showed up in his red tow boat pleasant as pie and had us back afloat in under 5 minutes. I asked if it's unusual to have to come so far out to help someone and he said 'not at all'. He told us the estimated cost for the tow sans-coverage would have been $2500! Wow, getting insurance worked like it's supposed to for once! We no longer desired to go to Rome and it was only 2pm so we continued on the canal to knock off some miles.

A little later we were in another lock waiting to be lowered when a random guy (with a gigantic rabbit on a leash!) came around and said : « I hope you guys don't lose your engine like the last two boats that went through this lock. » Dave connected the dots really quickly and shut off our engine. We noticed the weeds gathering up around the boat and immediately realized those previous boats had sucked up weeds and stalled their engine. We explained our preventative engine shutdown to the lock operator and he was kind enough to pull us through by line to a clearing beyond the weeded area to fire up the engine again. We were very glad not to have a repeated weed situation and running aground was enough mishap for one day.

We pulled in to Canajoharie, NY one morning hoping for a good coffee shop. We found one that was hosting a princess party so we enjoyed our beverage surrounded by little Snow Whites and Cinderellas. We were very underdressed for the occasion. A 20 minute walk through town brought us to a river with rock formations that create pools to swim in. We didn't expect it to be so great and couldn't resist going in the water. (What are underwear if not emergency bathing suits?) This beautiful spot may have been the highlight of our week.

On our last day on the Erie Canal, we transitioned 12 locks! By the last one in Waterford, NY we were happy to be done. In the 40°C heat, the canals are draining. We'd had our fill.

We stayed put for a day in Waterford to relax. The little old lady at the visitor's center reception told us we should have breakfast at one particular diner « because it's cheap!». She even showed us a menu and pointed at the prices, « Look! » she said. When picking restaurants « cheap » isn't usually the deciding factor for me but, it's a small town without a ton of options so we went (and it was good). On the way, as we were leaving our boat, a man walking by said « Did you go through Lock 7 yesterday? I recognize your boat. » We asked him what he meant and he told us he saw our boat in the local newspaper! We had noticed someone taking pictures of the canal at Lock 7 but that isn't unusual and we didn't think anything of it. So after breakfast we went to the corner store to get a paper and and there it was; « The Kianda » photographed to an article about canal rejuvenation.

That afternoon, it was our turn to gawk and take pictures of a boat in the lock. The Waterford Lock 2 doors opened as we were walking by and we got to watch a tall ship go through. It happened to be the Fair Jeanne – a Canadian boat registered in Ottawa! Basically just like Kianda but bigger.

Tomorrow we start a new segment : the Hudson River!

Slimy ropes

Grass coming out of the filter

Calm on the Mohawk River

So close to Rome, yet so far.

TowBoatUS

Lock 17 is the big one.  We were lowered 40 feet.

Care for another shot of me in a lock?  Here you go.

Isn't this a lovely spot to stop for the night!

One foggy morning.

At the "boiling pots" in Canajoharie, NY

"The Kianda rolls through..."  HAHA!

Kianda (green hull on the left), Fair Jeanne (green hull on the right)

Good Morning From America!

On Lake Ontario getting ready for arrival in Cape Vincent, NY

Before we left Gananoque, a fellow boater from our yacht club suggested that go to Cape Vincent to clear US customs and purchase our cruising permit. This small town is a port of entry to the United Stated and not much of a detour so we decided to follow the advice.

The sail from Kingston, ON to Cape Vincent, NY was short and sweet and we could call that route Butterfly Alley because every few minutes for about an hour and a half a Monarch butterfly flew by us – sometimes right through our rigging. They were all on the same path heading South-West. Butterflies are basically flying flowers and it felt like a bouquet of good luck coming our way!

On arrival in Cape Vincent, we tied up at the visitor's dock with our yellow 'Q' flag raised to indicate that we are aliens. With our passports and boat documents in hand, Dave headed to the Border Protection Office to clear customs. We got the boat perfectly tidy for the expected officer's visit but no one came. The check-in procedure took a couple minutes and we got our cruising permit for the USA without any issue. Cape Vincent is a quiet and quaint little town. We went for a walk, picked up some local grapes (this is wine country) and some corn on the cob that we ate on the way to Stony Island – a spot we picked to anchor that night. The weather has been incredible: hot sunny days and nights so calm we can't tell we're at anchor. It's making us feel like we're on summer holidays and due back to work next week. But we're not!

It was another gorgeous and gentle day for our crossing of Lake Ontario to Oswego, NY (good because I don't have my sea legs yet). The best part of the crossing was lowering the sails to stop the boat mid-way – far from everything - and jumping in the water for a swim.

In Oswego, we were first greeted by the old rusted lighthouse that is really cool but is just begging for some TLC. The town has nice some nice old brick buildings and a great path on both sides of the canal. We stayed at a marina on the first night so that we could get our mast unstepped the next day – a service they offer to sailboats transitioning the canal system.

There are two other Canadian sailboats here heading south for the winter as well. Whenever I see an old guy wearing a t-shirt that days 'Old Guys Rule', he turns out to be a boater. I was approached by one of them at the marina - a Torontonian with his manties in a knot over his cruising permit, or rather lack thereof. « Are they giving you this rigmarole too? » he asked me. Nope! We checked in at Cape Vincent and it was a pleasure.  He, on the other hand, was dealing with inconsistent information, faxes to Syracuse, delays and obvious upset. I didn't bother mentioning to him that in Cape Vincent (for no apparent reason) we weren't even charged a fee for our cruising permit.

I've been thinking a lot about my mother since we're here. She knows the name 'Oswego'. She heard it for the first time when she was 9 years old, living in Iles-de-la-Madeleine, for a very sad reason. Early one Monday morning in 1957, the community priest came to her door to announce to the family that their 'papa' would not be coming home. My grandfather worked on a cargo ship between Ontario and New York and one day when his ship was in port at Oswego, he fell into a diabetic coma that he never came out of. He didn't know that he had diabetes; he didn't recognize the warning signs. He was 45 years old and my grandmother became a widow with four young children. Our lives didn't overlap, not by a long shot, but now both of us have looked at the lighthouse and have seen the canal and some of the same buildings as we sailed in to port from Lake Ontario to Oswego.

Dave and I are here because it is our entry point to the New York State Canal System that will lead us to the Atlantic ocean. The Oswego Canal joins the Eastern portion of the Erie Canal, followed by the Hudson River.

We're doing the yellow part right now
and the orange part (the Erie Canal) will be in a day or two.

The canals have a number of fixed bridges along the way and to make the 20 foot maximum clearance limit, sailboats over 20 feet high must unstep their mast. Don't call it «demasting» though! That's a different kind of disaster!

We were lucky with regards to the mast stands; a member of our yacht club who recently returned from this area gave us his stands and they fit on our deck very well (thank you to Eric on S/V Tapestry). It saved us the « rigmarole » of building our own.

I don't know if anyone is at ease with their mast dangling from a rope above their boat but having to do it in a rush certainly can make it stressful. Time pressure is our greatest nemesis, Dave and I. But in Oswego they allot an hour per boat to get it done! It was completely worry-free and with the relaxed schedule we even got to eat lunch beforehand (hunger is our second greatest nemesis). We really mastered it.

So with our new stubby configuration, we had enough time in the day to transit the first lock (they operate from 7am to 5pm). Our Skipper Bob Cruising Guide warns that « the first lock experience can be intimidating » and that « yelling and screaming at each other does not help the situation ». I've always found that screaming at Dave is a great stress-reliever but decided to trust the guidebook. (Kidding!) The lock was very easy to get through; we thought it was fun. The ropes inside the locks used to steady the boat are slick with slime and grime so we finally got to use the lobster fishing gloves which we have onboard that I bought 5 years ago. I knew those gloves would come in handy!

Kianda looks like a total junk pile but, esthetics aside, our boat is now a sweet canal cruising machine! When we tied to the canal wall for the night in Oswego, people walking on the path made comments such as : « you've got a lot of...stuff » or «interesting rig ». Every sailboat over 20 feet high going through this area looks the same or worse so I'm surprised people aren't used to seeing these floating eyesores by now. Our mast guy said about 150 sailboats arrive in Oswego to transition the canal each fall and spring – Snowbirds going South to escape winter.

We just found out that the New York State Canal System is free this year to mark its 200th anniversary (construction of the Champlain Canal began in 1817). Side note : I dropped my wallet on my way to the goodbye party my work pals had for me about a month ago and lost $100 cash that was in it. The season pass for the canals would normally have cost us $100 so, I'm Even-Steven! 

Clearing customs in Cape Vincent.

Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse (built in 1934).

Folding sails in preparation to unstep the mast.

Mast up...

Mast down!

Oswego, NY.  On the horizon is Lake Ontario, the lighthouse
far right and Kianda just past Lock 1 in the Oswego Canal.

Oswego by night. 

And We're Off!

Dave and I are beginning another year afloat and it feels so good!  

 

Morning from our slip at Trident Yacht Club, Gananoque, ON (click to enlarge)

Our leave request from work got the stamp of approval, our land possessions are packed in an Ottawa storage unit and the car is tucked away in a barn along with our canoe. The boat jobs and do-to list are as complete as they're going to get (though they will, of course, continue throughout the year... and basically for the rest of our lives).  We're gone!  



Departure date:  September 15^th, 2017
Return date:       End of summer 2018
Route:  Maybe something like this...    (see The Plan)



Level of excitement: The reality that this is happening is just starting to sink in settle in! We've been working like machines getting this plan to go and nearly lost sight of the prize as the preparation chores seemed endless. It was high time to move from departure pending to adventure begun!


The day before our tentative departure, the pendulum kept swinging from « We're ready!«  to «We can't leave yet ». It was all over the place like :

Can't go : We found out our newly written boat insurance policy would not be honoured following hurricane Irma as insurance companies are being innundated with claims and do not want to take on new clients.

Going!: We quickly decided to carry on regardless as we trust that our boat is sound (and that, worse-case-scenario, losing her would not put us in financial ruin). The next day however, we received an email saying that our insurance coverage is actually restored (but will not cover damage due to any named storms). Good news!

Can't go: When gathering our important documents, we noticed that our boat's federal registration had expired in July and did not auto-renew because our address had not been updated since moving to Ottawa. Without registration papers, Kianda can't leave Canada. We were told we would have to reapply and that requests are handled on a first-come-first-served basis. We would have to wait.

Going! : Two hours later, Transport Canada emailed us back saying our registration is reissued! Whoa!

Can't go : Water shot out of the pump when the head was being flushed. We couldn't leave without sorting out the shituation. Someone who's not me was going to have to address this. So Dave heaved the heavy sigh of a man about to rebuilt the pump for the fourth time.

Going! : After installing the spare kit and allowing 24hrs for the caulking to cure, all test flushes were successful! The head is now functioning better than ever and may it remain this way. Let us pray.


And on it went until 3pm on Friday Sept. 15^th when we said we're done here and untied our dock lines. There are always ups and downs on a boat – it comes in waves. This isn't new to us but it's always surprising to see what will happen next! We know (#1) not to freak out too quickly because it may turn out to be nothing and (#2) when things are good, enjoy it because they can go south quickly.
In a store today we chatted with a clerk about our year onboard and I mentioned that we are three days in. Three days in! This is a special time. It's all ahead of us and the future is looking very bright. Luckily I brought my shades.

Dave has no recollection of why his head was in the drawer space. 
Everything now has a place but initial move in was...well just look at it! 

Trying out our new dinghy.  

My honey dove to get my honey!

Early morning fog coming in to Kingston, ON

Easy like Sunday morning in Kingston.  After this, we cross Lake Ontario!