Confederation Basin, Kingston, ON

Saturday July 27
34 13.667 N
76 28.867 W

Somewhat complicated day but with a great conclusion.

Our run from Bath to Kingston was only about a dozen miles so we enjoyed a relaxing morning and headed out at about 10 AM with "sunny skies and fair winds" but not such a good forecast. All went well till the Port engine overheated.

Bad impellor

I shut it down and Deidre piloted on one engine (Tide Hiker runs at about 5.5 knots and is OK to steer on one engine) I visited the ER and checked the strainers. All was well there so the next alternative was to open the raw water pump and check the impeller. Sure enough one of the fins on the impeller had disappeared, and the impeller needed to be replaced. This was my first time (I had watched it done before) so I was a bit nervous (plus it was hot and a bit dark in the ER as one of the lights is out). The replacement went OK except that the old impeller was very reluctant to come out. The "broken bits" were nowhere to be found so I put it back together knowing that the missing pieces may interfere with the cooling. But the engine started OK and the temp held.

Docking arrangements in Kingston were a bit of a mystery. So far our impression is that the Canadians are not very "customer service oriented", and so we were relying on bits and pieces of information from friends and incomplete boating guides. There was a free bulkhead wall somewhere, and that was our target. But we needed back-up alternatives and had a couple of potential anchorages in mind. The complication was that there was weather arriving late Saturday and we needed to be organized. After a couple of misfires we found the wall and we are settled in. It's right in the center of the city and well protected, although it is hard for Deidre to get on and off the boat. Seaplanes landed in the harbor and shared slips with pleasure boats!

We headed into town for the afternoon. Kingston is really a delightful place, (on a sunny and warm afternoon.).We wandered around town for a few hours, and visited a boating store for charts and guides and three phone stores without success. I really cannot believe the answers I am getting at the phone stores so I will continue the search Sunday. (Sunday they were closed! Welcome to Canada.)

At the tourist office Deidre discovered that the annual military tattoo was to be held at the old fort (Fort Henry) that night. This is on her "bucket list" so we bought tickets and caught a cab and we were an hour early. The cool front arrived as we waited, and the rain started. Five minutes before show time it stopped. and the performance was just fantastic. I have lots of video and photos and when I get some decent access I will load them. It started to rain again on the way home and did not stop all night.

It just amazes me how emotionally connected to the old country these Canadians seem to be. There are Union Jacks flying all over town. (They also seen to believe they won the war of 1812!)

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Rained all night. We both slept well with a blanket. Lazy morning, a neighbor popped in for a chat (She is headed to Adelaide for a conference.) The rain came and went. We headed into town to the phone store (closed) and the marine store, where I bought charts that were just as expensive today as they were yesterday, when I refused to spend the money!

Here is one video (unfortunately the videos do not show up on iPads, I do not know why:

Monday July 28, 2013

Our last day here.

I now only had one spare impeller and felt the need for more. The only local place that had one (“Just one?) in stock was West Marine, a good 5 mile round trip. So I set off on one of the bikes and made it to and from in an hour or so. I picked up a couple of other items, including the 6 sausage rolls we had ordered on Saturday! Lunch!

We walked over to a local supermarket and restocked the larder a little. Deidre was not impressed with the selection. There was a liquor store right next door so I bought a couple bottled of wine and a bottle of tequila. Expensive, plus 13% sales tax!

Great spot - 4 days, no charge

Loyalist Cove Marina, Bath, Ontario, Canada

July 26, 2013
44 10.945 N
76 45.743 W

Interesting. These people consider that the American War of Independence was a "civil war" and that the "loyalists" were persecuted and forced out of the country.

The earliest we could get rolling this morning was determined by the first opening of the "last" lock - 8 AM. The weather was as good as the forecast had promised - sunny and calm. We were heading for a marina in Bath, about 20 miles west of Kingston, about 46 NM from Oswego. This was the only marina that would take a reservation. I wanted a concrete destination because we needed to clear customs.

Bath was about 7 NM closer to Oswego, so our eta was about 3 PM. We crossed into Canadian waters just before lunch and I hoisted the yellow quarantine flag on one of the radio aerials. The lake was amazingly deep - over 500' in places. Although still sunny and clear, the conditions deteriorated a bit and Deidre was feeling a bit munchy so I had to make my own lunch. But as soon as we got into the lee of  Amhurst Island the waves settled down and Deidre recovered. We were all tied up and settled soon after 3 PM.

I called the customs people from the office. After all the horror stories I had heard, the process was a breeze. Obviously it was Friday afternoon and they wanted to go home for the weekend!

Tide Hiker seems a bit out of place here. Most of the population is sailing boats and smaller power boats. One onlooker commented: "You had better watch out for the Canadian navy, they may want to commandeer you boat!". We walked into town for dinner. True enough, the area was settled by "Americans" displaced by the "1776 troubles". There are lots of Union Jacks and Canadian flags around town. The restaurant was called

Oswego - Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday

We both slept in 'till after 9 AM. A cool front had arrived and the temps were in the mid 60's with a cool northerly breeze. A pleasant change. Lazy breakfast, catching up with emails etc.

That all changed rapidly when Deidre discovered a small leak in the sanitation system. An hour or so later all was cleaned up (after using up our supply of Chlorox and Pine-sol) but I needed a part. The local plumbing supply house had the exact item and was just a 5 minute bike ride away for $1.42. On the way back I popped into the Post Office and picked up another two parcels. The plumbing part is now installed and I just have to put the bathroom back together again.

Deidre found a local hair dresser and just called - she is "thrilled with the cut" so that will cheer her up. I found a barber a few blocks away and also feel a lot better. As usual, we had lots of jobs to do so we were both busy for the rest of the day. Dinner at home.

Thursday

We plan to head for Canada on Friday. The forecast looks good. My biggest concern was customs as we have "a full bar" on board and the allowances for us are the same as someine arriving by plane. Solved that by befriending a gent from thr local old age home and he agreed to babysit the contents of my cabinet. I told him he could drink all he wants.

We had one last parcel to pick up at the USPS and after some confusion it arrived. We managed to pretty much complete our to do lists are are ready to roll. Getting charts was the most difficult as the Canadians do not seem to want to let them out of the country. We also called to make a reservation at a Kingston marina and their response - "Sorry, reservations have to be made two days in advance. Click." Strange bunch. This could be interesting.

The "Harbor Fest" started today so Deidre and I walked into town to have a look around and have dinner.

Oswego, NY

Tuesday July 23, 2013
43 27.242 N
76 30.434 W

Easy day today, so not much news! Raining quite steadily when we got up, otherwise overcast and calm. We cast off about 8:30 AM and headed west on the Erie. In the calm waters the reflections were excellent. We both agreed (significant in that Deidre was totally browned off about the Erie canal) that the scenery was more impressive. The houses were nicer, the trees taller and the water calmer. (This could be another learning moment for me. Apparently, if you are a girl, and your hands and finger nails and cloths are all dirty, it's hard to enjoy the scenery. I did not realize that.)

Admiral on lock duty

After about 10 miles we came to the intersection of the Oswego "canalized" river at "Three Rivers", and we turned North. Today we faced only 6 locks and they we all "down". We are convinced that "down" is easier, probably because the lines are less wet and therefor cleaner. We continued to display "lock competence" and did not scratch the boat. None of the locks made us wait so that was good.

 We arrived in Oswego about 2:30 PM and tied up to the (concrete) canal bank just before the last lock into lake Ontario. There are no services, but it is a nice spot and we are self contained anyway.

I was pleased there was space on the wall for us because we had only learned in the last few days that Oswego "Harbor Festival" starts Thursday and 130,000 people and a lot of visiting boats are expected.

After settling down I rode over to the local Post Office to pick up our mail. We are expecting a total of  9 packages overall, mostly maintenance stuff. There was 5 packages waiting for me so we are well underway.

Tide Hiker in Oswego

After dinner we had a walk around 'downtown" Oswego to 'spec it out. On the way back we ran into a couple from a sailing boat and invited them in for a drink. They are from Ottawa.

Brewerton, NY

Monday July 22, 2013
43 14.444 N
76 08.288 W

Good day today, so not much to tell. We left the dock at 9:00 AM sharp. Had only about 20 NM of canal (with two "down" locks) before we entered Oneida Lake. The 19 NM ride over the lake was a rest in itself - no wind, glassy calm and only a couple of course changes the whole way. We were tied up at a free dock by 3:30 PM. We may walk into town to a marine store (Deidre's suggestion!) and there is a decent looking restaurant across the road.

Where a flooded creek entered the canal

There was more evidence today on the canal of flood damage and a fair bit of equipment on the water. In one spot a creek had dumped enough sand to just about close the canal.

We wandered over to the restaurant for dinner. It was a great spot because I could keep an eye on Tide Hiker as we ate. The food was OK.

Tomorrow we have another relatively short run to Oswego, but with lots of locks.

What a great view!

Utica - sort of

Sunday July 21, 2013
43 08.618 N
75 17.530 W

Lesson for the day - Deidre is a Saint

We are finding the Erie Canal hard going. Friday and Saturday we managed 31 and 32 miles respectively. If we are going to make our schedule we need to increase the pace. So today our target was 39 NM. In the ICW or the Atlantic, this would be a short day, but in the Erie.....

This baby is DEEP

We set off at about 8:15 AM and arrived at our target at about 5:45 PM. I can say I was tired and Deidre almost exhausted. She finds the locks hard work and today we passed thru 7 locks, including a "monster". Its hard work keeping a 35 ton boat against a wall with an almost vertical rope. The good news is that we have not scratched Tide Hiker.

When we come back we will have some friends with us and that will give Deidre a break. She deserves it.

We stopped and took on 260 gallons of fuel at St. Johnsville. The price had just gone up 16 cents from the day before. Even so, its still a lot less expensive than in Canada.

Some time this afternoon, in 12' plus water, we hit something hard. Was probably a tree trunk but we will never know. I was concerned it bent a prop as we seem to have a new vibration, but I have a very active imagination. Lets see how we run in the AM.

Our destination was a free dock with power. The dock was straight after the last lock and I headed straight in before Deidre was ready. The result was that our docking efforts were a bit messy and I got all stressed. Some Indians came over to "help" and added to the chaos. (One guy took a line and tied both ends to the dock, the boat was just not involved. He was probably a structural engineer!) Turns out the dock is a real mess and I cannot get any power to work, and that did not help my mood. Sometime I have to remind myself that I am doing this FOR FUN!

The free dock west of Utica

Tired girl

The top of the mast with cap removed.
What a mess. Its rotten. 

Canajoharie

Saturday July 20, 2013
42 54.554 N
74 34.238 W

Some storming overnight. I ran the gen and the A/C to help cool down Deidre and the boat. I have never seen the boat dirtier than it was this morning. The wind blew the dust and then the rain stuck it to the boat. During the night the digital TV aerial was blown over and ruined. But the storms have cooled things down and it will only be in the 80's today, with more storms.

Pleasant country

We decided to have an easy day and only target a free dock about 25 miles distant. The ride was uneventful (thank heavens!) and generally scenic. Only 5 locks today. We made it to Canajoharie by about 2 PM and the volunteer dockmaster was there to take lines. Such a great deal - dock and power for no charge. Plus the dockmaster took Deidre to the supermarket while I tidied up the boat. We will walk into town for dinner. I called Radio Shack and they have a digital aerial. If the rain stops I will ride my bike over and pick it up.

After the rain stopped I washed the boat deck down with brush and hose to get last nights grime off, and in the process snapped the anchor light of the mast (which was lying down on the deck). Sometimes I think I am the reason there is such a list of things to fix. So I took the whole thing apart and in the process discovered that the top of the mast is totally rotten. This is really the first time I have found decay on the boat. Not sure what to do.

Our new French friends

The other boat at the slip was French - a large power cat. We soon met up with the crew and ended up walking into town for pizza with them. They are really fun people and it was very interesting hearing their stories and background.

Traffic Light in the middle of the road

Near Amsterdam

Friday July 19th, 2013
42 54.986 N
74 08. 345 W

Very hot and busy day. Today's lesson - plan your own day.

Our new friends decided to leave at 8 AM and head for a marina in Amsterdam. We said "us too" and so off we went. In the first couple of miles we needed to navigate a "flight" of 5 locks. Each lock provided about 30' to 35' of lift. Does not sound much, but it seems a lot when you enter the lock and look up. For each lift, Deidre was positioned at the bow, I was on the stern. We both held lines and needed to keep the boat parallel to the wall. It was hard work (our boat weights 65,000 lbs) and by the 5th lock, Deidre was buggered and her back was hurting. Mind you the weather was very hot and humid.

Approaching a lock

We needed more appropriate fenders to protect the boat in the locks and had picked out a supply place a few miles up the Mohawk River (Which serves as part of the canal). Their dock looked a bit wonky so we called and were assured all was well and there was about 14' of water. We took an hour or so to buy two new "ball" fenders and get a pump out.

I admit my departure was a bit sloppy. The chart showed deep water right up to where the dock seemed to be located. But my turn was a bit wide and by the time I figured it out we were well aground in deep mud. Standard procedure is to stop, put the engines in slow astern and wait for the props to dick us out. After 5 or 10 minutes the procedure seemed to work OK, but just as we got out of the mud the starboard engine alarm made its presence felt. I shut down the engine and proceeded on one engine into deep water, and headed for the engine room. Then Deidre announced the port engine was 20 degrees over normal, so faced with two overheating engines we decided to anchor mid river..

View of the lock damn  from the boat

Back in the engine room I opened up both raw water strainers and, no surprise, they were both totally clogged with mud. Took 15 minutes to clean them in a bucket and have them back in place. Both engines started OK, although the starboard engine was a bit reluctant.

When I had removed the strainers I had reopened the through hull fittings and let the river water flood in. This is a bit messy, partially flooding the ER bilge, but I was concerned that the thru hulls could also be blocked, and the bilge pump would deal with 95% of the water. Unfortunately the bilge pump did not clear the water. So now we had a new problem to resolve.

I took the pump off the hose and it pumped well, so the problem was the hose. We have a small snake  on board and used it to probe the hose. It definitely hit something, and cleared it, I have no idea what it could be, but now we had the water out of the ER.

On the Mohawk River

We resumed our journey with happy engines. But shortly thereafter, the Furuno chart plotter "ran out of map". The map for the Furuno chart plotter is supplied by C-Maps. I had called them a month ago to check what chip we had and if it would cover our proposed route, and was assured that it did. But it did not. I immediately called them again, and was advised by a different person that the chip we had only covered New York "east of Syracuse" and Canada " east of Montreal". So we ordered a new chip to be express mailed to Oswego.

Our "Polar Navy" chart plotter runs on a personal computer in the pilot house and is our back-up, so we retreated downstairs and out of the hot wind. The rest of the day was OK and uneventful, until we got to the last lock before the target marina. It was 6:20 PM and the lock was "closed". This surprised us, but it serves us right for not doing our own planning. Our only practical choice was to tie to a wall in a rather "industrial" location. There are now a series of thunder storms passing.

A flood gate

Saturday morning: I cannot believe Collingwood lost. And as for the cricket team!

Waterford - Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday July 17, 2013

We were up and ready at 8 AM. Several boats headed for the first opening and we grabbed a vacant space on the 1,000' city dock. These spaces come with 50 amp and water at $5 per day. We plugged in an turned on the AC. Our neighbors turned out to be an Aussie and a Kiwi.

We have decided to stay for two days, as planned. We have a lot to do, but first we headed into town to have a look around and have breakfast. Found a great place - two eggs and toast for $2.00. I picked up our mail and spend an hour or so paying bills and reconciling the bank account. Deidre headed of to the local supermarket and recharged the larder.

Deidre helped me remove the broken ladder from the swim platform and I found a replacement on line and arranged for it to be delivered in Oswego. I am finding it difficult to find charts for Canada so spent some time looking online, with no success.

We invited "our new friends" over for drinks and enjoyed a good natter.

Thursday July 18, 2013

Great day today.

The second test started today so we are tuned into the BBC (on line) when we got up. At 8:00 we walked into town for breakfast with new friends. Two poached eggs, corn beef hash, bottomless coffee and coffee - $4.00

But the reason we stayed an extra day was to get some jobs done.

I rode a bike up to the first lock and purchased a seasons pass, and net "Eric" the lock-master. Deidre and I then changed the oil in both main engines. It is a pretty straightforward task but involves a bit of skill not to spill a drop of oil. Next job was to replace the joker valve on the forward head. That calls for a philosophical discussion.

What travels down hill? (Think about the Pope and bears in the bush)

On terra firma, it is almost universally accepted shit travels down hill. On a boat it travels where it can do the most mischief. The job of the "joker valve" in the sanitation system is to keep it somewhat under control. This is my second joker valve replacement. I had not been looking forward to the task, but we have important visitors in a couple of weeks and it needed to be done.

The toilet came apart easily well. Then Murphy (my uninvited volunteer helper) dropped both retaining screws into the bilge.If I had tried to drop both these irreplaceable items thru the little hole in the floor, it would have taken me 10 minutes of fiddling just to get them to fit. But Murphy had no problem. At that point a "awkward" job became "difficult".

Very nasty old Joker valve

I do not totally blame Murphy 100%. A large part of the responsibility lies with Mr Raritan that built the head ("toilet") system in the first place. I can easily imagine a product design meeting (back in the day) when Mr. Raritan asked the engineer about the task of replacing the joker valve, something like this: "So you have designed this so that the owner has to lie with his chest in the toilet bowl with his head over the back, in an impossibly small space, trying to access a straight machine screw completely hidden behind the outlet pipe, that he can only see in a mirror placed on the floor? Why make it so easy? Why not make it so that the joker valve has to absolutely defy gravity when its installed behind the pump? That seems like a reasonable challenge?" The engineer responds "That's a good idea, and we can make it so that if the owner accidentally drops a piece it falls thru the holes cut for the hose and into the bilge. That only seems reasonable?"

The forward bilge is a busy place. There is the bow thruster motor, the holding tank, the macerator, the "Electro Scan", the salt bucket, the water tank valves and site gauges and a couple of hundred hoses. It took me 2 hours to find the missing pieces.

Once I had the two cruicial screws the rest of the job was straight forward enough. All I can say is that if I am reincarnated, that I do not come back as a wet and dry vacuum.

That evening we all went out to dinner. I had a shower before we left.

Waterford, NY

Tuesday July 16, 2013
42 47.151 N
73 40.693 W

We made it to Waterford a day early and we passed thru our first lock.

The mast and Sat aerial is down

This morning we employed a couple of guys to help us lower the mast and remove the TV satellite aerial. All went well and we were on our way by 11:30 AM. The current would be against us all day, now a combination of tide and flow. But we only had 35 NM to get to Waterford, the beginning point of the Erie Canal. We were now over 100 miles up river and in 100% fresh water.

We were impressed to see plenty of commercial shipping. When we entered the "Port of Albany" we were confronted by two tugs turning an ocean freighter in the channel. The first lock was a bit of a learning curve but we made it thru OK. After that we had our first 20' bridge so I removed or lowered all our aerials. Turned out to be a fizzer, the bridge had at least 23' of clearance. The Canal opens tomorrow, so there is still a back up in Waterford. All the free docks were occupied so we had to tie up on a bulkhead.

Ship turning in the river at Albany

Its stinking hot so I have relented and fired up the generator and the AC.

USS Slater Museum Ship

Our first lock (on this trip)

Admiral on lock duty

Catskill, NY

July 15, 2013
42 12.653 N
73 51.399 W

Monday turned into a long day - about 69 NM. We took it easy in the AM because we would be pushing against the tide and current until after lunch, and did not get underway till after 9:00 AM. As expected the current reduced our cruising speed over the ground to about 5.5 kts. Our target for the day was Kingston, reported to be a quaint town dating back to colonial days and the revolution when the British had burned it to the ground.

West Point

The country we passed thru was universally hilly and sometimes even "mountainous" which made for scenic views and deep water. Railway tracks followed the river both sides and I was treated to regular fast passenger trains on the east side and giant freight trains on the other. There was very little private boating on the river but a reasonable amount of commercial traffic, including one substantial freighter that took us quite by surprise. We passed West Point. Before 9/11 there was a dock for visitors but that has been closed "for security reasons".

The weather was hot - in the mid 90s - and humid.

A ship on the river

Deidre wilted mid afternoon and headed inside. By 2 PM we had the current in our favor and were making over 8 knots. We called the marina several times before they responded. Then they told us the rate was 33% higher than advertised. and that no one would be there to take lines. Since we were now making good time I decided to give them a miss and head further upstream. There was a reasonably priced marina another 19 miles upstream that advertised that they would help with lowering masts etc. We need to take down our mast and a couple of aerials, and at 8.5 knots we could make it by 7 PM.

Simple place

In fact we made it by 6:45 PM and had the A/C going soon after. We like to visit little towns so we cleaned up and headed into Catskill for dinner. What a sad little place. We need a new revolution so this place can be burned down and rebuilt. There were several restaurants that we just would not go in but we eventually found a decent place and dinner was OK.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse

Lots of passenger trains

Lots of freight trains

Good supply of barges

More barges

Haverstraw Bay Anchorage

Sunday July 14, 2013
41 11.734 N
73 53.887 W

The key to getting safely down the East River is timing the tide. The morning ebb tide was early - the afternoon tide really too late (if we were going to make it to our anchorage up the Hudson) so we had to leave early.

We were up at 4:30 AM and dropped the mooring about 5:00 AM. The sun was not up, but there was some light and the water was dead calm. But there was some fog in the bay and it got considerable worse as we entered the Sound. It would take us an hour or so before we arrived at the tricky bits, so we hoped that the rising sun would burn it off.

The sun rising under the Throg's Neck Bridge

It was pretty thick. We were totally relying on the chart plotter and the radar for the first hour or so. There we no other boats or ships on the water (as far as we could tell!) We were only running the engines at about 1,000 RPM, the tide was doing most of the work. The fog seemed to lift a bit at Throgs Neck bridge (see the photo). Just in case, we had picked a couple of possible anchoring spots, out of the channel, as a "back up plan" if the fog did not clear. But no need, the fog lifted just as we arrived at Riker's Island and by the time we were at Hell's Gate, visibility was up to a mile or so. I cranked up the throttle and we made good time thereafter.

In theory the ebb current ended at about 8;30 AM (at the Brooklyn Bridge). We arrived about 8:00 Am and made the turn around Battery Park and into the Hudson. I expected to start picking up some flood current by 9:00 AM and riding that up the Hudson. Obviously I still have more to learn because we ended up pushing against the current most of the rest of the day. As we went under the George Washington bridge we were managing only a miserable 3.9 kts over the ground.

Manhattan in sight

That was the worst of it, eventually we crawled up to 6 plus knots. After leaving Manhattan in our wake the scenery changed and cliffs and trees replaced freeways and high rise buildings. It would be a bit of a stretch to say it felt like the Rhine, but I am sure you get the picture. The NJ palisades dominated the west bank, and there were towns every few miles on the east.

The test cricket was still happening and we were able to get live audio stream from a BBC website. As usual I mozzed them, and they lost by 15 runs. (For the un-indoctrinated, that is very close result in international cricket.)

We reached the anchorage about 1:30PM. Its a pleasant anchorage with good holding (we are told) but no wind protection from the W or NW. But the current temperature is over 90 degrees, and forecast for tonight calls only for 5kt winds from the West, so we will be looking for very breath of moving air we can find.

We have just enjoyed a swim. While we were in the water we worked our way around the waterline and scrubbed off a couple of months of grime. Than we broke the ladder on the swim platform as we got out!

Expertly executed turn around Battery Park, NYC
Can you see the little yellow boat?

Under the George Washington Bridge

New Jersey "Palisades"

Interesting boat

Amtrak

Port Washington - Tuesday & Wednesday & Thursday & Friday & Saturday

Tuesday

Relaxing day. Later in the day took the dinghy over to the supermarket dinghy dock - Deidre bought some new sheets (we  are having visitors soon) and I wandered over to West Marine to buy some supplies to fix the fuel line problem. On the way back we stopped at the fuel dock and filled up two 5 gallon containers of gasoline. Heading back to Tide Hiker we discovered one of them had a leak so hightailed it back to the dock where I turned the container upside down and put some electrical tape over the crack. Returned 15 minutes later and transferred to fuel into a better container. That was the excitement for the day.

Wednesday

We have been having some issues with generator #2 since we bought the boat. I cannot "load it down" without throwing a breaker. I have had two "technicians" look at the issue over the last two years. But there is a certified "Northern Lights" dealer in the bay so we visited them today to get the problem investigated. After three hours of "trouble shooting" we have decided one of the breakers in the circuit (there are three before it hits the panel) was undersized and maybe even faulty. I assume we will return in the AM to get the replacement part installed.

If this works then we will finally be able to charge the batteries AND make a cup of coffee at the same time. Now that would be something! The dockmaster scalled and said we could stay at the dock for "free". (I will decide how free that is when I get the generator repair bill.) To celebrate we walked to a neighborhood Mexican joint and enjoyed a light dinner.

There was some good news on the canal. July 16 was even mentioned.

Thursday

Progress. We eventually found a serviceman, and for the "meager" sum of $410 the refig now seems to be working OK. The part for the gen has been found and will arrive Friday. We found a little woodwork shop in the neighborhood and dropped off the damaged cabinet door and it will be ready in the morning. And the honey boat paid us a visit so the tank is empty again! .I sanded and varnished the panel that was removed to gain access to the refrig. I will let it cure overnight and reistall in the AM. We are all feeling better.

Deidre walked up to the local shops and purchased new sheets - we are having visitors soon.

Friday

Deidre made pancakes for breakfast while I "watched" Collingwood and the cricket. After breakfast I picked up the repaired cabinet door. Deidre and I washed the aft deck screens with detergent and Chlorox and reassembled them. I spent some time polishing stainless. Deidre filled the water tanks. The Captain from the 135' Hataras came over for a chat. The people in the Northavn "next door" invited us in for a drink at 5PM.

But the part did not arrive! Turns out it was not sent overnight but UPS ground. We decided to have the old one re-installed on Saturday so we could leave, and have the new part FedEx-ed to us up north "somewhere".  We had planned to leave early to catch the tide Saturday. Now we are delayed a day before we even start. Bummer.

Saturday

We were thinking that if we could leave by 12:30 PM we could catch the afternoon tide and make it up to  our target anchorage by dark. But Oscar did not turn up till about 11 AM and the he really seemed to mess around re-installing the old breaker.  He is a nice guy and I did not want to make a big fuss, but at $125 an hour.....

Oscar

"Oscar" he was finished at about 2:00 PM and I called the Dockmaster to get the invoice. All the time I was preparing for battle, but that turned out to be unnecessary. Oscar had only turned in one hour for his work today and then the Dockmaster discounted the rest of a bill - plus we had stayed at their slip for 3 nights. So although it was basically all a waste of time, they had treated us well. I was relieved.

We backed out of the slip and moved to a mooring ball and enjoyed a relaxing evening.

Port Washington - Monday

Monday July 8, 2013

Today we went into Manhattan for the day.

Ahh... A real newspaper

I got up at 7 AM and started the generator to run up the batteries because we expected to be away all day. The water taxi picked us up at 8:30 PM and the batteries were at 83%. We walked up to the Port Washington Long Island Railroad station and caught the 9:11 AM express to Penn Station.

Our only agenda was to eat our way around the city. We walked over to Times Square from Penn Station and checked into the "Brooklyn Diner" for a light "second breakfast". Table cloths and waiters in formal gear and real coffee. Not what we had expected, but nice.

We then walked over to Grand Central Terminal. We were thinking about buying a NY Times, finding a table and enjoying a cup off coffee. It was not to be, just too busy, so after taking in the crowds we found the subway and headed down town to the old World Trade Center area. We had seen the new "Freedom Tower" from the water but wanted to see how the ground level was being developed and if the surrounding buildings had been repaired or town down.

Grand Central Terminal

There was not much to see - its still a construction site and the area was super busy. We grabbed a drink and a danish and headed back to the subway.

Not more stairs!!!

We were looking for a fun place for late lunch so we headed up the "C" train to the upper west side, alighting at the natural History Museum (W81st) and walked over to Columbus and found an open air restaurant. Lunch was good, but hot and noisy. We were both a bit worn and Deidre's ankle was doing its thing. So back in the subway to Penn Station and the 4:11 express to Port Washington. We were back on the boat by 6PM.

We were both impressed with Manhattan. So much cleaner and better organized than when we lived there in 1976. My goodness there are a lot of people on that island.

Port Washington - Sunday

Sunday July 7, 2013

Woke up to our first real day of summer - sunny, warm and a nice breeze. Deidre made me an omelet for breakfast and I set myself up with a good cup of coffee on the aft deck. Bliss. About 10 AM decided to hit the jon and have a shower. Stepped out of the shower into 1/2" of water. The bloody head had overflowed again. (This is the third time in 15 months)

Stark bloody naked and fresh and clean I reluctantly spring into action. Stop the flow, get the wet and dry vac and suck up the water, remove all the carpet and mats and haul them to the forward deck, wipe down the floors, (get dressed) scrub the carpet on the deck with Pineoclean, rinse with precious fresh water and hang mats and carpet out to dry on the rail. Meanwhile Deidre washed the floor with Chlorox. Now we are both a sweaty mess. Boating is fun! :)

It gets better. Deidre has always said "The boat is fun, but just living is harder". PW is a boat friendly place so living here has to be easier. For example the super market has its own dinghy dock, and I was looking forward to a pleasant shopping expedition. We launched the dinghy like experts and off we went. The shopping was satisfactory and we enjoyed a sit down and coffee at Starbucks. Bliss returned.

Relaxation melted away when the dinghy engine spluttered and died halfway back to the boat. We grabbed the paddles and headed for a nearby marina and managed to find a hand hold. (I was thinking "There goes the frozen and refrigerated groceries!") Meantime I could smell gas so my trouble-shooting had a head start. Sure enough, part of the fuel line had split. There was a person on a yacht nearby so I begged a couple of tools and jury rigged the line and the engine started. Phew. 

We headed off and had made it another 200 yards or so and some idiot in a power boat passed us throwing a 2 foot wake. Well our dinghy has about 1 foot of free-board, and so the top 1 foot of the wave came straight over the side. Deidre was 100% soaked, the boat was 4" deep in water and the Doritos were floating. Bloody hell. I did not have a chance to berate the idiot as I was occupied pumping the water out and rescuing the groceries.

All back safe and sound now. We bought a NY Times so I plan to relax with the paper.

Port Washington

Saturday July 6

It seems we are not going to get any news about the Erie canal situation until Monday (and we may not get any then!). What to do? We could sit where we were at Sandy Hook, we could start up the Hudson and hope for the best or we could head thru the city to Port Washington in Long Island Sound. At PW we could take a ball, restock the larder, and/or take the train into Manhattan. The weather was not a factor, it looked like a really pleasant day.

New World Trace Center on the left

We decided PW. But there was no need to leave until Midday because of the tides, so we took it easy for the morning. Just as we were thinking about leaving we had visitors from a boat called "Blue Dog". They had noticed Tide Hiker in a bunch of places and thought we sounded "well mannered" on the radio and decided to pay us a call. It was fun and they stayed for a couple of hours.





So we pulled up anchor a bit late, but in a good cause. We could not approach the East River till about 4:30PM and we were "right in the action" by 3 PM. The Statue reopened this weekend after

being closed since Sandy, and was very crowded. There was lots of traffic on the water.

On the way up the harbor I called Dick Parsanko who I knew to be vacationing in NYC this weekend, before taking a cruise to Bermuda. Dick told me that they had decided to take a Circle Line cruise at 4 PM. So we headed up the Hudson to intercept him. As it turned out, we saw them on three separate occaisons on the water. Amazing.

We were on the East River at 4:30PM and enjoyed a fast ride into the Long Island Sound, past our old home on Roservelt Island. Tide Hiker was secured to a ball in PW by 6:30 PM.

There is Dick in the blue shirt with his hands in the air

Cruise ship leaving

I once went to work on that thing