June 28 - 15 years on the Erie Canal

Had a good worker, and her name was Sal, 15 years on the Erie Canal.
Of course, we haven't been on the Erie Canal that long, but it has been three days.  We started with the first opening of the Waterford series of 5 locks.  No problem. Two locks after that we hit a lock that required us to go through rapids to get to the entrance of the lock.  The waterfalls was beside us and the rapids all around us.  The boat twisted and turned and we had to force it into the lock.  Pretty exciting and nerve wracking.  We only bumped the lock once.

New York State has had some rain, so the water flow has increased which has given us an interesting time getting into locks.  About half of them we have turned sideways getting in.  Luckily Patti has driven, so she powers her way in.
It feels real good at the end of the day when we're tied up and get to cocktail time.

The Erie region is great.  Beautiful countryside and nice places to stop.  We're enjoying the slow pace, until we get to the next lock, that is.

June 25 - Waterford a second day

Did I say that the Waterford docks are free?  It's not that boat cruisers are cheap, but they recognize value when they see it.  The docks are nearly full today.  The rain is coming, and hopefully not too much.  We picked up our mail and got groceries.  We took down the mast to get under the bridges for the start of the Erie Canal.
I have collected a half dozen boat cards of people that are going our way. The boats all vary but these are the people that we will see again at different places on our route to Canada.  We'll travel together and wait out weather together.  It's a very reassuring way to travel and make friends.  I have already had people ask me if we were in Half Moon Bay last week, or they saw us in Deltaville, VA earlier this month.  Word travels fast on the water.
Tomorrow we go west.

June 24 - our first lock of the summer

We went through the Troy lock today just above Albany, NY.  This is the first of many.  Patti and I learned that we haven't forgotten how to do it.  She drives the boat into the lock and I grab lines (and give orders).  Actually I don't get to give orders as much as "suggestions", especially if we're going to make through the next hundred or so locks.
Anyway, we're traveling with friends we met in 2006, Don and Connie Rutch.  They have a boat just like our Monk and we cruised together from Kingston, NY three days ago to where we are now in Waterford, NY at the start of  the Erie Canal. Waterford has a free dock and we're staying here for two nights.  Free is good.

June 21st, Haverstraw Bay on the Hudson River

First day of summer and the longest day of the year. 

On Wednesday we traveled from Great Kills harbor to Tarrytown, which is about 20 miles above New York City.  The trip up under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and past Manhattan was spectacular.  But it was rough.  A NYPD patrol boat waked us from the side and sent our boat flying.  The one thing our boat can’t handle is a wave on the beam.  The boat handles it okay, but the contents don’t do as well.  Luckily nothing was broken and we continued past Manhattan at 7 mile per hour.

We stayed two nights in Tarrytown and took the train down into the City to visit my brother, Tim, who lives in the Meat Packing district.  It was a beautiful day and we walked on the High Line, which is an elevated park built on a raised railroad bed.  The railroad was built above the roads so that trains could drive right into the meat packing plants without interfering with traffic on the street.  It’s a great park with impressive landscaping & plantings that rival any botanical garden.  It will be interesting to see how the gentrification of the meat packing district & robust development adjacent to the High-Line affect it.

 

We enjoyed lunch & a World Cup game at the beer garden under the South end of the High Line.  New York is great, of course, for people watching, small parks & ethnic richness (the 20 bicycle gang “event” at rush hour; the bathroom that was “men, women, LGBTQ or whatever”, etc.).  Tim is the consummate tour guide providing a good dose of walking along with local history & a taste of just what you’re after.  His friend, Francine, had an abundance of stories from growing up in a US military family home-based on the French Riviera and various adventures since – and she generously treated us to a delicious Spanish dinner in her favorite neighborhood restaurant.

Given the currents we opted for a short hop to Haverstraw/Half Moon Bay so that we can ride the current up to Kingston early tomorrow.  There is a festival with great music & an array of boats from rowing, sailing & tall ships to go-fast varieties – the place to be this weekend if you are in Westchester County.

June 17 - Fog, fog, fog

First, we had a great stop in Cape May. Thanks to everyone that came by.  Paul and Nancy Roller drove down on Monday afternoon.  We haven't been in touch for a while, but it was great to catch up. Thank you.
And Cape May is greater than ever.  A good weekend trip for most people we know. Probably New Jersey's crown jewel, after the New Jersey turnpike, that is.
Anyway, we left Cape May this morning.  It was going to be a relaxed start and a short trip to Atlantic City, about 35 miles. But you wake up early on a boat, and by 5:30 we're ready to go.  We left at 5:45.
The thinking was if we make good time we'll keep going past Atlantic City. So we headed out into the Atlantic and turned left (north).  Then nothing.  White out.  Well, not exactly that bad, but about an eighth of a mile.  Seemed like we couldn't see anything, which we couldn't.
Luckily we have a 20 year old radar system.  Do you know what the Queen Mary looks like on this system?  A little round dot.  The same little dot that a dolphin will create.
For four hours we couldn't see anything.  But we felt OK. It was our first time on fog.  We were prepared.  I just needed to find 8 double D batteries for the backup GPS.  And by 10:30 the fog lifted.  The world looked good.
We called TowboatUS in Barnegat Inlet for "forward eyes".  Ed said it was getting better up there. So we pushed on.  87 miles and 11 hours later in clear skies and we're drinking cool rum drinks.  It was no sweat.
We're tied up in Manesquan, New Jersey.  About 35 miles from the New York harbor.
Stay tuned.

June 14 & 15 - Cape May

June 14 & 15

We decided to stay in Chesapeake City one more day since the winds were up and the forecast for Sunday was light winds.  The tide from the C&D canal to Cape May Canal was a mixed bag.  High tide was around 1:00 PM, which meant to travel during the day we would spend half the day against the current and half with it.  As it turned out we made good time and arrived in Cape May on Sunday in about 9 hours.  It was a nice crossing of the Delaware Bay.

We left two newly formed friends, Wade and Susie Ehlen on Shady Lady, in Chesapeake City.  They were starting the Great Loop until Susie fell on their boat steps and hurt her back.  Actually, we never met Susie since she was in so much pain that she couldn’t come out of their boat cabin.  They decide to turn back to their home of New Bern, and we hope she is feeling better soon.

Lessons learned:  wait for good weather and enjoy the trip (actually we knew this, but are confirming what we knew), and don’t get hurt on the boat.  We knew this one too, but we were reminded this weekend.

Last night in Cape May, Larry Kelly and Joan, and Ed and Bobbie Olwell came to the boat and went to dinner with us.  It was a great evening and really great to see them.  But by 9:00 and after a long day on the water I was really beat.  Sorry Larry, Joan, Ed and Bobbie.

 

Day 8 or 9 - On The Hook Cuisine

Harness Creek Browned Scallops

Created on the hook on a Sunday in June off the busy South River behind Annapolis. Entertainment included the sound of go-fast boats on the river; kayakers & paddle boarders from the park in the creek; various day run abouts anchored, swimming & laughing; a barking dog - banished to the dinghy; large cruising sailboats rafted for the night; and local residents completing cocktail tours of the creek & pulling up to their docks to BBQ with friends. Considered a “hurricane hole” Harness Creek is well protected & accommodates 2 dozen boats with good holding.

Begin defrosting large, frozen scallops on paper towel (30 mins).

Heat iron frying pan with grape seed oil (or one that takes high heat) & brown sliced red onions until almost crispy.

Sprinkle scallops with a pinch of sugar to help brown. Quickly brown scallops with onions in hot pan (2-3 mins. per side depending on your taste & the size of the scallops). Reduce heat to medium. Drizzle with fig balsamic vinegar to finish (or other thick, flavored vinegar or drizzle) & reduce vinegar a tad without overcooking the scallops (about 1 min.). 

Serve with salad, rice pilaf & a nice sauvignon blanc. J

 

June 14 - wind, wind, wind

We are in Chesapeake City, Delaware.  The next leg is about 60 miles down the Delaware Bay.  The weather is forecast at 10 to 20 knots out of the Northwest.  It would be on our stern and a little rough. Tomorrow is much better, so we're waiting one more day.
This fits our plan to go only when it is safe and comfortable.  But there still is the urge to move on; to make progress.  So staying put is a good test of our patience.  Maybe it's also a life lesson as we'll.   We'll see.

Plus Chesapeake City is a happening place on a June Saturday.  Weddings in the park by the boat; motorcycles passing through town; music and partiers at the Chesapeake Inn; go fast boats revving their engines (I'll never understand the attraction); and boats running aground on the mid-channel sand bar.  Great entertainment.

It's a nice destination even by car.

June 12th - Rain, Rain, Rain

We left Baltimore yesterday after two good days exploring Baltimore and completing a few odd jobs on the boat.  People in Baltimore were very friendly.  I stopped to spell the flowers at an intersection and two people asked me how they smelled.

 

My brother Jeff and niece Emma drove up from Silver Spring and we went to the Orioles – Dodgers game.  Actually, we went to one and a half innings of the game.  Two rain delays and then we went back to the boat.  Still, a nice evening with Jeff and Emma.

We left Baltimore in rain and thunderstorms.  It was lonely out there – only saw one other boat. Fairways did fine and we made it to an anchorage on the Sassafras River and took the mandatory nap.  Today it is still raining and the C&D canal is closed due to fog.  So we’re sitting on the anchor one more day.  We hope to get to Chesapeake City tomorrow and Cape May on Saturday.  We’ll see.  I hear weather reports about flooding, at least we’re not worried about that.

Yesterday we were “off the grid” and had no cell coverage or Internet.  It was a good thing, but still takes some getting used to.  I finished my second book.

Day 8 or 9 - South River to Baltimore

Yesterday we anchored out in Harness Creek off of the South River.  Harness Creek is a quiet anchorage just on the outskirts of Annapolis.  I say quiet, which is probably true most days, but on Sunday afternoon it was anything but quiet.  Everyone with a motor boat was in the creek, plus there is a park that rents kayak’s and those stand up paddle boards.  We figured they would be gone by 4:00 or 5:00, so we found a spot and joined in the party.

 

Our “rhythm” is developing.  We are almost wide awake at 5:30 AM, as soon as the sun comes up.  And we’re ready to go.  This is a good thing because we can get 5 or 6 hours of cruising in the morning and then find a place to stay early in the afternoon.  Then comes lunch and the nap.  Not a bad rhythm.  At this rate we will reach New York by the start of the football season.

Today the forecast was small craft advisory for wind and 3 foot seas.  Looking out our porthole it was calm, so we decided to “stick our nose out”.  Sticking your nose out is a nautical phrase invented by Bernie and Carol Roth (our other boat mentors).  It means to go out into open water and see how much you rock.  But by then it’s too late to go back.  But today there was no wind and there were no 3 foot seas.  It was a calm ride up to Baltimore in 1 foot seas to the Inner Harbor Marina.

Two days in Baltimore and a ball game.  Then we’ll go to the north end of the Chesapeake and the C&D canal.

Day 6 - Solomans, Maryland

We finally got out of Virginia. It took six days.
The Monk Mecca event went until Friday. We were going to leave on Thursday but the wind was up and we're trying to be fair weather sailors.  So we waited an extra day and enjoyed the Monkers.
Friday we anchored off of Tommy's in Reedville.  Our neighbors Doc and Sue Broadway joined us for dinner.
But the best part of the day was when the outboard motor started.  A running, reliable engine is a joy to behold.
Today we ran about 38 miles from Reedville, VA to Solomon's on calm water.  It's a beautiful day.

Day 3 and 4 - Monk Mecca

Yesterday was a short 8 mile cruise from the south side of Deltaville, around Stingray Point to the north side of  Deltaville.  Great weather, getting warmer.
We're at the Monk boat owners' annual rendezvous.  Monk owners are, of course, very nice people (ourselves included - usually).  There is always more to learn, and we're trying to soak it all in.
We're watching the weather and decide whether to leave tomorrow or Friday.

Second day out - Jackson Creek, Deltaville, VA

Great weather and an easy cruise across the Bay to the Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville - one of our favorite stops.  Very quiet spot and a swimming pool overlooking Fishing Bay (pictures to come).
We're taking our time today - short run to the north side of Deltaville at Regatta Point, for the "Monk 36" (our boat make) Grand Rendezvous!  Better known as "Monk Mecca".
This is my first post on our iPad.  I'm using the hunt and peck method, so the posts may be shorter.

First Day Out

Woke up early, both anxious to get going and anxious to see what the day would bring.  The forecast was for northeast winds at 10 to 15 knots.  We were going straight into the teeth of the gale, or so I imagined.  Actually it wasn’t bad at the Hampton Yacht Club: light wind and beautiful sunny morning.  Without an excuse not to, we set off.

As recommended by my mentor, Frank Wiegand, I started out the cruise jumping in and out of the engine room, looking for any problems.  No problems.  The packing gland on the propeller shaft wasn’t dripping, so I loosened it.  Then it dripped too much so I tightened it.  It kept me busy in the first half of the trip.  But things “down there” were going well.

The first third of the trip started out bumpy – 2 to 3 foot waves on the nose.  The boat and its contents handled the rocking horse ride fine.  Then around Yorktown light house it settled down.  We were forging on to Deltaville.  Then we thought about visiting Pete and Sue in Onancock and steered right about twenty degrees and headed there.  58.5 miles and 9 hours later we tied up to the wharf in Onancock and Pete and Sue picked us up.  We saw Pete’s new garage filled with stuff and then had dinner at the Blarney Stone restaurant.  Nice evening.

Tomorrow, Jackson Creek in Deltaville if we don’t come up with a better idea.  And my birthday.