East Coast Redux

We started our trip to Florida via the Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) from Yorktown, VA.  The map below outlines the first phase of our trip to Jacksonville, FL, or about 800 statute miles (sm).  Since we travel at about 9 mph this is about 12-13 travel days.  With stops to see friends, weather, etc, the entire trip should take about 3 weeks.

The trip got off to a literal bang when, driving away from a gas station, another driver ran into my left rear wheel.  I was able to drive the car home and we took off for the marina with our neighbor Kevork.  

We left Yorktown on October 16, at the unusual time of 2 PM due to approaching bad weather.  It was a short day (37 sm) but we needed to cross the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and get into Norfolk ahead of the bad weather.  Your first sight as you enter Norfolk are the Navy ships berthed on the east side of the Elizabeth River.

About 10 miles south of Norfolk we came to the only lock on Atlantic ICW from Norfolk to Miami in contrast to the summer phase where we transited 60 locks in 6 weeks.  There were quite a few boats waiting to lock through at Great Bridge.

The locking was uneventful with no collisions, yelling or cursing.  After hanging out in Chesapeake, VA, for two days, we then headed south for North Carolina to cross the last two large bodies of water on this trip:  Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.  Both went well.

After that we stopped near Beaufort (Bow-furt), NC, to get diesel.  We paid $2.05 per gallon, a record low for us, but because we took 200 gallons the ticket was still healthy.  

South of Beaufort we passed thru Camp LeJeune where this warning sign cautions you to stop when the Marines are firing across the ICW.

We could hear artillery & mortars that day but the waterway was open.  We did see some AAV's (amphibious assault vehicles)  loaded with troops.

Continuing south to Wilmington, we stopped to visit friends Jim & Susan and to have a diesel engine mechanic look at something that was puzzling me.  The mechanic found nothing and only charged me $100 to tell me that.

We had several uneventful days (the best kind on a boat trip) before a stop in Charleston, SC.  The Charleston stop was a disappointment because the marina assigned us a slip with faulty electricity.  Our boat has a gizmo (Susan made me promise not to explain it further) that will not allow "bad" electricity onto the boat.  We had planned to stay a few days in Charleston but the juice problem encouraged us to move on.

We cruised the South Carolina low country and stopped at Beaufort (Bee-yew-furt), SC, and enjoyed dinner at a nice waterfront restaurant.  It's hard to see, but our boat is the 2nd one from the left on the dock in the background.

From Beaufort we quickly entered Georgia where we anchored every night - no marina stops.  We did stop at fuel dock in Brunswick, GA, where we picked up 300 gallons of diesel at a new record low price:  $1.96 per gallon.  I've sent a note to some senior associates still working at Exxon suggesting they fire all of the people in charge of the conspiracy to keep oil prices high.

One day after the fuel dock, we got to Florida and stayed at some friends' dock in Fernandina Beach.  Bill and Lin were great hosts and Lin even threw a birthday dinner for Susan with some other Florida friends.

After mooching off Bill & Lin for a few days we headed for Jacksonville.  Shown below is Jacksonville Landing - a shopping and dining venue.  The Landing is about 1/2 mile down the river from the Jags stadium so their fans don't need to go far to drown their sorrows after a game.

We'll be off the air until mid January.  We plan to leave Temptation in Jacksonville until early January (while we visit the grandkids in California and do some stuff in Billy-burg).  We'll then wander around Florida from January thru March/April.  The 1Q16 phase is still...wait for it, wait for it...chiseled in sand.

Summer Phase Complete

Ed. note:  someone has noted that the self description in the "looking for Waldo" picture was somewhat inaccurate but nonetheless hopeful.

To refresh your memory... 

 "I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with gray hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with gray hair."

The suggested correction...
 "I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with NO hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with NO hair."


Anyway, the summer phase of our trip to St Petersburg, FL, is complete as we have returned to the marina where this saga began two months ago.  I know we initially claimed the trip plan would take us to Chicago and down the western rivers but...chiseled in sand.

Susan promised that this entry would not be full of details about fixing the boat's running gear (propellers, shafts, struts, bearings, rudders).  She did not know how prescient she was...the boat is not fixed yet.  We did stop at a Hudson River marina fully intending to effect repairs but, after talking with several staff there, I was not brimming over with confidence about the facility.

So we decided to soldier on, baby the injured propeller and see how that worked out.  Since we made it all the way home, so far so good.  Other impacts of our decision get revealed soon since we pulled the boat out of the water last week, had the experts look it over, discover the true damage and actually make repairs.  We're hoping to know the full story by the end of this week.  My guy at Morgan Stanley is working the over/under on BOAT units.

Back to the Hudson River, we continued south after filling our diesel tanks (200 gallons @ $3.15 per gallon) anchoring just north of New York City.  From there through NYC, out into the Atlantic and back into NJ with stops at Barnegat Bay, Atlantic City and Cape May.  I must say the NJ Intracoastal Waterway is not in good repair and many cruisers skip it completely and run that part of their trip in the Atlantic.  The weather did not cooperate for an ocean run, so we took the inside route.

After Cape May, we crossed Delaware Bay and then back into the Chesapeake.  Our last several nights before getting home were spent in Solomon's, MD, across the Patuxent River from the Pax River Naval Air Station.  NAS proximity results in far too many "crabs".  Ed. note:  at West Point, critters that attend the Naval Academy are referred to as "crabs".  I'll let readers ponder for themselves whether the reference honors decapod crustaceans or human parasites.    

One Solomon's homeowner (a crab?) clearly is not sensitive to some visitor's delicate feelings as evidenced by his porch banner. 

I was riding by on my bike and, just glancing over quickly, thought  "Hey, I've got one of those banners too!"  But something didn't feel quite right, so I stopped to discover the antimatter version of the banner we've used for years on our boats.

One summer in Annapolis (one time at band camp) we cruised past the Naval Academy flying our banner just after the new freshmen arrived.  There was a near riot ashore as several hundred plebes screamed and yelled what, I am certain, were words of encouragement.

So after Solomon's it was one day to our home marina on the York River wrapping up the summer phase.

Readers who worked with me know I'm a data guy, so here's a summary of the summer phase.

• Miles travelled:     1900
• Diesel gallons:        800    (includes about 50 gal for the generator) 
• Days:                        64
• Locks:                       60
• Avg Speed, mph:        7
• Marina nights:           33

We'll suspend blob posts until we take off in mid October for Florida.

Roger Arrowood : 1952-2015

The day we left West Point we received news that a good friend, Roger Arrowood, died while on a diving excursion in the Florida Keys.  Roger was a good friend and a very good man.  He, and his wife Jacki, both retired from the Navy as Captains.  We first met them, and their dog, Rowdy, in the Bahamas in the winter of 2007-2008.  Just like Gene Hackman in  the movie Crimson Tide, Rowdy is a Jack Russell terrier.  The Arrowoods were in the Bahamas on their trawler, Pelican.

My first contact with Roger was at a Chili Cook-off where we were competitors.  He is shown at center leaning forward wearing the goofy chef's hat.  I'm on the left in my Exxon apron... which did little to enhance my cooking credentials.  The smile on his face was a Roger trade mark.  He was up beat about everything, enjoyed life and had many friends.

Roger's sense of humor was well known amongst his friends.  He once gifted me with a t-shirt and made me promise to wear it before I unwrapped it.  

Another time, we let him borrow our car while they were visiting Florida.  He and Jacki made an unauthorized modification to my car's license plate that I did not notice for quite some time.

I've been planning my revenge and those who know me realize that I don't hold a grudge more than 20, 30 years...tops.

Since that first winter in the Bahamas, we've gotten together with the Arrowoods at our places in Florida and Virginia, at theirs in North Carolina and Roger crewed for us sailing around Cape Hatteras.  Most recently, we visited them at their new home in the Florida Keys last February.

Roger died from a dilated cardiomyopathy, something that has no symptoms and is often the cause of sudden death in athletes.  He was swimming back to his boat after diving when it occurred.  The memorial service plan includes the Navy spreading Roger's ashes at sea with full honors.

Roger will be missed by everyone who knew him and the world is lessened by his passing.


Roger Arrowood:  Requiescat in Pace

Cruising is like a box of Chocolates...

Ed. note:  If you click on a picture in the blob, it should blow up to a much larger size.  I realize many of you know that, but it came to my attention that not every reader was aware.

At the end of our last episode, Susan & I were headed back to the NY State Canal system.  We left the little town of Fair Haven and headed for the canal entrance in Oswego.  When we arrived and passed thru the first lock to tie up at the wall, my brother Mark had left his car there for us with the keys hidden inside.  What a guy!

We headed south from Oswego with only 29 more locks to the Hudson River.  The locking on the way south & east went much better than the trip north mostly due to much lower water flows and our recent practice on the way north.  I'm going to take a moment here to elaborate on locking and docking since quite a few folks have asked questions.

This pic shows our boat (center, left) in the standard size lock with six other boats, after we are secured to the lock wall.  To get us secured, you can see Susan (below), using a boat hook to snag a line that she then ties to the 40,000 lb boat.  The captain is required to put the boat in reverse to stop the boat at the correct point and but not reverse too much and pull her into the water.  The captain then moves smartly to the stern and secures another line before the boat goes sideways in the lock.

Once the water level goes up/down, the boats motor out like a row of ducks to the next lock.  We transited 60 locks on this trip, about 7-8 each cruising day.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the highest lock, Little Falls, had a guillotine gate on the east side.  Susan got a great shot as we exited the lock.  The boat must pass under the guillotine and it disturbs us to do this more than it should.

Cruisers on the canal often stop at the same places and get together on the docks at the end of the day for what is called "docktails".  This gathering occurred in Amsterdam, NY, after a nine lock day.  Temptation's crew is seated farthest from the camera.

Lest you think the trip is nothing but stunning views and unlimited booze, as we were motoring east on the canal after one of the locks, we heard and felt a large BOOM.  I jumped up and looked astern to see one end of a large tree pop up from under our boat.  It then sank back out of sight.  (Ed note:  Robin, cover the grand kids eyes.)  @$%^$%#$#!$%^&% we struck a submerged log!

I then went into discovery mode to check for damage.  Luckily I could find no water coming in nor were our water intrusion alarms sounding.  However, a check of the propellers revealed that the starboard (right side for the infantry) prop had a serious vibration starting at about 1,400 rpm.

As a result, we need to find a boat yard to haul the boat out of the water, remove the prop, send it to a prop shop for repair/replacement, inspect the prop shaft, rudder, yada, yada, for damage and repair as necessary.  This will likely cost us 3-5 days of delay and several BOAT units.  For non-boaters wondering what the heck is a BOAT unit?  The acronym BOAT stands for Break Out Another Thousand.  Hey, one definition of cruising is " fixing your boat in remote places".

The eastern terminus of the Erie Canal is in Waterford, NY, at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers.  This is a great stop and we enjoyed three days there including lunch with my sister, Patsy and her husband Stan, who live nearby.

Waterford has a long Erie Canal history.  Since the early barges were pulled by mules (circa ~1830), they have a mule statue on the dock to honor the beasts.  That is not graffiti on the mule, it is part of the monument, somewhat like a mural.  There would a picture of us astride the mule but for several signs with dire warnings not to.

From Waterford we enter the Hudson River and head towards NY City, albeit slowly because of the propeller problem.  The Hudson has several light houses on small islands in the river.  They are quite picturesque.

When we decided to revise our plans, Susan recalled that we could now include a stop at West Point for a reunion of the West Point Glee Club.  I can almost feel and hear the astonishment from many readers at the thought that this organization would have me as a member.  Nevertheless, over 100 alumni voices gathered for the event whose highlight was a joint concert with the West Point Band.  The concert venue was the outdoor amphitheater at Trophy Point.  You are over a hundred feet above the Hudson River looking north in this shot.  

Aside:  Just after this shot, a group of new freshmen (plebes) wandered though the amphitheater in combat uniforms with rifles.  Well, wander is probably a bit unjust since they were on a training patrol.  However, I, like many other old goats, suspect that everywhere we ever worked, went to school, etc, has gone to hell since we left.  It's a requirement for Old Goat status. 

The concert seemed to be a big success and was great fun for our group.  In the "looking for Waldo" picture below, I am in the last row, due north of the director's right hand.  I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with gray hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with gray hair.

During the reunion weekend, we docked at Cornwall-on-Hudson just 4 water miles away.  We depart here tomorrow for Haverstraw Marina where we will begin the repairs from the log incident.  Susan promises that the next update will not be full of details about props, cutlass bearings, rudders, shafts, etc.  I think there are at least two readers who, if those details were included, would not set themselves on fire.  I'm willing to defer to the vox populi.

Change of Plans - Ver 6

As the title suggests, we've changed our plans.  Long time cruising friends and our children are not surprised since they know our plans are chiseled in sand.  I won't spoil the suspense and tell you the change.  Read on.  

On July 2, we left Oswego, NY, and headed across the east side of Lake Ontario towards the Thousand Islands.  The light house at the end of the break wall in Oswego doesn't look this good up close; it's in serious need of a coat of paint.

It was a fairly smooth crossing and we got to Henderson Harbor quickly and anchored.  Henderson Harbor (pop. ~ 1,400) is well protected from almost all directions and we liked it so much we stayed several days.  For such a small town, they had a surprisingly good July 4th fireworks show that lasted over an hour.  Our anchorage is shown below.

From there we continued up the Lake Ontario coast into the St Lawrence river.  Pictured below is the Horne's Ferry Terminal on Wolfe Island, Ontario.  Wolfe is located at the mouth of the St Lawrence and is the largest of the Thousand Islands (pop: ~1,400).

We tied up at the seawall in Cape Vincent, NY, across the river about 1/2 mile from the ferry.  The sunset shot over Wolfe Island also shows, if you look closely, many stick-like structures above the tree line.  These are giant windmills, 86 in total, which constitute the 2nd largest wind farm in Canada.

Right after we tied up at Cape Vincent, a tug and barge pulled up to the other side of the seawall.  Boating readers know that we boaters always help each other out docking and departing the dock.  Keeping with the tradition, the captain went out to help.

Boating readers also know that the "help" mentioned above rarely extends to boats that weigh more than 50,000 lbs.  The combo above likely weighs in north of a quarter million lbs.  Undaunted, I caught their line and started pulling them up the dock...really.

I'm thinking "...strong like bull.." and Susan is thinking "...dumb like bull...".  Despite my expert assistance, they still managed to smash the barge into the seawall.

We spent 2 nights at Cape Vincent, a much larger town than Henderson at ~ 2,800 residents.  The pic below shows a fellow boater apparently from a local boating club.

From Cape Vincent, we headed northeast, which is downriver, on the St. Lawrence River through the Thousand Islands.  BTW: Thousand Islands is an approximation.  There are 1,834 islands but that number does not roll trippingly off the tongue.  Also, the French called them Mille-Isles.

At this point some of you may be wondering why we're headed northeast instead of northwest as described in our trip summary.  Re this post's title, Susan & I had been discussing the trip thus far with the medical delays, weather delays, etc and decided we didn't want to see Chicago and St Louis that badly.  So we came up with a new plan to see the Thousand Islands and maybe some parts of Canada and then back track our route thus far to Chesapeake Bay.  We would still bring Temptation to St Petersburg, FL, but would do so along the familiar, east coast route this fall.   Hence the deviation down the St Lawrence.

Continuing our tale, as we headed down river we were reminded several times that the St. Lawrence Seaway handles about 50 million tons of cargo each year.

The islands are very beautiful and many have only one house.  This is island 873...trust me.

One of the visual highlights of the Thousand Islands is Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay.  Some rich guy named Boldt started building it over 100 years ago for his wife and, when she died suddenly, he had the 300 workers lay down their tools and walk away.  It has since been partially restored.

Near Alexandria Bay, we stayed for 2 days in Clayton, NY, and I visited the Antique Boat Museum which was an amazing display of wooden boats from canoes through hydroplanes.  Heading back up river, we stopped again at Cape Vincent before setting out south across Lake Ontario.  As we exited the St Lawrence, we cruised briefly into Canadian waters.

On the south shore of the lake, we stopped at Little Sodus Bay, NY - the place where we missed the family reunion last month.  We've been into the town, Fair Haven (pop: 741), twice.  Fair Haven has several good restaurants.  One (O'Connor's) featured Irish folk dancing (surprise!).  The star of the show is shown both performing and as the rose among-st the thorns - my brother Mark (right) and his friend Robby. 

Walking back to the boat we passed a service station and, because of the business I was in for 25 years, I couldn't help but take a picture of the sign on a gas pump.

From Fair Haven we head for Oswego and the NY Canal System again.  Stay tuned.  We promise we won't change plans again...and the check is in the mail and I'll respect...

Erie Canal to Lake Ontario

While we were waiting in Waterford, we met up with some sailing friends we first met in the Bahamas in 2007.  Kenny & Kathy Walker have a beautiful new 48' American Tug.  They treated us to hors d'oeuvres and drinks on their boat deck.  Their boat is also their home and is appropriately named No Zip Code. 

Moving ahead to Amsterdam, the NY State Canal Corp opened the canal one day earlier than predicted on Tuesday, June 16th.  We headed up the canal towards Little Falls, NY.  Many of you have probably seen the Erie Canal from the NY State Thruway.  Well here is the opposite view.

Other parts of the canal are completely removed from civilization.

As you approach the Little Falls lock, the highest on the Erie Canal at 40.5 ft, the first thing you notice is the "guillotine" gate on the east end.

We expected that the only excitement at this lock would be going up the 40 ft wall.  Under the heading of "No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition", as we reached the top of the lock and were preparing to cast off, a 35 mph gale and deluge blew through.  We could barely control the boat in the narrow lock and both of us got beat up...we did save the boat however.  We couldn't have been any wetter if we'd jumped into the canal.  We couldn't see the gale coming because we were rising from the bottom of a 40 ft hole.  The lock tender, at the top, could see and did nothing to warn us.  He is off our Xmas card list.

After the lock beating we rested for the night at the city marina.  The nice lady that runs the place picked up Susan in her car at the grocery store and saved her a long walk back.  Continuing westward, we stopped at both ends of Oneida Lake (see map previous post).  On the east end we had a great Eye-talian dinner and the on the west end we bought a new starting battery for our diesel generator.

After Oneida Lake, we turned north into the Oswego River for the final run to Lake Ontario.  The Oswego River & Canal was the section closed for a week due to high water.  If you look at the turbulence at the bottom of the dam,  you can tell water is still screaming over the dams on the river.  Last week, two guys in a kayak drowned getting too close to one of these dams.  I heard they won a Darwin Award.

We finally got to Oswego on Lake Ontario on Sunday, June 28th.  Too late for the family reunion and about 3 weeks behind schedule.  The weather gods just said no.  Susan & I walked around a bit and she took this shot from the bridge above our boat.  We are tied up in the canal between the last 2 locks.

Our plan is stay here for a few days to re-provision, do laundry, yada, yada and visit our favorite Italian restaurant...Canale's.  This is all made possible because my brother Mark lives here.  After that we head across Lake Ontario for Canada.

P.S.  Some of you may have noticed a theme running thru the trip...Italian restaurants.  It's all Susan's fault...she makes me go.

Delaware Bay to the Erie Canal

Faithful readers (both of you) may be wondering where we've gotten to since the last post.  We left Delaware City Wednesday, June 10, and had a smooth Delaware Bay crossing entering the Cape May Canal around noon.  We passed by Cape May and went back out into the ocean bound for Atlantic City.  Here is a shot of some casinos from the ocean.

 We anchored for the night behind Harrah's (seen below).

After Atlantic City we traveled up the NJ Intracoastal Waterway to the northern end of Barnegat Bay.  From there, back out into the ocean for the run to NYC,  The Verrazano Narrows bridge is very impressive from the ocean.

On our way thru NY harbor we saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Freedom Tower.

At the northern end of Manhattan we passed under George & Martha.

We cruised up the Hudson past the Tappan Zee and anchored near the cliffs on the western side across from Sing Sing prison.  We felt perfectly safe here since no one ever escapes from NY prisons.

The next day we stopped at Half Moon Bay Marina in Croton-on-Hudson where our son, Jeff, met us by taking the train from Brooklyn.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at an Eye-talian restaurant in town.

Underway again the next day, we continued up the Hudson passing by the Orange County School for Wayward Boys (aka West Point).

After a nice anchorage near Hyde Park, we continued north past Albany to Troy where we started passage thru the locks of the Erie Canal.  Pictured below is Lock #2 at Waterford, NY.  There were seven boats in the lock.  The boats lengths range from 36-48 ft and 30,000 - 60,000 lbs in weight.  It gets exciting with all of the jostling around inside the narrow locks.

We passed thru 9 locks on our first day in the canal.

                                Curse of the weather gods redux

Due to heavy rains in upstate NY, the Erie Canal and Oswego Canal were closed on June 15th.  The pic below shows the heavy water flow over one of the dams.  At Troy, NY, the USGS reported the peak flow over the dam at 30,000 cubic feet per second.

As a result, we are stopped in Amsterdam, NY.  I just realized this discussion is  becoming a geography quiz on upstate NY, so I'll use this map as a visual aid.

Amsterdam is located on the Erie Canal under the letter "L" in the word "CANAL" closest to the Hudson River.  Our original plan had us on Lake Ontario in Oswego by June 21 for a family reunion.  We did make the first day cookout because my sister picked us up in her car on the way.  Shown below are my siblings Mark and Patsy with Susan and me.  If I look grumpy it's because my boat was supposed to be anchored in the background instead of stuck in Amsterdam (I suspect several of you are thinking...grumpy?...looks normal to me).

Rumor has it that the canal will reopen Wednesday.  Whenever it does, there will be a waterway scramble because hundreds of boats are stuck between the Hudson River and Oneida Lake (north of Syracuse).  Stay tuned.