10/23/06 - Monday, a busy day! We set up the supports for carrying the mast on deck and dropped the mast. Dennis at Wardell's took great care of us at a reasonable price. An Island Packet from Milwaukee arrived Sunday night and the crew was scrambling to get on the canal. Canal ready we departed at 1pm passing through 2 locks and snow showers on our way to Gasport... our home for the night. I think Ecky and Chuck are under whelmed by the Erie Canal. It's definitely not as big as it's reputation but it certainly is a historic treasure. I think it will grow on them.

10/24/06 - Interesting day - rain, sleet, 40's (sounds like a broken record). We had 14 low bridges open for us and traversed 2 locks. At one bridge we had to sign a waiver noting that the NY Canal System had warned us of the dangers of crossing the Ganargua River while swollen and running 6.5 knots (the river bisects the canal). AA's 8 knots made the crossing a piece of cake. The last lockmaster advised us that we could run another day to Newark, NY where we would be held until the floods in the eastern portion of the Erie subsided... timing currently unknown - dependant on the rain stopping. This could get verrryy interesting! Tonight we ate at a Fairport NY diner, returning to the boat just as 5 college girls rowing teams tore by in their shells on the frigid water in the dark - talk about commitment, it reminded me of Amy's rowing days at UW Madison.

10/25/06 - We passed though Lock 30 where friends of friends of Chuck and Terri met us for a photo op. Frank and Betty Alderman asked if we needed anything and offered to show us Palmyra. We took them up on the offer and did a little grocery shopping after touring the birthplace of the Mormon religion. We are burning up time waiting for the pool below lock 29 to drop 18 inches - flooded from all the rain. I had a scare this noon... saw a gray apparition on the sidewalk in front of me... turned out to be my shadow. I thought I'd lost that on Lake Huron. First sunshine since we ran to Mackinaw City!

We toured the town, bought some paperbacks and returned to the boat to start installing the controllers for the wind generator and solar panels. We got all the holes cuts and panels mounted... next step, wiring.

10/26/06 - We motored from Palmyra to Newark, about 10 miles under cloudy skies with occasional drizzle. At Newark we did a little shopping and laundry while we waited for the locks to reopen. We have company, a cruiser, a large catamaran and a Island Packet. The crew of the cat have it the worse - no berths, no stove, no shelter, no heat - tough birds. They've pitched a couple of tents on the trampoline and are sleeping in the bare hulls. The word on the dock is that the lockmaster wants to get us through tomorrow as a group.

10/27/06 - We woke at 6:15 Friday to find frost on the boats - the temperature was about 30. Heavy rains are forecast for tomorrow... we need to get out today. Barry made pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast - got to kept the crew well fed. At 9am the Canal Superintendent met with the skippers and laid out his game plan. He authorized us to pass through the next two locks after which we met with the tug Seneca for an escort to lock 24. The trip was pretty tame, although we did have a man overboard drill. A mannequin head mascot fell off Fancy Farmer and we retrieved it with Ruth's fish net while Fancy's crew cheered us on. We da crew! Our diesel heater is acting up and we need to get parts. Buddy depends on the heat! Tonight we are tied alongside the Seneca for electrical power in the event the diesel heater stops. Tomorrow our 5 boat flotilla is released to run at our own speeds. A storm is expected tonight and the lock system will be shutting down behind us.

10/28/06 - The fleet headed out at 7:15 in heavy rain just as soon as we could see the buoys. No escort today so each boat was free to run at speed as long as they honored the posted limits. We stayed back with the catamaran expecting that we would tow them across Oneida Lake. At lock 23 we took them in tow until Brewerton where we met Holly Mae returning from the lake. They reported the waves we already 3-6' and their mast was moving around on the deck. We elected not to try the lake as the winds were forecast to get in the 40's with gust to 60 by tonight. Ecky says he doesn't think he likes New York. Only a 19 mile day but we're secure for the night. Ecky and Chuck took one of the courtesy cars and explored Brewerton for a while - just for a change of pace. Now we wait for the storm to blow by so we can cross Oneida Lake.

10/29/06 - Sunday's light revealed wing whipped whitecaps running in the channel next to us. The weather radio was calling for 40-50 mph gusts and the water reflected that. It was obviously going to be a down day. We visited the crew of Holly Marie in the morning - deciding that Monday looked like a better day to cross the lake. Later Ecky and Chuck watched TV and a DVD before taking one of the marina courtesy cars and headed off for a break from my cooking (McDonald's) while I devoted my time to reading. I talked to Ruth and learned that the open house had gone well and there appeared to be some interest... we're keeping our fingers crossed.

10/30/06 - Monday, its been 3 weeks since we left Sturgeon Bay. Sun (SUN) rose over calmer water - only 10-15 knots of wind. Departing at 8am we had motored across Oneida lake by 10:30am and tied to the wall in the village of Sylvan Lake to wait for the locks to open. We explored the town -  mainly stores closed for the season - then went back to our project wiring the solar and wind systems. Maybe we'll be able to move on tomorrow. The Green Bay dealer did not have the screen for the diesel heater... can't get any for a week. He called around upper New York looking for one and struck out. He gave Ruth the 800 number to Espar US - so far they haven't returned voice mail.

10/31/06 - Another sunny day! Shirt sleeves weather! Better yet we were notified that sailboats could start moving east at noon. The three of us gathered at the gate to the lock waiting for noon. We quickly locked through, running until 6 pm when it was too dark to see the deadheads in the canal. We stopped at Ilion, NY, the home of Remington firearms. During the day Espar called and gave us the phone number of a Connecticut dealer who promised to UPS the parts to Hop-O-Nose by our arrival. If all goes well we'll be out of the canal in 2 more days. I know the crew is ready and so am I! Bill and Carolyn Crane are trying to pace their New England trip to meet us at or near the end of the canal. Small world - they are Neenah Nodaway sailing friends from Wisconsin.

11/1/06 - We departed Ilion at daybreak... as soon as we could see the logs in the canal. By mid-morning we caught up with Holly Marie and joined them for the rest of the day. The cat ran later into the night last night and we didn't manage to overtake them. They are about a lock ahead. We should be out of the Erie by noon tomorrow. The weather was great sunny with scattered light clouds. Not as warm as yesterday but still nice compared with last week.

11/2/06 - We started again at dawn after a night of rain that turned to a light snow. We quickly traversed the last 5 locks entering the Hudson by 10am. Half an hour later we passed through the Troy lock - the last on our journey. The sun shone between light clouds but the temperature stayed in the low 30's. We encountered a lot more shipping after we passed Albany. We were on a commercial waterway. By 2pm we were at Hop-O-Nose where we were greeted by Bill and Carolyn Crane... just like coming home. After a short visit they continued their walk-about and  we prepared the boat for hoisting the mast tomorrow morning. Sure will be nice to be a sailboat again!

11/3/06 - We had the mast up by 10am. Ecky and I ran the rigging while Chuck found the library (internet) and supermarket. By the end of the day we had the mast rigged, re-wired, and sails on. Sean sure is getting Hop-O-Nose cleaned up. He does a great job of stepping masts. We ate at there restaurant several times and never had a meal that wasn't excellent. We will be back!

11/4/06 - Holly Marie left Hop-O-Nose dawn, after we used screw drivers to pry frozen lines off the dock cleats. We departed at 7:30, anchoring off Riverview's dock waiting for boats to move so we could get fuel, pump-out and take on water. By 9am we were motoring down the Hudson - sunny, 30's and no wind. We met an upbound ship and a couple of barges while we were enroute to Newburgh, just upstream from Bannerman's Island - our destination for the night. We arrived about 4pm, finding 2 towboats trying to free a sailboat that had grounded in the channel we intended to use for the night. We returned to Newburgh and moored on a restaurant dock, buying dinner there as it included the overnight mooring. Tomorrow we'll pass though New York.

Another Adventure and crew arrive at Hop-O-Nose.

Photo by the Cranes

AA sitting in the Palmyra Basin in sun shine... waiting for the water to subside on the eastern portion of the Erie, one lock away from us.

Dawn breaks on the not-so-fleet fleet accumulating above the Newark lock waiting for the waterway to re-open.

Catamaran forward berths... in 30° temperatures! Brrrr! Two of the crew bailed out at 11pm and rented a motel room.

AA moored to the tug Seneca at dusk, below lock 24 outside Syracuse, NY.

Canal Care

Other than the weather our experience on the Erie Canal has been outstanding. The people we meet in the towns and the staff of the canal system are friendly and accommodating. We've experienced businessmen calling competitors trying to find us a specific product, friends of friends providing rides, the tug Seneca escorting us and providing warm dry sleeping quarters for the crew of the cat and electricity for any boat wanting it. The canal staff have taken extraordinary steps to get every transient boat through the system before weather closes it for the season. We sure owe them a big Thank You!

Chuck at the helm with the cat Moondance in tow... helping them keep up with the flow.

Parrot talk

Keeping Buddy warm has become a concern. He needs 55 degrees and above which normally is not a problem. When we have a dock-side power connection we have reverse cycle air conditioning which is in effect a heat pump. It easily keeps the boat in the high 60's - even when its 30 outside. We experienced problems with it shutting down in Newark. The problem was traced to too many boats trying to heat with an inadequate marina power feed. We switched to our alternate heat source, our diesel furnace. It can keep the vessel in the 60's but consumes fuel. When we are underway we use the diesel furnace to heat the boat.

Wouldn't you know Murphy's law strikes - the diesel furnace wouldn't ignite Friday morning. I called the dealer and got a few tips on troubleshooting the unit. It turns out the fuel atomizing screen was plugged. The manual says pull it out and clean it with a fine brass brush. The tech said they always break when you pull them and we should replace it with our spare. Spare? I cleaned it in place with a toothbrush hoping to keep it in service until Ruth can overnight a couple of spares to us. If the locks open tomorrow we are 3 days from where we can pick up the overnight.

Hudson River, heading south

Finally - the Hudson. No more locks. Soon we'll be a sailboat heading south. That said we owe a big thanks to the staff on the Erie Canal. They have overcome storms and floods all summer - the worse year the canal has seen. They had to replace a significant dam that was was washed out mid-summer. Still they managed to re-open 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

When we came through they did everything in their power to get us across New York. They regulated water flows, backing up lakes to allow the water to drop enough to pass. We moved in waters 2.5' above normal. The locks remained open 2 additional hours a day to give us more run time when we could move. Thanks to the Canal Staff! What a team!