8/1/2010 - 63 locks!!!

Hello Boys and Girls -

Synopsis - We are in Bobcageon on the Trent Severn Waterway and have travelled 2505 miles since leaving St Pete on May 10th. We have gone through a total of 63 locks and all is well. It is finally cool and comfortable.

Right after our last post, Bob Liebling went home. Here is a picture of our two ace lock

hands (Bob and Linda) and I on the day before Bob left. Is he happy to be here or happy to be going home? Two days later Linda went home for a week so I was feeling lonely at this point in the trip. However, I had a good week at the "ess-kay" Yard in Brewerton NY waiting for Linda to return. I got some boat jobs done and spent time playing with the local cats. Ess Kay Yard was in a very beautiful section of the Erie Canal waterway and here is a picture taken in front of the marina taken from the KingFisher.

When Linda came back after visiting Seattle and having an early 90th birthday celebration for her father, we headed out in pouring rain. It was still hot (in the 80's) and the rain didn't last long.

We went another 7 miles on the Erie Canal and then turned North on the Oswego Canal. We happened to hit Oswego on their big yearly "Harbor Fest" and got to hear some music.

The winds were down the next morning so we decided to make the big crossing of Lake Ontario. This picture is of me thanking the sea gods for not blowing the winds into a gale.

It actually got pretty windy later and we had to tack back and forth a bit. It was about a 50 mile passage so this is big water. In the middle, you are out of the sight of land in all directions.

It seems like we have been going through locks forever. First we did a few in Florida on our way across the Okeechobee Waterway and had a couple in the Dismal Swamp in Georgia. Then, after going up the Hudson River for about a hundred miles we turned into the Erie Canal and went through another 20 locks and then transited the Oswego Canal (connecting the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario) which has 8 locks of it's own. After crossing Lake Ontario and travelling West into the Trent Severn Canal system we have gone through 31 (of 43) of the locks on this waterway. Here is a picture of the entrance to locks 16 and 17 which are a double lock

(called a fleet lock) that rises 50 feet. On the Trent Severn locks there are vertical cables every 20 or so feet along the wall of the lock to hang on to (you normally put a rope around and hang on) while letting the rope slip up or down the cable as the water level changes. The only real challenges are getting in position to start with (where's my bow thruster?) and holding on when the incoming water creates heavy current. It's OK and after doing a bunch of them it feels like a bit of an accomplishment.

The locks are managed by Parks Canada and you can stay on the canal wall above or below the locks in a beautiful setting. This picture is where we stayed above lock #15.

The lock master brought me donuts in the morning (wonder how I got him to do that?).

Our normal routine is to stay on the wall or anchor in one of the many lakes for a few days and then stay at a marina. Usually the marinas are near a "city" and we can stock up with supplies as well as filling our water system and washing the boat.

This picture is lock 21 near the town of Peterborough and is quite unique.

It is two huge "pans" that go up and down filled with water and whatever boats are inside. It is the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world, going up 65 feet, and gives you quite a view.

The scenery between locks is spectacular too. This area is called "Cottage Country" because there are so many summer places along the edges of the lakes and canals. Some are quite modest but many are very upscale with fancy boats and even airplanes out front (Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel reportedly have one somewhere around here). Many are built on small islands where the house takes up most of the island. They take drinking water from the lakes and do a bit of filtering and UV processing. Here is a picture of one of the MANY "cottages" that shows some of the lake scenery (this is on Stony Lake where we anchored one night) - Can you see the house?

We are in Center Pointe marina in the town of Bobcageon where there is a big celebration going on as part of Ontario's "Civic" day (three day holiday like BC day). Last night was called "Midnight Madness" for the late shopping and bands in the streets. Linda and I took the dingy into town (about a mile) to check it out. Town was packed with people, bands, swimsuit models (male and female) and outdoor shopping. We came home in the dark at about 11:oo and had to sort of "feel" our way back to the marina (we had a lame navigator -me) but had no real problem. We plan to stay here for another day to avoid the local boat traffic and take a break from travelling every day.

I've finally had a chance to enjoy some fishing although I don't really know what I'm doing. I talked to two different local fisherman who must have felt sorry for my lack of knowledge so they GAVE me some tackle (boy Canadians are nice). Think I'll go to the fishing store today and buy more. So far I have caught several smallmouth bass which seem to be the most common species here. One guy was fishing off the dock last night for muskellunge with a "marlin" pole and a lure about a foot long. I didn't see him catch anything but maybe tonight he will. More fishing is in my future.

Here's todays musing - I went through all our pictures last night and was reminded of how much we've seen along the way. Every day and in fact often every hour it's new and interesting. I pick out the few shots to put in this blog as "representative" of what we are seeing but it is very difficult to do with just a few pictures. Some of you will suffer through the whole meal deal when we get home..

We have another 100 miles to go on the Trent Severn and then we enter Lake Huron to cruise through the "Georgian Bay" on our way to Lake Michigan. We have been told that this is the best cruising area of the whole trip. Hope it is. We should be in Port Severn in about 5 days if you want to cruise with us.

We are thinking of storing the boat somewhere in Northern Lake Michigan for the winter. Who knows after that?

Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you.

Tod and Linda

July 15, 2010 - Linda's Leaving

Synopsis - We are in Brewerton NY and have travelled 2207 miles total since leaving St. Pete Florida on May 10th. Linda left yesterday to go home for a few days to visit
her father and do a few things in town. I'm babysitting the boat and doing some chores. When she returns we will head North across Lake Ontario and into Canada.

It's hard to believe, but since the last blog (July 1, 2010) there have been no mechanical problems with the boat. Wow! We went North from New Jersey and headed into New York harbor. On the way, we passed a bunch of oyster fisherman who were still using "sails and rakes" in the traditional manner.

The photo at right shows one and you can see his sail (OK, it's a blue tarp!) and he is using a 25 foot long rake and working hard.

There were quite a few big ships coming into NYC along with us. We passed the "biggest cruise ship in the world", the Norwegian "Jewel" which holds something like 6,000 passengers. We thought about staying in NYC harbour for the 4th of July fireworks but after a visit to the statue of liberty we decided to head up the Hudson river. We got to a town called Tarrytown after trevelling all day and when I looked back I could still see the NYC skyline. Boy is this boat slow!

We stopped in Hyde Park and spent a day touring the FDR family mansion (and Presidential Library), a Vanderbilt mansion (one of 40 they built) and the Culinary Institute of America (the other CIA). They were all great but I think the FDR property was by far the most interesting because the history it documents.

We continued North and were joined by our friend Bob Liebling in Troy which is where the Erie Canal heads West from the Hudson. We spent a week cruising West on the Erie Canal stopping at the occasional marina or at the free "mooring walls" provided by many towns to entice boaters to stop and spend some money in their town. In addition to incredibly beautiful lush scenery, highlights included spectacular locks and Fort Stanwix at the town of Rome.

Brewerton, our current location, is mid way on the Erie Canal (to Buffalo) and is where the Oswego Canal branches North to Lake Ontario. To get here, we travelled over 150 miles on the Erie canal and went through 21 locks. Here is a picture of the biggest lock (#17 on the Erie) and the lift gate which you have to go under to get in. It has a rise of 40 feet! It was a great help to have Bob Liebling manning a rope in the locks.

Fort Stanwix in Rome NY (shown below) was the location of a key battle in the American Revolution. The patriots there held up a

large English force for three weeks which contributed to the subsequent English defeat at Saratoga and helped convince France to support the colonists. It was fun to walk in the footsteps of the soldiers who manned the fort.

We are excited to head into Canada and the Trent Severn Canal system late next week after Linda returns. The Trent Severn and Northern Lake Huron are reported to be great cruising. We'll find out.

You all take care and remember that we miss you (well, maybe not all of you)

Next post on August first.