Canada

We arrived in Canada on Sunday afternoon after a really rough ride across Lake Ontario.  Even the dog looked a little green around the gills.  It was so rough that we tied Maggie in the fly bridge with us because she kept sliding accross the floor and we were afraid she would slide right off the boat!

Monday, we headed West toward Trenton.  It was cloudy with a chance of storms in the forecast, but by noon, it had cleared off and was nice.  Around 3 o'clock, we noticed some dark clouds forming and we thought we would outrun them, but, alas, we did not.  We got caught in the a terrible thunderstorm for nearly 2 hours while we were underway in the middle of Big Bay.  The wind was blowing at least 40 mph and it rained so hard that Maggie went downstairs by herself.  She was scared and so were we.  I made Mike put on his life jacket and I put my on, too.  We made it through safely and after the storm, we anchored in a quiet little cove and cooked pork chops on thegrill.

We are not sure why, but the next morning, after we were underway, Maggie started acting odd.  Long story short, she had diarreah and she did it on the boat!  We were so happy that she finally used the boat, we didn't even care that we had to clean it up!  She kept running up to the bow and looking for that mat that we had thrown out because she wouldn't use it. She is finally over her upset stomach and we are wondering if she will continue to go to the bow.

We'll keep you posted. 

End of the Erie Canal

Today, we finished the Erie Canal and headed north into the Oswego Canal.  After going through 6 locks, we are tied up on the wall south of Lock #8, after which we will be in Lake Ontario.  We walked around the city of Oswego and admired the scenery of this old town.  There are 2 other boats with Loopers aboard that we traveled with today and they are going on with us to Canada.  We have been really comfortable with our journey so far, but now, we are nervous about the unfamiliar, large bodies of open water in another country, not to mention the language barrier of our (US) Yankee neighbors!  The other Loopers feel the same way.  So, in the morning, we are heading out as a group to the great unknown of Canada! I know we will all feel relieved after clearing Canadian customs, too.  We have heard some real horror stories about Canadian customs. 

Brewerton, NY

We crossed Lake Oneida this morning and had good weather.  The lake is about 20 miles East to West and that is the way we had to go. We stopped at Winter Harbor just before noon and used the free car to make our much needed trip to West Marine and the grocery store.  Full of supplies and fuel we are ready to travel the last set of locks in the NY Canal system we will be traveling. The Oswego locks will take us to Lake Ontario and our tour of Canada begins.  We estimate it will take us ten days to 2 weeks to make the crossing and back to the US.  While in Canada we will not be able to send out BLOGS.  AT&T wanted to charge us $109.00/ month for the usage of the air card while in Canada.  No Thanks!!  We may find wifi spots that we can use but if you get real lonesome for us just send us an email and we will answer on the marina computers or call us since we can call for only a few pennies extra. We just finished having wine on the aft deck with some friends that are going the same way.  As we talk we enjoy sharing some of the same stories, some of the ones we have sent out in our BLOGS.  Hope you have enjoyed them, we have.

Sylvan Beach, New York

We tied up to the free dock at Sylvan Beach this a/n just as a rain shower passed overhead.  Thank goodness Denniese got off the boat and tied it to the wall and I stayed under the bimini cover steering the boat otherwise I would have gotten wet.  She didn't get too wet or I would pay!!.  Sylvan Beach is a small vacation spot on Lake Oneida in upstate New York.  Today we reached our top lock #21 and started down.  #21 is 420' above sea level and is real spooky when sitting on top of it. Make a note... Denniese entered the engine room of Lifestyle II for the first time today.  She heard a noise and is determined to track it down. She yells up to me what she hears and I tell her what she is looking at.  The mystery continues. 

More Erie

We continue to creep up the Erie Canal toward the Oswego.  The reason this part of the trip takes so long is that we are going up.  If you consider NY city at sea level we are now almost 400' above sea level and each foot up is done with a lock.  A lock is a water elevator for boats.  It takes 30 to 45 min. for each lock.  Our first day on the Erie at Waterford on the Mohawk river we did 10 locks in 10 hours and traveled only 43 miles.  We won't do that again.  It took us three days to recover from it.  Now we are moving slower but enjoying it more. The view is spectacular!!  We are on top of a mountain on a canal sometimes only 100' feet wide and we are able too look down to the valley. Businesses welcome boaters and many provide free dockage for them.  We are parked behind a resturant and gift shop.  Tomorrow we will reach tthe top and start locking down the back side of the Adirondacks toward Lake Ontarino.  All of these locks are operated by the New York Canal System as they have been since the canal opened in 1825.  Now mainly for pleasurer boaters, you buy a pass for a certain number of days to transit the system.  When the Erie first opened it was called Clintons ditch.  Governor Clinton had proposed it and pushed it through the NY legislature. The opponents said it would never pay.  It recovered it's cost in three years and still holds the record for obstacles overcome and revenue produced. Railroads were it's downfall and now many of the old canal right of ways are payed over with interstate highways. We will try to send pictures, may not be successful.  Something is wrong with the blog site and we can't send them.  You may have to wait till we get home.

Erie Canal

Sunday morning we headed out to church on foot since the First Baptist Church of Amersterdam was only a mile away.  We figured we needed to walk. The previous day had been the longest day on the water so far (10 hours). We were tied up on the free dock at Lock #11 on the Erie Canal, which runs along with the Mohawk River.  As we walked up to the road, a man named Rick Conti was getting out of his car there at the park and asked us if we needed a ride somewhere.  We said we were just walking down to the church and he insisted on driving us.  After church, we were going to walk around this little town and take in a little sightseeing and Rick pulled up and offered to take us all around the town in his car.  He took us to all the local points of interest, iuncluding the original Erie Canal, which was little more than a ditch constructed in the early 1800's.   We saw a catherdral which is in the Guiness Book of World Records as having the most exit doors of any building in the world, 72 in all.  It was a round catherdral and it seats 10,000 people.  It sits atop a high hill in Amerstdam and along the hillside, visible from the river, there are trees planted in the shape of a cross, which you can see for miles.  Rick was such a nice tour guide, we bought his lunch at a place called Karens which is a family run outdoor restuarant along with locally grown produce.Many of the communities along the rivers provide free dockage.  Today, we are on the Mohawk River in the town of Canajoharie.  A very old community which works to keep the buildings looking as they did when this was a commercial canal.  We only traveled about 22 miles today but took the a/n off to do laundry.  These things have to be done. Our next boat will have a washer and dryer in addition to a cook and mechanic. All is well except today, it is hot.  Temps today will be in the 90's and we are not accostomed to the hot temps.

No Beenie Weenies!

We left Poughkeepsie yesterday and sta ted up the Hudson again.  We found a quiet little cove behind Houghtaling (rhymes with totaling) Island and spent the night there last night.   We knew the current would be with us this morning so we got up early and weighed anchor at about 7:00 and headed for Troy, NY.
As we motored through Albany, we saw fellow loopers on their boat "Queen Anne's Revenge" at a marina, and stopped to visit for a few minutes after fueling up Lifestyle.  We were anxious to get to Waterford and tie up on the "free dock" and spend the night before entering the Erie Canal.  We rode our bikes all over Waterford and finally found a nice grocery store.  We only needed a few items but to our dismay, they did not carry Beenie Weenies and furthermore, had never heard of them.!!!!!  We thought we must have wandered into a foreign country.  Whoever in  the world has never heard of Beenie Weenies!  They are a necessary staple on a boat.  Otherwise, Wateford is a cute little town and very friendly.  We are looking forward to breakfast in the morning at Don & Paul's where they serve eggs, toast and coffee for only $1.75.  How bad can it be?

Back in Poughkeepsie and full of thanksgiving.

 Thanks goodness coolers float!  It's just another example of how the Lord has been with us every step of the  way so far.  Thanks to Dave Odom, who reminded us on Sunday morning that we should bring glory to God even on vacation, but especially on an adventure like ours. Thanks for those who are continuing to pray for our safety on the trip home and every day on the water. Now, on to the cooler story. . .

We made the whirlwind trip home, driving 16 hours on the first leg but somehow the trip back did not take as long about 14 1/2 hours.  It was great to be among family and friends, and we were sorry we did not get to see everyone we wanted to see. We arrived in Poughkeepsie around 8:00 pm and stopped at Subway, got a footlong and headed for the boat.   The sun was justing setting as we arrived, so we ate our sandwich on the porch of the yacht club while Maggie ate her dinner.  We loaded the dinghy with the most important stuff (cooler, clean clothes, dog, captain, admiral, etc.) and decided to get the rest in the morning.
No problem.  I got on the boat first, then we got Maggie on board, (it was pretty much dark by now) then the travel bags with the clothes, and last, but certainly not least, the cooler, which is full and awkward and very heavy.  Mike lost his grip on the cooler and it went in the Hudson iver and of course, came open.  There was a ziplock bag in the very top of the cooler with blueberries, a half a carton of eggs and Little Debby Swiss Rolls (one of Mike's favorite snacks) along with orange juice, milk, bacon, cheese and several other items.  The current was taking it all downstream, away from the boat at a good clip!  My first thought was, "Man, there goes breakfast in the morning.  Too bad"  Not to worry.  Mike hollered for me to untie the dinghy from the boat and he went after it all like a champion!  It didn't seem like a good time to laugh about it, but I really wanted to laugh.  He got it all back and saved breakfast.  Thanks you, Lord.  What a mighty God we serve!