Friday, June 24, 2011

Confederate Revenge

OK, I know the Union won the war between the states. After all Pam & I are from Galena, Illinois, the hometown of General U.S. Grant. But....as of the recent passing of the 150th anniversary of the start of the war the Confederates are still inflicting pain on us Yankees. How you ask? Well here you go.

I've mentioned in earlier posts the northern migration of boats from all over the northeast, Midwest, and even Canada. The revenge on these traveller's comes in the form of the noseeums that infest the migratory route of all us Yanks. Just when you think it's safe to step outside the cabin you're attacked by these nearly invisible biting insects. Ouch! They not only bite but the bite itches for days afterward. One boater describes them as "flying teeth". We battled these critters from Florida to the Chesapeake limiting our time outside to the bare minimum.

I'm convinced it was a last ditch effort by the Confederacy to leave a lasting memory of their efforts to secede from the Union. Not one of the locals complain about these little critters. In fact they almost deny their existence!
Not the best picture, but they are elusive!

Further revenge comes in the form of the above pictured repellent that is sold at various outlets along the ICW. I'm pretty sure it's just Avon Skin So Soft, re-bottled, marked up in price, and sold to chumps like us as we pass through.
Now that we're beyond the Confederate States we'll start gearing up for the mosquito's. I can't wait! At least you can hear and see them.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Erie Canal

6/8/11 Wednesday     7a.m. and we're ready to go. Lock 2 is just a few boat lengths in front of us. We lock through with a pontoon boat in front of us and the Grand Erie behind us. The Grand Erie is owned by the NY Canal Corp. and is getting in position to take students on rides through the lock. One group down and another back up. The crew was enjoying the break from their normal duties.

Grand Erie behind us in Lock 2.

Locks 2 through 6 are in close proximity. You exit one and the gates are open in the next. We rose a total of 172 feet in these first five locks.

Looking ahead from one lock to the next.

Locking through has been a heavily discussed topic on the "Looper" web site. Do you put boards on your fenders. What about using straw bales. Will it ruin my fenders? And on and on. We use our fenders just as we have at every other lock we've ever been through with one exception. Some of the locks fill so high that you need fenders up high to start and another set at the waterline to protect the hull when you reach the top. In total Tourist is sporting 6 fenders here on the Erie. Almost looking commercial!

Securing to the lock is in one of three ways with no warning of how each lock is rigged until you get in the chamber. 1. 5/8" ropes hanging down from the top of the lock wall. 2. Cables covered in plastic vertically secured in a recessed area in the lock wall that work much like a floating bollard. Secure a line to the boat. Put it around the cable and secure the bitter end back to the boat. 3. Vertical pipes recessed in the wall used in the same way as the cable.

In addition to the locks there are guard gates located along the canal that can be lowered to block passage.
Guard gate in up position.

Guard gate closed. Now what do we do?

Our day ended in Amsterdam, NY. The weather was HOT!

Thursday 6/9/11     One of our concerns before starting this adventure was if we could fit under the bridges. Tourist sticks up in the air 20'4" before lowering lights and antennas. We have to fit under a 19'1" bridge in Chicago. Most of the bridges on the Erie are 20' or higher.

Does that look like it's 20' above the water?

The Erie at times shares it's route with the Mohawk River. A beautiful river that winds through central New York.
Dam on the Mohawk. Notice the lock to the far left.

Several times back in my bus days I drove across the New York Thruway which runs beside the Mohawk always looking out thinking how great it would be to be out there.

View of the Thruway from the water.

When we reached Lock 17 we noticed something different. The gate lifted up over our heads to allow entrance to the chamber. One of only a few such designed locks in the world. Additionally it has the highest lift on the Erie of 40'.
Get your umbrella Pam. It's dripping water!

Lock 17 from inside after raising 40'.

Once through 17 we followed the canal walls around the corner to the city dock at Little Falls, NY. With severe storm warnings promising hail and high winds forecast we opted to stay in the boat and not explore the town. Too bad for us since the guides all say this is one of the best stops along the Erie.
Little Falls City Dock with old Canal Building as office.

Friday 6/10/11     Continuing west on the Erie our destination for today is Rome, NY. Along the way we passed the marina at Ilion, NY. Not big but built on the canal wall.

 Ilion Marina.
Another lock along the Erie.

We pulled into the free town dock at Rome in the early afternoon with time to explore Fort Stanwix. An authentic reproduction of the fort at the site where it originally stood. The fort was built by the British in 1758 and occupied by them during the French & Indian War. Following the war the British abandoned the fort until 1776 when Congress ordered Gen. Washington to rebuild and occupy the fort to protect our Northwest border.
Ditch between walls at Fort Stanwix.
Interior grounds of Fort Stanwix.
Diagram of Fort Stanwix.

A short distance back towards the boat is the Savoy Restaurant.(http://www.romesavoy.com/)  I decided to do the cooking tonight so Pam (she's not a fan of my cooking!) decided we should try the Savoy. A neat old place that has been around for years. A little early for dinner we sat down at the bar and waited for the diners to show up so we didn't look like we were there for the early bird specials. The plan worked and before long the place started to fill up. We got a table and sat down to one of the best meals I've had in a long while. Uncle Rosie's pork chops. By the time we left it was standing room only at the bar and the dining room was filling fast. Definitely worth the stop.

Saturday 6/11/11      Today is our last day on the water for a couple of weeks. We are going to leave Tourist at Brewerton, NY. and head home for a visit. But before we get there we have to negotiate 2 more locks and Oneida Lake. The lake is similar in dimension to Lake Pepin back home on the Mississippi.

The 2 locks are the first that we will be lowered in the chamber since we started our travel on the Erie and the are spaced only a mile apart so we can get them out of the way rather quickly. From there it's on to Sylvan Beach and into Oneida Lake.

Canal Corp. crew boat. Cute isn't it!

After running at trawler speed since Atlantic Highlands, NJ. the lake seemed like a good place to let Tourist stretch her legs. An hour later we were passing under the I-81 bridge at Brewerton. From there it was only a short distance to the Ess-Kay Yards (http://www.ess-kayyards.com/) where we will leave Tourist.
Filled with fuel ($4.17 per gal.) and emptied of, well you know, we put Tourist in her slip.

In the slip at Ess-Kay.
Our view of the fuel dock.
Before we head home we'll change oil and filters and do some other maintenance items so they're not staring us in the face when we get back.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Beyond NYC

6/5/11 Sunday     Before we departed the New York area we had a visit from my cousin Mitch, his wife Sherry and their family. They drove over from their home in New Jersey to have lunch and compare notes about our Fathers. (All good!) It was nice catching up on family matters. Mitch has lived all over the world and therefore our times together have been all too infrequent.
The Hillard Clan.

While on the subject of family I must acknowledge a recent birthday. Our grand dog Missy turned 1 year old recently.
Happy Birthday Missy! Queen for a day.

6/6/11 Monday     Today Frank & Peg continued on their road trip and we cut the lines and headed north on the Hudson. It wasn't long and we were passing West Point and it's scenic setting along the banks of the Hudson River. Unfortunately we are not allowed to stop there by boat.
West Point
The river gets narrower as you travel north and more and more scenic.
Hudson River.

Bannerman's Castle

Mid-Hudson Lighthouse.

It was an easy day of travel which covered 67 miles. We decided to anchor in Esopus Creek in Saugerties, NY. A peaceful and protected anchorage.
Lighthouse at entrance to Esopus Creek.

6/7/11 Tuesday     With an early start we were back underway with the river all to ourselves. We travelled on in the shadow of the Catskills passing under the Rip Van Winkle bridge.
Catskill Mountains.

Rip Van Winkle Bridge.

Our travels took us past Albany and the last remaining Destroyer Escort from WWII.

Albany, NY.

USS Slater (http://www.ussslater.org/.)

Before long we were approaching Troy, NY. and our first lock since the Dismal Swamp. Once through the lock we would no longer feel the effects of the tide and be in completely fresh water.

Troy Lock.

Now comes the time that we lower the antenna and mast light to fit under the bridges on the Erie Canal. Our first test came just above the lock. We made it! Then the NY Canal Corp tests your reading skills.


Which way to go?

Just past the sign we pulled into the free dock at Waterford, NY. to spend the night and walk up to Lock #2 and buy our Erie Canal Pass.
Old canal locks now used to bypass water around Lock #2.
Waterford free dock, visitor center, and Tourist under the bridge. By nightfall the dock was full.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Big Apple

5/31/11 Tuesday     Pam & I enjoyed a leisurely morning at anchor behind the Statue of Liberty before heading out into the Hudson. The river is as busy as anyplace I've boated. Not much in the way of recreational boating but the commercial traffic is non stop. Water taxis zooming in every direction throwing 3' wakes. We were bobbing like a cork as we travelled north along Manhattan. The traffic continued until we got up around Grant's Tomb and once we passed under the George Washington Bridge it was like we entered a different world.
Ellis Island
Water taxi's everywhere!
Empire State Building from the Hudson.
Grant's Tomb.
George Washington Bridge.

We continued on up the Hudson past Yonkers and on to Half Moon Bay Marina at Croton-On-Hudson, NY. They give a good rate to "Loopers" and it is convenient to the train station. We arrived in time to give Tourist a good wash job to get the salt off.

6/1/11     Wednesday     This morning we went to the "gourmet" grocery store to prepare for the arrival of Frank & Peg. One word describes this place. Dirty! Later we discovered a ShopRite store that was more to Pam's liking.
For the next four days we used Half Moon Bay as our base of operations taking the train into NYC each day and returning to Tourist in the evening. Rather than bore you with an hourly account I'll just show pictures of some of what we saw. I will say that we used the train, subway, taxi, and Grayline to get around.
Frank & Peg arrive.
Grand Central Terminal

5th Ave.
No one was arrested!
Macy's
View to the South from Empire State Bldg.
Flat Iron Building

Ground Zero Flag
U.N.
Central Park memorial to John Lennon at Strawberry Fields across from the Dakota Apts.
"Big" piano at FAO Schwarz.
The Plaza Hotel
Trump Tower. (nice bar)
Pam peeking in the window trying to see Brian Kilmeade. We did see Juan Williams exit the building and he waved to us.
Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Autographed Playbill from stage play.
Pam & me with Tom Wopat (best known as Luke Duke on Dukes of Hazzard) backstage at the Neil Simon Theater.

Dinner @ Carmine's with new friends.

Times Square
Checking the schedule to get back to Tourist.

New York is an experience you have to do at least once in your life. It touches every one of your senses one at a time and sometimes all at once!