LAKE ONTARIO

We tried the marina and the local ISP, Eagle, com, to find a way to send e-mail. Finally a clerk at a photo store allowed us to use their phone to call the local library, where we were allocated an hour to use their facilities.

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ROCHESTER

Bad weather was forecast for Monday, so on a cool and overcast Sunday, we left Cobourg for Rochester with 3-4 foot waves, on the nose. Although the crossing was a little bumpy, we managed to arrive in Rochester just in time to enjoy dinner at the club. We were given slip 76, tucked away at the north east corner of the club. Lots of fun docking!!

Diane decided to clean up after the carnage in Cobourg. What a job, splattered insect bodies everywhere! Armed with a scrubbing brush, cleaner, and a hose, she put on her boots, and the blue rain poncho left over from our trip on the Maid of the Mist, in July, so she would not be recognized later.

While all this was happening Jeffrey worked in the engine room: cleaned universal joint area of excess grease (ugly job), added covers to battery terminals and checked the engine and gearbox oil levels. He also examined the davits to see if we can improve the lifting operation, which occasionally jams.

8 to 10 foot waves were keeping most sailors in their dock, so we stayed in Rochester Yacht Club for 2 days. There, we met Joe and Wendy of "off Call" out of Trenton. They had arrived at about 11p.m. after ripping their main sail crossing Lake Ontario. We spent most of the day with them and enjoyed a BBQ together.

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OSWEGO

After lowering the mast at Sodus Bay we motored to Oswego to begin locking though the Oswego and Erie canals to the Hudson River.

With some trepidation, we motored into the first lock. While the water level was rising, the front of the dinghy caught in one of the holes in the wall for which these locks are famous. We managed to extract it and decided we needed a good night rest. The next day we entered the second lock and found ourselves with 2 other boats from Quebec: Douce Folie and Le Jordan. They had started their journey from Chicoutimi and their destination is also Florida and the Bahamas. Look up on their web page: HTTP://evasionsud.cjb.net

It did not take us long to become better at locking though. After 3 or 4 locks. Diane took only five minutes to recuperate from the stress. She uses gloves to protect her fingers from the slimy ropes used in most locks. With the boat hook, she grabs one line: takes it to the stern for Jeffrey and hurries forward to pick up another line for the bow. This system works 95% of the time. We both prefer locking down rather than up. It’s much gentler on the boat and the relationship :-).

Most of the time we found ourselves floating gently through very picturesque sceneries; along the way we met Charles and Joyce Dalton aboard ‘Sea Turtle V’ from Bolsover Ontario, and Henry and Julie Danielson aboard ‘Trilogy’ from Ashville N.Y.

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WATERTOWN

Around 4:30am we were awakened by a crash. The upper section of the port stern rail had broken off and the dinghy was nose down in the water. Jeffrey had just spent most of the afternoon doing maintenance work on the engine and this was not what we needed at this point in our trip, however we did not let this hinder our progress. We have removed the motor from the dinghy and now tow the dinghy while we search for a marina where they can make repairs. The alternate solution is to braze the rail in place using the torch, which was use to fashion the antenna pose and to add some extra aluminum stiffening plates. This may happen if we an find an economical dock to back the boat into for a day or two with a good hardware store close by. Remember when the dingy was swallowed by a hole in one of the locks? It had actually twisted the rail and compounded with heavy rain, the rail and davits on that side, failed to support the dinghy.

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CASTLETON ON THE HUDSON

The scenery is beautiful; the navy blue Adirondacks are in the background and softer green and yellow rolling hills in the foreground. The navigation is easy, although the barges make BIG waves and we should reach New York in 2 more days.

Until next time.