June 15th - Montreal Canada

June 15th – In Montreal, Canada

·      Current Location – Montreal Canada

·      Latitude 45°30.4’ N Longitude – 73° 33.1’ W 

·      Total Miles - 524

Hello friends and family.  Since we entered Canada on June 2^nd, I’ve had quite a few highlights but Linda has only had one – going to the F-1 car race.  But I’ll start at the beginning:

Our Next Boat Project

St Paul, Isl de Noix – We departed the United States from Rouses Pointe NY and headed North into Quebec Province.  After clearing customs (easy except their dock was rough and windy) we went to the “Island of Nuts” and into the small town of St. Paul.  We stayed at a marina called Gosellins and were flabbergasted when we walked into their back lot.  It was full of literally hundreds of big Canadian sailboats that they had stored for the winter.  Of course they had a few boats that had been there a few winters too many.

Lock sign on the Chambray Canal

View of the Last Lock on the Chambly

Chambly (Quebec Province, Canada)– We spent most of the day slowly winding through the countryside and going down through nine locks that form the Chambly Canal.  We shared this experience with Mike and Gale Wright from Vancouver Island on their beautiful Mainship 40 that they had recently bought in Maryland to do the Great Loop.  After the last lock in the town of Chambly they continued on and Linda and I stayed on the lock wall.  It was a great day and we enjoyed walking around the town which traces its European History back to the age of discovery in the 1600s.  the British built a stone fort in Chambray which still stands and the church graveyard is full of 1700 and 1800 gravestones.

Anglican Church built in 1820

Beloeil (Quebec Province, Canada)–

The Billy Ray is out on the end

This is a VERY French village.  My goal was (and still is) is to be able to say “bonjour” without getting laughed at.  Pretty much failed my French proficiency at Beloeil.  Even the marina owner didn’t speak English.  Luckily he spoke Spanish and he and I were able to communicate somewhat.  Linda and I went to a very upscale restaurant and I swear that I felt like I was in France.  Of course that is the whole town’s purpose in life.  It has been hard communicating in all of Quebec Province but it makes for a real foreign experience.

Cruising on the Richelieu River

Sorel (Quebec Province, Canada)–

Flags over Sorel

One of the Big Boys on the St. Lawrence

We wound our way through the French countryside ever northward on the Richelieu River until we hit the Saint Lawrence River.  Holy Crap.  All of a sudden there it was with great big freighters traveling upstream.  It was 40 miles further to go on to Montreal so we decided to stay in the town of Sorel near the junction.  We had a walk of about a mile each way into the town so we were limited in what we could carry back to the boat after shopping.  Wine and steaks made the list.  We passed through a park where they had a big flag stand.  They had the French flag flying at the same elevation as the Canadian and Quebec flags.  Sorel has tides of about six inches. 

Isle St Helene off Montreal – Two miles from downtown Montreal

Rain-out on Day One

This stop was all about seeing a Formula 1 race.  We stayed at a marina on the island where the race was being held that provided rides to and from the race each day.  The first day (Friday) was practice.  About a half hour into the “big car” session (they also race a couple of slower car classes to fill the time), the skies opened up and everything and everyone got soaked.  The day was over.

Saturday was a beautiful day and the “big cars” had more practice and qualifying.  This was only an eight hour day at the track.

Ferrari "Owner's" Class

Tod Relaxing at the Race

Sunday was the big day.  We got there at just after 8:00 to stake out a good spot for the actual F-1 race which started at 2:00.  Luckily I took a folding chair to sit in.  Linda didn’t.  So sorry! The actual race was pretty straightforward without any hold ups for car problems.  It took about 85 minutes to get in the 70 laps.  The Mercedes team cars came in #1 and #2 although most of the fans seemed to be for Ferrari.  After the race was over we were able to walk around on the track.  I thought that this was the best part.  Of course the cars were pretty cool too.

A Real Formula One Car (Honda)

The “Old Port” in Montreal –

It’s hard to believe that during the last two weeks we did all the stuff I described above AND visited Montreal City.  It seems like we have had an entire vacation right here in Montreal.  It’s a great walking town from the port but also has a good metro system to visit the far away spots.  We took a bus tour to get a city orientation have been getting to know the city better every day.  Cool things about Montreal include:

·      The Chateau Ramezay – The fanciest house in Canada in the mid 1600s.  Benjamin Franklin spent time on a visit here in the late 1770s trying to no avail to talk Canada into “going with us”.  They had been guaranteed religious and cultural freedom by Britain to keep them happy.

·      Mont Royal – This is a huge park on a hill about 2 miles North of downtown that is pleasant in the summer and used for winter sports (snowshoeing and skiing) in the winter.

·      The whole “Old Town” – There is lots of Montreal history still here that hasn’t been ruined for some reason including old buildings, one of the museums is built on an archeological site. 

The Atwater Market

·      The Cathedral – Built in the early 1800s to replace a church built in the late 1600s, it was made a Basilica by Pope John Paul II in1982.  That is apparently a big deal.  It was made in the days of cheap labor and has never been damaged by war.  It’s a fantastic church for the symbolism and history represented.

·      The “Frenchiness” of everything – This makes it feel like you are on vacation in Europe.  Of course it also makes it hard to communicate if you aren’t a Francophone.

·      The Exchange Rate – This is a big world class city.  It’s expensive but a 20% exchange rate eases the pain.

·      The Lachine Canal  – It cuts through Montreal was a totally smoke choked polluted mess in the 1800s and beyond.  It was key to Montreal

The Lachine Canal with a Cruise Ship in the Harbor

being the most industrialized city in North America at on point.  Now it’s a park.

Cruise Ship Passing the Marina on the River -
Is this Your's Susanne?

·      The Waterway - We're on one of the most historic waterways in the world.

·      Little Italy” – fantastic veggie and fruit market.

·      Art Galleries and shopping – Sez Linda.

·      The people – Hey, they’re Canadian

·      We have a thousand other pictures.  It's overwhelming.

But a week in one place is enough and we are anxious to head down the road (OK, the waterway).  We plan to get fuel in the morning and then enter the Saint Lawrence Seaway, go through three or four locks upstream (west) and to the junction with the Ottawa River where we will stay the night at St Ann d’Bellevue on a lock wall.  More about that on July 1^st.

Tod and Linda on the Billy Ray (Tiara 3600 Open)

June 1st - Lake Champlain in Rouses Pointe

Summary

·      Current Location – Rouses Pointe on the Canadian Border

·      Latitude 44° 37.7 N; Longitude 73° 24.5 W

·      Total Miles From Connecticut - 393

·     Stops since the last post - 

•         Albany, NY – End of the tidal zone on the Hudson.  Has the state capital and history museum.
•         Schylerville, NY –  Sleepy little village on the Champlain Canal near Saratoga.
•        Whitehall, NY – South end of Lake Champlain – Sad town where we walked 5 miles for a pizza
•         Chipman Point, VT – Fort Ticonderoga.
•         Mallets Bay VT – Mid Lake near Burlington – 
•         Valcour Island – Mid Lake on NY side – Beautiful anchorage
•         North Hero Island – Rural marina in mid lake VT – Nice place to hide from high South winds.
•         Rouses Pointe – Very north end of Lake Champlain – Totally full of French speaking Canadians with big fancy boats

Striper Fishing on the Hudson

Hello Friends and Family – 

We travelled over 140 miles North from New York City on the Hudson River and there was STILL 4 feet of tide.  The striped bass were running and there were lots of fisherman but unfortunately it didn't include me.  The fishing boats look a lot like salmon boats in Puget Sound with downriggers and what not.  People were fishing from boats, docks and even the banks.

It’s hard to believe that in the last 15 days we left the upper tide lands of the Hudson River, went north through the 12 locks of the Champlain Canal and all the way up Lake Champlain.  The first lock was only a few miles north of Albany and is the “Federal Lock”.  After that, you have the choice to either go left (West) or right into the Champlain Canal.  On our 2010 trip, we went West into the Erie with our deckhand Bob Liebling.

Left to the Erie Canal and Right to Lake Champlain

This time however we were heading north so we went to the right into the Champlain Canal.  It is about 60 miles long and has 11 locks.  We bought a pass from the state of New York that was good for two days of “locking”. 

Beautiful Schylerville Marina

Typical Lock Entry on the Chaplain Canal

Our first day we went through 4 of the 11 Champlain Canal locks which took us about half way through the Canal system and to the beautiful little town of Schylerville.  We took a cab into Sarasota for the afternoon and evening.  It has the famous horse racing track and a very historic main street.  I was looking at a pair of mens shorts killing time shopping with Linda and noticed they cost $189.00 plus tax.  Holy Crap!  It is a very fancy, expensive town that is ready to separate people from their dough.  Back at the marina/rv park, we met a couple who were living in their 18 wheeler tractor.  They got loads from their dispatcher (Texas?) and travelled all over the US.  They were our age and met a few months ago.

Staying Out of the Way

The next day we went through the other seven locks dodging big barges involved in the famous (infamous?) GE Reclamation Project.  It is one of the biggest super fund sites because GE put TONS AND TONS of PCBs into the river for a few decades.  The fish, water etc are now toxic and they are trying to clean it up.

We spent the next week travelling up Lake Champlain.  If you haven’t ever looked at it on a map, it is huge.  It is over 100 miles long and is sometimes called “The Sixth Great Lake”.  It goes straight north-south and so does the wind.  We have been out in 20 mph winds with waves over two feet high and in marinas while it was blowing 40+ mph with four foot waves in the center of the lake.  It’s an ocean!!.  The spots we stopped on the lake started at the sad little town of Whitehall on the very south end and ended at Rouses Point which is the very north end of the lake and the entry to Canada.  

Some Lake Champlain Highlights included:

This would be BAD TO HIT!

•          Hitting a log with a loud “clunk” but with no obvious damage (so far).
•         Fort Ticonderoga – Very cool history lesson.  In the 1700s Lake Champlain was a major highway for goods and armies.  Fort Ti was built at a narrow point to control the lake boat traffic.  It was alternately manned by the French, the English and the Americans.  The marina we stayed at in Chipman Point Vermont (East side of the lake) loaned us a car to take over the ferry (to the West side of the lake in NY) and tour the fort.
•         A 60 mile High Speed cruise up the lake one day to Burlington Vermont

Just Cruising Along - Ahhhh!

•         Visiting Ben and Jerry’s first factory.
•         A drive through the mountains near Burlington.
•         Vermont is GREEN, the people are green, the water is green the…Well, you get the idea.

At Anchor Off Valour Island - Nice eh?!

•         A great night at anchor off of Valcour Island.  It was like being in the San Juans with no other boats and fresh water – NICE!

·      The weather has been all over the map but mostly very nice

Issues on the trip - 

STORAGE!!!

There is a reason (other than to impress others) that people buy big houses when they can.  In addition to our “marine queen” bed, we have about 100 square feet of indoor living space.  That includes our “kitchen”, our “bathroom” and a dinette table.  Most of you live in at least ten times this much space per person. 

Storage space is our life.  We have clothes for all seasons, lots of tools, BBQs, fishing gear, boating stuff, charts, equipment manuals, spare parts for FOUR motors (two diesel Cummins main engines, a Westerbeke generator and a Honda Outboard), food, dishes, electronic junk (iphones and chargers, kindles and chargers, computers and chargers, ipad, etc., etc., etc).  Of course we also have food, plates and all that jazz.  Add to all that personal stuff like toothbrushes and storage is a focus every day.  I’d be glad to share the lists of stuff that we brought, bought or had shipped here.  You store stuff in every possible place.  You store stuff inside other stuff that your are storing.  You carefully roll up and compress your underwear.  When we got here we figured out we just didn’t have room for some of the clothes and boat parts we brought so we shipped it back home.  I was gleeful when I found that I could store my straw hat outside up in the hardtop structure.  Just imagine the room that freed up inside – incredible!

GNATS!!! - 

There are billions of these critters around here.  We have been washing the boat down several times a day to keep things sort-of clean.  If you sense a negative vibration in the force it's because I am killing many of these little bastards every day.  Oh well, I guess it's better they are gnats and not rattle snakes.

We will enter Canada tomorrow to practice our French. The Canadians here at Rouses Point think it’s pretty funny when I say “bonjour”.   

More on the 15^th.

Bye for now.

May 15, 2015 - Albany New York

Summary

• ·      Location – Albany NY
• ·      Latitude 42° 38.3 N & Longitude 73° 44.9 W
• ·      Total Miles  - 180
• ·      Stops since the last post - 

o   New York City

o   Haverstraw NY

o   Catskill NY

o   Kingston NY

o   Albany NY

Hello Friends and Family –

Since our last post, we have come north on the Hudson River 150 miles and have made four stops.  We are currently at the Albany Yacht club.  It is a hands on YC but they also have dockage for transient boats.  I feel like Tom Sawyer cruising on the river.  Of course he didn’t 760 horsepower or Linda to provide him with proper guidance.  Things are good on the boat but we still keep at the cleaning and minor repairs.  Every day we feel that the boat is more ours.  Every time we wash it, there are less of the previous owner’s molecules around and more of ours.

Our Ride to NYC 

In New York we stayed across from Manhattan in Jersey City because there was not as much wave action (read “rock the boat”) as on the New York side.  It was a great decision and right next to our really nice marina was a “Yellow Ferry” that went back and forth every half hour taking passengers to the city making sightseeing easy.  

At the MOMA - Can You Tell Which One is Me?

We also went to the MOMA, the Cooper Hewitt and the Whitney museums.  I liked the Cooper Hewitt best because it focused on really clever industrial product design. One exhibit was of the 50 iterations required to develop a simple scratch vaccination device.  We saw two Broadway plays; “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” and “An American in Paris”.  Unfortunately Gene Kelly wasn’t available to play the lead but it was still absolutely fantastic.  I love people watching and New York is the greatest.  What a bunch of weirdos.  

Times Square Tourists

4,000 Cadets Getting Ready for Lunch

We left NYC on May 7^th and headed North.  The big excursion since then was visiting West Point.  We had great views from land and sea.  I don’t think I could have survived there because the beer ration is pretty tightly controlled and they are serious about studying.  

Stay Out of His Way!

Here are my impressions of cruising up the Hudson:

• ·      The river is wide and the hills are majestic.
• ·      There are big ships out here
• ·      I wish I knew more of the history.
• ·      The water is muddy.
• ·      The tide is surprisingly significant (3-5 feet).
• ·      North of NYC, things get more rural very quickly.

We are excited to take our next step on Sunday - transiting the Champlain Canal system and entering Lake Champlain.   Lots of locks but no more tides.  I’ll tell you about that in our next blog.

Tod and Linda C

May 1, 2015 – We Made It To NYC!

We spent the last two weeks shopping in Cos Cob, Connecticut .  We shopped for boat parts and food.  We shopped for plastic boxes at Target and Macy’s.  We made three trips 90 miles north to Waterford to go to Defender Inc.  We bought a dingy and $2,000 worth of  boat stuff there.  And then we shopped some more.  

Of course we also did a few boat projects too.

The Billy Ray in front of the New York Skyline

Today we left the Palmer Point Marina and cruised about 30 miles to New York.  We came southwest across Long Island Sound. into the East River and went around Rikers Island, along the FDR Expressway, around the South end of Manhattan and across to Liberty Landing Marina.  Really a fantastic trip

They had a big event here tonight with a bunch of boat vendors and major fireworks. I scammed an update for the software in our chart plotter and a Waterways chart book for the Great Lakes.  Nice!

We plan on staying here for most of a week to do New York stuff including the MOMA, some plays and other New York sightseeing.  We still have a LONG list of projects to do on the boat!.  We heard that the NY Canal system is closed until May 8^th so there is no rush to head north. 

Its nice to be on our way and out of the "boat yard".

Here We Go Again

Hi folks - As you may have heard, Linda and I bought a new (used) boat in Connecticut in October.  It is our dream manufacturer/model and we plan on doing some extensive cruising this summer and next.  We have named it the Billy Ray in honor of both our our fathers.  We'll publish pictures later but for now here is a description of the boat:

• It's a 2005 Tiara 3600 Open
• It is 36 feet long and has a beam of 13.25 feet.
• It has twin Cummins QSB 5.9 diesel engines (they are turbo charged and after cooled)
• It has one stateroom (great for us)
• It cruises at about 25 mph.
• It is very cool.  The alternative name was the "Cool Dog".

Our Plan-

• Do some work on the boat and get it cleaned up this Spring.
• Cruise up the Hudson River starting around the middle of May 2015.
• Go up the Hudson River and to Montreal by around June something.
• Go to Ottawa and down the Rideau Canal into Lake Ontario by early July.
• Go through the Trent Severn Canal into Lake Huron by mid or late July.
• Winter over somewhere around Michigan until Spring 2016
• Cruise Lake Superior in the Summer of 2016 and end up in Duluth Minnesota.
• Have the boat shipped to Seattle in late 2016.  
• Cruise until we can't in the NW.

I'm sure there will be high points and "challenges" on this trip like our last one so prepare to be entertained.  I'll try to put out a more detailed schedule soon so if you want to join us along the way we can start working it out.

Tod and Linda - January 14, 2015

Windy, Windy, Windy

KINGFISHER

Synopsis - We are currently in Northport Michigan at the town marina. The last two weeks have been quite windy on the lake Michigan with waves up to 14 feet. We have been travelling when there is a break but mostly hiding out in various harbors. Winds were low this morning (on the 15th) so we travelled to Northport to store the boat for the winter. We will either come back next year to do more cruising here or sell the boat. We should be home around the end of October after doing some maintenance. A summary of the trip so far is as follows:

• 199 days since leaving Kirkland
• 125 days since leaving St Pete Florida
• 3700 miles driving to Florida
• 3100 miles in the boat
• 84 locks
• Nine states plus Canada
• 
  

After leaving Canada and clearing customs , we went to the small town of De Tour

Michigan. The marina was right on the shipping lane for freighters carrying ore and other cargo to US and foreign destinations. They go by frequently so it is quite a show.

Here is a picture of one so you can see these are BIG ships.

On labor day, the wind dropped so we left DeTour for the run across the Mackinaw Straits. It was over 40 miles of open water so we were glad to get to Mackinaw City to a protected marina where we could wait out the next three days of high winds. Sustained winds of 40 mph and gusts to 60 mph along with waves up to 14 feet were reported. These conditions are impossible for any recreational boat. Mackinaw City has a lot of history and is at the Southern end of the Bridge that connects lower Michigan to the "Upper Peninsula". Here is some of what we have learned about Michigan-

• If you live north of the bridge (i.e. on the Upper Peninsula), you are a Yooper. Yoopers have a dialect that is unique to that area and sounds a lot like French Canadian. ("So you're going under da bridge eh?")
• If you live south of the bridge (i.e. on the main part of Michigan), the Yoopers call you a troll or a fudgie. Fudge seems to be a dietary staple around here, at least for tourists. So far I have only bought two and a half pounds.
• One lane of the bridge is closed off every Labor day and it's traditional to take the five mile walk across it. Even the governor does it. We didn't.
• The Mackinaw Straits have been the crossroads of the whole Great Lakes Mid-West area for thousands of years. First, the Indians gathered here in the summer to fish and re-strengthen clan ties. Then it was the center of the fur trade in the 1700s and 1800s. Now, all of the shipping to and from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan go under the bridge.
• Mackinac and Mackinaw are both pronounced the same -Awwww!

Here is a picture of Linda on the beach at Mackinaw City with the bridge in the background. Pretty long eh?

We did boat chores, did a little sight seeing around Mack City and took a day trip over to Mackinac Island. It is famous for two things. First, there are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island, only bikes and horses (over 500). Second, is the Grand Hotel which has been serving tourists since the late 1800s. It has a porch that is the longest in the world and was the scene of a Christopher Reeves movie called "Somewhere In Time" (you remember that one boys - right?) that has developed a cult following. Here are pictures of the main street and me relaxing on the porch after a great buffet lunch waiting for my horse.

Next we went to the town of Charlevoix about 40 miles south of the bridge. It was a great town and there was lots to do within walking distance of the boat. Charlevoix is famous for it's "mushroom" houses that were built in the 1930s and look like something out of Snow White.

Linda and I decided that although we would like to cruise the Tenn Tom River system, we really did not want to go back to Florida. Once you start down the rivers, you are committed to end up in the gulf. It isn't the greatest cruising area for a boat like ours and it a bad market to sell a boat like ours. Also, we both miss home and look forward to seeing you all. So, we are storing the boat on the hard in a heated building in Northport and will deal with it in the Spring.

I figure that most of you aren't interested in hearing about the boat maintenance projects we will do over the next few weeks so this is the last posting of this blog. Hope you enjoyed it.

Bye from Tod and Linda.

See you soon.