Hudson River Southbound

Hudson River Southbound:  We fueled up before we left Kingston, NY with an undetermined destination - perhaps somewhere on the Hudson River, perhaps our cozy, ever-shrinking island at Sandy Hook, or perhaps home.  The weather was behaving itself - not too hot, not too cool, and no rain, so the Sandy Hook option looked like the likely choice.  However, as we approached the Tappan Zee bridge, the captain started talking about putting the canvas covers on the seats and getting prepared to drive from the lower helm.

I ignored him for a while as I was busy reading the conclusion of a great romance novel on my kindle.  However, at some point I decided that if he kept mentioning the weather, it was worth looking up to see what he was referring to.   The sky looked pretty ominous, so I pulled out the various canvas covers and started putting them on the bench seats and the table as well as partially on the captain's chair (as much as I could with him sitting in it).  I took any odd bits of things not currently needed down below - sunscreen, jackets, blanket I was using, my kindle, etc. and then perched on the small portion of the bench seat I had not covered prepared to cover everything as quickly as possible should we decide to run for the cabin.

I saw one flash of lightening and that was it - it was time to go.  The captain grabbed the binoculars, charts, and chart plotter and took off for the lower helm.  I covered the instruments and the remaining seats and followed as quickly as I could.  We rarely use our lower helm because visibility is not very good from down there.  When traveling on a plane, the bow of the boat is raised in front.  Even though it was now truly raining, the captain kept the boat on a plane taking advantage of the current going with us and traveling anywhere from 16 to 17 knots.  If you recall from my last post, that is fast for us. 

Besides the normal, "where's the next buoy?" visibility necessities, the Hudson River presented its very own challenge in having a large amount of wood either in the form of branches (some like small trees) and lumber (some the size of 4" x 4" x 4').  Really you don't want to hit any of this stuff at high speed (or low speed for that matter) as prop damage can be considerable on impact.  The captain told me to watch for debris on the port side, and he would watch on the starboard side.  Since I had been piloting the boat, I asked him who would be driving, and he said he would. 

When either of us is driving down below, we have to stand on tip toe.  The captain is about 3 inches taller than I am so he can see a bit more than I can.  The advantage on the starboard side is that the window on that side has a windshield wiper.  Our boat is designed such that it has 3 big windows across the front.  The center window and the starboard window have wipers.  The port side window does not.   Shortly after we starting piloting from the lower helm, we were reduced to a windshield wiper on only the starboard side window.

As we were looking out the windows we basically saw the windshield wiper mechanism for the center window disassemble itself before our very eyes.  A piece fell off and started rolling across the deck and other remaining pieces were dangling and flopping back and forth pretending that wiping the window was still an option in its sorry state.  I took over the wheel and the captain ran out to collect parts and see what could be done with the wiper.  He did something such that it stopped working which was an improvement over the flopping back and forth scenario, and then he came back in to take over steering.

So now my visibility has been further reduced.  Between the rain covered windows and my height restriction, I could not see well enough to be a proper lookout.  I have a step stool on board but ruled out that option as too dangerous because at the speed we were traveling plus the motion of the boat due to waves, etc. it was far too unstable to consider.  So, I decided that I would climb up and sit on the galley counter between the sink and the stove.  Unfortunately, sitting  on the counter provides an "excellent" seat for looking out the starboard side of the boat but not the front, so I had to position myself so that I was sitting in a somewhat twisted position to see out the front window. 

The counter is not a comfortable seat even without twisting sideways as it is certainly not cushioned.  My right foot was dangling since I was too high up for my leg to reach the floor, and my left leg was hitched up and almost in the sink.  But, hey, I was ready.  As I peered out the window between raindrops looking out for the dastardly wood, I kept practicing to myself what I would say should I see something.  "Wood on the port side captain!"  I was thinking of the old movies with the lookout in the crow's nest saying "Land ho!"  I was taking my job seriously and wanted to get it right.

And then it happened, I see this large piece of lumber dead ahead, and what do I yell?!  "To the right, to the right, move over!"  Now how ambiguous is that?  Is the lumber to the right or should the boat be moved to the right?  At the critical point I failed miserably in my use of nautical language.  The captain, however, did steer to the right and avoided hitting the wood.  I think it was the frantic hand signals indicating a need to move to the right that did the trick.  No further objects came our way that required warning announcements, so I don't know if given a second chance if I could have remembered to use proper terminology or at least less ambiguous language.

Besides the broken windshield wiper, I noticed that the screen on the starboard side salon window was off its track.  I guess the age of the window (13) and the motion of the boat was too much for it, so it broke along the way.  The list of items to fix from this trip just got larger by 2 more things.  At least nothing that broke on this trip caused us to be laid up or hauled out, so we really can't complain too loudly.  Two other boaters we talked to lost several days of their vacation as they required repairs that were more serious be made to their boats before they could continue on their way.

We repeatedly referred to the "Rainy Days" app on our smart phone for updates on the weather.  We could see that as we got near Staten Island, the rain would lessen or disappear altogether.    The app is pretty amazing because it was right on target.  By the time we went under the VZ bridge, the rain had stopped.  Now the question became "where do we go from here?"  We could either go home directly or we could stop at the island first. 

Even though we had fueled up in Kingston before leaving in the morning, the captain said that regardless of our ultimate destination, he wanted to stop and get fuel in Atlantic Highlands to replace the fuel used on the Hudson.  In the morning we paid $340 to fill up the tanks.  In the afternoon, we paid another $520, so that was almost $900 in one day for fuel.    I can't imagine what our MasterCard bill will be like after this trip.  I know it's going to be rather shocking.

Ultimately the captain offered a compromise as he wanted to go home and I wanted to stay on the water one more night.  The plan: go to the island to cook and eat dinner and after dinner pull up anchor and go home.  Besides the threat of more rain during the night, the captain heard a prediction of 92 degrees for the next day.  The combination of both rain and heat was less than appealing.  So we had a lovely dinner out on the water and then watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.  It seemed like the perfect ending to our adventure.  Almost like in the movies but instead of riding off into the sunset, we sailed eastward as the sun set behind us. 

Waterford, NY

Waterford, NY:  OMG!!!!!  The bug infestation that hit the evening we arrived at Waterford was disgusting.  When we woke in the morning, we found the boat covered in dead bodies of winged insects.  Some online research revealed that the corpses were of the Mayfly species whose only purpose in life is to reproduce and die which is pretty much what happened on our boat and all the other boats docked at the Waterford lock dock.   Regardless of whether we planned on it or wanted to or not, all boats docked there overnight ended up having to clean their boats in the morning.  Since I was not interested in transporting Mayfly larvae to NJ, I was particularly careful to clean up all the larva which resembled crumbled pieces of uncooked spaghetti.  Unfortunately the bits and pieces stuck very well to the deck of the boat making it a devilish job to get done. 

After we finally got the boat cleaned up, we decided to go for a bike ride to Peebles Park before leaving Waterford for our next stop.  It was a pleasant ride with a cool breeze as long as we stayed near the Hudson River.  As soon as we started to get into wooded areas, the breeze was cut off and it got unpleasantly warm.  It is possible to bike around Van Shaick's Island but the bike trails appeared to be more suited to trail bikes which is not what our are designed for, so we aborted our bike tour and went back to the boat. 

When we got to the boat with the intention of an immediate departure, the captain said, "Where are my boat keys?" as he patted and emptied his pockets.  We knew he had them when we left the boat because he had locked the boat which requires the key.  I did not have my set with me, so here we are looking at the sliding glass door with no means to unlock it.  The captain asked if I had my set, and I said, "Yes, they are locked in the boat because I didn't bring my purse with me on the bike."   Clearly that was not the answer the captain was hoping for. 

Plan B ... get into the boat via a window / hatch.  We had closed the main hatch window but not latched / locked it down, so with rather appalling speed, the captain was able to "break into" our boat by dropping through the front hatch onto our master stateroom bed and then unlocking the slider from the inside.  Once he got the door open and gave me access to the boat, he took off on his bike to scour Peebles Park for his keys.  He retraced the route we had taken exactly and in so doing, he found his keys in the park near the edge of the Hudson River by a set of picnic tables he had biked around.  Phew!  Close call on that one!  He returned rather rapidly to the boat since without me tailing behind him, I am sure he was pretty much flying on that bike. 

As soon as he got back, it was now already going on for 1 o'clock, we started our engines and pulled out to head down the Hudson River to go as far south as we could today.    We ended up staying in Kingston, NY which is a place we have been to on prior Hudson River trips and enjoyed. We checked in at the Kingston City Marina and then went in search of dinner. We walked around town checking out the various restaurant options and then had a lovely dinner at the "Ship to Shore Bistro and New York steak" restaurant based on the recommendations of two different people - one person who was dining there when we strolled by and another random person working in an auto repair store. 

The auto mechanic said, "Your best choice is Ship to Shore, after that they go downhill from there."  Actually his first choice recommendation was the Armadillo Mexican restaurant, but since neither the captain nor I are huge fans of Mexican, we chose not to partake of that option. We did at least go to the restaurant to check out the menu, but the venue was "noisy bar", so that plus the food selection drove us back to the docks for our dining experience.  I'm very glad it did since dinner was excellent.  We still have Berry Berry Pie in the fridge from Essex, NY so we decided to have dessert on the boat instead of the restaurant.

We want to be back to Sandy Hook area by tomorrow night.  We may or may not anchor out there before heading home depending on weather, time, and our mood.  The forecast is for thunderstorms during the day - intermittent and appearing in 3 hour intervals, i.e. chance of storms at 1:00 p.m., 4:00, 7:00, and 10:00 p.m. and sunny in between times.  Should / could / might prove to be an interesting day on the water.  We'll check our forecasts again in the morning to see what the latest updates look like. 

Seems to me that we should try to get out of Kingston as early as possible due to weather predictions, but the captain says we'll be fighting the tide / current until early afternoon so leaving early won't give the payback one might expect.  Today, in the afternoon, we had the current with us and we were "flying along" at over 16 knots instead of our usual max of 14.  If, instead, we were going against the same current, we'd be going along at under 12 knots.  I know 16 knots (20 mph) doesn't sound like flying.  Our Mainship is a performance trawler thus the 14 knot capability. as compared to most trawlers that go no faster than 8 knots (10 mph).   Believe me, after traveling at 8 knots through all those canals, 16+ knots feels like we broke free and we're "flying".

Champlain Canal and Waterford, NY

Champlain Canal: We made our way down the Champlain Canal today.  We left the dock in Whitehall at 8:15 with the intent of trying to get all the way through the locks and stay the night in Waterford.  Other than the fact that I am rather tired of dealing with yet another lock, the trip was rather uneventful until we got to Lock 4 (remember we were counting down starting at Lock 12).  At Lock 4 all went well until we were exiting the lock. 

Just as we were almost out I heard some yelling and some scraping and looked up to see that the antenna on our boat was being dragged across a fixed bridge which was lower than expected.    We had a boat exiting close behind us which limited our options and before the captain could take any mitigating action to protect the radar tower, that too hit the bridge.  I didn’t realize there was any damage and in fact I thought that we had escaped unscathed; however, when I heard the lock attendant ask us, “do you fit?” and I heard the captain say in response, “by definition!”  I knew we had hit.  I took a closer look and saw our anchor light flopped over and hanging sideways. 

The captain lowered the radar tower which he would have done to begin with if he knew the bridge would be as low as it was – a little like closing the barn door after the horse has escaped – and we continued on our way to just below the lock.   Today we were traveling with our new friends on Dunwurkin and they have 2 dogs which needed to find a potty, so we pulled up to the wall after exiting the lock.  The dogs got a walk, and we got to assess the damage.   I was holding the boat to the wall so I was “held prisoner” in position, so I shouted up to the captain, “How’s it look?” and he responded, “It’s fixed!” 

As it turned out the anchor light is mounted on starboard (a plastic wood like substance used on boat instead of wooden lumber), and when force was applied to the anchor light, the mounting screws were pulled out of the “wood”.  The captain screwed them back in and said it was good enough for now and a permanent fix is no more than remounting with longer screws.  We were exceedingly lucky on that one!

The lock attendant at Lock 4  told us that the trestle bridge coming up was even lower.  As we approached the bridge it didn’t look like we would fit at all.  I mentioned to the captain that if we couldn’t go under, it was a long trip back home referring to reversing our route to get to this point which has taken over 3 weeks to accomplish.   We had the antenna down and the radar tower folded.  The next item that can be folded is the Bimini top. 

If the trestle bridge was truly 17 feet, we had no need to drop the Bimini top; otherwise, we were in trouble again.  I could have sworn there was no way we were going under that bridge, and at the last minute the captain stood up on the bench seat on the fly bridge to get the bird’s-eye view and announced, “No problem!”  Since I was driving the boat at this point, I couldn’t exactly close my eyes, so I just held my breath instead as we went under the bridge with mere inches to spare.   As soon as I realized we were in no danger of ripping off our Bimini top, I laughed like a little kid as we went under the bridge – clearly happy that we were able to squeeze under.

When he purchased the lock pass for our vessel, the captain asked the lock attendant how long it took to get through the canal.  The answer provided was 6 ½ hours.  Hah!  We started at the first lock at 8:20 or so.  Six and one-half hours later we were no where near Lock 1.  At 5:20, 9 hours later, we were finally approaching Lock 1.  The dog walk / anchor light stop took all of 10 minutes – maybe 15 if I stretch my imagination.  With the speed limit of 10 mph strictly enforced on the canal, there is no way on earth that anyone can get through there in 6 ½ hours.    The only reason it only took 9 1/2 hours was that at each lock, the lockmaster called ahead to the next lock to let them know we were coming so the lock was ready for us; otherwise, the trip could have been much longer.  Believe me – 9 1/2  hours in one day on a canal is more than enough!

Speaking of canals and hours, here are some stats that we were given by our Dunwurkin friends.  We have completed thus far 100 locks.  After tomorrow we will have completed exactly 101 as we still have one more to go through – the Troy Federal Lock.  From Waterford - the start of the Erie Canal, traveling the triangle cruise through Canada, and returning via Lake Champlain / Champlain Canal back to Waterford, we have traveled 718 nautical miles.  Add to that the trip from the NJ up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal and back again and we will have traveled well over 1000 nautical miles in this one vacation trip.

Tonight we walked into Waterford and ate dinner at a very nice restaurant called McGreivey’s.  Afterwards we walked to the Troy Price Chopper to pick up a few supplies.  While there we walked around back to check out their floating dock for boating customers visiting the supermarket.  I’m sure there must be others but this is the only supermarket I am aware of with a floating dock.  Instead of walking over tonight we could have stopped on the water and picked up our supplies in the morning.  At this point, however, the captain and I are both anxious to get ourselves back to NJ and want an early start in the morning.

When we got back to our boat after being out to dinner, we found the boat covered in swarms of some unidentifiable winged bugs, and I mean masses of them.  The captain went up to put the canvas covers on the top of the boat and was unable to avoid stepping on them due to the volume of bugs.  We’re hoping they will disappear in daylight, but when I look at them, they look like they are dead as there is no movement whatsoever.  We’re hoping that means they are sleeping and that they will leave on their own accord.  Anyway, I’m not going outside of the boat again tonight – it’s too gross to think about, and I don’t want them inviting themselves into the boat when I open the door.

We’re not sure of our next destination.   We expect to be somewhere on the Hudson River as far south as we can make it considering tides, currents, and weather.

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain:  We left Essex Marina at 8:30 this morning to head to Westport, NY.  Getting out of the marina was an interesting problem.  The docking area was shaped like a U with a flat bottom with slips along the right-hand side at a 45 degree angle which in and by itself is unusual.  We were tied to the wall at the bottom of the U and our bow was hanging over the sailboat docked in the lower right corner of the U – very close quarters.  All was fine until another boat was tied up on the left side of the U.  We were now basically boxed in.  Unfortunately, we wanted to leave early and none of the other boats obstructing our exit were of a similar frame of mind. 

The captain decided that the best way to get out of there would be to back up to the left side wall, push off the bow and then pull out forwards from there.  Some folks who keep their boat at the marina asked if we needed help and we readily accepted the offer.  We tied a long line to the bow so that someone on the dock could continue to hold the boat even when perpendicular to the wall we were originally tied to.  The owner of the sailboat under our bow came running and the man helping us passed the line to him to hold from his boat.  Meanwhile the man’s wife was holding our stern near the wall, and the boat owner that blocked us in stood and watched the show.  Everything went very smoothly and we were out of there slick as anything.  We had a little wind which was pushing us towards the vessel at our stern but we were able to make a successful escape with all the help we got.

After we wiggled out of Essex we headed to Westport, NY to visit the marine store there before traveling to Whitehall.  We fueled up at the dock and while the tanks were being filled, I slipped into the store expecting to find something like a boats parts display.  I was shocked and disappointed to find a nautical gift shop with t-shirts, dresses, and other miscellaneous junk we didn’t need.  I bought some boat clothes pins and toilet paper and left.  I told the captain he would be disappointed but I think he was as amazed as I was when he walked into the store to see such a touristy selection of merchandise.    Needless to say, he walked out empty handed and we got on our way.

Traveling along Lake Champlain, we enjoyed the tranquil scenery and pleasant weather.  Along the way  we came upon our friends from way back on the Erie Canal – Dunwurkin.  We slowed our vessel down to their speed and traveled the Champlain Narrows at a very relaxed rate enjoying the view and taking far too many pictures of the lake and surrounding terrain.    Somewhere along the way Dunwurkin called us to tell us that his boat had hit something and he was slowing down to take a look for damage.  He found nothing and we continued on to Whitehall Marina. 

After we got ourselves settled into our slip, my captain jumped into the rather murky looking water to dive under Dunwurkin and take a look for any potential damage caused by what we had found out was a log that had hit their vessel bottom.  Apparently the locals know that the Clorox bottle floating in the channel marks a submerged log.  Funny thing – I don’t remember reading that in any of my boating manuals or charts.  In NJ waters a Clorox bottle floating in the water means there is a crab trap under the water – not a log!

Anyway after a nice swim in the less than attractive water, my captain declared the bottom of their vessel to be in excellent condition with no signs of log impact.  The Dunwurkin captain was very appreciative of my captain’s boat diving, and while we were waiting for the results of the examination, he turned to me and said, “your husband is a very unusual person”.  I had to laugh out loud at that assessment since I can only agree whole-heartedly.  He’s “unusual” and I’m very happy he’s mine!

We had intended to stay at the Lock 12 Marina; however, we learned, as did Dunwurkin, that the Lock 12 Marina was closed.  The only marina option was the Whitehall Marina so we got our reservations there.  As it turns out the new owners of Whitehall Marina only took ownership in the spring and are still working to bring the marina up to snuff as well as the restaurant across the way – the Finch & Chubb,   After hanging out at the marina for a couple of hours, we walked into Whitehall with the Dunwurkin crew and ate at the City Steak and Seafood restaurant.  The food was passable but not marvelous.

On the way back to the boat we strolled through the town, saw the park, Lock 12, and some very interesting cloud formations which we captured in our Lake Champlain pictures.  Tomorrow we tackle the Champlain Canal locks starting at Lock 12 and working our way down to Lock 1.  We'll see how far we can get before we call it quits for the day.  If all goes smoothly, we’ll aim for Waterford but if all goes slowly or weather is an issue, etc, we’ll stop somewhere along the way and continue down to the Hudson River on Tuesday. 

We’re going to try to be on our way tomorrow around 8:30 to tackle the Champlain Canal.  We have our fender boards all setup and ready to go, but we found out when we walked to the restaurant that we have them on the wrong side of the boat for Lock 12 but on the right side of the boat for the other locks. We’ll have to figure out what we want to do about that issue in the morning.  The fender boards are clunky and heavy and a pain to move around.  If the captain wants them moved, he’ll be doing the moving and I’ll be doing the steering!

Essex NY

Essex, NY:  Well as it turned out we'll have to save Burlington, VT for some other trip.  Weekends in Burlington are busy for boaters and this is particularly true the last 2 weeks of July, so all marinas are booked full.  Such is the consequence of "seat of the pants" itineraries, one must be prepared to alter course.  We chose instead to visit the small historic hamlet of Essex, NY. This destination took us a little further South than planned and thus has eliminated both Burlington, VT and Westport, NY from our overnight stay list.  Since Westport has a large marine store, we plan on tying up for some short period of time to go shopping before heading for the Champlain Canal but we won't be staying overnight.

On the way to Essex we passed our two triangle loop acquaintances - Dunwurkin (CT) and Morning Star (FL).  The captain was sure to snap a couple of photos of each vessel as he passed them.  Both vessels have a lower top speed than ours, so even though they each got a head start on us, we were able to catch up and overtake their vessels.  We'll be looking for them further along.  Who knows we may even be locking through together on the Champlain Canal. 

It was a wild ride coming into Essex Marina.  Earlier on Lake Champlain the water had been smooth as glass, but when we reached the marina, the waters were stirring up due to wind.  At one seriously rocky moment I was caught on the back (French word poupe) deck with a view into the main salon where I was able to watch, but not stop, the dumping of several items from the counter to the floor or into the galley sink.  We have non-skid mats in many places to prevent things shifting, but when the boat tips sufficiently for gravity to take over, things start to fall.  As I watched, my water bottle flew into the sink (thank goodness it chose a nice place to land), and all the literature we have collected during our trip fell to the floor and spread itself around.  I saw nothing go flying that was worth letting go of my handhold for, so I just let it go figuring on cleanup later. 

Apparently, as I later learned, the captain had his own problems.  He was on the phone with the marina when we had the most significant rocking, so he was steering the boat, talking on the phone, and watching / trying to catch the binoculars, charts, etc that decided to fall off the bench seats up top onto the floor.  With my own predicament I didn't think about the fact that things could be falling up top as well as down below.  As far as I know there was no harm done - just a little "excitement" to pass the time.

Essex is a cute little town with, as we found out when browsing in the local thrift shop, 671 residents.  Walking the entire town took no more than an hour walking very slowly with much browsing along the way.  There are 2 restaurants in town and one was closed due to a special event so that left us with one choice which didn't jump out at us.  We found an alternate option in the local market just up the hill from the marina where the owner makes frozen dinners to take out.  We selected the vegetable ziti side dish plus fresh salad greens to go with the tilapia I already had on hand.  I also bought a berry pie made with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries for dessert.  It was homemade and looked too good to pass up.

We tied up next to the breakwater wall for the night in the Essex Marina.  It is rough wood and the captain said that this was the perfect application for our fender boards which we'll be using down the Champlain Canal, so we set them up to rub up and down the wall all night instead of our fenders.  The wind caused constant rocking so I found it was very hard to stay awake even at 5:00 in the afternoon.  Rock-a-bye baby!  I expect we'll get to bed early for an early start in the morning so we can head to Westport and then continue on to Whitehall, NY for one more good night's rest before hitting the canals / locks again.

Roues Point NY

Rues Point, NY:  We passed a very pleasant night at Gaines Marina.  We walked up to a restaurant called Angelo's and I got the pizza I have been craving for the past couple of weeks.  After the hamburger I had in Kingston that tasted like spicy meatloaf, I was afraid to order a pizza for fear of what I might get.  I'm not much into gourmet pizza - I wanted the traditional red sauce cheese on top kind of pizza, and I was able to satisfy my "needs" at Angelo's.  On the never-ending search for sugar-free ice cream for dessert, we stopped into a Stewart's convenience store.  Amazingly I found a pint of vanilla - no sugar added and reduced fat.  I wondered if it would have any flavor but the ingredients at least were all things I could pronounce, so I bought some.  I mixed that with some chunky peanut butter I had on the boat when I got back and had a heavenly peanut butter ice cream dessert, and the best thing is I can even do it again because I hardly made a dent in the pint container.

I woke this morning to the humming of a mosquito in my ear around 6:00 a.m. or so.  Annoying bugger!  However, looking on the bright side as I generally try to do, I got to see the sunrise which I haven't seen in a very long time and it was rather pretty - like a beautiful sunset in reverse!  The trek to the marina restroom was a very long walk somewhat comparable to the hike into town when we stayed in Westport.  Making that first run in the morning can feel like it takes forever.  The facilities at Gaines are very nice - just a long distance from the end of E dock.  We're out here with the sailboats so I think it is the depth that puts us out in the far reaches of the marina.  We require 3'8" which is quite a bit of water compared to other non-sailboat boats.

I remembered a funny story from the U.S. customs.  As we were taking care of paperwork, a vessel pulled up to the docks to check in.  The custom's agent we were chatting with stopped mid sentence and said "what is that thing?"  My captain said he had been following it for several miles and it was a pontoon boat with only the port engine working.  Apparently it occasionally went sideways and had to compensate.  It looked like some kind of motor home on a raft but very large.  When we walked back to our boat, I heard another custom's agent who was helping to tie its lines say, "well it has an engine and it floats, so I'm going to call it a boat".  I had to laugh!

The captain is anxious to get underway, so I'll pause here for the next entry which is to be Burlington, VT.  We saw our old friends from the Erie Canal here at Gaines Marina.  They were about 3 days ahead of us but ended up staying here for 3 days.  They heard that severe storms were predicted for Thursday with potential for tornados, so they stayed put and then the water pump on their boat malfunctioned so they stayed a couple more days for repairs.  Their next stop is Westport and we are going to Burlington first so we a separated again, but who knows we may see them somewhere along the way before we part ways on the Hudson as they head off to CT and we to NJ.   We're also looking for Morning Star who is following our same route on their way back to FL.  It's fun to meet up with folks repeatedly along the way!

Chambly Canal

Chambly Canal:  We decided that we just had to go see the old fort before leaving Chambly.  It was a short walk up the street from the marina.  We got there about 8:45 to find that the fort opened to the public at 10:00, so we strolled around the grounds and snapped some pictures of the memorials and such.  I wanted to go back to the supermarket to pick up something I forgot, but as we walked back we saw activity at the lock and decided we should make a run for it. 

When we walked up to the fort, I put on a sweatshirt due to the cool breeze, but by the time we got back to the boat, the sweatshirt was pitched to one side in favor of a sleeveless shirt – now that breeze felt heavenly.  The locks open for business at 8:30.  We pulled up to the “blue line” / waiting line to lock through at 9:15.  At 9:30 we were still waiting with concern as to whether we would actually get to lock through.  There were 3 boats in front of us including one that we know had been waiting since 8:15 to lock through and it wasn’t clear how many boats would actually fit in the lock together.  Another one of those “hurry up and wait scenarios”.  However, we figured  it was definitely better to run for it and wait than to just miss it.

We thought we would lock right through after a boat came out of the lock going down, but after half an hour of waiting, the captain decided to take a walk up to see what was happening only to find out that the bridge had one lane of traffic due to maintenance on a street lamp.  With all the traffic plus the maintenance on the light, there was no way the lock was going to be locking anyone up.  I could have gone to the supermarket 3 or 4 times by this point in time but still feared that the second I left the boat would be about one minute before they started locking boats through and I’d mess things up for our passage.  Ah well!

When the boats were allowed to enter the lock, my fear was realized – we would not fit with the other 3 boats, so our wait was once again extended for an unknown period of time.  The lock is a set of 3 so there was always the possibility that they would put us in lock one after they put those 3 in lock 2, so yet again we wait on “pins and needles” for our turn.  Oh, by the way, the fort is now open for tours.  At this point in time, the captain is expecting to get all the way through the Chambly today and past US customs.  Only time will tell if that expectation will be realized.

Well, no such luck as far as locking through in tandem.  We had to wait for all three locks to be cleared before we could start on our way.  We pulled into the fist lock at around 10:30.  The locks 1 through 8 were either combination of 3 or in such close proximity as to be in combination.  We exited lock 8 at 1:30, so that was a solid 3 hours of working the locks in the broiling sun.  Multiple times we had to wait in the lock for 5 to 15 minutes before we could exit even though the gates were open so that our exit could coincide with up-bound boats exiting the next lock we were to enter.  Locking through these locks was yet another new experience. 

In the Chambly canal they required that we securely tie a line to the boat while tending a bow line and a stern line.  In the first lock we were told to tie the line to the stern which helped not at all – just made things awkward.  By the time we got to lock 6 we learned that the secured line was indeed supposed to be a “spring” line tied to the cleat amidships.  Once we learned this trick, it took a lot of the strain off the captain and I and put it on the mid-ship cleat instead making our job considerably easier. 

After lock 8 the attendant who was very friendly told me as we pulled away that I could rest because it was a full hour and a half until lock 9 – the last lock of the Chambly Canal.  We passed under 4 bridges that needed to be open for us along the way – bridges 4, 7, 9 and 10.  A few are no longer bridges though the remains of past use are in evidence and bridge 6 did not open.  As soon as the light was green as we approached bridge 7, the bridge attendant said, “Go for it capitan.  It eez now or nev’ere!”  Bridge 7 was a swing bridge, and when the boat behind us was going through the opening the bridge was closing so close on his tail that it looked like the bridge was pushing him through!

By the time we got through Lock 9 I was sick to death of locks after taking 5 hours to travel 10 miles.  The bicycles on the bike trail were flying by us the whole time, and I was quite envious of their speed.  We arrived at US customs around 6:00 and were greeted by very friendly customs officials.  It felt good to be back in the US even though we were at a floating dock at the side of Lake Champlain and not yet on US soil per se!  We checked into Gaines Marina for the night and went in search of food.

We plan to stop at Burlington, VT tomorrow and then Westport on our way back home, then through the Champlain Locks and back to the Hudson. 

Richelieu River

Richelieu River:  We met with the captain's friend first thing this morning.  I cooked breakfast for the three of us, and we ate on the boat.  They both captain Mainships and met through the Mainship Yahoo Group.  They have exchanged email for probably 10 years, but this is the first time they have met face-to-face.  We had a very nice visit and left our marina in Sorel around 12:30. 

Today's boating was on the Richelieu River which required low-speed, no wake for the majority of the ride.  The scenery was very much "more of the same" as we traveled along.  We saw several farms and many houses.  We saw a large number of motor homes parked along the river's edge including one we included in our pictures of one suspended over the water by a parking area supported by stilts.  One puzzling thing we saw was a number of houses that had a motor home parked in the backyard along the water.  Summer home in the backyard??? 

 At the St. Ours Lock we had to wait for the lock to be prepared and while waiting we were invited to "raft up" / tie to another vessel.  We had a very pleasant chat while waiting our turn to lock through.  The lock at St Ours had more pleasure boats waiting to lock through than I have seen before on this trip.  I was concerned that we wouldn't all fit in the lock, but the lock was significantly longer than I anticipated and we all fit with no problem. 

There was a little excitement with the last boat into the lock as he tried to tie to another boat already in the lock, there was a short period where the last boat coming in was perpendicular to the boat it was to tie to - basically crosswise in the lock.  The woman on the front of the stationary boat was pushing and pulling the boat with all her might to try to get the second vessel in position and prevent her own boat from being crashed into.  At one point she was pushing on the railing of the second boat and lost her balance.  I thought she was going to slide under her boat rail and end up in the lock.  Eventually they got themselves oriented parallel to the stationary boat and tied up so the lock attendants could start filling the lock.  As the lock attendant walked past our boat, she said "First time!" so I gather the exhibition is not a normal occurrence.

Other than the brief excitement in the lock, the trip was rather long and due to the weather, which forced me into a jacket on top and a blanket wrapped around my legs, plus the slow-speed travel rather tedious.  We finally arrived at the Marina de Chambly at 6:30, but honestly I thought we'd never get there.  Like a little kid I kept asking the captain "are we there yet?"  There was only one time in the whole afternoon where we could accelerate and that was in a lake at the end of the day's travel and lasted for about 5 minutes.  We had made a reservation at the marina earlier in the day, but by 6:00 I was starting to worry that they staff would have left for the day before we could get there.  As it turned out, they left at 8:00, so we had some time to spare. 

Since it was already getting late, we decided to stroll up to take a look around, and the first thing we see is that the vessel Morning Star which we have been traveling in parallel with for several days is tied to the wall above the lock.  We recognized another boat tied to the lock wall - the same boat that we had rafted to at St Ours Lock, so we walked over and chatted for a while with them.  The woman on board told me to be sure to visit the super market "Maxi" to stock up on good food.  It was a full-sized market which is a rare sight within walking distance along the waters. 

When we walked into town, we checked out the selection of restaurants and then went to Maxi and bought some good veggies to cook on the boat with the steak we already had on hand.  The captain likes to eat at "Chez Evaline" better than any other restaurant, so I end up cooking quite a bit of the time.  As he was washing the dishes he said that the price to be paid for eating at "Chez Evaline" is that you have to do the dishes afterwards. 

We have a recommendation to visit the fort here in Chambly.  At 300 years old, we were told it is the most well-preserved fort in North America.  It is a very short walk from the boat so I'm hoping we find the time for a quick "look see" before we get on our way down the Chambly Canal.  The question now is will we arrive in the USofA tomorrow or take two days to get to Lake Champlain.  To hit the US tomorrow we'll need to be on our way by no later than 11:00.  Since I bought some more fresh veggies tonight, we'll be eating vegetables all day long to get rid of them before we hit the border!  Life is rough!  N'est-ce pas?