This page covers picks up upon leaving Oriental NC on 6/21/2018. Up the east coast into Hudson River and Erie Canal, through Canada, back down the east coast and into St Johns River - ending 11/21. The story continues in part III

Nov 20 & 21 - Going north on St John's River stop in Georgetown landing on the way to Green Cove Springs

There were so many sites to be seen on the river. Leaving Sanford, we got caught in a lot of rain, but it cleared up by the time we got to Georgetown Landing. The second day was beautiful, but chilly.

Some cool boats and houses and party spots and tons of wild live. Saw 5 different bald eagles, swallow tail kites, and of course all the heron and cranes. Turtles and more manatees.

What we did miss out on are all the clear water springs. We need to come back when we are more prepared to dingy up into explore them. (see link below left)

Ocala National Forest - and the clear springs are covered here

https://www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/ocala/specialplaces

I added a blog entry for Beer Fest in Sanford. I really thought I'd try Blog instead of these page updates, because I think it's more efficient than adding to these pages - they start taking too long to load. But, I digress.

Beer fest was fun, though. Although, we ended up going into the Celery City beer garden and West End Trading - and back to Sanford Brewing. We ate at the Hollerbach's, which is truly good German food and beer. Their dopplebock was excellent! Very tasty and smooth. And the Sauerbraten was spot on. Tender, tart and savory. We took pictures of our clean plates - lol.

James came to visit us Monday night. We went back to Sanford Brewing after we stopped at Tuffy's bottle shop and lounge. Their kitchen was closed though. So was Wops Hops.

I wished I had my camera when Hollister was nose to nose with the eating manatee - that was super cute and hilarious. She looks for them all the time now

Nov 17 - 19 More Sanford Fun

Nov 14 - 16 Sanford FL

The trip from Astor Bridge to Sanford brought more scenic turns. At one point we came across the St John's Rivership cruises paddle boat - which really is powered by the paddles. It's not just decorative. We got into the shallow Monroe Lake, navigated carefully through the channel and into Monroe Harbor Marina.

The first night, we were held captive in our boat as the blind mosquitoes swarmed outside. The next day, we tried to clean them off the boat to no avail. We did venture out that evening as it cooed off, they started to diminish. The bar on site at the marina has a great view out to the lake.

Friday I started some PTO time and we spent the morning and early afternoon doing a deep clean on the boat. It was long overdue. The cooler day kept the bugs at bay, so we broke out the bikes and went to downtown Sanford for the evening. We checked out 2 of their 5 breweries. It was a fun evening. Jay actually didn't have 1 coors light the entire time we were out.

The marina here is a bargain for dockage. Docks are good, people are super, laundry is OK and the bath house is a little sub-par, but it's still a bargain. The town is great. A lot of good food. Nice parks and places to walk the dog. Just make sure you time the blind mosquitos!

https://www.lakecountyfl.gov/pdfs/Public_Works/mosquito_and_aquatic_plants/aquatic_midges.pdf

11/11 - 11/13 St John's River

Doctors Lake, Acosta Creek, Astor Bridge

Skidaway Island, Darien , Amelia Island FL

11/7- 11/10 Georgia southbound

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Before the Astor Bridge stop

Description
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MG on a pontoon

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Weather clearing up

Beautiful calm water
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Getting into the narrower waters
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Floating vegetation - tall palms

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Lake George

Lake George is another wide section of the river . The brown water from the tannin water was a bit disappointing. There are clear springs that we hope to find going northbound
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Clearing weather

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Island in the stream

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Wide part of St John's river

We went through a really bad squall - we were too busy trying to navigate by electronics and watch for crab pots tothat take a picture or video, but this is shortly after at 2 in the afternoon - look closely, you see a low rainbow - very odd when the sun is still above 20 degrees above the horizon
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Light reflecting off tall buildings

This was south of the bridge as the sun started peaking through the clouds
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Jacksonville ahead

Weather was a little crummy, but the winds and rising tide gave us a really good push into the St Johns, which would otherwise be flowing against us
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The Jacksonville waterfront area

We've been to this pavilion area several times. Always had fun.
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Getting to the good part

This bridge is like a landmark for s
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More from the River

It really was too bad the weather wasn't nicer
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Jacksonville "skyline"

If you can call it a skyline. But, we always did like Jacksonville.
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Stadium and industrial scene

ITAA Bank field, home of the Jaguars. These pictures provide a good contrast with what you see further into the St John's River
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Doctors Lake Marina

This is a shot from their website. The weather was crummy, and we managed to get into a covered slip... but we were as far away from the facilities as you could get. They had a tiki bar there that was jumpin'.

After finally pulling out of Beaufort, our first stop was Delegal Creek marina on Skidaway island. We caught some good currents, and wanted to stage to get through Hell Gate the next morning. Delegal is a good price for a nice marina, though we didn't use all their amenites

Next day, we made a few calls trying to find transient dockage, and with all the boats going south, the were all full. We decided to pull off the ICW into Darien for their municipal dock. Darien has a special place in our heart after our 2012 ICW trip on the deck boat. Still lo.ve Darien, but some of our favorite people are not there anymore. We did meet Fred and Byrne, whom we followed up the Darien river. Had fun at Blue Bay mexican restaurant with them

Stayed a second day for free in Darien. The "dockmaster", who also sold us some delicious fresh JUMBO shrimp, gave us a deal because they only recently changed from a free dock to a $1/ft dock with free power and water. Jay was feeling a little under the weather, so we took him up on the offer. Mellow day, got to cook that shrimp, and pulled out early the next day heading to Ameilia Island.

Pulling out of Amelia Island marina - again , decent stay for the price, we headed into Jacksonville and the St John's river adventure

10/15 - 11/6 Still in Beaufort

Between Ellen's business trip to St Louis and helping Sean take care of Gunther after the dog had back surgery (the black dog), the month flew by - sort of. We still had to watch all the migrating boats pull into the Downtown Beaufort marina and leave, 6 or 7 at a time. We made the most of the time and had our NC daughters visit on a couple of weekends - got Sean to babysit. We still looked forward to getting back underway.

9/14 to 10/14 Worton Creek -Beaufort SC

A month of Catch-up

Between the 2 storms (Florence and Michael) and the fact that we are now getting into places we've already been, the time and motivation to post in the website has been fleeting. But, we are now back in Beaufort, SC for a month. After my business trip to St Louis at the end of October, we will continue further south for the winter.

The ground we covered since Worton Creen, MD:

9/15 - Cruise over to Queenstown on the free dock. Jay was watching redzone channel on the phone from the fly bridge while under way. That was special

9/16 - Tilghmans Island. Nice little spot. The bay was rough, so we decided to stay on the eastern shore. We really liked cruising through Kent, and will likely stay there next time through, despite the expensive marinas.

9/17 - 9/18 - Back at Calvert Marina in Solomons Island. Extra day there to wait out wind and rain

9/19 - Deltaville VA - again, same marina as last time

9/20 - 9/21 - Norfolk VA - again, same marina in downtown Norfolk

9/22 - 9/23 - Coinjock NC. We did NOT go through this way on the way up. Also, we happened to randomly meet Jackie and Bill at the Great Bridge Lock. Planned on a real meet up at Dowry Creek Marina in Bellhaven. We stayed in Coinjock to watch football and left in the dark hours of the AM to make it to Bellhaven without having to stop in Alligator River. Nice Albermarle crossing again.

9/24 - Dowry Creek Marina, which was in decent shape after Florence. The pool was not open, nor their bar, but that was all good with us. Was great to hang out with Jackie and Bill!

9/25 - a short trip to Bath, NC - where Blackbeard settled. Not much there this time of year. Might have been fun at Blackbeards slices and ices but they told us it was closed on Tuesdays. They also fared well through Florence

9/26 - 10/2 - Washington, NC, which was in great shape. A little mud on sidewalks and roads, but otherwise OK. Rented a car here to drive to Climax NC for twin Grandsons' first birthday. Nice town. Glad we stopped.

10/3 - Oriental, NC. They were hit pretty hard. Was sad to see all the debris that was pulled out of the houses sitting on the side of the road. We did have Tucan's open the day we arrived.

10/4 - Sneads Ferry. Same marina we stopped at northbound. Not much of a place, but a good location. They had some tore up docks, but they let us stay a night

10/5 - Southport NC. They seemed to be well on the way to recovery. Again, we were there for the first day Yacht Basin Eatery opened after the storm. Fun was had with Stacey and Terry and the Southport locals. We stayed at Deep Point Marina this time, which was in great shape. The town was busy with the US King Mackerel tournament. We met up with Scorpio's Dream and September Song at the Surf City bridge and make plans to do an overnight cruise from Southport to Charleston to bypass the closed and rough portions of the ICW.

10/6 - 10/7. - Spontaneously, Terry and Stacey joined us for our overnight to Charleston. Scorpio's Dream ended up leaving early and making a run all the way to Savanna, but we picked up Knot Again. We had great seas, clear skies and it was a great trip overall! The roughest water was from the busy inlet in Charleston. We went ahead to St Johns Yacht Harbor and met up again with Jackie and Bill.

10/9 - We stayed an extra day at St John's to see Terry and Stacey off. Jackie and Bill went on ahead to Beaufort. At this point, we were trying to prepare for Hurricane Michael.

10/10 - Off to Beaufort. We hit one short squal on south Edisto River, but once through the short cut to Ashepoo, we had winds at our backs, and the rain didn't last too long. Pulling back into Downtown Marina, caught back up with Jackie and Bill on Fancy Free and prepared for the remnants of Michael to blow us.

10/11 - Fancy Free out on a mooring ball had their skiff (they tow it as a dingy) break loose and parked itself in the sawgrass. Waited for the winds to die down a little and we called our adopted son in law to come help us rescue it.

10/13 - 9 1/2 is Still in Beaufort. Fancy Free took off for ports south. Again, we're here for a month!

Dockwa had us at a Marina closer to the mouth of the creek, but when we got there, the available spots were not good at all. So, we went further into the creek, and are now in the same marina that my sister's father-in-law keeps his boat: Worton Creek Marina.

9/10 - 12: Worton Creek MD

Once the rain on Sunday and Monday ended, we made some friends with other boathers here. Great people! Borrowed a car and re-stocked the food supplies.

Glad we didn't take the outside route now, from Cape May!

Day by day we've been evaluating if we should attempt to get any closer to NC - but better sense is keeping us from getting closer to Hurricane Florence. So, we are staying put right here until the main event is over. Then we'll have the same day by day decision about travelling through the affected areas.

9/9: Deleware Bay, C&D Canal and Shaeffer Canal House

SummerTime (buddy boat) and 9 1/2 left Utsch's marina with an initial favorable current, and we stayed on the east side of the bay to stay out of any winds. By the time we got to the narrower, north end, we were battling current. At that point, SummerTime left us. We figured he was racing us to the free dock, which neither of us were able to use because of the 80 foot sail cat that doced there..

The Shaeffer Canal House was our choice for the night. The anchorage was even full, and Shaeffer was cheaper than Chesapeake Inn. We ended up liking the bar and restaurant better at Shaeffer as well.

We didn't want to spend another night in the C&D Canal, but he weather was lousy. Winds died enough to make a short run, and we found a dry-ish window as well. Off to Worton Creek!

9/5 - 9/8: Atlantic City and Cape May

Did another night at The Atlantic City Aquarium, and Gardners Basin. Been there, done that - no new pictures, other than the fact that the seas were super calm and beautiful.

We had another GORGEOUS day on the Atlantic Ocean from Atlantic City to Cape May. If we had an easier way to get back on board, we might have stopped and gone skinny dipping!

We had Bob and Lynne come visit again. Stayed 2 nights in Cape May waiting for winds to be calm on Deleware Bay. We considered going outside route, but thought we had better chances of cheaper (or free) docking via Chesapeake route.

9/2 - 9/4 Return to Manasquan past Sandy Hook

Winds were calmer, but there were still some rollers out there. None the less, we trudged on. Hollister got sea sick, although I think she was a little sick from the oxtail bone she had the night before anyway. But, on the bright side, we saw WHALES!!! It was great! Right off the beach of Sandy Hook. I also took note of the musical chimes in the green bouy. Perhaps they attract the whales

We didn't want to pull all the way into the boatyard, meaning, through the Point Pleasant Canal from Manasquan River to Barnegat Bay, so we bit the bullet and paid the high prices of marina's in Manasquan river. Hoffmans was great, although very busy and lots of passers-by that ignored the no wake zone. But, Zach, the dock hand (I say MASTER) was fantastic! Trust him and he'll direct you into a slip with ease in any conditions (Wind/current)

We got to meet the Harbor Host there - Chris and Rosalee - who happen to be friends of my sister. Just another small world confirmation!

9/1 - One more day in Great Kills

The morning was still very windy, so we stayed one more day at Great Kills Park. I took the dog out for a good walk around the whole park. It turned out to be a very nice afternoon. And, I finally got a good shot of the GIANT swans in the marina. You can't really tell how big they are without something to compare to, but they had to be 3 feet long from chest to tail.

The afternoon on the dock we met a firefighter who worked Sept 11 2001. Very nice and interesting guy. He also told us the story about the abundant superman flags flying on boats in the marina. They were in support of one of the boats' owners who flew the flag, and was diagnosed with cancer. About a dozen more boats put the same flag up in support of him. They have a very strong sense of community in Staten Island!

That night, as I was attempting a bike riding walk with Hollister, I ended up getting tripped up by the dog as I tried to steer around some people walking on the dock - and into the water I went. Not a big deal at all, except someone called 911. Amazing response time though. Within minutes, there were 4 fire trucks, a coast guard helicoptor and police boat surrounding me.! I wish we had pictures of this. It was total overkill, as I was already out of the water, no harm done, other than the loss of a leather Reef flip flop. I didn't even have my phone on me, so no foul there, either. I guess they didn't know that I acually swim better than I ride a bike!

8/29 - 8/31 Stony Point and Staten Island

We wanted to stop back in Patsy's Bay to say hello to Tom, Sarah and Kevin - and also to maybe get our money back from Pierre for the dingy we bought that ended up being too small for us. But, everyone was busy, and we ended up leaving at 4am to catch the tide before it got too low to leave... and to make sure we made it to Staten Island before the winds picked up.

Made another pass of West Point. You just can't stop yourself from taking pictures.

Got a good push from the falling tide, but NY Harbor got rough as we went through at rush hour. The water taxis and ferries were all over the place. Jay compared them to cockroaches that are scattering when the lights turned on.

The sunrising as we came down the hudson created great light on the Palisades cliffs - and then sunset in Great Kills Harbor completed the cycle.

The weather sites, Windy.com and Marvs, is looking like a good Atlantic outside run around NJ would be shaping up for Sat / Sun / Mon. So, we made a push as far down the Hudson as we could. We ended up in Catskill.

I hadn't been there since I was a young kid. Just 26 miles from Hunter Mountain where I skiied countless times. The river front there is new to me. This was a nice stop. Good for the dog, too. Even with all the cat statues! ( See Cat'n around. and the pictures here)

The town is super cute. Towns like this are a step back in time, and it seems as if they are all over NY state.

8/28 Catskill, NY

Cat art from around town

Parked right under the crane at Riverview Marine Services

Frank Guidos' Port o Call - "World Famous"

8/26 & 27 Mechanicville

8 locks down Champlain Canal to Mechanicville. We thought about stopping in Fort Edward, but it was early enough to go for the distance to Mechanicville - although, it was close! But, we made it to lock C3 at 4:30 . That's 15 minutes to spare!

There were some very low bridges - lower than published. We were told from several sources that the bridges before Lock C 9 were 17 feet, but we ended up having to lean our mast back a bit making us under 16 ft - and it was still close! None the less, we made it without having to take the mast all the way down, and take the Isenglas down - that would be a ton of work, but would beat having to turn around.

Mechanicville had a nice bathroom and good power. The town has everything you need within easy walk or bike ride. We had dinner one night at the End Zone. Otherwise, we didn't get many pictures from our 2 night stay here.

Mechanicville was named after the early population being chock full of "mechanical artists" - meaning butchers and builders and mechanics or course. It was also an important train junction yard - as well as an important connection for the canal routes.

The trip from Wesport to Whitehall was non-stop beauty. The haze was still bad though. We passed Fort Ticonderoga, went up lock 12 of the Champlain canal

and landed on the Whitehall free wall to learn more about the USS Ticonderoga, Benedict Arnold and Captain Macdonough. It just so happened my dorm hall was Macdonough Hall at SUNY Plattsburgh!

Whitehall is a GREAT stop. We did the entire bar crawl - all 3 bars. The first stop was at Sasquacth Saloon, where Megan was our fabulous bar tender and server, and we met Chef Richard. Great food, good people. They told us about getting kicked out of the second bar the night before, so, we had to go - and then close the deal at the marina - which we did NOT stay at, because the free was was so great. Skenesboro museum also a good find.

8/25 Whitehall, NY

8/24 Port Henry NY (Westport)

Cruising the southern end of Lake Champlain was amazing. It's too bad there was a heavy haze due to the fires out west that made pictures come out even MORE less than favorable.

The morning winds were a little high and there was some tough chop. We forgot about all the open windows and hatches and ended up with some wet bedding from the forward cabin. OOPS!

Islands and mountains and landscapes were the theme. We went through some narrows with yet another lighthouse. Soon, we were in Port Henry. We almost passed it, but the dock master was expecting us and hailed us as we went by... "9 1/2 - is that YOU passing me right now????" - LOL Dave, what a great guy. And I fully recommend the marina!

8/23 Colchester VT

The winds died down considerably and we wanted to head over to the VT side of Lake Champlain. Burlington was a little too expensive, so we chose Colchester. Mallets Bay was gorgeous and we were happy with our choice.

The wind picked up for a short period, but when we got inside the jetty of Mallets bay, all was good. We anchored for a bit, drifted for a bit, while I finished up with my meetings for the day so that I could help Jay dock when we got the the marina.

Marina was nice - all you could need/want. The staff and the local tennants were a lot of fun. Laundry and a meal at the bar and grill at the top of the hill, and we were soooooo happy.

I hadn't been back here since 1980. All kinds of memories started flooding back. Good times - Beautiful place! Pictures do no justice.

8/21 & 22 Rousse Point, NY - back in the states

It's good to be back - really. English. Affordable beer. Affordable marinas and some free docks coming up. Better wifi and phone signal.

We saw the winds and the forcast, and decided to pull into the marina just past the customs dock even though it was only 10am - Barcombs. Shallow water around, and HOWLING wind made docking a little tough. John was great though, and the marina was accommodating. The town is also very nice with everything you need. We stayed the next day to wait out the high winds.

We passed Fort Mongomery and had a chance to go there via loaner car. Another interesting story in history from this area!

Coming into USA via Richelieu requires you pull over at the Border Patrol Dock. We also learned we need some 28$ Decal next time. Just a warning now. Otherwise, easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy.

On a sad note, we learned that a man had jumped off the bridge right there next to the marina. We crossed under the bridge between the time the man jumped, and the search for his body began. The body was found the morning we left.

A few videos missed with their day's post

8/20 - Chambly Canal to St Jean Sur Richelieu

I ended up taking this as a PTO day because of lack of signal. It was fortitous because the Chambly Canal would not have been possible while trying to work, anyway. It was a lot of work, and also one of the rarest boating experiences around. We were not expecting this at all.

Chambly Canal is a Canadian park system. The locks are all hand cranked by students employed for the summer (and a few supervisory types). It starts off with 3 locks in a row, where you exit one directly into the chamber of the next. Then there 's a few miles more of closely placed locks.

Each of the locks have a park like area to picknic - or even tie up for the night (no services though). Hollister actually jumped off the boat to get to the grass a couple of times. The lock workers were all so helpful and friendly, and enjoyed the opportunity to practice their english. The history of this canal is worth reading about in Wikipedia as well as this planning guide.

The last lock is about 10.5 kilometers away, with a series of bridges that need to be opened, also hand cranked. They set it up so at 6.2 knots they can time you to have the bridge open as you arrive.

We got through Lock 9, and the 12th bridge to stay on the lock wall for the night for 75cents a foot (no services, but still the best deal in Canada.) We visited St Jean sur Richelieu a bit - had another serving of Poutine at the Brewery, and some very good beer. Jay even drank a Stout!

We then met a nice, older couple of french canadian gentlemen on their first date in public that invited us for another beer at the brewery, which was right next to us. Guy and Gaëtan. We then had a glass of wine on the boat with them.

8/19 Sorel, Richelieu River - Auberge Handfield

This place was so awesome. I wished we had more time and money to spend here. Next time through, I'll plan it. What an improvement over Montreal!

The trip down the seaway FLEW as we were now going WITH that 6 knot current. The turn south in Sorel took us into the Richelieu River. First, through the St. Ours lock. Staging for the Chambly the following day.

Once we got through the last 2 locks on the Seaway, we had to again fight the 6 knot current for about a mile to get into Montreal. It was pretty cool pulling in, although for a few minutes we were afraid that we had made reservations at a place that would require us to go across the current instead of in the protected basin that we made it into. Our chart was lying to us! We figured it out only after calling and asking to cancel - they we realized we were right in front of it!

8/18 Montreal, Quebec

The Port D'Escale marina is nice, but it was a LONG way out to walk the dog. It is right downtown, though. We went to a rooftop bar, and then had some Putine (pronounced "puh 'TIN") - which is french fries with cheese curds and gravy - and comes with options like pulled pork or italian style, and more.

Montreal was cool at first, but us not being city people, and on a tight budget, the charm wore off quickly. We paid 63 canadian dollars for a case of beer! Ouch! We were very ready to leave the next morning. Still, we took a lot of pictures, and here's another gallery!

8/14 - 8/17 Cornwall ON and Dorval QC

After Ogdensburg, we headed into the locks of the St Lawrence. The first one was a joke - it was like a 6 inch drop. The second and third are back to back and made more of a difference. So much so, that the water now has a 6 knot current for a while. And to top it off, we had to turn up into about an 8 knot current for a 1/4 mile to get to our marina in Cornwall.

The next day, we went motored to Dorval and the Royal St Lawrence Yacht Club. Great place. Everything you need. Nice people. It had a vibe similar to the 50s and 60s summer "camps" for rich families - like in Dirty Dancing. Veronica, our bar tender, is awesome and fluent in 5 languages. She works in Dominican Republic in the winter. Great Youth sailing program here, too. We ended up here for 3 days because I was super busy with work and the signal here was great. But, none the less, not many pictures.

Somehow, we managed to take very few pictures in these 2 places. Cornwall actually is a pretty busy little city, but we were really just stopping for a rest for the night. We did notice there are a lot of wind farms in this area - a nice sign of fossil fuel independance!

We did our customs checkin via phone, and it was painless.

8/12 & 13- Ogdensberg, NY

Through Alexandria Bay, passing the castles

We definitely had fun in Clayton, but when we stopped in Alexandria Bay, we thought we should have stayed there. There's always next time.

The waterway just kept getting more and more beautiful. We started picking up a good current boosting our speed. At times is was a bit squirley. If you think about all the water going over Niagra Falls - we were now in a river that this water flows through out to the ocean. That's a ton of water!

We spent 2 days in Ogdensburg. Got stuff done, and had some fun

The water itself was still stunnigly blue and clear. The 1000 islands earns its name here. Apologies for another post with gallery, but there were just too many photo opportunities!

8/11 - Cross Lake Ontario to Clayton, NY

These pictures are in reverse order of leaving Little Salmon River and staying in Clayton NY. Nice day across the lake -much better than the 6ft seas getting from Oswego to Mexico Bay (little salmon river). Had a great time in Clayton, NY. In and out of Canada on the water, but landing in NY, still did not have to do customs check-in

Leaving Sylvan Beach in the fog, we crossed Oneida Lake lengthwise. When we got to the other end, the weather started deteriorating, so we decided to stop at Pirates Cove Marina. It was a gem. Extremely nice owners, Pattie and Paul, and a great little Bar and Grill on site with lots of humerous local. Additional humor supplied by the dog memorial, that Hollister thought was real.

Leaving Pirates Cove, we soon turned north into the Oswego Canal. It was a great, easy, short cruise into

8/9 - 8/10 - Pirates Cove, Oswego, Little Salmon River

Oswego NY. Jay got to watch some pre-season football at the Press Box as I again, finished my work day. I biked around with Hollister a little then joined him at the bar.

Next morning we had another short cruise to Little Salmon River where I had arranged to receive some packages. ROUGH day on Lake Ontario and glad it was a short cruise. Bob and Caroline at Salmon Country Inn were wonderful, and the creek was just amazing. We were the biggest boat they ever had in there!

8/7 - Sylvan Beach

The now straight canal took us to the shores of Oneida Lake. Since the time of self propelled boats, the canal no longer needed to stay on river banks or small man made canals. The cut from Ilion to Oneida lake is also much straighter now.

Little Falls was a section where the canal departed from the natural river, and it stayed that way till we got to Sylvan Beach. The Erie Canal was changed 3 times since the original dig, each time making it shorter. They never re-number the locks, so we skipped lock 24 this time.

Also, some of the vestiges of the orginal canal still exist, such as in Utica. The new canal doesn't actually go into Utica, but if you were in a car in Utica you might cross a bridge that says it's the Erie Canal... it's likely the original canal where barges were pulled by mules on the banks.

Sylvan Beach, however, is a throwback in time. The amusement park is straight out of the 50's - as is the beach on the lake.

The free dock there had no power, so we had to start up the generator... oops - starter battery is DEAD! A vist to the Crazy Clam, right next to the boat, scores us some borrowed jumper cables, and a great night of food and drinks with some locals!

Left Schenectady in the fog after saying so long to Christine and Justin. Nice "kids" - reminded us of our own.

The Mohawk River portion of the Erie Canal is quite natural, although it is sandwhiched between rail road tracks and the NY Thruway. Our radar was picking up all the road traffic. The canal boats were all over the place, too

8/5 - 8/6 West of Schenectady

Amsterdam, Canjoharrie, Little Falls and Ilion NY

On the 5th, we passed through Amsterdam and Fonda (home of Henry Fonda and family) on our way to Canajoharrie. Canajoharrie has a nice free dock with power and it's close to restaurants and stores. We were cruising for a long day, so we just ordered a pizza delivered to the boat, and Jay did a little fishing.

Next morning, we woke up with the trains, and set out toward Ilion. Passing through Little Falls in Herkimer county, and got a view of the Herkimer home. You can read about this historic family, and Revolutionary war hero here. Wiki has a lot on them as well.

Ilion had a very reasonably priced marina with access to all we needed to re-provision. Short run - got there a little early so we could shop. Then we ate at the on site "snack shack" - complete with soft serve ice cream. We hadn't had ice cream in a year, and hadn't had soft serve in a decade!

Little Falls is a place we should stop next time through. Very cool looking. The lock there is what they call a lift lock - because the downstream lock door lifts up over head. It was freaky

8/4 Erie Canal - Schenectady

The couple (Justin and Christine) from CT got out ahead of us, but they ended up holding them up at the second lock (lock E3) for us. We locked through the rest of the locks along with a guy from NJ with his 15 yr old son. In Lock E2, a valve busted and the current was super strong and we go banged up a bit. We should have gone port side and all would have been well. The rest of the locks, we went port tie!

We had dinner at a real locals bar with Justin and Christine, then 3 of us (I was the one that didn't go) went to the Casino. Jay came out $40 ahead, but he was down quite a bit before he won it back.

Into the locks we go. Sure, we did Troy lock #1, also known as the Federal Lock. But I don't really consider that part of the Erie Canal. We locked through 6 locks, taking us to Schenectady on the Mohawk River, which is beautiful, of course. The locks are all surrounded by nice parks for people to visit. You can also tie up overnight at most of them for free. Although, little amenities.

8/2 & 8/3 Waterford NY

Through Troy

This was a VERY short cruising day with 1 lock. The goal was just to get to the free dock in Waterford to ride out a couple of rainy days without spending too much money.

We passed by the oldest floating WWII ship. We were wondering what it was while we were docked and could see it across the river. We finally asked the dock master as we were getting ready to leave.

Troy looked interesting. A little industrial, but interesting architecture. Got to Waterford before the rain started. We seemd to be good at that.

Jay worked on the dingy situation. The one we bought in Stoney Point is just too small, so now we need to again try to patch the Zodiak. Looks like we'll be buying the slime. Several people told us it works.

Met a young couple (our kids' ages) from CT in Waterford and had a good time with them on our sun deck - which was really the rain shelter. Waterford is nice enough. The free dock with nominal fee for electricity and showers is great! Everything you need is walk/bike distance, except west marine, which would be a taxi or uber ride. The Peebles State Park is across the way and very interesting. The Canal trail is a great place to walk the dog.

The other thing we had to do in Waterford is decide if we are going north or west.

8/1 Albany

Not much to show or say about this leg. It rained all day while cruising. At least we now have Isenglas and it was above 70 degrees! Not like when we were motoring in KY and TN in December in the rain.

Sun came out just in time to dock. Albany Yacht Club was very accommodating. They were having a social with tacos and turkey wraps in the club house.

7/31 Kingston NY

Everyone said Kingston is a cool stop, and they were right. It's too bad that we were in a marina on the wrong sid of the creek. But we ubered over to the downtown area and had a good meal on the waterfront.

The cruise up from Marlboro was easy peasy.

7/30 To Marlboro NY

Passing Bear Mtn and West Point

Good sunrise this morning. And then we were greeted by our new friends. We hung out on the back of the boat for a bit, waiting a guy to come with a dingy we wanted to check out. We bought it - so now we're towing 2.

Because of the late start, we took a short hop to Marlboro. Had our first safety inspection near Newberg. The stayed at a little club dock. It was a good, quiet night, except for the trains, which were about 200 feet from the dock. Jay rode up into the town on his new electric bike. He said it was a cute little town, and had a fantastic deli, from which he brought home some subs.

Just past West Point is Bannerman Island. This was one the mantion built to be an arsenal, not a home. The link tells more about it, but it may be a bit dated. I heard that they are giving limited tours now. We actually took a lot of picture of this.

7/28 Edgewater NJ to Stoney Point NY

More haze in the morning, but the day cleared up nicely. Here are the Englewood Cliffs! We cruised under the George Washington Bridge and the NEW Tappanzee bridge and started getting into the beginning of "up state" NY. We also saw Sing Sing! Jay thought it was a college.

We chose to stay at Patsy's Bay Marina, on the NJ side, to make it easier on my brother to come see us. Otherwise, we probably would have stayed at Halfmoon Bay in Croton on Hudson.

We ended up staying an extra day at Patsy's Bay. We met some of the locals there and just had too much fun with them. Now I don't know if I'll ever get to Halfmoon Bay, because we will want to keep going back to see these people.

My brother and his wife and youngest kid came to deliver Jay's birthday present from the kids - the Hover1 electric bike. The one we saw back in Rock Hall MD.

7/27 into NY Harbor

Point Pleasant to Edgewater

We had a small weather window to hit leaving Manasquan Inlet. Seas, wind and precipitation would kick up around 2pm. We picked up Crow's Nest as a buddy boat, and made our left turn in the Atlantic around 6:30am.

Growing up in north Jersey, and having access to Barnegat Bay whenever I wanted, I never actually made it to Sandy Hook before. Passing by, it looked intriguing. Might have to make a land visit some day. But, we pressed on and turned up into the NY Harbor.

First thing you see after Sandy Hook, and the light house in the middle of the harbor, is the Verrazano Bridge. Shortly after that, you begin to see the buildings in Brooklyn on the horizon. You're looking up in anticipation of seeing the Manhattan skyline, so you barely notice Staten Island and the Jersey side. Especially in the haze that we had.

Then you see it, and the Statue of Liberty, of course (which is in NJ for those that don't relize that). And then the city is in your face to starboard. On the port side you have Ellis Island and Hoboken train station, and now up the river you head.

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Avon by the Sea from the Atlantic
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Sunrise on Point Pleasant
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Sun coming up over Manasquan from the inlet
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Leaving Manasquan
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Sandy Hook Beach
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Manhattan and the new World Trade Tower
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Hoboken
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Ellis Island
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Our buddy boat in front of Statue of Liberty
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Ferry in front of Lady Liberty
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Southern most light in NY harbor
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Dolphins in the Harbor!

Verrazano Bridge Fun Facts

The first proposal for a bridge across the Verrazano Narrows was made in 1928. It took multiple proposals and some even close decision before construction started in 1959. The design had to take the curvature of the earth into account. This was an engineering first because it had the longest suspended span in the world at the time. The top of the towers are further apart than the base.

Bay HEad &

Pt Pleasant

7/21 - 7/26

Good stay at Johnson Brothers Boat Yard

New Garmin system, which we're not sure it was a good move just yet - new transducer, so we have a depth finder again! YAY! And we ended up finding out our sacrificial annodes (zincs) were GONE. Good thing we had it pulled out. Bottom wasn't too bad, but pressure washed it while it was out.

Bay Head is a good little town. Not "resorty", yet still has some good shops - like Muellers Bakery, and Cheesy Bottles for spirits and interesting cheese - although you don't want to buy beer here! Biking around was pretty easy, and we found Marlins Bar to be a fun spot to bike to. We had ubered to Frankies earler in the week (Jay's birthday) and had a ton of fun there. We ate first, and regretted not eating at Frankies!

We had a good, reasonably priced dock for a week while we waited for the good seas for the outside run to NY. There were some rain showers, definite high winds and rough seas. Although we were parked next to a thruway! Lots of car, foot and bicycle traffic. But, we figured out how to hook the wagon to the bikes!

We had our NJ family visit and we took a trip to Jenkinsons board walk. IT was a great break out of the routine.

Marlin's Cafe had a beautiful copper inlaid bar. It was quiet in there, but they also sold beer and wine and spirits and it was more reasonably priced than the cheese shop. The Cheese shop did have good cheese though

Bay Head NJ 7/20-??

We left Atlantic City at 6am to make it to Manasquan before the ocean got rough. We passed my old stomping summer stomping grouds from my childhood, Seaside Heights, NJ - and the Barnagat Light Inlet - which they advise not to attempt without local knowledge.

Manasquan is the next easily navigated inlet coming up north on the outside. Looking at the weather, wind and waves, we figured out we will be here at least a week. This is an expensive area to spend a week, but we found a boat yard that is working with us on a dock rate that is acceptable. And, while we're here, we decided to also get our electronics upgraded. Good way to make use of the time.

After coming into the Manasquan river, we had to take the Point Pleasant Canal over to the boat yard. We are actually in Bay Head.

The boatyard is a bit tricky to get into. Rude boaters in the canal, trying to get through a little sailboad regatta, navigating more narrow canals and then tucked back behind a lot of clusters of docks. We are next to the NJ boating museum and a Vintage car museum.

7/19/2018 Atlantic City

What a beautiful day on the outside. Found pretty water and the seas were calm. Much better than the Deleware bay crossing. We saw the Wildwood boardwalk as we left, and Atlantic City arriving with a lot of quiet beaches in between.

Technically, we were not IN Atlantic City, we were in Gardners Basin. Historic Gardners Basin. The dock was basic tie up and electricity, which is all we needed for the night. Didn't want to pay the higher prices for the other stuff we don't use in Atlantic City.

The view from the boat was nice, and there was a cool little "village" of eateries and a bar right next to us. The marina is really at the aquarium, which is cute. Admission is covered by the dock fees.

7/17 & 7/18/2018 Cape May

We stayed at Canyon Club Resort Marina, which is a very nice place, and it's priced accordingly. We were surrounded by multi million dollar fishing boats, and they were all being prepped for a big weekend tournament. We had a very neighborly guy behind us that gave us a ton of mahi mahi steaks from a fish that he just caught.

We got to see Michelle and mom (Michelle is my son's long time girlfriend) who were in Wildwood for the week. We had dinner with them at 2 mile crab house and watched the sunset.

We didn't expect the Deleware Bay to be as big as it is, nor as rough as it was. We found some quiet water right after this light house, but then right before the channel by the ferry, it got REALLY rough. And we had to deal with the ferry leaving, and some rude boaters.

7/15 and 7/16 - C&D Canal and Chesapeake City, MD

We hit a good squal as we entered the C&D Canal after leaving the Sasafrass River. We did fine, but apparently it was rough where we were heading.

We passed one tug pulling something we could not identify.

We figured on being in Chesapeake City 2 nights, and would use the nice free docks one of them. We thought it would be the first night, but they were full. So we pulled into Chesapeake City Inn and Marina, which is a rockin' place on weekends.

After we docked, we had a few people in their formula and cigarette boats that were there for the party, come up and ask us for things to help them recover from the squal they all got hit by. One guy needed a hose to run water into his bilge while he tried to get the bilge pump to shut off. Another guy needed a manual pump to bilge out his engine compartment because his bilge was busted. Another guy needed an extension cord for something. It was crazy. But, we got a lot of free drinks delivered right to the boat! Then we ordered pizza delivered to the boat as well

Next morning we made it over to the free dock - power cost $15 - so I guess it was just a really cheap dock.

My sister Amy, and her family - Mark, Casey and AJ - along with new pups Ivy and Emmet came to visit. We took a short cruise back west into the canal, anchored out, and Jay, Casey and AJ dingied ashore - they guys swam a little - and then it was dinner back over at the Inn.

7/11 - 7/14

Chesapeake Bay MD stops

Solomons, Rock Hall, Georgetown MD

We had forgotten, or really never realized, the immensity of the Chesapeake Bay. It took us a total of 38 cruising hours to get from Norfolk VA to the northern end of the bay, not counting the side trip up the Sasafrass River. We saw a lot of very different water colors and sea conditions. The light "houses" are all over the place. See my blog entry about them - and check out the gallery here - it's the best way to show all the pictures

Solomons MD is a popular cruising stop for a lot of loopers, and boaters, in general. We stayed at Calvert Marina, which has a good looper discount. The facilities are a little dated, and the bathrooms are straight out of a summer camp, but the onsite restaurant was a great hang out on the water. And, we met 3 other loopers there. We spent 2 days there after running pretty hard for a few days. But, Jay and I were both bad about pictures. Here's a link to a slide show from the marina we were in.

Rock Hall was a fantastic stop. They had a free dock, and we got lucky and were able to get the ony power hookup there. The town is friendly, the dock location right next to a bait and tackle (for beer and ice), and between 2 very good restaurants.

We debated moving to a marina (since free docks are supposed to have 24 hour limit) and stay in Rock Hall another day, but instead, thought we would do a very short side trip up the Sassafrass River into Georgetown. That was a beautiful run. The fresh river water was clear, the shorelines full of trees and beaches, and the top of the river, bustling. Our dockmates were great, too... one being another looper on his second time 'round - and he was jus full of useful information.

Since I let a few days go into one post, the gallery is again the best option, so click on any picture to invoke the gallery. Also, use the travel map link - Google made me go get an API Key, which I did. But I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to put it in here. So, no more map shots! :( Sorry!

Norfolk VA to Deltaville VA

7/10/2018

Leaving Norfolk got a good sunrise picture of the tall ship charter boat. Sunrise was beautiful. Arriving in Deltaville at Sunset was equally nice.

I lied - there was some events. The channel into Deltaville was very challenging. We ran aground in soft sand, slowly - so , in retrospect, not dramatic. But, very dramatic at the time!

Very nice day's cruise into the Cheasapeake Bay. We crossed through Hampton Roads, and headed north. Good signal for working under way, so depended on Jay to take pictures. Not much of a story to tell, other than how nice it was to cool off and cruise

7/8 Dismal Swamp to Norfolk

A day of contrast

Started the day in a back woods fishing village, ended in a full fledged city with navy installations and industry.. Went through a swamp, that also included being eye to eye with automobile traffic as we waited for bridges to open. No better way to show it that through the gallery below

7/7 from Pelican to Lambs

Elizabeth City 2 nights

We stayed our first night at Pelican Marina, which is the first marina you get to when coming from the south. There are plenty of free docks, but the marinas are cheap enough to be worth the power hook up and the facilities.

Pelican was a little rough, but the showers were good, and the restaurant next door was excellent. We had good dock neighbors, and good water, but the dock situation with a slanted finger pier made it hard to get the dog on and off the boat.

We decided to move to the other side of the bridge, to elimnate the need to time it in the morning, as well as get better dock. Well, Lambs was very accommodating, although, they probably really didn't have room for us. We ended up staying on the fuel dock. All good with us!

There we met Graham and his wife on "Incognito". They are and Aussey couple delivering a sailboat to Canada, but the winds kicked up and dropped the water level 3 feet, leaving the keel on the bottom. Jay helped engineer the way to pull it off the shelf, and earned himself a 12 pack of aluminum bottle Coors Light.

Other shots - my custom window screen - lol... some Elizabeth City water front, and a trailer at Lambs for gambling.

7/6/2018 - 80 mile cruise - 9 1/2 hours to Elizabeth City, NC

We Big winds coming tomorrow, so we know we want to not only get through the Alligator river bridge, but we want to get across the Albermarle Sound, which can be a bitch in windy conditions. So, we got up early and pushed away from the dock. Smooth water! More amazing clouds!

We had to go through the Pungo-Alligator Canal. Wasn't much there, but this root-beer water, marshland, some wild flowers, some cypress and other tree stumps in the canal.

Once out on the Alligator River, we were afraid of getting hit by another squall, but we managed to stay away from it. Got through the bridge just fine, and had a very pleasant sound crossing - other than the gazillion crab pots! All the while, listening to "The Sound" radio station out of Manteo. Great station - they call it "Music Discovery" - 99.1 WVOD . Which, BTW, is kinda like 98.3 WUIN, "The Penguin", which we now listen to on the web! Thanks to Terry and Stacey!

We had a lot of dragon flies visiting us - we went from flies, to dragons to dragon flies... landing on our hands, and the dash, the seats, and everywhere. I wanted to take pictures of all of them, but we were running out of charge on our phones. Same reason I didn't get pictures of pulling into Elizabeth City. I'll have to get them as we leave.

And, here's the video of the storms we were dodging in the Alligator river (note how gorgeous the clouds are), as well as the beautiful crossing of the Albermarle sound. I had to make a shout out to Kelly and Clint, as they had the opposite experience here!

7/5/2018 - Back out on the water!

I'm not gonna lie - it was still almost another 5 days since Croaker Fest before we could leave. The fuel injector pumps were put on the boat on the 3rd, but they didn't do the final check until early AM on the 4th. Then they insisted on a river test before we took off, as we originally planned. I was hoping to get to a place where I could get signal out on the water so we could start moving while I worked. We were about to leave for Bellhaven, NC after the successful river test, but when we went to start the engines again, we had no battery!

4 hours later, new house batteries are in place. Yes, the house batteries were keeping the starter batteries from working properly. Go figure! Thank you John Deaton for the free, 2 year old, never used before, house batteries. But it was then too late to leave. At that point, I figured I had to wait till Friday to leave, and I would have to take the day off. I had some meetings on Thursday that I didn't want to miss. But, I looked at the wind forcast, and if we didn't get through the Alligator River Bridge on Friday, we might get delayed for 2 days waiting for wind to die.

Game day decision to take Thursday off as well, and off we went. The clouds were gorgeous! Back out on the Neuse, making our way up to Dowry Creek Marina just outside of Bellhaven NC. I thought it best to go to Dowry even if it meant we would not see Bellhaven, because it's just a couple more miles off our trip the next day.

A squall hit us in the Pungo River right before Dowry Creek Marina, so we slowed down. We didn't want to dock in those conditions. I'm sure the dock hands didn't want to help, either. Sun was out and it was gorgeous when we got there. We were tired, and just hung out on the boat. Didn't even take advantage of the amenities at the marina (pool, nice shower, place to hang out with other boaters), but we did get a visit from a pretty good size pod of dolphins. I didn't know they were up this far north!

Yes, Still here... 6/30/2018

We got to watch Fireworks Saturday Night - front row and center. My friend, George, keeps his sail boat "Spirit" at the marina that is at to foot of the bridge... The fireworks were lit from the bridge.

We went to Dinner at the Silo with Kelly while Clint was back in FL for work. They had a huge vinyl album collection on the walls and ceiling. This is a popular place - we tried a few times to get in there, but it's always crowded. And this particular night, they were out of pizza dough by the time we got in.

You could also find us at O'Town, or watching the moon rise... And then there's Jay's new Bronco flag on the boat with the freshly cleanded Isenglas up.

Another week came and went in Oriental NC. It's not a bad place to be "stuck". We got to celebrate Croaker Fest, which was also their Independence day celebration this year. Some business even closed on Monday instead of Wednesday, the 4th. Deaton's was one of them.

6/24/2018 - Oriental rainbows and dragons

Oriental has a sense of humor!

It's no wonder we like it here. Not only did we end up with fun dock neighbors, but the whole town is full of fun people. To understand the dragon theme here, you must learn about the history - this site has a great story for you. Also, you can check out their local "paper" here : TownDock Link. You can also read about the duck pond dragon pictured above here: Dragon Launch

All over town, you see where the town's folk fully embrace their mascot, and have fun with it. They have dragon nests in various places. There are ventilation pipes on several street corners disguised as dragons. Being a "Drinking town with a Sailing problem", they of course have dragon boat races for multiple occassions. And I'd say 25% of the residents have some sort of dragon in their landscape.

This rainbow seems to end in our boat! But, I never found the pot of gold. Actually, the opposite... The boat just keeps sucking gold out ! This shot was taken from Clint and Kelly's boat.

See Trip Progress Part I for section prior to 6/24/2018