Part 2

McKena And Crew Come Home

When last we spoke, it was December 10,2000 and we were safely ensconced in slip 94, Tierra Verde Resort & Marina, south of St. Petes Beach, Florida. We were looking forward to 3 months of uninterrupted rest, relaxation, seafood and beer after a sometimes-eventful trip from Rockport, ON.

For the most part, the 3 months went as planned.We did rest, we did relax, we did eat seafood (too much on occasion) and we did drink beer (never too much).We met a lot of memorable people and almost all of those memories were pleasant.We met a large number of cruising couples, on all types of boats, but we did not meet any Canadian cruisers on the west coast of Florida – we became a novelty of sorts. “You came all the way from Canada by boat?” ; “I went to Canada once. It was so clean.” ; “Son, do you know what flag that is on the back of that boat?” ; etc, etc. We never missed an opportunity to brag about Canada generally and the 1000 Islands specifically but almost every time we had to include “…. it’s near upstate New York” before some light of recognition came over their face.

One of many moments we had been eagerly anticipating, during the planning stage of this trip, was sitting on the back deck, in a bathing suit, sipping on a drink that had a little umbrella in it while reading USA Today report that Buffalo was closed due to record snow falls. It was 1891.2 nautical miles from slip 99, Rockport, to slip 94, Tierra Verde but it may as well have been a million miles when we watched the weather channel.

On December 11,2000 we awoke to our first day of Florida sun that was not going to require us to haul anchor and “hit the road”.It was not to be a relaxing day though as we had to arrange for a car, arrange for a phone, arrange for groceries to replenish the larder, wash the boat and a million other maintenance chores that had been put on hold while we were under way.

Later in the day we heard a sonic boom as the latest shuttle flight returned to the Kennedy Space Centre and we thought: “Their trip was a lot longer than ours. I wonder if they had as much fun?”

This day was also the first full moon since our arrival on the Gulf Coast and there was some scrambling to re-tie the boat when we realized the tide range was 4 feet instead of the regular 2 feet.As we were on a fixed, rather than floating, dock, checking and adjusting lines became a daily ritual.

Day 2 of our stay started out with a lot of excitement as we were awakened by the sound of pressurized air escaping from somewhere very close to our hull. As we scrambled on deck we found ourselves looking into the faces of 2 dolphins sitting just off our swim platform! The air blown out of the hole on the top of their head, similar to a surfacing whale, is audible for a great distance. Their visits became a twice-daily occurrence as they were following spawning Mullet into our harbour. We never tired of watching them and, on occasion, I had the feeling that they enjoyed watching us watching them – either that or they were trying to figure out how to get at our cats, “Port” & “Starboard” !

Another exercise that became a very regular occurrence was our trips to Shell Island. This was an uninhabited, all sand island that was a 20 minute dingy ride, from our boat, on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Its length was in an east-west configuration, which made the beaches a natural collection point of various species of shells that were relocated by the generally north-south movement of water. Marilyn quickly became a “sheller” and collected with the same intensity as she collects postage stamps. It made for some of the best times of our stay.

Our first Christmas away from family became a time to experience how people living in the “Sun Belt” celebrate the holiday rather than a time to dwell on how far we were from home.Boats decorated to the hilt, houses that were actual works of art with yard ornaments that took weeks to create,Sea-Doo riders in Santa hats and palm trees doubling as Christmas trees were but a few of the things we saw asnovelties.

Good friends included us in their family activities, correctly asuming that we would miss our own family.Don & Nancy Becker, from Buffalo, invited us for Christmas Eve dinner and Tom & Jean Myers, from Binghamton, NY, had us celebrate Christmas dinner with their family.It was times like this that makes us very thankful for the number of special friends we have in our lives.

We celebrated our 30^th wedding anniversary with Marilyn’s sister & brother-in-law (their 39^th)on December 30 and the daily temperatures continued to allow for shorts, bathing suits and evening drinks on the back deck. Certainly different than our usual anniversary experience of woollies, making sure the car was plugged in and a warm drink in front of a roaring fire. We much prefer getting heat from the sun rather than a pile of burning wood

Just so you don’t think that it was all sun and fun, we did have a few “cool” days in mid-January. “Cool” is a pretty subjective word when describing the weather, as I’m sure cool, when the usual temperature is 30 below, has a much different connotation than when the usual temp is plus 90.In our case, “cool” was about 60 degrees. It was low enough to actually turn on the heaters at night.

It sure doesn’t take long to become a “local”.

While watching the 6pm TV news on February 7 the newsman told us to go outside and look to the east. Being retired people without a lot of excitement in our lives, we did as ordered by the TV. Standing on the front deck, and looking east as instructed, we had a great view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis liftoff. Although it was clear across the state, the sight was awesome.We could only imagine what it would have been like to be at anchor within 20 miles of the Cape !!

But before we knew it the time came to prepare for the trip back to Ontario and another summer of fun in the sun on the St. Lawrence River. The axiom: “Time flies when you’re having fun” we found to be a truism of the first order.

Step one, in preparing for the trip home, was to have the boat hauled to check the bottom and service the outdrive.We made arrangements with a local boat yard that allowed do-it-yourself maintenance and soon we were high and dry in the travel lift slings surrounded by tools and cans of oil.The first thing that jumped out at me was that the two sacrificial zincs on the outdrive were GONE !!!The only thing left were the bolts that once held them on. I had had this boat for ten years and never had to replace the zincs.When I explained that fact to the boat yard owner he said “Welcome to warm salt water.If you stayed at this marina you would be changing the zincs every 30 days.”

I now knew why I had seen so many scuba divers working on boats at Tierra Verde. Turns out they were not only cleaning hulls but were also changing zincs.

Within 2 hours I was back in the water.The hull was in great shape and the antifouling paint job I had done before leaving Ontario was like new.I did notice a small oil slick on the water as we went back into the water but attributed that to the gear oil left on the props when I serviced the unit.

When we returned to our slip I took the opportunity to change the engine oil. That went without a hitch so I decided to exercise the genset. When I turned it on it sounded like a cigarette boat had just started. A quick check of the exhaust indicated no water coming out the back.I shut it down, had a look at the impeller (which appeared OK) and called the local Kohler warranty people - again. They were very friendly and arrived 2 days later to find that the impeller had slipped off the drive shaft – a warranty item.

While the service man was there I took the opportunity to vent my dissatisfaction with the generator and the Kohler company in general. He said that my model of genset was a new design for Kohler and the early production models turned out to have 4 problem areas: voltage regulators, starting circuit boards, carbs and heat exchangers. Other than that they were great units.

I had experienced 3 of the 4 he mentioned and he went on to explain that the anti-freeze filler cap on the heat exchanger was at a level that did not allow for all the air to escape from the exchanger when the fluid was topped up. The fix was to install a plug in the top of the exchanger that served as an overflow when adding fluid. He offered to complete the work while he was there. A few minutes later he was gone – no charge. The unit has worked perfectly ever since.

The service guy did give methe recommendedprocedure for the starting and stopping of a genset. Here’s what he said:

1. Turn off all 120V systems

2. Start the genset

3. Turn on the required120V systems

4. Run the genset as long as required

5. Turn off the 120V systems

6. Let the genset run, without a load, for a couple of minutes

7. Turn genset off.

Another part of our return trip preparations was to closely monitor the critical water shortage Florida was experiencing – and had been experiencing for two years. All winter we had watched the TV reports of continuous wild fires, water rationing and stories of the worst drought in 200 years.

Other than the regular smell of smoke as winds from the north brought the proof of forest fires north of Tampa, the ever decreasing water level in Lake Okeechobee was a constant reminder that nature’s influence on our lives, this year, was a constant.

Soon after our arrival on the West Coast there were reports that the Corps of Engineers would close the Okeechobee Waterway to pleasure boat traffic. If that occurred we would be forced to first go south and around the Keys before starting our northbound trip home. At best, that would add another two weeks to the trip and the added expense of charts and fuel for 300 miles of mostly open ocean passage.

For three months whenever the thought of a trip around the Keys came up, we’d open another bottle of wine, play a little Jimmy Buffett and think happier thoughts.

The water level in the Okeechobee Waterway was the direct result of man’s interference with nature. Three years ago the water level was higher than normal and a group of environmentalists convinced the Corps of Engineers that the high water was going to destroy some obscure water lily (I’m sure I’m simplifying the problem) and that the only answer was to drain the lake.So drain the lake they did.

The assumption the Corps was making (another lesson on the dangers of assuming anything) was that the summers of 1999 and 2000 would produce the usual amounts of rain to replenish the lake, and accompanying waterway, to normal levels.

You guessed it. Florida started experiencing near drought conditions during the summer of 1999 !!!

As our departure date got ever closer our interest in Lake Okeechobee increased significantly but by mid-March 2001 the system was still open. The major impact for us was to be the VERY restricted lock schedules. There are three locks that raise boats from the Gulf of Mexico, at Ft. Myers, to the level of Lake Okeechobee, and two locks that lower boats from the Lake to the Atlantic Ocean, at Stuart.

These locks normally operate “on demand”.

The first lock, going east from Ft. Myers, was now only open once a day during the week, and 3 times a day on the weekends, as was the last lock at Stuart. Most of the other locks were on a 2-hour opening schedule. But at least the system was still open.

It would be a longer trip, time wise, across the state but we were happy that we weren’t forced to see the Keys and Miami by boat.Another example of bad luck being somewhat better than REALLY bad luck.

Interesting how boaters can rationalize almost anything.

Our original intention had been to leave the Tampa Bay area on March 8, 2001. We were planning on meeting up with another northern boat,”Karefree”, in Daytona Beach, visit friends there for a week and the two boats would then start home together.

That was plan number one.

Plan number two came to pass when Pete and Karen Hungerford, aboard Karefree, decided to continue working in Daytona Beach until March 31. That moved our departure date from Tierra Verde to March 16.

We should have stuck to plan number one !!

As a kid reading horror novels, I recall most of them starting with the line: “It was a dark and stormy night”.Well, March 16, 2001 had a dark and stormy start to it.

As we listened to the weather forecast the night before, it called for gale force winds in the Gulf by the next afternoon and the high winds would stick around for a number of days.

The only potential problematic area for us would be the exposed entrance to Tampa Bay. Only problem was that that stretch of water would start at mile 2 of our trip.

As we awoke at 6am on March 16 it was foggy but the winds did not seem to be too bad. Another example of “ain’t rationalization great” !!

By 10am we decided to go for it.

The plan was to go east, from our marina, around some barrier islands, stay close to the Tampa Bay Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and then run southwest to Anna Maria Sound. This would have us “quartering” the sea. A much smoother ride than taking them on the beam for a 5-mile trip.

As we peaked around the last barrier island we could hardly see the Skyway Bridge for fog and spray from the waves. But the sea was only 2-3 feet, coming right out of the west, so our “quartering” plan had been right on and the trip into Anna Marie Sound was not as bad as it first appeared it would be.

We took a photo while passing the Skyway Bridge and looking at it now, it was very much a “dark and stormy” day.

Once we got into the lee of Anna Maria Island the sea state became like glass, the sun came out and we were basking in our good fortune.

That good fortune would last for a whole 3 days.

One of the things that we were looking forward to was that, given the longer spring days, the return trip would find us ending each day at different places than the trip south.

On our second day we passed the anchorage at Cape Haze.This was the anchorage where one of our crew, “Starboard” (one of two white cats), had fallen overboard during the fall trip. As we passed the entrance to the anchorage we yelled at the cat to come and have a look.I’m not sure but I think I saw the middle “finger” on his right paw shoot up.

By the end of our second day we were anchored outside the Franklin Lock, the first lock of the Okeechobee Waterway.

We made the first opening the next morning and we anticipated we would continue to experience calm seas and great temperatures all the way to the northern border of Florida.

Calm seas and warm temps, although, are not the only determining factors of a great trip.

When we supposed “self sufficient” boaters are forced to rely on others, any trip can take a significant turn for the worse.

Near the end of day three we experienced that significant turn.

After Franklin Lock the next obstacle was the Ortona Lock, about 3 hours down the road. The temperature continued to be great but the wind was starting to pick up.Inside the protected waterway the wind wasn’t causing any problems but we had learned to have great respect for increasing winds.

We arrived at Ortona Lock just after 1pm so we had to wait until the next opening at 3pm. Through the lock by 3:30 and made the Moore Haven Lock in plenty of time for the 6pm opening. It was a very enjoyable trip between the 2 locks as the sun was shining brightly and I actually drove from the flybridge station to take advantage of the Florida warmth.

Because we arrived at Moore Haven with lots of time to spare, we decided to fuel up at the town dock and anchor on the other side of the lock, in an effort to ensure an early start to the 12 mile run to the entrance to Lake Okeechobee and the subsequent 25 mile crossing of the very open and shallow lake. The weatherman was calling for increased winds for the next few days and, given the significantly lower water level of the Lake, we wanted to get across before the weather forced us to delay our trip for 3 or 4 days.

The Moore Haven Town Dock is about as old as the surrounding landscape and is in terrible condition. The fuel dock was very difficult to access due to the low water, but even at regular depths it is not a place that affords any amount of maneuvering space. We made it to the dock without too much difficulty as the increasing wind was pushing us onto the dock.

Getting off the dock was to be our undoing.

Because the wind was holding us against the dock it took a fair amount of reverse thrust to get the stern far enough off to allow for a reasonably graceful exit. All worked according to plan but as we left the marina we noticed that we were trailing a bit of an oil slick.

Leaving any amount of a visible trail behind the boat is not a good thing.

As we drove around in circles waiting for the lock to open I also noticed a definite vibration emanating from the outdrive.This too is not a good thing.

As we anchored in the Okeechobee Waterway, after transiting the lock, I found it difficult to set the anchor as each time I put the boat in reverse the outdrive unit came up out of the water.Another bad thing.

But as the wind was blowing rather briskly we were able to set the anchor sufficiently to spend the night.

After shutting everything down I went looking for the problem. One look in the engine room produced the answer – an empty power trim reservoir.No fluid means, no power trim, means no ability to use reverse gear and keep the props in the water.

We had had enough foresight to purchase towing insurance from Boat US so I called the 800 number and was advised that they did not have a tow boat in my area but had an independent contractor who did towing on their behalf. The down side was that I had to pay the contractor first and then Boat US would reimburse me after I sent them a copy of the bill.

I was just happy to have a tow service in the area so the Boat US operator called the contractor, Tiger Marine, and assured me the towboat would be there by 6am the next day. The other piece of good news was that Tiger Marine was in Clewiston, FL, right at the entrance to Lake Okeechobee. At least I’d still be heading in the right direction.

Very early the next morning we prepared the boat and ourselves for the arrival of the towboat. By 10am he had not arrived and a subsequent phone call to Tiger Marine advised us that they were busy but they would be there by early afternoon.If that was the good news, the bad news was that there was only one boatyard in the area capable of hauling our boat -–and it was on the other side of the lock and a further 10 miles west of our location.

Looked like we were going to be delayed a bit.

That “bit” turned into 10 days !!

I finally spoke to the tow boat operator in the afternoon and he advised that he could not make it that day but would be arriving early the next day. When I asked about the impact of the restricted lock openings on this tow he assured me that the lock would open on request when we were ready to start the tow.He also assured me that Tiger Marine was very familiar with my outdrive (Volvo) and repairs would be completed in short order.

We thought that was a pretty bold statement from somebody who did not even know the level of damage to the unit.We decided to look at the positive aspect of his assertion in an effort to minimize, in our minds, the potential cost of repairs.

As we waited out that day we were very interested to see the local resident alligator taking great interest in our presence.This guy, or gal, was about 14 feet long and made numerous close passes by the boat.We eventually noticed that we could never detect a smile on the ‘gators face so we assumed that our visit to his area wasn’t being well received.

I think he was interested in making friends with the cats, but again Marilyn wouldn’t allow me to introduce them.

By the next morning the wind had changed 180 degrees and was blowing the little remaining water out of the channel in which we were anchored. Without reverse gear we could not reset the anchor and consequently we blew into shore where we touched bottom regularly. After each “grounding” we would haul anchor, move forward, drop the anchor and let the wind do its best to set the anchor.

This process went on for about 5 hours before the towboat arrived at about 9:58am.

After a quick towline attachment the tow boat guy yelled at me (cause his radio wasn’t working) to call the lock and ask them to hold their 10am opening. I did as instructed and was surprised to hear the lock master respond that if we weren’t at the lock gate by 10am we would have to wait until noon.

What happened to the “on demand” as alluded to by Tiger Marine ??!!!

Luck was with us and we did make the lock opening but not before a couple of very close brushes with the rocky shore as the tow boat (a 34ft Sea Ray express cruiser) struggled to tow McKENA ( a 38ft box).

After clearing the lock the tow boat captain turned over the helm to one of his two helpers and promptly went below to make drinks for his crew !! It was 10am, we had a 10 mile tow into head winds ahead of us and the bar is open ??!!!

We started to have strong doubts about Tiger Marine’s ability to make speedy repairs.

After 2 hours of less than a sterling tow job, we were in sight of Glade’s Boat Yard, the location of the travel lift we needed.As the tow boat approached the face dock of the boat yard he must have had a memory loss as he approached the dock obviously forgetting that he had a 60ft tow behind him !!

As he arrived at the dock our boat blew ashore behind him.

He pulled away from the dock, pulled us off the bottom, and promptly docked his boat in almost the same spot as before.

Back on the bottom for us.

This time he came down onto our starboard side, turned hard to the right, and throttled up. Problem with that maneuver was that the towline went slack and dropped under our anchor storage system. As the towline quickly became taught it caught the anchor and ripped out the storage rack. All I could see from the helm was pieces of stainless steel flying in all directions.

Do you think we were pleased with the tow service ?

By 2pm we were on blocks in the boat yard and were assured by Tiger Marine that their mechanic would be at our boat that afternoon.

As we waited, and waited, and waited we discovered that the boat yard had no drinkable water, no pumpout facilities and no where close to get groceries. What they did have though, was a very friendly 5ft alligator who hung out in the travel lift along with a large colony of snakes.

The boat yard owner did allow us to get a bucket of drinking water from behind his house and we found the washroom/shower facilities to be acceptable.

The first night of our stay we were visited by a white cat who was very adept at climbing the 10ft ladder to our boat and just as good at going back down the ladder after assuring himself that we would leave food out for him. His name was “Byc” (pronounced “bick”) which stood for Boat Yard Cat.He had arrived at the boat yard some months before and never left. He would board all the boats every day and quickly became a welcomed visitor.He was almost identical to our 2 cats and we were able to see what Port and Starboard would look like in 5 years.

By 8am, Wednesday, March 21, we had still not seen a mechanic. The Tiger Marine guy, Rick Martinez, assured us that his mechanic would arrive that afternoon.

By 10am Thursday still no mechanic.

I told Rick that I needed a commitment of time and date when his mechanic would arrive or I would find somebody else.He returned a couple of hours later to say that it would be the following week before his mechanic would be able to look at our problem !!

I walked into the yard office, saw a posted business card indicating a Volvo mechanic, called him and he was at the boat 2 hours later. And he had to drive 50 miles from Ft. Myers !!

Willy Bodemann had the problem diagnosed within 2 minutes as a blown hydraulic trim cylinder. That would require removing the outdrive to replace the 2 cylinders.If this had been a Mercury outdrive, replacing the cylinders would have been a 5-minute job.Volvo cylinders were a much different story.

Sure, why not !!

He had the outdrive off and in his truck within a couple of hours and we saw that the end of one of the cylinders had corroded sufficiently to fail when I was reversing off the Moore Haven gas dock.All the fluid had been pushed out a couple of pinholes and that was the end of the story.

When I asked Willy if it was common to see that level of corrosion on the cylinder caps, he responded: “Welcome to warm salt water.”

Where had I heard that before ???

During our stay we found a large number of Canadian sailboats arriving for summer storage. Seems a lot of people drive down in the fall, launch their boats, store their cars at Glade’s, sail for the winter and then come back to Glade’s to store their boats and drive home.

Since we were a fair distance from any groceries, Marilyn made great use of her bread- making machine.As each loaf takes about 4hrs, start to finish, I had plenty of time to anticipate warm bread & honey.On at least one occasion I had to wait 24 hrs as just as the bread was starting the 1 hr “bake” cycle, the power went off at the boat yard !!

Back to square one. But she made me wait until the next day before she was willing to try again.

One day we found dark soot-like material landing on the boat. As I tried to wipe it off it just stuck to the boat and would only come off with soap and water.Turned out to be ash from the local farmers burning their sugar cane fields. It was like a burnt sugar residue and made a God-awful mess of the boat.

One week later, March 29, Willy was back with all the parts necessary and by 1:30 PM we were in the water and east bound again.Our wallets lighter by $2700.00 US !!

The only upside of our stay at Glade’s was that we met 2 other boaters who were working, and living, on their boats.Ron & Jean Burchette, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, aboard “Joint Adventure” (43ft Senator trawler) had been “on the hard” for 1 year as they worked to repair their hull with 7 coats of epoxy sealer.

Dave & BJ Bischoff, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, aboard “Libby-B” (43ft Alban trawler) had come into the yard to have a cutlass bearing replaced on their port drive shaft only to find that the rear strut had been manufactured improperly and had actually forced a twist into the shaft.They were not happy campers.

And we thought we had problems !!!

The trip back to the Moore Haven Lock was, after 10 days on land, a very pleasurable experience. It’s funny how quickly you miss the water when you’re forced to be away from it for awhile.

After clearing the lock, the 12-mile trip along the waterway, just inside the lake shoreline, was a very depressing sight.Due to wild fires in the area, and given the extremely low water level, everything above the water line had been burned black. We had read in the Tampa papers that Lake Okeechobee had been on fire during January and we thought at the time that that seemed like a bit of newspaper exaggeration, but as we motored past mile after mile of devastation it struck us as a bit of an understatement.

If the water level had been at its usual level most of the trees and bushes would have been wet enough to withstand a passing fire, but not this year.

Another demonstration of man’s arrogance that we know, better than nature, what is best for the environment.

We arrived at Roland Martin Marina, Clewiston, FL that night, met with Tiger Marine, paid the tow bill -$695.00 and faxed a copy to Boat US.

NOTE: A cheque from Boat US, for the total amount, arrived at our Canadian address within 1 week. Great service.

We stayed overnight at Roland Martin’s, used their unique courtesy car (Tiki Taxi) to do grocery shopping and listened quietly to the marina owners complaining that they had lost over 8ft of water at their docks and $1 million in business as a direct result of the draining of Lake Okeechobee. You had to see to believe their boat slips, absolutely empty of water and producing grass and weeds that needed to be mowed.

Early the next morning we were out onto the lake starting the 25-mile crossing. The channel out into the middle of the lake was so shallow that for most of that 5 miles we were showing less than a foot below the keel. Now we could see why almost everyone on the West Coast, who wanted to go north for the summer, had to go around the Keys to get to the Atlantic.

We were told that the Lake, in some areas, had lost 14ft of water depth.

Our crossing of the lake was pleasant with bright sun and calm seas. We arrived an hour early for the lock opening at Port Mayaca, immediately on the east side of the lake, but the lock master opened up anyway as traffic had been nonexistent and this would be his first opening of the day.

We anchored outside Stuart, FL that night and the next day would have us turning north for the first time and a clear sign that we were heading home.

The next day, April 1, found us bucking head winds but the sea state was calm. Received an e-mail from Karefree, which indicated they left Daytona Beach yesterday as they had planned. We were to chase them all the way to New York City before we met again.

Two days later we were in New Smyrna Beach, just south of Daytona Beach, where we met Egon and Bonnie, aboard “Elysium IV”.We had met this couple a number of years ago on the St. Lawrence River and share a number of friends.They had spent the winter in the Bahamas and were heading back to Lake Ontario for the summer.The previous fall weather had not been terribly kind to them either, as they had to wait 3 weeks, in south Florida, for the Gulf Stream to calm sufficient for their crossing to the Bahamas

Since Karefree had departed and our good friends Don & Barb Bossa were also out of town, we continued our trip north with Elysium IV.

April 3 found us anchored in the shadow of the Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine, FL. The night was warm and the winds were relatively calm.We joined Egon & Bonnie for a shoreside tavern dinner of beer and chicken wings.

Who says boaters don’t eat nutritious wholesome meals ??

As we crossed the border into Georgia, the next day, we started to run into (figuratively speaking) a lot more commercial traffic - usually in the form of tugs either pushing or pulling large barges.So we went back to our previous habit of calling the tug captains and asking which side was their preferred passing side. It went well, for the most part, but after one captain suggested we pass him on his starboard side, he changed his mind at the last minute and asked us to pass him on port side, so a quick course change directly across his bow kept him happy, and us a little confused. Turns out he thought we would have better water off his port side.

The ICW passes directly in front of the Kings Bay Submarine Base and as we approached from the south, a navy patrol boat came from the direction of the base and shadowed us until we made the required right turn to continue on the ICW. They never said a word while they were beside us but it was obvious that we weren’t to be hanging around the neighbourhood.

The ICW scenery through Georgia leaves a lot to be desired and with never ending salt marsh grass covering most of the water we put in long days just to get through it.

One day had us fighting a 2-knot current for 6 hours and rough seas on St. Andrews, Altemaha, Doboy and Sapelo Sounds.

By April 7 we were anchored in Wappoo Creek, just outside Charleston,SC. It was one of the friendliest anchorages of the whole trip. Within minutes of the anchor setting we were approached by a boat containing a man and woman who welcomed us to the neighbourhood.We had stopped right in front of their house and they were pleased to have us as guests.“Stay as long as you like and if we can do anything for you just come up to the house”.

True southern hospitality.

We shared the anchorage with a Canadian sailboat, “Charlotte D” from Kingston, ON. The captain came over in his dingy to say hello and we found that we had met each other before, in the 1000 Islands, when he had his previous boat, “Wildfire”.Just another example of an ever shrinking world.

The next day we got an early start and had an uneventful crossing of Charleston Harbour. The winds were light and the sea rather calm. Since it was going to be a warm spring Sunday we correctly anticipated that the water would be busy with weekend boaters and it felt good to get out of a big city, like Charleston, before the “zoo” came to life.

We had been “on the road” for almost a month and we could not have asked for better weather and boating conditions.Every day was another great day to be alive and, on occasion, we almost felt badly about heading home.This was the way the cruising life was supposed to be and we were hoping that it would last forever.

It would last for quite some time, but nothing lasts forever.

As we continued north out of Charleston we passed the quiet southern town of McClellanville. On our way south we had stopped in this town for fuel and were taken with the quaintness of the small South Carolina fishing town.This was the town that the locals bragged had no crime rate “cause everyone carries agun” and this was also the town where the commercial fuel dock owner had asked me what we had been paying for fuel before he told me how much he was charging per gallon.

The name of that very astute businessman was Jimmy Leland.

One winter night as we were lounging in the evening warmth in Tierra Verde, and watching 60 Minutes on TV, we saw a segment that reported on a Texas program that allowed family members of capital crime victims to meet with the murderer before the murderer was executed.This was supposed to make everyone feel better I guess.Anyway, they went further in the report and talked about a South Carolina program that was similar to the one in Texas and followed a family as they fought the possible parole of a murderer.

The South Carolina story told of a man who went to the post office, late one day about 8 years ago, looking for his wife, who worked there, and had not come home at her usual time. When he arrived at the post office he found the door open and his wife dead in a back office. She had been murdered.

That post office was located in McClellanville, SC, and the man who found his murdered wife was Jimmy Leland.

We wondered if everyone started carrying a gun after the murder of Mrs. Leland ?  

On April 8 we anchored in Georgetown, SC.This was the first anchorage that was a repeat visit for us. We had enjoyed the town's hospitality on the trip south and we were just as pleased with the place during our second visit.

The next night found us at Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach, SC.

This too was a repeat stop but we could not pass up their free docks and a great local rib restaurant, “Damons”.We had been looking forward to the ribs since we passed through last November.

As we approached Barefoot Landing we were pleased to see very few boats and lots of room to dock. What we failed to realize was that the other boats were all docked facing south as we approached north bound.

As soon as we got to the dock, and Marilyn got off with a bow line, the stern started to come away from the dock at a fairly rapid rate.As Marilyn looked in vain for a dock cleat, turns out we had stopped at a large cruise ship dock that did not have cleats, the stern continued to move further and further from the dock.

As the bow line ran through Marilyn’s hands I stood at the helm trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Standing there doing nothing is not the correct boat handling technique in this type of situation.

The rope finally ran out and I found myself alone on the boat and Marilyn alone on the dock.

For a split second I wondered if she would take this opportunity to cut and run to the nearest airport.But all she did was raise a middle finger in my direction, as if I had left her there on purpose.I don’t think I did.

I retrieved the trailing line from the water and this time approached the dock from the north and the boat “bellied” up to the dock like it always belonged there. Marilyn simply reached onto the boat, grabbed and secured the other bow line, and we were finally properly docked.

It was only then that we noticed that a fair north bound current was running and that’s what had caused the stern to move away from the dock.

Boating 101 states: “When docking where the water is affected by current, always dock INTO THE CURRENT”.

All I can say in my defense is that the anticipation of Damon’s ribs must have caused the momentary loss of concentration.

Marilyn confessed later that for a split second, as she stood alone on the dock, she wondered if I would come back for her.

As we had lunch in a dockside restaurant, we watched three other boats approached the dock as we had done initially, and experienced the same problem we did.

Does that get me off the hook???

We spent 2 days in this area, as it was time for an oil change, boat cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping.

April 11 was to be our longest day, 102 nautical miles, but by no means an uneventful day.

The wind was increasing as the day progressed and although the ICW is well protected from high seas the wind did impact on our actual boat speed. The anchorage that we had planned for the night was unprotected from the southwest wind so we decided to implement “plan B” and try and make Camp LeJeune, NC, before dark.The Marine Corps base has a well-protected anchorage in Hammock Bay and is a popular stopover for cruising boats.

About 2 hours south of Hammock Bay we were delayed by a bridge that was operating on a restricted schedule.As the wind was fairly strong we found that we had to keep moving rather than our usual practice of just idling while we waited for the bridge to open. We hovered near the bridge for 45 minutes before the next opening and at one point a moment’s inattention found us blown onto a sand bar.Luckily we were able to reverse off and eventually continued our northbound journey.

By the time we anchored at Hammock Bay the sun was down and we were real thirsty !!

We put in another long day, the next day, as the weatherman was predicting increasing winds from the north, which would have made the run up the Neuse River uncomfortable. As we approached the entrance to the river it was relatively calm and the wind was in our favour, so we just kept right on going.The anchorage that night was another calm and serene bay on Campbell Creek. The sunset was gorgeous, and without any city lights interfering with our view, the sky put on a spectacular display of bright stars and satellites.It is always intriguing to me that given the distance some of the stars are from the earth, that by the time we see their light they are no longer in existence.

This was another time when we felt so small and alone in the world.

Later that night we shared our anchorage with a Canadian sailboat, “Rumpleteaser”. We would meet them again a couple of days later.

The waterway between Campbell Creek and the entrance to the Alligator River, and Albemarle Sound, is very protected and although the north wind was strong, it was a pleasant 50-mile cruise.

The weatherman was telling us all day that the wind would decrease over night and would switch to the south.That bit of news was welcomed by us as that would make the 50 mile run on the Alligator River and Albemarle Sound, a cinch for the following day. We anchored just south of the Alligator River and spent another night alone with the world.

Early the next day the wind had not changed direction but we agreed to give the river a try anyway. As we came around Bear Point, and into the Alligator River proper, it was obvious that this was not going to be a fun day.The wind was out of the north producing 2-foot waves right on the nose.

After 2 miles of pounding we decided to call it quits and returned to the previous anchorage. By 7:30am we were done for the day – or so we thought.

At about 9am we saw a large tug, pushing a much larger barge, approaching from the south and on course for a north bound trip on the river. As he got closer to us it was apparent that the barge would do a great job of smoothing out the water as it crashed through the river waves.

Marilyn and I looked at each other, with the same thought in mind – why can’t we run in the tug’s wake?

We quickly hauled anchor and called the tug captain, asking permission to position ourselves very close to his stern to take advantage of the calmer water. His responded: “Bring her on up, Cap.”

So we tucked ourselves into the shadow of the tug “Papoose” from New Orleans, LA, and a barge full of what appeared to be dirt.

It worked like a charm. Although running in the prop wash of a large tug, at 5 knots, is not the easiest steering I’ve done, it nonetheless certainly was a smoother ride than the alternative.

In conversation with the tug captain it became apparent that we could not follow him for the whole 50 mile trip as we did not share the same intended destination, but we did accompany him for 15 miles at which point we baled out into the Alligator River Marina for the night.

As we pulled out of his wake I called the tug captain and again thanked him for allowing us to “play in his shadow”.He was very apologetic for what he felt was a rough ride for us as the wind was causing him to sometimes have “30 degrees of helm on” to maintain headway. We could only imagine what the past 15 miles would have been like for us without the benefit of Papoose.

Out of curiosity I asked what he had on the barge, as it seemed an expensive way to move a pile of dirt.He said that it was shredded steel on route to a recycling plant. I suggested that the next time we saw that steel it would probably be in the form of a car from Detroit.

He responded, in a thick southern accent: “It’ll more likely be a damn Toyota”. (Toyota came out as

“TAY –ota”)

We were thankful to be in the calm waters of the Alligator River Marina. We had stopped here on our way south and when I checked in, the marina owner “Miss Wanda” did not remember us until she saw the cats. It’s a good thing we had those cats or I think, at times, we would be invisible.

This marina had their fuel price posted at 99 cents/gal ! What a find !!That was until we noticed it was the price of diesel, and as we burned gas our elation was short lived.Although at $1.69 a gallon, it was one of our cheapest fuel stops.

As we pulled into our assigned slip we were surprised to see “Rumpleteaser” already tied to a dock. They had snuck past us as we lay at anchor the previous night.

Keith and Liz Strutt, and their 2 children, were en route to Kingston, ON after leaving their Ottawa home three years prior for an extended cruise through the Caribbean. What a trip it had been.

Since we had come through the Virginia Cut on the fall trip south, we had decided to take the “Dismal Swamp” route north to Norfolk, VA. The plan was to wait out the weather here, make the 30-mile passage of Albemarle Sound, and then northwest for the remaining 55 miles to Elizabeth City, the “swamp” and into Norfolk, VA.

Just south of the entrance to the Alligator River we had seen a sign that indicated that the “Dismal Swamp Route” was open and inviting us to stop and visit Elizabeth City.

As we were sitting at the dock with Rumpleteaser we mentioned our plan to divert to the Dismal Swamp. Another boater heard us talking and came over to tell us that he was from the area and in fact the Dismal Swamp was not open as there was a bridge being repaired just north of Elizabeth City. When we mentioned the sign we had seen a couple of days prior, his response was “That’s an Elizabeth City sign and they want you to visit them”.

Needless to say we were pleased to have been overheard by this boater. If we had gone to Elizabeth City, and then found out the Dismal swamp was closed, it would have been a 100-mile round-trip waste of time.

We would later pass the north entrance to the Dismal Swamp and discover the “official” Corps of Engineer sign that correctly stated that the route was closed.

The morning of April 15 dawned bright and clear.A light wind was from the southwest. By 6:30am we were away from the dock and enjoying a slight following sea for the trip up Albermarle Sound. The weather prediction was for the wind to change back to the north and increase to 20 knots, which would have made the Sound virtually impassable.

As we traveled north, at 8 knots, the wind did start to change as predicted and by the time we arrived at the north end of the Sound, at 9:30am, the sea conditions were indeed deteriorating.

We made it safely to the village of Coinjock,NC, on the well-protected North Landing River, and stopped at the Midway Marina for fuel. This had been a fuel stop for us, on the southbound trip, and at that time the marina lady had given the cats a couple of “treats”. This time as we pulled in the cats were recognized again, and again were given treats.Damn cats !!

We had to pay for our “treats” – a couple of bottles of wine.

Marilyn took the opportunity to buy a tee shirt that said: “I survived Albemarle Sound.”

The cruising guides are right when they report that Albemarle Sound can be an “ugly piece of water”.

As the day was warm and the North Landing River would provide great shelter from the wind, we decided to press on to Norfolk, VA., and the south end of Chesapeake Bay.

Little did we know, at that point, that it was going to be a few days before we got out of Norfolk.

That night we anchored off Hospital Point on the Portsmouth side of the Elizabeth River.

Hospital Point is a very popular anchorage for cruising boats either after, or before, transiting Chesapeake Bay.As we were earlier than the majority of northbound boaters, there were very few boats sharing the anchorage.The wind continued to blow from the north so we tucked in behind the actual “point”, close to the hospital’s sand beach and called it a night.

The wind continued to build all night and at about 3am we were almost swamped by the wake of a passing tug coming into our bedroom window. The roar of the wave, as it hit us, was like nothing we had heard before and had us both out of bed in a split second.

Who needs a doctor’s treadmill to get your heart pumping !!!

By first light it was obvious that we couldn’t stay in this anchorage and as the weather report suggested high north winds for a couple of days, we decided to move to a reported “very protected” anchorage on the Lafayette River, 3 miles further north off the Elizabeth River.This time on the Norfolk side.

We set the anchor in 8ft of water, in a residential area, in what was described as the “most protected area” of this “very protected” spot.

Although the wind was, by this point, howling out of the north, we felt very little effect from it and enjoyed the day in the sun.

The weather guy was still predicting strong north winds as we went to bed. We guessed that we would spend another day in Norfolk.

At about 4am we both woke up after “sensing” that the weather had changed. We went up top and found that the wind had died completely and it was a warm night.We made plans to leave at first light.

Those plans lasted only the length of time it took to make them. At approximately 4:10am we were hit by a blast of wind that gave the impression of being hit by a large boat. It was instantaneous and vicious. It hit us so abruptly that the boat “jumped” back enough to put an immediate pull on the anchor sufficient to dislodge it. We started to drift down into a sea of crab pot floats that are everywhere in this part of the world.

We started the engine, turned on the spot light so we could see the pot markers, and tried to raise the anchor.It was pouring rain; pitch black and blowing “like stink”. As Marilyn tried to power up to the anchor I was watching for crab pots when the spot light and anchor windlass went dead.

This was not the time to lose power !!!

Other than the engine, our complete 12-volt system was down – and I didn’t know why. After a frantic couple of minutes of mind spinning for an answer, I found the main 60amp “house fuse” had tripped in the engine room.Quick reset and we were back in business.

This time I left the spotlight off.I guess a million-candle power light and a 1000 watt anchor windlass, along with other regular 12 volt systems was too much of a load at idle engine speed.

We played out another 100ft of anchor chain and drifted until the anchor set again.

Nothing to do but wait for daylight.

As the sun rose we saw that we were well into a sea of crab pots and we figured we better get out of there before the fisherman came to empty the pots. We remembered the fish boat captain carrying aboard 2 guns as he prepared to leave port in McClellandville, SC !!!

Very slowly we wove our way through the pots and were able to retrieve our anchor without incident.

At that point we yelled, to nobody in particular,:”We surrender !!!!!”, and headed off for a marina.

We enjoyed the facilities of the Portsmouth Boating Centre for the next 2 days.   Karen Crawford, the Dockmaster, brought us fresh homemade muffins in the morning and we had exclusive use of their courtesy car.

We highly recommend this marina to anyone cruising in the Norfolk area.

We spent 2 days with our heaters running full time as the wind continued to blow and the temperatures dipped into the 30s at night and only got to 55F during the day.

The morning of April 19 dawned sunny and much warmer with little wind. The day’s forecast was for primarily south winds, which would provide us with a following sea as we started into Chesapeake Bay.

We made a quick grocery run and by 9:30am said goodbye to Karen Crawford and were north bound on the Elizabeth River passing the huge Norfolk Navy yards.

This trip past the dockyard was quite different than our southbound trip had been in the fall. At that time the US Navy had just been the target of terrorists with the bombing of the USS Cole. April 19, 2001, was shortly after the downing of the US reconnaissance plane by China and we found the number of ships in port had been greatly reduced.That is the number of surface ships was reduced, but the number of submarines had increased. (After the sub accident in Hawaii, maybe they were checking for “blind spots”)

You could almost feel the heightened state of alert.

Just after we passed through the Hampton Roads entrance of the Elizabeth River into Chesapeake Bay the Navy closed the river entrance as they brought in a war ship under tow. We just made it in time as the river entrance was closed for a considerable period of time.

We were now northbound on one of our favorite bodies of water – Chesapeake Bay. (I say “favorite” facetiously). We had a following sea and the sun was shining, although it was only going to be a high of 60F.

As we crossed the entrance of the Rappahonnock River the waves built to 3 and 4 ft, but within a few miles we were back to a more comfortable 1 and 2 ft sea. We traveled a total of 77 miles this day and had an early night at anchor in Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico River, VA.

Two more days and we would be out of the Bay and another problematic, for us, body of water would be in the rear view mirror.

We spent the next night in Annapolis, secured to a city owned mooring ball. As we entered the harbour, after overtaking the Canadian trawler “Canadian Gypsea”, we tried to radio the Dockmaster asking for our mooring assignment.A person responded advising that since this was not a weekend, and it was early in the season, we could take any of the mooring balls and there would be “no charge”.What luck !!!

But it was just another example of Christopherson “luck”, as a minute later one of the local marinas came on the radio to explain that the person we had been speaking to was not the Dockmaster but just some idiot with a VHF radio.

Shortly after we attached to a mooring can the Dockmaster arrived, by boat, and collected our $15.00

Canadian Gypsea took one of the other mooring cans and we spent an uncomfortable night rocking and rolling in a combination of boat wake, wind generated waves and Spa Creek tidal current. Since the temperature still wasn’t “spring like” we decided to get out of town the next morning.

Saturday, April 21 found us in Chesapeake City, MD.This restored Victorian village is the midway point of the C&D Canal which joins Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay and is a popular place to wait for calm seas on either of the two Bays.They have a large floating town dock, which is free, and the local restaurants and ice cream parlour prove very tempting for those of us with a sweet tooth.

We got the last spot on the dock and about two hours after our arrival Canadian Gypsea pulled into the harbour and set an anchor.Although we had never met the Captain and crew we called them and offered to raft on the dock.They declined the offer and said that since we passed them leaving Annapolis they knew we would get to the free dock before them – as if they knew there would be only one spot left.

They left the next morning and as the sea was not predicted to be calm on Delaware Bay we stayed put another day.

It would be a week before we would meet Canadian Gypsea again.

When we did leave Chesapeake City we found Delaware Bay to be tabletop flat – at least for 45 of the 50 miles we had to travel.The last 5 miles of the Lower Bay, and into the Cape May Canal, were choppy but as the wind was from the southeast we were able to “quarter” them for a reasonable ride.

Just as we arrived at the very narrow entrance to the Cape May Canal we saw a dredging barge blocking the east half of the Canal.As we moved to the open side a VERY LARGE car ferry came steaming right towards us !!

There is a ferry terminal a mile east of the Canal entrance which is the NJ terminus of a ferry service that runs across the bay to Lewes, DE.

It was very obvious that just because I was there first, the ferry was not about to let me have the right of way.We made a hard 180-degree turn and went back into the bay and waited for the ferry to pass.Just after he passed we started back into the Canal to find that the dredge equipment had obviously moved for the ferry and was now going back to its original position of taking 90 percent of the Canal width. As we kept moving further to the left, the dredge just kept coming.He finally stopped allowing me just a boat width to squeak by.

Can’t have pleasure traffic interfering with the work of government employees !!!!

We stopped for fuel at Miss Chris Marina, Cape May, before turning north into the NJ portion of the ICW.

We almost didn’t stop at Miss Chris’, we almost rode a very large gasoline explosion, which would have taken us 5 miles straight up as opposed to our intended northerly direction.As we pulled into their fuel dock the dockhand came down and took a line with the comment: “Can you shut the engine off quickly? We have a gas spill.”

The phrase “gas spill” is not something a boater likes to hear while trying to dock in a very narrow slip so I turned the engine off immediately. The odor of gasoline was overpowering. There was so much gas on the water surface that it looked like bunker oil – and our boat was right in the middle of it !!!!

As the dockhand is making our line fast we can see gasoline spewing out of a hole in the gas pump hose.AFTER SHE FINISHED with our bowline she said: “I guess I should turn off the pump.”

Duh, do you think so??!!

They brought us another hose and we slowly fueled up.Now what?Do I run the blowers, which will draw fumes into the engine room? Do we push the boat off the dock?

By now the wind had picked up significantly from the south so the gas on the water surface was dissipating.A few minutes later there wasn’t much indication of it around the boat so I just opened the engine hatches, left the blowers off and with my eyes closed, I started the engine.

Since I’m writing this log you can correctly assume that there was no explosion and we got out of there safely.

The sea conditions in Cape May Harbour were very choppy and the south wind was getting stronger by the hour.We decided to continue north, since the ICW is narrow and the wind was behind us so there would be very little in the way of waves to contend with.

The down side to a straight channel, orientated in a north – south direction, is that there is no windbreak to anchor behind when the wind is from the south. The topography only provides a windbreak from an east – west blow.

We snuggled up against the west shore of a barrier island, at Wildwood, NJ, nose into a 20-knot wind, and put out 60ft of chain in a water depth of only 4-ft. The anchor was well set in the muddy bottom!! And so was at least 30ft of the chain!!But at least we were satisfied we would stay put for the night.

Our next night was spent at the Farley State Park Marina, on the grounds of the Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ.

This marina is probably the best known stopover for boats cruising the eastern seaboard. We have always enjoyed stopping here as the dock facilities are great, washrooms are clean and they have laundry rooms right beside the transient dock.

As we went past the transient docks, to their fuel dock at the other end of the marina, we noticed that the docks were empty.Very strange we thought, but maybe it is just too early in the season for the usual crush of boaters.

We arrived at the fuel dock, took on fuel, and asked the dock attendant if there was “room at the inn” for the night?“Yes”, he said “ But I’m obliged to tell you that the transient rate is $4.00 per foot per night.”

$4.00 A FOOT !!!!!!!!!!!!This is a joke, right ????!!!The most we ever paid was $1.50 per foot !!! I thought robbery was a crime in New Jersey ??

He went on to say that since Harrah’s Casino had closed their docks, Trump felt he was the only show in town and he could charge what he wanted. Since there is no anchoring in the Atlantic City area it seemed that “The Donald” was right.

We had no choice, so the dock attendant called the marina office and we were given a slip assignment.

The wind was still blowing strongly from the south and as we approached the transient dock we confirmed that there were no other boats on the 100-slip dock. As we searched for our slip number the wind was causing us untold problems since we were trying to move around at idle speed. We finally found our slip and it was on the lee side, which meant the wind was pushing us off the dock, and it also gave us the wind on the stern rather than allowing us to dock into the wind.

Out of 100 slips we were given the worst one for the existing wind conditions!!!!

We eventually got tied up and went to the marina office to sign in. There the Dockmaster greeted us with a wide smile and a “Welcome to the Trump Marina.”

I almost choked her !!!!

I asked why they didn’t look out the window, and note the wind direction, before assigning us THAT SLIP!“Oh, we didn’t know you needed help docking.”

As I explained the advantages of docking into the wind, and having the wind blow you onto the dock, rather than off it, they looked at me like I was speaking in some foreign language.I guess I was – it was “boating language” which they obviously did not understand.

After warning them that they better have tough skin to suffer the abuse they were going to get from other transient boaters facing $4.00 a foot, the “welcome to Trump Marina” smile quickly faded.

We went back to the boat, muttering the whole way, and started laundry chores, etc.

A short time later a second transient boat arrived and, believe it or not, he was given a slip 2 over from us presenting the exact same docking problems, vis a vis wind direction, as we had.

It was clear that I had been speaking a foreign language to the Dockmaster !!!!

After we helped him tie up he went to the marina office to check in. On his way back, he stopped at our boat to once again thank us for the assistance, and I asked him what he thought of the fee schedule?

He said: “$4.00 a foot !!!!I damn near sh-- !!Wait until my wife hears about this !!”

As he got on his boat we heard him say: “Dear, are you sitting down?”

She responded: “Yes. Why?”

The next thing we heard, over and over again, was her yelling: “$4.00 A FOOT???!!!”

Needless to say we got out of there early the next morning. Never to return.Before we left we e-mailed some of the boating friends we knew were behind us, and told them of the new fee schedule. 100% of them responded that they would not be stopping there and would be sure to tell everyone they ran into about the highway robbery taking place in Atlantic City.

That night we were in Manasquan, NJ, and the north end of the ICW. Only 45 miles from New York City. But that 45 miles was an open ocean passage along the NJ coast.

We docked at the Shrimp Box Restaurant, right next to the Coast Guard Station.

This is a great spot to stop, as, prior to this time, the docking was free if you ate in the restaurant.Now it is $20 a night, whether you eat there or not. At $20 this is still a great deal. The food is excellent and being close to the commercial fishing dock, there is a lot to entertain you.

The wind was still blowing so we decided to spend the night and hope for a better day tomorrow.

As I said, being close to the commercial dock provides great entertainment. What I failed to mention is that the dock operates 24 hours per day.What is entertaining during the day and evening is not as entertaining at 4am, while you’re trying to sleep.

The one non-entertaining aspect was when each boat would load ice into their hold. Not just ice, but crushed ice !! Do you know how much noise a commercial ice crusher makes ?????

We got up very early, ready for the trip to New York City. We turned on the NOAA weather forecast to hear: “ From a line between Manasquan, NJ and Montauk Point, Long Island, and out 20 nautical miles, gale force winds are expected.”We looked at the flags being almost torn from the flagpoles of the Coast Guard Station, and went back to bed.

Later in the day we walked out to the beach and watched huge surf pound the sand. As far as you could see the ocean was nothing but white caps.

Great day for catching up on our reading and another excellent meal at the Shrimp Box.

The next morning we first looked at the Coast Guard flags and they seemed to be almost limp. We turned on the radio and heard the same gale force wind announcement.

In another classic example of being able to rationalize almost anything, I said: ”When we draw this line from Manasquan to Montauk Point, we will actually be traveling behind it, not in front of it.That means that the gale force winds will not be in our exact area.”

Sounded convincing to me and coupled with the less than excited flags we prepared to get underway.

I agreed to walk out to the beach and have another look before we untied the lines. Although I saw a fairly large surf, the ocean off the coast appeared flat. There were no whitecaps to be seen.

As we started out the inlet, I said to Marilyn that since we had not waited for a favourable tide, we might experience some swells before we could get offshore.

There was a fairly large private fishing boat about 1 mile ahead of us, heading out to sea. It was very obvious that he was experiencing the swells that we anticipated.When we got to the spot where he had been it was like riding a roller coaster.

Although there were no “breaking” waves we were nose into 6ft swells, every 8 seconds. Great fun at Canada’s Wonderland. Not as much fun in a boat on the Atlantic.

As we turned north, we were able to “quarter” the swells producing a smoother ride. We would quarter the sea, in a northeast direction until we were about 5 miles off the coast, then would turn 90 degrees and “surf” in a northwest direction until we were within 1 mile of shore. We then repeated the process for 40 miles, before getting behind the tip of Sandy Hook, NJ and into the calm protected waters of Raritan Bay and New York Harbour.

About 5 miles outside Manasquan it appeared that our crew member “Port”, who had never been affected by the motion of the boat, was looking a “little under the weather” as we rode the ocean swells.A short time later he gave back his breakfast and went to hide under a blanket

I guess he is not a “swell” cat.

57 nautical miles later we were docked at the Tarrytown Marina, 16 miles north of New York City.

We had finally caught up to Pete and Karen Hungerford aboard Karefree. We had been “chasing” them since Daytona Beach. FL and it had taken this long.Of course they got all the good weather on their trip north and it simply closed in behind them.Just in time for our arrival.

We spent two days of R&R before heading north on the calm waters of the Hudson River. The temperatures were in the 80s each day and, since we had more than a week to kill before the Erie Canal was scheduled to open, we intended to make the most of the glorious weather.

On April 29 we pulled into a very quiet anchorage in Rondout Creek, west of the town of Kingston, NY. It is a bay near the head of the river surrounded by the Catskill Mountains rising straight up from the shoreline.It was beautiful, sunny and hot and we lapped it up for 5 days !!

Just after our arrival with Karefree we were joined by Canadian Gypsea. Captain Mark Samuel and crewman Phil were returning their Oceania 35 to Toronto after a winter in FL. Actually Mark & his wife had made the trip south. Phil and his wife had driven to visit them in FL when Mark’s wife announced that she would not travel back north by boat.It was quickly decided that Mark & Phil would bring the boat back and the two wives would drive back.

This was the first time Phil had been on a boat, and he was having a ball.

Each evening “Happy Hour” rotated among the 3 boats.After the second night it became a bit of a contest as to who could put on the best spread.We all ate too much and after 5 days it was time to get back on the road.

Prior to leaving Kingston we called the Erie Canal people to confirm that the locks at Troy would open on May 7 at 7am.Since our out-of-Canada medical insurance was due to expire at midnight on May 9 it was imperative that we get through the locks in the shortest possible time.

“Yes” said the helpful lady in Albany, “all the canals will be open on May 7, except the Oswego Canal which willnot open, due to high water, untilMay 10 “.

Oh,Oh !!

It was now obvious that we were not going to be back in Ontario before our insurance ended. A quick read of our policies ( Canadian Snowbirds Assoc. for me and CAA for Marilyn) indicated that we could get an extension of the policy if our trip was delayed by weather factors.

High water is a weather factor isn’t it ??

We called both companies and they agreed that high water was indeed a weather factor and that they would be more than happy to extend the policy – IF WE GOT A LETTER FROM OHIP AGREEING TO MAINTAINING OUR PROVINCIAL COVERAGE.

For anyone who has had to deal with a government office, especially one involved in health insurance, you know that trying to get a real person on the phone, let alone having somebody make a decision on a request, can be a mind numbing experience.

And we had to accomplish the feat from a pay phone in Kingston, NY !!!!!

So, we went for a pee, put on comfortable shoes for standing around and dialed the OHIP number.

First ring, “Hello, welcome to OHIP information.”As I waited for the “press 1 for service in English, press 2 if reporting a lost card”, etc. There was only silence and finally a male voice said: “Hello. Is anyone there?”

My God I got a real person !!!!And on the first ring !!!!!!

I apologized for my momentary loss of speech and explained the problem we had, that we needed OHIP to fax, to two different insurance companies, a letter agreeing to continue to recognize us as Ontario residents even though we would have been out of the country for more than the allowable 7 months.

His response: “One moment please and I’ll transfer you to one of our OHIP advisers.”

Here we go. Now I’ll get lost in telephone cyberspace, at long distance rates, until I’m eventually told that the only person that can help me is on holidays for 2 weeks.

One ring. “Hello. Marie speaking. How can I help you ?”

As Marilyn stopped me from falling over I explained our problem to Marie and repeated the insurance companies’ need of a letter from OHIP.

Marie said: “ That shouldn’t be a problem”.

And a problem it was not.Within 2 hours both insurance companies had the required letter from OHIP and we were good to go.

Never again will I think poorly of OHIP staff.Thank-you Marie.

NOTE: When we got home there was a letter from OHIP requesting that we present ourselves at their Kingston, ON. office with 3 pieces of identification proving our Ontario residency as we had been out of the Province in excess of 7 months. When we arrived at the office there were no other clients waiting and we were looked after immediately.We explained the details of our extended absence and were quickly provided with new photo health cards.No muss, no fuss.Excellent.But it probably helped that the clerk was a boater and we showed her a photo of our crew.Damn cats !!!

As we were leaving Kingston we attempted to fuel up, take on water and get a pump-out. (What Canadian Gypsea used to refer to as “Getting their fluids adjusted”).Our first stop was at Certified Marine who informed us that his pumps wouldn’t be working for a couple of hours, as he had to get somebody to work on them. His pump-out was also not working. This was interesting as we saw his gas pumps working the previous day.

Our next stop was at the local fuel distributor, who has a small dock where he retails to boaters. He told us that he hadn’t started selling fuel yet this year.But his price sign was showing$1.95 per gallon, which seemed to be this year’s price.

Our final stop was the Rondout Yacht Basin.The Dockmaster confirmed that his pump-out was working and he was selling fuel. But, he went on to say, his gas pumps were still showing a per gallon price of $1.95 as he had not yet been able to change the price to $2.15 per gallon. He agreed to pump the fuel as long as I understood that the total price would be gallons times $2.15. He said that everyone “was getting $2.15 a gallon”, not that the price had been jacked by the wholesaler, just that everyone was “getting” $2.15 a gallon.

It was clear then that the other two retailers had simply not changed their pumps yet, and weren’t about to try and explain the new pricing to a boater.

Seems robbery is as legal in Kingston, NY as it is in Atlantic City, NJ.

On May 3 we anchored in Schodack Creek, 24 miles from Troy and the beginning of our final leg home.

We had anchored here on the way south and found it to be one of the nicest anchorages of the whole trip.Our second experience with this Creek was as pleasant as the first.

The next day we moved 8 miles further north and took a mooring can at the Castleton Boat Club. Our friends aboard Elysium IV were staying here as they stepped their mast for the motor trip on the Erie Canal.

This was a great place to spend a couple of days.For $5 per night you can have the use of all the club facilities including showers and their VERY INEXPENSIVE bar.We enjoyed many an hour in the club talking about our trip with club members. We highly recommend a stopover if you are ever traveling the Hudson River.

Sunday, May 6 and we are at the Troy Town Dock.All set to start the Erie Canal at 7am the next day.

We docked right behind Karefree, who we hadn’t seen since the Kingston anchorage, and turned in early in preparation of the physical challenge of all those upcoming locks.

At 7am, May 7, 2001 we were through the Federal Lock, Hudson River, and were idling outside the gates of the first westbound lock.There were a few other boats waiting but we were #4 into the lock, right behind Elysium IV.

As the lock doors opened the Lockmaster announced, over the VHF,: “Welcome to opening day of the 2001 navigation season.”Seemed a little overblown for a simple lock opening but we soon found ourselves the subject of photos by the local media and a personal greeting by the head of the New York State Canal System.

All very nice but I want to get home.

We traveled the whole way with Karefree and Canadian Gypsea and by 10am, May 10 we were entering Lake Ontario at Oswego, NY.The canal trip was great as there was very little traffic, after the first few locks, and no southbound traffic so the locks were usually open and waiting when we arrived.We had a stroke of good luck as the Oswego Canal opened one day sooner than planned so our passage was not delayed at all.

The surface of Lake Ontario was like glass for the first 25 miles of our trip to Cape Vincent and the St. Lawrence River.Karefree and McKENA were the only two boats out there and it was like we had the whole lake to ourselves.

If only every crossing could be this way.

By the time the Galloo Islands were fading in the distance behind us the wind started to pick up from the west and we rode  gentle swells into the River.

As we turned into the River the feeling of relief and exhilaration was almost palatable inside our boat.We were immediately struck by the colour of the water and the pure white crystal bow wake.We realized that, other than our time on some of the beaches near Tampa, FL, there had been no other body of water that you would have ever considered swimming in since we left the River on October 10,2000

The last few hours of our trip were probably the most enjoyable.

There really is nothing else like being home,

As we motored past Swan Bay, near the American span of the bridge, we were hailed by our good friends Tom & Jean Myers, aboard “Partager”, with a simple “Welcome home and welcome back to the River.”

Nicer words we’ve never heard.

At 5pm, May 10, 2001 we arrivedback atEd Huck Marine and turned off the engine for the last time (figuratively speaking).

4000 miles, 4000 gallons of gas,566 engine hours and it was over.

As positive as we are that we found no better boating area than the 1000 Islands we are just as positive that we stayed at no better marina than Ed Huck Marine, Rockport – our home base.The facilities here are excellent and the staff is friendlier than any we met.

Sometimes you have to go far away to realize how good you have it at home.

Many people have asked if we would make the trip again?You bet we would.

We just wouldn’t make it again in an 8-knot boat.We found too many large bodies of water that had nothing to offer the traveler and all we wanted to do was get through them, hoping that there was nice scenery on the other side.For the most part the scenery did not improve on the other side – but it was fun none the less.

 If you can boat from Cape Vincent to Oswego you can do this trip.The size of the boat is not that relevant.

The smaller the boat just means the more marina’s and/or motels you may stay at but if a person can make a trip from Chicago to Mobile, Alabama, cross the Gulf to Florida, back up the east coast, into the Great Lakes and back to Chicago on a Sea-Doo (its been done) then anyone can make the trip we did.

We fully support and encourage anyone who would like to make a similar trip to go for it. It had been a dream of ours for 10 years and we will never regret a moment of it.Even the occasions of rough water, bad weather and unfriendly people all contributed to the experience.

Life is just a never-ending chain of experiences joined together by regular stuff.

We believe that there are more and different experiences waiting for us to try.

We know there are more experiences for you to try and try them you should.

Well, got to go now. Marilyn just arrived with a drink in each handthat have little umbrellas in them!!

Now where did I put that Jimmy Buffett tape ?