Erie Yacht Club, End of Cruise Summary

We left the DYC at 0735, arriving at the EYC at 1400 covering 43 nm in 6.3 hours.  Wind speed was 0 early, by 1000 the wind had picked up to 13 knots from the SW (our course was straight into the wind) and by noon had dropped to 6 to 8 knots before building to about 10 as we arrived back at our home dock.  The actual wind was a far cry from the 20 to 30 knot breeze that was predicted five days ago.

Coming up the lake in ideal conditions.

This is the final post/summary for this years cruise:

Total Miles Traveled:  4469 nautical miles  (5142 statute miles) ; 200 nm more than last year

Diesel Fuel Used: 1267 gallons ; 160 gallons less than last year

Mileage:  3.53 nautical miles/gallon including genset & diesel heater usage (4.06 statute miles/gallon) or 1.75 gallons/engine hour

Engine Hours (Propulsion): 725 ; 10 hours less than last year

Engine Hours (Generator): 55 ; 9 hours less than last year

Total nights away from Erie:  252 ; one day more than last year

Paid Short Term Dockage:  83 (33%)

Free Dockage: 74 (29%)   Free is a relative term

Paid Long Term Dockage:  69 (27%)

Anchorage: 22 (9%)

Mooring Balls: 4 (2%)

More Lessons Learned based on the way WE cruise (everybody does things differently):

1. We are thankful that we installed the new engine last summer.  The peace of mind is priceless.  Factory specified oil changes are at 250 hours for the Betamarine vs 100 hours for the Westerbeke meaning less grief in buying and disposing of used oil.

2.  Still to many clothes on the boat.  You tend to put on what ever you grab first meaning stuff in the back of lockers never sees the light of day.

3.  We really need a boat up north so we can leave Liberty down south over the summer.  There are a few reasons for this.  Taking the boat south in the fall doesn’t seem to be too much of an issue.  Bringing the boat back north in the spring is a trying experience at times.  We find ourselves dodging too much weather in the spring.  Between the wind, the cold temperatures and the rain we feel we are cooped up on the boat too much.  Another reason is health related.  We both are allergic to pollen and we leave Florida just as pollen season is starting to crank up and we follow it all the way north.  There are days when the water we hose off the boat runs yellow from the stuff.  As you might imagine, living on a boat is almost like living out doors as boats are not as air tight as homes.  This means that the inside of the boat is constantly getting dusty and coated in pollen.  A three month pollen season is more than we want to deal with.  The other problem is feeling like we have to be constantly on the move or we will never get to our winter or summer destination.  Once we get there it seems like it is almost time to leave to start heading in the other direction again.  We would really like to hang around and explore the area, something we just don’t feel like we are able to do now.  While we really enjoy visiting with our friends and family while transiting, we can still do this in a vehicle when we are traveling between boats.  It will also allow us to explore further afield when we have our own car available for use down south.  I can think of a number of places that we don’t necessary need to “visit” twice a year.  The New Jersey coast from NYC to Cape May, the Delaware Bay, the mouth of the Potomac, the Albemarle Sound, Alligator River, Neuse River, and Cape Fear River quickly come to mind.

To be done over the summer:  19 items are currently on the list (that will grow) that range from simple (a couple of hours) like moving our port wiper control switch next to the wheel to make it easier to reach to complex, requiring quite a few days such our electronics overhaul, re-painting the green stripe on the hull or making a new veranda enclosure.

Back at our home dock for the summer.

All Stop.  Done with engines.

Dave

Dunkirk Yacht Club, NY

Leaving the marina at 0730 got us to the big double lock in Lockport one half hour later.

Approaching Lock 34

In Lock 34

Going under the road at Lockport, at one time the widest bridge in the U.S.

The ships mascot hasn’t gotten too much press lately. She is still with us and is behaving herself.

We slogged up the Niagara river at 5 knots from the end of the Erie Canal at North Tonowanda to the Black Rock Lock which allows one to bypass the rapids where Lake Erie dumps water into the upper Niagara River.  Originally the plan was to stop at the Buffalo Yacht Club where we have reciprocal privileges.  This being Monday, the club is closed, so there would be no fancy dinner for the Mate.  As it was early afternoon and the lake was pretty flat we decided to press on another 32 nm up the lake to Dunkirk which will make tomorrow a much shorter day.  Winds were SW at about 7 and increased to 12 with small white caps later in the afternoon producing a short chop but nothing uncomfortable.

The last lock of the season at Black Rock. We have done about 82 locks this trip, plus or minus a few.

We stopped in Buffalo to purchase 15 gallons of diesel, just to make sure we had enough to get to Erie and then some.  They very nicely charged us $3.46/gallon for that privilege.  We want our tanks to be fairly empty when we arrive so we can pump the contents of one tank into the other to allow us to install an inspection/clean out port in our eight year old aluminum fuel tank.  As we use less than two gallons/hour we have a pretty good idea how long it might take to draw down our tanks once we get home if they were full; forever, as we don’t plan on going to far afield for the next few months.  It turns out purchasing fuel in Buffalo and not waiting until we got to Dunkirk was a smart move.  One of the members of the DYC told us they weren’t pumping fuel at the local marina due to ownership issues.

So where are all the boats at the DYC?   That is us at the far end of the dock at the center of the picture. Evidently it has been a tough spring as far as getting boats ready for the season.

We made an attempt to sign in at the club, but their guest book was nowhere to be found.  Memorial Day is only a week away.

Today:  59 nm in 10.5 engine hours.  Three locks, one bridge.  Total:  4426 nm

Dave

 

Nelson C Goehle Marina, Lockport NY

A 0730 departure and we were on our way.  There were no locks along our route today, but there were 14 lift bridges that needed to be raised for us to pass through.  A single operator usually mans more than one bridge, once they let you through a bridge, they drive up the road to meet you at the next bridge or call ahead to the next operator.  That was working well for us for most of the day through ten bridges.  When we got to Knowlesville, no operator answered the VHF even though the previous operator told us one would be waiting our arrival.  As we have an phone app with all the phone numbers of the locks and bridges, we called the Medina bridge and asked if they would come down to Knowlesville to let us pass.  The operator apologized to us saying there was a trawler a few miles ahead of us that took longer to get to Medina than they expected and they would come to Knowlesville as soon as possible.  It turns out the trawler ahead of us was Gorfrog, a Canadian vessel that we have been leap frogging ever since we came into Atlantic City.  We could hear them calling bridges ahead of us for openings between Cape May and Atlantic City when we were coming up the inside route.  We have passed by them a few times and seen them pass by us occasionally, the last time was a few days ago when we were at the dock in Canajohrie.

Typical lift bridge on the western portion of the Erie Canal. Clearance is 16 in the up position as shown.

Once we were out of “phase” we were going to have to have a short wait at every other bridge, but it really isn’t that much of an inconvenience.

Waiting at the wall at Middleport for the operator to return to let us through.

While sitting at the dock we noticed a Dufour 35 sailboat docked on the wall opposite us.  Our good friends at the EYC had once owned one of these boats and we had sailed a fair number of miles aboard making multiple trips across Lake Erie.  The name on the transom was L’esperance,  with a home port of Erie, Pa.  Sure enough, it was the exact same boat even though it had left Erie many years ago.  The Mate had even crossed the lake aboard her years ago although she really doesn’t remember the trip.

An old friend, still going although somewhat worse for wear.

We tied up at the marina here as it is close to where our son Arron lives.  They want $.50/foot here but there isn’t anybody around to collect the fee and the power and water aren’t turned on yet.  This is another place that doesn’t come alive until Memorial Day.  I got out my hammer and pounded in all the nails that were working loose on the dock after the winter (before they could ruin our fenders).  I guess we will call it even.

These characters had a six wheel ATV that they stuck an outboard on. Watching them we were surprised they didn’t go swimming as this “vessel” doesn’t appear to have much stability.

Another “crowded” dock at the marina.

We had dinner this evening at our son’s house with his girl friend Bethany and her parents Jim and Sue.  It was nice to see the progress they have made fixing up Aaron’s house as he bought a real fixer-uper a few years back.

We also visited with his chickens, they are more pets than anything although the chickens do supply them with fresh eggs.

Today:  42 nm in 7.4 engine hours.  14 bridges, 0 locks.

Dave

Spencerport, NY

Leaving Mid-Lakes at 0750 we arrived at Lock 32 two hours later.  This is the lock that has the waterfall feature, or rather the perpetually leaking gates as they were installed incorrectly.

Lock 32

Approaching the Genesee River that goes into Rochester.

We needed to stop at Allen’s Canalside Marine to check out a boat we might be interested in.  There didn’t appear to be anyplace to dock inside except maybe at the fuel dock.  The listed price for diesel was $3.78 which scared us off, we didn’t want to ask to stay at their fuel dock with out buying some.  Just across the canal was a day dock in a park with a bridge over the canal a short walk down the street.

Liberty at Henpeck Park (that is the actual name).

 

This is the craft we thought we might be interested in.  The hull is steel and the boat isn’t unattractive. Of course the brokerage listing shows photo’s from when the boat was new.

We knew it was sort of a fixer-uper and the cabin sides had some “rot” but didn’t imagine that all the sides were shot.

I am not sure why whoever finished off the hull thought it would be a good idea to build the cabin sides out of tongue and groove material that didn’t have a lot of rot resistance.  It appears that every joint has opened up to let moisture in meaning that all of the cabin sides need replaced.  The interior is also tongue and groove but there doesn’t seem to be much evidence of water damage.  Unfortunately, unless you know how the boat was constructed one doesn’t know if it possible to remove the outer material without disturbing the interior of the boat.  This might be a project for somebody else.  Why don’t brokers put current pictures in their listings?  It would save them a lot of time and effort in the end as people show up expecting one thing and are shown something dramatically worse.

After that depressing expedition, we walked back to the boat and headed west to Spencerport, one of our favorite stops.  The books we left at their book exchange last fall are still here.  We will see if any “move” when we stop by in the fall again.

They have a used book store here that we visited. Last fall it the sign said open, and we were there during their posted business hours but the lights were out and the doors locked.  We had better luck this trip.

For the princely sum of $9 we bought a book on Howard Hughes (350 pages); I told the Mate maybe I can pick up some tips from reading it, a 450 page Harlan Coben mystery novel for the Mate, a DVD with 28 hours of old, classic movies and another “cute” DVD.

We are the only boat here and the first people to sign their guest registry this year.

Today:  27 nm in 5.2 engine hours.  Two locks.  Total:  4325 nm.

Dave

 

 

Mid Lakes Marina, Macedon, NY

As we weren’t traveling far today we were able to have a leisurely breakfast at the dock before leaving.

The Mate making breakfast.

Once underway when we came to the first lock of the day (Lock 27 at Lyons) we found it being loaded by a Canal Corporation barge that was headed east.  While the barge was in the lock they refilled their fresh water tanks so we ended up waiting over an hour to get locked through this one lock.  We really didn’t mind the wait as they are working and we are simply playing.  The next few locks went smoothly as the lock gates were already opened for us when we arrived.  Maybe the guys at Lock 27  felt bad for holding us up and called the locks ahead to help us make up for lost time.

Cooling our heels tied up at Lock 27 in Lyons.

The Former Peppermint Oil Capitol of the World (no date given).

One of the rail road bridges that cross the canal at an angle. There is a lot of steel in one of these bridges.

Maybe it is time to do a little maintenance on these locks.

Caprice just had her shrink wrap removed today.

Liberty in Caprice’s dock.

This evening we went out to dinner at Charlie Brown’s Restaurant with Ann and Hank, it has been a while since we have eaten dinner off the boat.

Today:  25 nm in 5.1 engine hours.  Five Locks.  Total: 4298 nm.

Dave

 

Clyde, NY Free Dock

At Clyde they have a free dock, with free power and a free pump out facility.  We availed ourselves to all three.  They are supposed to have free water at the dock but evidently that isn’t turned on yet.  I am starting to get the idea that we are “early birds” and the season must not start until Memorial Day.  As we pass marinas along the way we are surprised at the number of boats still sleeping under shrink wrap.  The days are still starting out cool, 40 degrees F this morning but have been warming to the lower 60’s.  Having the sun out helps immensely.

There are some real nice homes that are on the canal but I for one wouldn’t want to have to maintain their lawns.

There is room for three boats here, one on the center fixed dock and one on each floating dock at either end.  We didn’t see any other boats today.

The main attraction in town for us today was the laundromat, a short walk across the bridge over the canal and two blocks into town. We had amassed four loads of laundry that needed done and a commercial laundromat is the most expedient way of doing it as we can use as many machines as we want at one time.  In a marina with only one or two machines we would have to wait to do multiple loads.

We would hate to admit this was the highlight of our day.  Actually, an uneventful day on the water is the best kind of day you can have.

Tomorrow we are off to Mid-Lakes Marina in Macedon to visit Ann and Hank, owners of the Pilgrim Caprice.

Today:  34 nm in 5.5 engine hours.  2 locks.  Total:  4273 nm.

Dave

Baldwinsville, NY Free Dock

It was another 38 degree morning when we left Rome at 0700.  We arrived Oneida Lake a little after 0900 to find the lake perfectly flat, just the way we like it.  By noon we had crossed the twenty mile stretch of lake and were back in the canal proper.  The entire crossing was in almost dead calm conditions, the only interesting thing that happened during the crossing was being hailed by a large power boat asking if we wanted a slow pass.  What makes it interesting was not that he hailed us, but the fact that we were about five miles from shore where the lake is about three miles wide.  When he passed us he couldn’t have been more than a boat length or two away before he roared off at 20 plus knots.  Maybe he had  some new people on board and wanted to demonstrate the technique before needing to use it in the canal.  It just goes to show that you never know what is going to happen, and to quote Captain Ron, “If anything is going to happen , it’s going to happen out there”.

Early morning on the canal.

Oneida Lake

Arriving at Baldwinsville we found that the town hasn’t installed their very nice free floating docks yet, requiring us to tie to their deteriorating concrete bulkheads.  At least the power and water was turned on.

No floating dock (yet).

We are close enough to Erie to plan out the rest of the trip through the canal.  Tomorrow we go to Clyde and should reach the end of the canal at North Tonowanda five days from now.  The forecast for that entire time calls for light winds.  What is the forecast for day six when we would start up the lake shore?  20 knots gusting to 30.  Fortunately we don’t put too much stock into wind forecasts that far in the future.  Stay tuned.

Today:  50 nm in 8.3 engine hours.  4 locks.  Total: 4230 nm

Dave

Rome, NY Free Dock

The day dawned with no hint of all the wind we have been seeing for the last few days.   Lock 14 was just a few minutes from our dock and when we were locking through the dock master came over to talk to us.  He mentioned that we were obviously waiting out the weather as we were visible from the lock.  Some of the people that locked through in the last couple of days had some major issues in the lock.  He told us that when the boats came up in the lock the wind would catch them and of course you are simply holding onto the lock lines.  A few of the boats that were short handed ended up getting pulled off the lock wall and got blown sideways until they fetched up at the end of the lock.

 Wind pressure (Psf), = .00256 x V^2  (V= wind speed in Mph).  Lets assume a 30 mph wind……

Wp(Psf) = .00256 * 30^2 = 2.3 Psf.  A Pilgrim has conservatively 300 square feet of “sail area”.  2.3 Psf * 300 ft^2 = 690 lbs.  Assume the wind is hitting at 45 degrees, 690 lbs * .707 = roughly 500 lbs.  With two lines, that is 250 lbs/line.  Yep, I am sure the Mate can hang onto a line with a 250 lb load and not get pulled off the boat.  Thanks, but no thanks.

This is more like it (wind-wise).

Check out all the flotsam in front of our bow in Lock 17. This is the lock that requires you to use the south wall, in our case port side to. The currents in here are intense with the boat being firmly pined to the wall while the lock is filling. The reason you can’t used the north side is the the lock fills from that side and would simply sweep you off the wall in spite of your best efforts.

This railroad bridge crosses the canal at quite an angle right before you enter Lock 19.

On the wall at Rome.

We had hoped to tie up the “promised” new docks that would also have power in Rome.  Well, we see that the mayor that was running for election when he told us this was the plan for 2016 didn’t get re-elected.   Maybe the new mayor has other ideas because there is no sign of any new docks with power, of course 2016 isn’t over yet.  You can’t tell by looking at the photo but we are a few feet from the wall.  There are a ton of rotten pilings outboard of the wall with rotten fendering outside of the piles.    Getting on an off the boat is a real trick.  However, we are plugged into power that is being paid for by the state at the moment so we will not complain too much.

Today:  47 nm in 9.2 engine hours.  7 locks.  Total:  4189 nm.

Dave

Canajoharie, Another weather lay day

Different day, same forecast.  Actually, today seemed to be worse than yesterday wind wise.  Yesterday there were only occasional blasts of wind, today the boat was being bounced around at the dock almost continually.  Temperatures were slightly milder so we took a walk but most of the day was spent watching movies or reading.

Downtown. There is not much here since Beech-Nut left town in 2011.

One of the boiling pots (more like simmering pots) in Canajohari Creek.

Lady Barbara made it across Oneida Lake early this morning, evidently before the wind came up again so we won’t be crossing paths with Gary again until we get to the EYC.  We are looking forward to tomorrow so we can get under way ourselves again.

Today:  0 miles.

Dave

Canajoharie Weather Lay Day

We listened to the wind all night and felt the boat being tossed around at the dock, the weather forecast was correct. The nominal wind speed wasn’t all that much, 15 to 20 but it was the gusts that were near 30 that gave us pause.  Since our wind instrument is at the top of the mast and the mast has been lowered for canal work we really don’t know how hard it is blowing at the moment, but checking the wind speeds a various airports around us we get a pretty good idea.  Airports always have good wind instruments so we are not relying on some weather station in somebodies back yard for our data.

We planned on four locks today, only one of which had pipes that we could tie too.  The other simply had lines dropped down from the top of the lock (not attached at the bottom) requiring us to hold on to the line to maintain position.  To make matters worse, Lock 17 required that you only use the south side of the lock, in our case the port side of the boat would be along the wall as we head west.  Our wheel is offset to starboard, with the engine and thruster controls outboard of the wheel alongside the starboard side of the pilot house;  great for a starboard side to docking as we can hold a lock line with one hand and still access the throttle, shift and thruster controls with the other hand.  Lock 17 would have us either run the lock line through the cabin to the starboard side, or not have engine control.  Neither of those options is a good one if the wind is trying to blow the boat around in the lock.

After considering all the options, we choose door #3; not moving today.  This is a nice dock, it is free and it has ample power also free thanks to the good citizens of Canajoharie.  All they ask is that we patronize the local business establishments which we gladly did.  So far we have given some business to McDonald’s, Rite Aid and Ace Hardware.

We half thought about hiking down to see the “boiling pots” for which this town was named but the 43 degree temperatures and the wind gusts had us rethink that plan.  It just isn’t a pleasant day for a walk.

This afternoon we received a phone call from Gary, our advance team aboard Lady Barbara who is now well west of us.  They made an attempt at crossing Lake Oneida today and turned around.  You know it is rough out there when an active stabilized 76 foot boat that can cruise at 20+ knots has to retreat to calmer waters.  Evidently there is no room at the east end of the lake to stay overnight as all the docks and marinas are full (boats waiting out the weather).  The last we heard Lady Barbara was heading east going back through some of the locks they had just passed through in search of a place to overnight.

Gary said we made the right call in staying put today.  That was good to hear from somebody who has made over 50 trips through the Erie Canal.  I told Gary he should stick with us, maybe he could learn something :).

The two boats behind us showed up today. The big blue boat came up from Troy and they said they had to fight their way through the locks with all the wind and required four people on deck to do it.

It is interesting when sitting at the dock how you tend to get itchy feet and think things really aren’t that bad.  Then a blast of wind hits the boat, brings you back to reality and you are thankful you are not in a lock trying to maintain position.  They are still calling for wet snow tonight and I believe it.

Today:  0 miles

Dave