A New Beginning Through Ontario

Today begins the next phase of my trip, as we head north into the heart of Ontario, Canada. It's a beautifully sunny day. Bruce headed back to the other Ontario, CA yesterday after his two months as the mate, and Janet A. will now handle the ropes for 11 days. We will try to pass through 19 locks in the next two days so that we make the town of Peterborough by July 1, which is Canada Day. It's the country's big celebration day, similar in spirit to Independence Day with parades, picnics, partying, and fireworks at night. Peterborough is the next "big" town after we leave Trenton, so we wanted to be there for the celebrating.

After leaving Kingston on Saturday, we moved along the southern coastline of Ontario into a long winding waterway that leads to Trenton, the town that is the Gateway to the Trent-Severn Waterway (and where we are right now). We had not gotten too far into the waterway when we arrived at our anchorage recommended by a boater back in Kingston (who had exactly the same model boat as Breaking Away. We compared notes on how much we loved this "yacht"). It was behind a little island called Glen Island, and of course was very quiet and beautiful. It was raining during the first few hours, but when it cleared I took a scenic kayak ride.

The next morning, I again took a kayak ride (see photo of the sun rising) and this time came across a man loading up a small boat from the island. We ended up talking for quite a while, and his family has owned Glen Island since the 1930s. He loves spending most of his summers in their little shack that has only propane-fueled refrigeration and a stove. No electricity and no water (which he brings over from the mainland). He loves the peacefulness and the fishing. His children will continue to keep it the family. He loved his life!

We pulled anchor and moved on to Trenton past numerous fishing boats, summer cottages, and magnificent scenery. Being a Sunday, we also got to see families enjoying their boats pulling skiers or tubers. Eventually we arrived in Trenton and the dockmaster was waiting for us at Fraser Park Marina. Virtually all other boats tied up here are going through the canal and doing the Great Loop. They, however, are not facing the decision of whether to continue due to the oil spill in the Gulf, since their endings are before they will reach the Gulf. They are from TN, KY, MN, and other locations north of the Gulf, which they traversed last fall. The few Loopers I've run into who still need to cruise in the Gulf are just not wanting to make their decision yet, which is where I am. My decision date is Aug 18, so I'll see what the forecast is at that point.

Yesterday Janet flew into Toronto and a wonderful friend from Nestle Canada picked her up and brought her here. See the photo of Paulette Gougeon and me. Paulette was the regulatory/labeling manager for Nestle, and got to retire just last April. We had many good times together while we "managed" those marketing folks (hahahaha.) To help Janet learn the ropes, literally, the four of us untied and went up the river to the first lock. We locked up, went out and turned around, and locked back down and returned to the marina.

The locks here are different in many ways from those in New York: they are smaller, their cables are easier to grab and hold on to, but the biggest difference is that they are operated by hand!! See the photo of the lockmaster turning the crank that opens one gate at a time. Since each crank opens only one gate, he had to walk to the other end of the lock, cross those closed gates to the other side, and then walk back up to the crank for the other gate. Once he opened the second gate, only then could we proceed out. Thus, the locking process is a bit longer than in New York, but much more "homey" and basic.

I must say, approaching that lock gave me an "exciting" moment at the helm that had me frantic for the first time on this trip. We were in a left side channel from the river, separated by a low stone wall, but suddenly there was an opening where the river flowed into the side channel. I could see that the current was strong where it was entering on us, but WOW, I was not prepared for how forcefully it suddenly shoved the boat head first toward the shore, only several yards away to the left. Luckily my instinctive reaction was correct; I swirled the steering wheel to the right as fast as I could and also shoved the throttle forward to give me speed to make the turn before we'd hit the shore. It worked - barely. That was scary. I think a warning to boaters there would have been a good idea. On the return trip, I gave it lots of throttle ahead of time and therefore could control the effect of the entering current. We'll hope the same correction will work when we hit this spot later today when we return to Lock 1.

After a nice Italian dinner, Paulette and Bruce left. She was going to drop him off at the airport, the reverse of what she did earlier for Janet. It was such a nice visit with Paulette, and a goodbye to Bruce who helped us "learn" the ins and outs of boating through shallow, narrow waterways, dinghying, locking, and generally managing life on a boat. Thank you Bruce.

Now we're off for new adventures! George Tonner will arrive on July 12, three days after Janet departs. But for now, fun fun fun.

Well, I need to get going for some grocery shopping (we're out of wine completely, and getting very low on beer! Oh my!) and a short trip to the marine supply store.

Oh Canada!

The first two photos are from the Thousand Islands area in the St Lawrence River, which has been a highlight of this trip. We took a four-hour tour around the islands to see Millionaires' Row and other incredible homes and landscapes in the river and the banks. There are actually 1864 islands, and they have a legal definition of what qualifies as a countable island (so many square feet and at least one permanent tree). People own the various islands, and they have summer homes on them regardless how small the island. So many were tiny and the home took up almost the entire space. Others, of course, were huge mansions on larger islands with all sorts of special landscaping, like the one photo with the waterfall in front.

The other photo is from a rich guy's boat house, which is now a little museum. But I included this photo of two old classic wooden boats because they were everywhere! Previously I had seen them on Lake Tahoe, and maybe one here or there, but in the Thousand Islands, where most people have covered boat houses, the classic wooden boats were all over the place. I loved seeing them, especially when they went scooting by us out there.

One funny thing about this area was that it took many years of intense negotiations between Canada and the U.S. to agree on where the boundary line should be drawn between the two countries. It was a game of "I'll give you this island if you give me that one." And, it included the boundary in the Puget Sound between Washington and British Columbia. In other words, if Canada wanted an island in Puget Sound, the U.S. would say yes, but you must give us this one in the St. Lawrence River in exchange. Apparently this back-and-forth went on for years and years!!

We left Alexandria Bay, NY, the base city for visiting the Thousand Islands area, on Thursday about noon. It was supposed to have stopped raining according to the forecast, from the hard thunderstorms we'd had since the previous evening. However, once we departed to head back toward Lake Ontario, it continued to rain off and on, but that was no problem really. We were cozy in the boat, and I loved the scenery as we cruised back on the Canadian side of the river. At three different points, Breaking Away was pushed around like a little toy where the river swirled strongly from the effects of adjoining waterways. The main channels there are really deep, like hundreds of feet, and if it's narrow, then the current effects can be super strong where those channels merge. Anyway, you can actually see the swirling, and yes, it turned me this way and that way until I passed through.

As we got closer to Lake Ontario, the headwinds picked up, the rain picked up, and at one point, it POURED as I've never seen before (for about 10 minutes). Luckily, we were in a wide-open section with no other boats around. We just let the auto pilot do its thing. This boat is comfortable and dry in bad weather. After that front passed over, it got sunny, hardly any wind, and we had a calm finish as we approached Kingston, Ontario at about 4 pm.

We entered a large marina at the mouth of the river here, and tied to a temporary dock to clear customs. Only it turns out you do it by phone! The books I had about clearing customs said you had to walk to the local office, but when I called to say I had arrived, they did the whole thing over the phone and gave me a number to show any official who might question our entry status.

We decided to stay at the temporary dock for the night, and headed out to see the town and find some dinner (we had not had lunch in that bad weather, so we were mighty hungry by 5:30). Kingston is truly a beautiful, clean, exciting city. It's the oldest in Ontario, founded in 1673. It's where a lot of wealthy Americans fled after the Revolutionary War if they had been Loyalists to England's rule. One thing about Canadian cities that I've experienced is that they are clean and full of English-style pubs! Yum! After our dinner, where there had been no alcoholic beverages, we stopped in at a quaint, cozy pub for a beer.

Yesterday morning, just after I returned from my bike ride, a large sailboat came in next to us that was cluttered topside with all sorts of stuff. The captain was enthusiastically asking me about how to clear customs, in his French accent and broken English, and we had fun trying to talk. His wife finally conversed too, and with her better English, I learned that they had crossed the Atlantic from Morocco with their two children!! (who were in their early teens)(they had a little yappy dog too). They had entered the States at NYC and had followed the same route we had up the Hudson and Erie Canal and Oswego Canal into Lake Ontario. I loved hearing tidbits about THEIR adventure across the Atlantic.

Bruce and I went on a trolley tour of Kingston (see photo of an 1809 hotel and the grand city hall, which are at the waterfront), and then moved the boat to the main part of the marina where we have electrical and water hookups. Over here are many yachts, large and small, with people doing the same Great Loop route that I am. I made lots of new friends and it was fun to exchange stories about where we've been and where we're going. Then, we ate dinner at a German place and they had a "real" beer garden just like the ones I remember from my trips to Europe. So, I of course had to order a liter stein of Munich pilsner with my bratwurst!

Today we will cruise westward and anchor in a cove not far from Trenton, which is the beginning of the Trent-Severn Canal that crosses Ontario to Lake Huron. That's where Bruce will depart and Janet will join, and I'll get to visit with Paulette Geougeon, Nestle Canada's labeling and regulatory manager with whom I worked closely for many years. Onward into Canada!

Bug and Border Controls

First a bug invasion. Then we got bugged by the Immigration and Border Control Agency!! Yes, both happened this morning.

We cruised Lake Ontario yesterday from Oswego toward the St Lawrence Seaway, and anchored for the night off a little uninhabited island far away from the mainland. See photo of dinghy pulled onto its shore for our little walk on the island. Well, being alone near an island is certainly nice, but it has its downside. Every flying bug from that island saw our lights once it got dark, and flew over to say hello. Before we went to bed, we noticed the windows and screens COVERED COMPLETELY with bugs. Turning out our indoor lights for the night didn't help since the anchor light beckoned them over all night. This morning, the entire exterior of the boat was COVERED COMPLETELY with bugs. Breaking Away was no longer beige, but black. I spent 30 minutes whooshing them away with a towel, but that only made them angry and they flew right back.

So, I decided I would try again later after we got underway. We pulled anchor (and Bruce had to de-weed it. The bottom must have been long grass) and I began to program our route into the Garmin Chartplotter. We were underway for only a few minutes with my nose still in the Garmin, and I heard a loud horn beep. I turned around and saw an Immigration and Border Control boat with its light flashing right next to me. WHOA!!! I immediately put the throttle into neutral and went downstairs, by which time they had landed next to me and asked if they could board. There were three officers, and they meant business. They wanted to know who owned the boat, and they wanted our driver's licenses and the boat's registration papers. Another officer wanted to look around the inside of the boat. We just did as they instructed, answered their various questions, and waited to see what would happen. Eventually, after about 10 minutes, they must have decided we were not terrorists and began to make small talk. I finally felt safe enough to ask what was up, and they said they were helping Canadian Customs by checking boats in Lake Ontario regarding security for the international economic conference about to occur in Toronto.

After about 30 minutes, they were through checking us out and returned our licenses and my registration papers, and left us. Wow, that was weird!! At least the bugs on my boat were bugging them too! hahaha Anyway, once underway, I spent another 30 minutes whooshing away bugs with a towel and was probably 80% effective. There were still tons of the creepies all over the place, but it became tolerable. Today it has rained hard, and I went out in it next to our marina dock with the hose and completely washed the boat, and I think I finally have gotten rid of them...for now.

Probably the biggest news is that Bruce decided last Sunday to leave the adventure a month early. Next Monday he will fly home for good rather than staying until July 21. Janet is visiting from next Monday until July 9, so I knew I could still keep moving until then, but I made many calls to potential mates to see if they could join me until July 21. FORTUNATELY George Tonner is able to come between July 12 and July 21!!! You may recall that he and his wife Jan were with me in April for 10 days, and we had a wonderful time. So, the predicament is solved and I can continue with the original plan. At this point I have just three "empty" days, but I plan to phone Nestle Canada friends and maybe some can visit.

Our trip since my last posting (last Friday night) has been fabulous! On Saturday we continued on the Erie Canal to a marina just north of Syracuse. We decided to tie up and not continue since the forecast was for thunderstorms. I decided it was time to change my oil and fuel filter, the first time I would do it myself. It all worked out great!! The marina had buckets for the used oil, and a barrel to pour it into. I felt pretty good about myself for getting that done without problems.

Just as I was returning to the boat from dumping the used oil and throwing everything into the trash bin, we got the thunderstorm in all its glory. Lightning, thunder, HARD pouring rain, and Bruce and I just sat watching it from our chairs under the cover. We saw a water snake go by, and also some turtles and two elegant swans.

Later it cleared out and we took a long dinghy ride across Lake Onondaga to Syracuse. The lake was completely glassy and we were the ONLY boat out there. The most glorious thing was the reflection of the sky in the glassy water, with its spectacular sun rays shining around the remaining dark clouds.

On sunny Sunday morning I took a 25-mile bike ride around the lake through Syracuse. We then departed and reversed our course back to the Oswego Canal, which heads north to Lake Ontario. We arrived late in the day, heading straight into a STRONG headwind. It was troublesome only regarding managing the locks, but boy, were two of them REALLY troublesome. In the first case, we didn't know until we entered the lock that we could use only the left side, and all our fenders were on the right side of the boat (the lockmaster admitted that the previous lockmaster was supposed to have told us this). Well, Bruce immediately had to move fenders while I tried to maintain control against the effects of the wind. Control means moving under power, so I eventually reached the end of the lock and we had to make do. Trouble was, there was only one rope to hold, and Bruce had it at the bow, leaving the stern to start swinging out. Luckily, the lockmaster saw our trouble and came by to help and I could toss him a stern line to pull us in. This was the only time we needed assistance from a lockmaster! Once I was against the wall, I could hold onto a ladder in the side of the wall and we descended just fine.

The second case was far worse. The winds were so strong that we could not hold onto our ropes. I was pulled to the bow trying to hold onto mine with all my strength, and Bruce, who started out at the stern, was pulled using all his strength to the front third of the boat. That meant that the stern swung way out and the bow was crashing straight into the wall save for me sticking my legs out to push us away (which you're NOT supposed to do). We were amazed that we survived the lock with no boat damage, but were we ever exhausted!!

Okay, enough stories. We enjoyed Oswego, an historic town with interesting old buildings. It was a major player in the Underground Railroad to get slaves across Lake Ontario to Canada and their freedom. Fort Ontario housed 962 European holocaust refugees in 1944-46. It was exciting heading out into a Great Lake, and luckily it was calm and empty as we headed northeast to the Thousand Island area in the St. Lawrence Seaway. One photo here shows the cliffs along the lake. Today we made it to Alexandria Bay in the heart of the 1000 Islands, and WOW, was it incredible cruising here in calm conditions (before our afternoon rainstorm)! The homes on all the big and little islands were charming and amazing. One photo shows a lighthouse and some of the homes, but one photo cannot do this area justice. I am so glad I decided to come up here to see this beautiful waterway and what the residents have done with their homes. Just one last tidbit: in many spots we would be only about 60 feet from gorgeous homes on either side of us, and our water depth was 260 ft. My gosh, the bottom must fall off like a cliff from each side! Hard to believe, especially compared to when we were in New Jersey and in vast areas of water on either side of us, we were in 3 feet of water in the boat channel.

Descending the Erie Locks

Today we began descending the locks, having reached the summit after Lock 20 near Utica, NY. It was quite a change entering a lock with only horizon in the distance. It was as if we were walking out on a diving board, ready to plunge into the unknown below. See the picture showing nothing but trees in the distance before we dropped down in the lock to the lower level.

Yes, we reached the end of the Mohawk River flow to the east, for which we needed to keep rising, and crossed over to the Wood Creek flow to the west, where we descend. The summit area near Rome, NY was historically a portage spot where river travelers had to carry their boats and goods from one river to the other.

Tonight we are almost to Syracuse, NY. If you look where that is on a map, you can see how far west we've traveled on the Erie Canal from Troy on the Hudson River. In my last blog, I was in Seattle for Katie's graduation. (My camera battery stopped working as the ceremony got started, so I have no photos to post. As soon as Jeremy sends me some of his, I will show you Katie in her cap and gown.) (Two days after her graduation, Katie was hired for a post-doc job at UCLA! Starts July 1. Yeah Katie!) I returned to the boat Monday night, and we got restarted Tuesday morning.

We followed another boat all day long who was our companion through the next five locks that day (7 thru 11). We got to talking on the radio and decided to stop together after Lock 11 in Amsterdam to have dinner at an Italian place he was familiar with. As we aproached Amsterdam, I was excited bacause I remembered sights from when we stayed the night there on the bike ride across the country three years ago. After locking through, we both tied to the wall just beyond. I should mention that every single lock is a state park! They have manicured lawns, picnic tables, and some have historical signs, camping areas, and other extras. So, tying up at the walls next to the locks is a beautiful place to be!

We walked across the railroad tracks to Russo's, serving delicious food to boaters since 1920! The other fellows were professional boat movers, and knew everything about everything! They were taking their boat from Kent Narrows in Maryland, right where we started, to Michigan. They would do the entire trip in 10 days. They had so many interesting stories about traveling these waterways. After dinner, they continued on and were going to go until 11 pm. Bruce and I stayed put, and even returned to Russo's to watch the Lakers win game 6, because we couldn't pick up the game on the boat's TV.

I took a bike ride the next morning along the same roads we did three years ago. As I got to the Amsterdam town sign, I remembered the funny story from the ride whereby Kasper's "Dutch Masters" ganged up to outfox him and beat him in the sprint to the sign. Kasper so wanted to win that sprint because he was from Amsterdam, Netherlands, and I mention this only because Kasper reads this blog; sorry -- I know no one else knows what I'm talking about (except Dave Thompson).

The next day, Wednesday, we traveled all day long, in rainy weather, through eight locks all the way to Utica. 8:40 am to 7:15 pm. The highlight was Lock 17, in Little Falls. As the city name suggests, we had to lock around a waterfall, and it turned out to be the highest lock in the entire Erie Canal - a lift of 40.5 feet! One of the photos shows us about to enter the lock. It was so tall, they did not even have normal gates; instead, a "garage door" just lifted right up and we went under it and it dropped closed behind us. It was eerie being the lone boat at the bottom of that huge chamber. The lift took 15 minutes!!

As we were entering Utica, we planned to go even a couple miles farther, but we passed a nice restaurant with a dock, and the lure of food caused me to do a U-turn and tie up. We had just passed through a torrential downpour lasting 15 minutes, whereby I used all three windshield wipers going full blast just to see anything in front of me!! We hoped, and were rewarded, with an end to the rain, just as we were completing our long day and tying up. Interestingly, JUST before we reached the restaurant and my U-turn, we hit hard on a big floating log. Yikes! The sound of something hitting your hull with a loud thud is enough to make you sick. We turned around to see what it was since neither of us saw it, and it was mostly submerged and not visible. I must say, the theme of navigating Breaking Away ever since we started up the Hudson River has been: Avoid Floating Logs and Other Debris! Up until that moment, I had indeed avoided the many floating hazards blocking our path, but I knew my time would eventually come. I don't think it did any real damage, thank goodness.

I took a 7:45 am taxi across Utica to a dermatologist to look at a growth on my right back-of-hand. Unfortunately, it's a squamous cell cancer and will need to be removed via surgery. I'll wait for the biopsy results to know whether the surgery needs to be soon, or can wait until Dec/Jan.

The manager of the restaurant where we tied up for the night was so kind to lend us her car so Bruce and I could restock with food, and also do our laundry. We finally resumed along the canal late in the afternoon and decided to tie for the night to the wall just past Lock 20. Interestingly, in many locations in the past few days, the Erie Canal follows the original 1825 or widened 1862 canal route rather than the Mohawk River. In those locations, the canal is very narrow and usually very straight, and we can see the remnants of the tow path next to the waterway. Cool, huh?

The highlight last night was watching the Lakers beat the Celtics and win the NBA championship. I took a bike ride this morning (see photo), and talked a long time with local fishermen. Once underway, we reached the two descending locks and eventually arrived in Sylvan Beach, at the mouth of huge Lake Oneida. Clearly it is the start of boating and bathing season, and being a hot day, there were swarms of fun-and-sun seekers enjoying this resort. We decided to tie up and have a look around. Bikinis everywhere. Boaters everywhere. Thousands on the beach. Partying non-stop. Bruce and I even had ice cream from Cinderella's, with their 40 flavors to choose from. It truly was exciting to see everyone enjoying the hot summer Friday in such a beautiful area.

But then we had a journey to complete. Straight across the middle of the huge, 30-mile-long lake, right into the setting sun. Luckily we had auto pilot (which we hadn't used since the Hudson River) so that we could set it and retreat back into the shade of the boat top. Four hours later of seeing nothing but shore off in the distance on both sides, we reached Brewerton and Cicero on the western end of the lake. And it was just as hopping as Sylvan Beach had been! Hundreds and hundreds of Friday-night diners/drinkers were watching us from their dockside tables as we slowly passed them toward our wall tie-up. Again, I loved seeing so many New Yorkers enjoying their perfect weather as summer begins. Bruce and I walked across the bridge and joined those dockside restauranters, eyeing Breaking Away across the river.

Tomorrow we plan to cruise to Syracuse before the expected afternoon thunderstorms hit. Then it's north to Lake Ontario in the coming days!

Fun on the Erie Canal, and Graduation time!

Today I'm in Seattle for Katie's graduation! She will be awarded her doctoral degree tonight in Marketing from the Univ of Washington. I arrived yesterday and will head back to the Albany Airport tomorrow night, arriving Monday morning. Congratulations to Katie! My next posting can show a photo of her in her cap and gown.

Since my previous posting a week ago, Breaking Away has moved only about 400 yards. Last Saturday, Bruce and I had anchored in a cove just across the river from Crescent Boat Club marina after we went through the first five Erie Canal locks (when I got my citation for us not wearing our life preservers). The next morning we moved those 400 yds and docked at the marina.

Later that day, my cousin Steve Hatch visited us!! He knew I was near to his truck delivery north of Albany, so we linked up. He left his trailer at a nearby truck stop and drove his cab to the marina (see photo). The dockmaster was nice enough to lend me his car so that Steve, Bruce and I could drive a half mile to a tavern on the river to eat some lunch. We had a wonderful visit, and for Bruce and me it was interesting to hear about the adventures of a cross-country truck driver. His stories of icy roads in winter were particularly hair-raising. So nice of Steve to make the effort to visit. I hope other followers of this blog can do the same if you're out here.

The next morning Bruce flew home for the week. I took a nice bike ride, and then rode to the Wal*Mart to buy groceries (in my California biking jersey and shorts!). The customers who saw all my loot didn't think there'd be ANY WAY I'd squeeze all of it into my backpack, but then again, they could see I was a Californian who obviously must be odd (to be shopping in biking clothes in the first place). Anyway, I did jam it all in, and hauled it back to the boat. Then I spent the next 5 hours deep-cleaning the boat. Heck, two guys had been on it for only a month, why bother? hahaha It gets detailed once a month whether it needs it or not!

Of course, there was another reason for a good cleaning, since Janet arrived that same night at about 10:30. We had a blast on the kayaks (see photo), the dinghy (see photo), taking walks along the road there which used to be the original 1825 canal, and eating all that food I bought. On Thursday, we took a taxi ride a few miles into Cohoes, which is the town next to Waterford. We walked all over to see historical sights there, and then walked to Waterford and saw everything there that I'd mentioned in previous postings. As we got out of the taxi, Janet saw "ruins" on the hillside, and it turned out they were one of the locks from the original 1825 canal. There were no signs or anything, but a map we got later showed it as Lock 18, the first of the 18 locks it took to drop the canal down to the Hudson River. We were high over the Cohoes Falls at that point, so the canal had been kept level from where the Crescent Boat Club was, and then dropped quickly with 18 closely spaced locks.

We had wanted to take the boat out from the marina for one or two nights to anchor, but a nagging electrical problem and solid rain on Tuesday/mostly Wedensday prevented it. Interesting about the electrical issue, and lucky that we were in place long enough to get it diagnosed and fixed. For a couple weeks, Bruce and I had noticed funny things about short battery life and flashing "check battery" lights, but they hadn't stopped us and we just kept going. But when our "low battery" alarm sounded on Tuesday and we were plugged in to shore power, I knew something was seriously amiss. The electrician already knew my boat since his own boat was in the marina and he'd seen me on Sunday. He thought the problem was all related to the batteries needing water. That DID solve the problem with the two main batteries (that weigh 150 lbs each), but not for the three inverter batteries. He thought they might charge overnight once the main bstteries fully charged. They didn't. So, he came back on Wednesday, reviewed the boat's wiring schematics, called the electrician in MD who installed the wiring for the inverters (which I added after I bought the boat last fall), and after nosing around in the cramped engine room for a while, finally discovered a burned-out fuse holder that linked the charger to the inverter batteries.

He drove off, found a new, heavier-duty fuse holder, and came back and installed it. Finally those three batteries could receive a charge and everything got back to normal in the electrical system...many hundreds of dollars later!! Ahh, the joys of boat ownership! But I felt lucky we got that alarm to sound and were there docked anyway, to have it fixed. Not having the inverters working would have meant that while anchored out, no computer and no cell phone charging. And even when plugged in at a dock, it would have meant no TV and no CD music. The TV I could have done without, but music??? At least for the two days the inverters were off, we had my ipod and its speaker docking station.

On Monday, we'll do more grocery shopping and then head west on the Erie Canal. Breaking Away's adventure continues!

Erie locks, swimming....and a citation

This morning we went through the Waterford Flight of five locks! So exciting for me! We'd been looking at those imposing gates for two days, only 150 yards in front of us at our dock. We'd watched other boats do it. Finally it was our turn. We cast off and I called the dockmaster on the marine radio to let him know we wanted to enter the lock, and he said "ok, wait about 15 minutes." So, I immediately docked again about six boat lengths up from where I'd been and shut the engine off. My dock mates teased me about wanting to be closer to the showers.

Soon we shoved off again, and there was the huge chamber inviting us in, with the gates wide open. We were the only boat, and I crept in at idle speed and nudged up against the wall, putting it in reverse to come to a complete stop. Bruce wrapped his line around the vertical cable, and I stepped out the side door and grabbed a rope hanging from the top. The gates slowly closed, and then the water started churning in. For the first few feet of rise, the boat kept lunging back and forth, and the bow or stern would swing out. I needed to put the throttle in forward or reverse for just a split second to keep Bruce's position in the middle of the boat as he held his rope to keep us against the wall. I returned to holding the rope to keep the bow from swinging out. Then I decided I could shut down the engine so Bruce wouldn't have to breathe in all that diesel exhaust. We were learning as we went along!

We continued to rise slowly for the 33 feet, and pretty soon we were at the top. The lockmaster came by to see my permit, then he returned to his post and opened the front gates. I started up and slowly departed, waving at the man and his two kids who watched the process and shouted their approvals. We had barely left when the gates of the next lock stood before us. Everything was the same, except we both got better at keeping the boat in position, turning off the engine early, and doing everything right. Then the third, the fourth, and the fifth all came in succession, with only 200 yards separating the narrowest gap, and 900 yds separating the largest. We were the only boat through all five locks. In a way it's amazing to think all that "effort" occurs for just one lousy boat, but the water filling and lowering is simply gravity flow from an abundant river above. The energy needed to open the gates isn't much since there's no pressure against the gates on either end. In fact, when we get to Canada, many of the lock gates will be opened using human energy turning a crank! So, paying the lockmaster's salary is the biggest "burden" when you think about what goes into having a single boat lock through.

The final lockmaster told us that as soon as he opened the gates for us to leave, he'd need to drive up about a half mile to the "2nd guard gate" to open it for us. As we soon learned, in the narrow cut we still needed to traverse to reach the Mohawk River, there were two huge "blockades" that could close off water flow into the locks. The 1st was already open, but the 2nd was closed. One of the photos shows the closed gate ahead of us. Suddenly it began to rise, and we could pass under and out into the lake.

The Erie Canal is now a series of lakes on rivers, the one here being the Mohawk River. The original 1825 canal was dug the entire 360-mi distance, 40 feet wide and only 4 ft deep. It was widened and deepened in 1862, but was still a true dug canal. In 1918 they opened the modern canal, which makes use of low dams on the rivers to create lakes, and locks allow boats to get past the dams. So, other than those first five locks this morning which are needed to get past the Cohoes waterfall near the Hudson River (see photo), the canal is wide and we get to navigate through beautiful lakes.

The lake we are on now is so beautiful! Homes with manicured lawns sloping down to the water, old and new homes with "character" and their own docks, and tall green everywhere. Tonight we are anchored out behind an island, just across the river from the marina where we'll be tied up for a week. Just now I was on the phone with Janet, and I kept exclaiming about the light show the boat club must have set up on the island for their viewing pleasure. But then I realized they were...fireflies!!! I didn't realize they could get so bright. I swear they seemed like a man-made electric performance.

Bruce and I decided to go for a long dinghy ride to explore this lake, and it was fabulous and everything until we passed the NY State Trooper boat. They did a quick U-turn and came alongside and asked us to approach them. We had forgotten our life preservers, and I got a ticket! I don't know the cost yet; a judge will send the fine to the Simi Valley address and I'll need to pay it later. Boo.

But after a couple of beers to help the pain (haha), we decided to go into the water since it's so warm and clean. I actually dove in, forgetting about my neck. It was all fine, but I had never dived since my broken neck thinking it would not be a good idea. Oh well, another milestone in my recovery! We got scrub sponges and washed the sides of the boat at water level where it gets the green scrunge line. I even scraped off the little barnacles that had gotten started on the metal trim tabs at the boat's stern. Felt so good to be in the water!

Yesterday's stories were about the bike. I took my first loop ride, rather than the usual out-and-back route. I came to a highway I had ridden on my ride across the country three yrs ago, and that was such a thrill! I decided to turn west on it, knowing it would lead back to the Hudson River, and I could return to Watertown in a big 25-mile loop. I took a photo from the middle of the bridge over the river to compare it to the identical photo I took in 2007. With only four miles to go, I got my first flat. I patched the tube and was going again in about 10 minutes, and passed the boat that had been right in front of me back at the dock. I waved, but I don't know if they saw me. Later, Bruce and I toured around by bike, and then I took another tour ride around the area to see sights, like the Cohoes Falls.

This trip has been amazing!

Negotiating our first lock!

Yes, we successfully made it through our first lock!

We moved from Albany to Troy on Wednesday (two days ago) which took all of about an hour. Before leaving at noon, we rode our bikes across the river to tour the USS Slater, the last remaining WWII destroyer convoy escort. As you can see, I got to pretend I was firing one of the cannon toward my own boat across the river a couple hundred yards away.

Once in Troy, we got ready for the locks by tying four more fenders to the side rails. The dockmaster at the Troy dock lent us his truck to shop for fender hooks at a marine store 6 miles away. How about that, getting to use his truck!! So, with 7 fenders, we figured we'd be ready for the "harsh" locking experience I'd read about, getting banged around against the walls due to the swirling water.

Then, this morning, I was in the bilge checking the oil and the fuel filter, and I noticed "belt dust" all over everything in the vicinity of the alternator. Sure enough, the alterntor belt was overly loose. So, those who know me won't believe this, but I took my tools down there and actually tightened it! I had to remove a cover, but then the alternator looked as it does on a car engine. And therefore I was able to adjust it similarly to a car engine. When I've looked at that huge, complicated diesel engine, I never figured I'd be able to do anything, but I did! (I do plan to change the oil and fuel filters at 200 engine hours, and I have 180 so far.)

We finally left Troy in the late morning, after watching full replicas of the Pinta and Nina arrive right in front of us on the dock. They were going to have their masts taken down so they could go through the Erie Canal to Syracuse - for what, I don't know.

Within a few minutes of leaving, we approached the Troy Federal Lock on the Hudson River. I called ahead to the lock operator to let him know we were there, and he responded that he would open the lock for us. Sure enough, the big gates started opening! I proceeded in to the empty "bathtub" (see photo), luckily all alone so that if I messed up I'd have room to correct. With no wind, I gently eased Breaking Away to the side and Bruce wrapped a rope around one of the vertical pipes in the wall (see photo). Pretty soon the gates behind me closed, and we started rising. Bruce held on tightly to the rope to keep us against the wall, as he let his rope rise with the boat. I kept touching the boat into forward or reverse to keep Bruce midship, so that neither the bow nor stern could swing outward.

It went like clockwork! The lockmaster walked over, above us as we rose, to get my boat's name and registration number (but no money! It was free, although the Erie has a small cost for a 10-day pass). Pretty soon the lock filled and the front gates opened, and I motored away with a smile on my face. At this point, the Hudson River no longer was tidal. Even in Troy, as in NYC, the Hudson rises and falls about five to six feet four times each day because of the tides. In fact, the Native Americans called the Hudson "the river that flows both ways". It's a relief that we won't need to concern ourselves with tides again until I return here in October.

Before I could even lose my smile and excitement, we arrived after less than a mile at the only directional sign I've ever seen on a waterway. At the confluence of a waterway on the left, the huge blue sign said "Erie Canal" with an arrow to the left, and "Champlain Canal" with an arrow pointing to the right. I turned left. This October I plan to be coming from the right on my way back down the Hudson.

As I headed into the waterway, I could see a few hundred yards ahead the closed gates of the first lock of the Erie Canal. It was massive, and TALL. But in front of it was a long dock on the right, and we tied up. This is the historic town of Waterford, the oldest continuously incorporated city in America (1794). We plan to stay here two days before entering the canal. Once we DO start, we will pass through the first five locks within about an hour. They are so close together, they are called the Waterford Flight, and they will raise us 150 ft, the highest lift in the shortest ditance of any canal in the world! Once we are past the fifth, we will tie up a mile later at a boat club for a week. Bruce will fly home for the week. Janet A. will visit for the first three days, and I'll attend Katie's graduation in Seattle for the next four days. Then, the trip will resume on June 13, and we'll negotiate about 30 more locks before we arrive in Lake Ontario.

In case you didn't know, the Erie Canal is not the same narrow canal you saw in drawings in your 5th-grade textbooks. It has been widened several times since it opened in 1825. It now makes use of a frequently dammed Mohawk River in its eastern portion where we are. So, it will be like cruising on a river with locks getting us past the shallow dams. However, the initial Waterford Flight is a separate canal and we will join the Mohawk River past the fifth lock. On my bike ride across the country, I did get to see portions of the original narrow canal with its tow paths. It was cool.