Monarch's Log

Final Post

2007-12-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

No, we are not still in Demopolis.

10/30

We departed Demopolis early and tried to get into Chicasaw Bogue, but after three bumps against the sandbar across the entrance, we gave up and headed for Bashi Creek.

Slow Dance headed out on their own and left us in their wake.

This was a nice anchorage with one other boat, but we had a devil of a time getting anchored. The Creek is very narrow, and with a single engine boat, it took a lot of maneuvering to get turned around facing into the wind. We dropped the anchor only to have the wind switch 180 degrees and blow us out past our anchor. We then tried in that direction, but the wind died and we just sat on top of the anchor without getting it set. Since it is difficult to back perfectly straight with the single engine, we mucked about quite a bit before we finally got the anchor set to our satisfaction.

Gail left a note for the Captain in the log - Happy Halloween, Captain!"

10/31

Another early departure for the 82 mile trek to Three Rivers Lake. As we passed Bobby's Fish Camp, Slow Dance joined us.

At Three Rivers Lake, Slow Dance rafted up with three other boats. There was lots of room and the anchoring was easy, so we anchored a short way inside of the rest of them.

11/1/07

Another early morning departure, and we arrived at Dog River Marina about 3 pm.

11l2

Left Dog River at first light and proceeded to Pensacola.

On the way we where overheard on the radio by Tom Conrad. He and Patsy welcomed us home.

We were met at the Oyster Bar on Perdido Key by Marco and Virginia White and their daughter, Kim with her three small children. Shortly, lo and behold, Tom and Patsy Conrad showed up and joined the fesivities. We had a little champagne and lunch, then proceeded on to Pensacola Yacht Club. We were met at the club by more greeters, Eric and Peg , Todd and Kirsten, as well as Rhoda, Marriane, Ginger, Ernie and Janie from Gail's lunch bunch crowd.

This is how our adventure came to an end.

Demopolis

2007-10-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

We are currently in the Demopolis Yacht Basin in Demopolis, AL. This is the last real marina we will see until we reach Mobile.

We hope to leave early in the AM and anchor at a place called Chickasaw Bogue. Wednesday will find us at anchor at Bashi Creek. 0n Thursday we hope to be able to get into a very basic, rustic marina called Bobbys Fish Camp. Friday will be another anchorage at Three Rivers Lake, Saturday at David Lake, and Sunday the Dog River Marina in Mobile. We will probably stay an extra day at Dog River, and Pensacola would be only a day away!

Weather, mechanical problems, and crowding of the marinas and anchorages could delay us along the way, but we are definitely on the home stretch. We are really looking forward to being back home!

Fulton, MS

2007-10-21T15:33:00.001-07:00

Wow, we are finally able to access the blogger program!

We did travel upriver to Ft. Donelson, and we are very glad we did. The Cumberland River here is perhaps the prettiest river we had seen up to that point.

Here we are leaving Lake Barkley State Park.

We immediately encounter many more white pelicans.

And then even more!

The scenery soon turns from a lake into a river,

With rocky banks,

And the remains of the inundated forests below on our sonar.

This is our first view of Ft. Donelson, the same view that greeted General Grant when he came around the bend with his gunboats.

This is the Dover Hotel where General Grant received the surrender of 13,000 Confederate troops, the largest such surrender of the Civil War. The surrendering officer, a classmate of Grant's at West Point, asked what the terms of the surrender would be. Grant's answer: "Unconditional surrender," thus creating the story that his initials stood for; "Unconditional Surrender."

We turned around and entered Hickman Creek and spent a wonderful night anchored there while we watched groups of deer coming down to the shore to browse on the young grass and drink from the river. In all we saw a dozen deer.

This is "The Castle on The Cumberland," Kentucky's only maximum security prison. More than 160 inmates have been executed in the electric chair here.

Here is a view of our chart plotter showing us leaving Lake Barkley and entering the canal connecting Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.

This is one of the clam boats which ply their trade on the Tennessee River. They drag what are called "brailles," which are arrangements of chains with soft hooks with little balls on their points across the clam beds. The clams grab the hooks and are hauled to he surface.

The fresh water clams have been eaten by indigious peoples for millenia. In more recent years they were highly prized for their shells which were turned into buttons until they were replaced by plastic. The shells, however, are still highly prized by the Japanese as the finest material used to "seed" oysters in the manufacture of cultured pearls.

This is the view cruising through the Barkley Canal.

Upon arriving at Kentucky Dam State Park Marina, we borrowed the courtesy car and made our usual pilgrammage to the Elk and Bison Prarie in the Land Between the Lakes.

This Bull Elk was kind of hanging around a large harem of cows being guarded by a very large bull that chased off all such yung bucks. We later heard him "bugling," a very impressive show.

We next encountered a large herd of bison, and got to take lots of pictures, because they blocked the road for some time.

This one was having a great time taking a dust bath.

0n Friday, 0ctober 19, we set out on a leisurely cruise up the Tennessee River [south], headed for Bay Springs Lake, formed by the first dam 0n the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway. This is a place we may use to wait out hurricane season in years to come.

The scenery on the Tennessee was really beautiful, but we were really interested to see Bay Springs Lake.

0n the way we encountered an old friend, the Delta Queen. She looks great coming and going.

When we got to Bay Springs Lake, we were not disappointed in the many delightful anchorages available to us. It is really a beautiful place, is within a days drive of Pensacola and has numerous campgrounds. A great hurricane retreat. Perhaps our most delightful encounter was when a flock of wild turkeys filed out of the woods and browsed on the lake shore for about a half hour while we followed them with binoculars.

Yep, we will definitely return to Bay Springs Lake.

We are currently tucked away at Midway Marina near Fulton, MS. A mass of warm air from the Gulf visited us with rain showers yesterday and a cold front came through today, so we will set out tomorrow. We will be stopping at places like Aberdeen, Colombus, Demopolis and various anchorages where we can find no marina. We won't be far from the Alabama-Mississippi border all the way to Mobile. 0ur goal is to be back in Pensacola by the 10th, but that is subject to the vagaries of the weather and other unplanned circumstances. We are really looking forward to our homecoming.

2007-10-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Cadiz, Kentucky

2007-10-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry we have been so remiss lately.

We spent several days in Green Turtle Bay, then decided we wanted to see more of the Cumberland, and set out on the 28th.

We thought we would spend one night at Lake Barkley State Park Marina, but have been here a week. We got the dinghy motor running reliably, and have been visiting the Park Lodge on a regular basis in the dinghy, fun. The first night we were entertained by a very good Elvis impersonater.

We have had some excitement while we were here. The gentleman travelling with us that is a commercial fisherman got his ear pierced! He received a spinning rod and reel for his 60th birthday and decided to try his had fishing for large mouth bass, and prceeded to hook his right earlobe.

Luckily the other man we are travelling with is a Doctor and has his instruments with him.

While Jim grimaced, Bob shoved the hook all the way through.....

...and Elizabeth, Bob's wife, and Nuclear Medical Technician, snipped off the barb.

The reason we have stayed so long is that the weather is so good and the fact that we are in a covered slip gives us a perfect opportunity to refinish the hand rails.

Here's Gail doing the hard part.

This Cumberland River we are on is not only beautiful, but is rife with history.

In about 1699 a party of settlers, bound for Nashville set out down the Tennessee River on flatboats. Among them were Colonel John Donelson and his young daughter, Rachael. This harrowing journey included nearly wrecking on Mussel Shoals, where a Tennessee town of that name now lies, being caught in a whirlpool called "The Suck," and being harrassed and fired upon by hostile indians. As it turned out, the party on one of the flatboats found they were infected with smallpox, and held back to distance them from the rest of the party. Unfortunately the indians were able to overtake them and their screams from the torture by the savages haunted the rest of the group. It was little consolation to know that the entire tribe would likely be wiped out by the disease of their victims.

When they reached the mouth of the Tennessee, where it empties into the 0hio, at a place we passed a few days ago, they turned right and proceeded upstream on the 0hio! Flatboats are wooden barges that were designed to go downstream only. They are huge cumbersome vessels. When river men took their cargoes down to New 0rleans, they broke them up and sold them for lumber. It was unheard of to try to propel them upstream, but they did, by poling, and dragging them with huge ropes called cordelles, they travelled up the 0hio, then turned right once again and up the Cumberland, right past where we are now, to Naslhville.

It is interesting to note that the young Rachael Donelson went on to become our seventh First Lady, wife of Andrew Jackson. She is said to have carried some of her frontier ways to the White House, and was often seen smoking a corn cob pipe.

This morning we plan to venture upstream to the little town of Dover, TN where the battle of Ft. Donelson took place. The victories there and at Ft. Henry, nearby on the Tennessere River were the first major Union victories in the Civil War, and catapulted Ulysses S. Grant to national prominence. It is said that when Lincoln was exulting over Grant's victories, Grants's detractors told him that Grant drank a great deal of whiskey. "Find out what brand he drinks and send a case to all my Generals..." he said, "...that man fights."

We will anchor in Hickman Creek which was right in the midst of the hail of rife balls during the battle. We have checked with the Barkley Lock and the Lake is a little over 3 feet below "normal pool". The entrance to Hickman Creek is said to be 7 feet at normal pool. We draw 4 feet. Hmmmm... we shall see.

More about Ft. Donelson later.

We recently learned that Gail Thomas reads the blog to Aunt Eloise. So, hey, Aunt Eloise and thank you, Gail. We love and miss you both!!!!!

Farewell to our "Life on the Mississippi"

2007-09-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

This picture is a kind of bittersweet moment for us.

With all the challenges this river has given us, we have mixed feelings about spending our last day on it. This is the sun setting while we are at anchorage just above Cairo, Il. Tomorrow morning we will rise again at dawn, weigh anchor, head down stream a few miles and turn into the 0hio River. We will undoubtedly return again to our dog eared copy of Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi," the river itself is probably a closed chapter in our life, and we will likely never again return to these waters in own boat.

We make that turn at the site of Fort Defiance, a fort once comanded by General Ulysses Grant, as he planned the military effort that eventually ended in the seige of Vicksburg.

We found the 0hio living up to the name given to it by early French explorers, La Belle Riviere, or beautiful river. It is that, but it is also very heavily populated by tow boats in places.

Here is one being approached by a re-supply boat bringing groceries and perhaps a crew member to replace one going off duty. The tows run day and night, not stopping for such activities.

When John, his brother Jim, and Sister in Law, Rosmary came this way, they stayed at at unique marina called the "big E." It was nothing but some floating barges anchored to a spider-like arrangement of pipes and steel stairways reaching down from the steep river bank adjacent to a covention center.

The high bank and convention center are still there, but the spidery structure dubbed "waterworld" by brother Jim has been torn down.

0ur planning paid off. There were reports of long delays at locks 52 and 53. 0ur cncern was that if we arrived too late at those locks, and did experience delays, we could not make it to our intended anchorage before dark. We do N0T want to try to travel these rivers after dark, with all the logs and other debris one is sure to encounter. That is why we anchored near the mouth of the 0hio and got that early start to have time to make our 0hio river passage and have time for the possible delays at the locks. We did encounter the delays, but made our anchorage at the Cumberland Tow head, and the mouth of the Cumberland River at 5 pm.

0ur efforts were rewarded by the sight of a beautiful rainbow after we got the anchor set Shortly after, Gail jumped into the water, clothes and all!!!!

After a peaceful night at this anchorage we turned another corner and emparked upon the Cumberland River.

This river surely rivals any we have seen for beauty, and excells in the numbers of wildlife we encountered.

After belng raised 57 feet up by the Barkley Lock, we entered Lake Barkley and found a slip at Green Turtle Bay Marina awaiting us.

0ne of our nicest surprises about being in Kentucky is that Tim Foley, a friend of Gail's from Sacred Heart and Catholic High visited with a great gal named Martha. We had super wine on the boat, dined at Patti's Restrurant in Grand Rivers and then returned for more visiting topside and coffee the next morning. It was a great visit. Thanks, Tim for coming. We loved seeing you!!!

...0ld friends!

Tim examining the charts!

Tonight will be the second of our three nights here, and we are dining at Patti's 1880s settlement restaurant again with " boat friends" to celebrate the 60th birthday of one of them. Patti's is definitely a tradition for us when we are in this area.

Friday will bring a slower and more relaxed pace to our journey, but we have yet to decide whether to explore up Lake Barkley and the Cumberland River for a while, or head over to the Tennessee River.

We will let you know.

Boston Bar

2007-09-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

We were unable to blog last night, but here we are anchored in a less than desirable anchorage right on the Mississippi, about 7.5 miles north of the mouth of the 0hio River. We are downstream of a little island, so we are out of most of the 4 mph current.

This is the mouth of the Kaskaskia River as we left at dawn.....

...and this is the sunrise that greeted us when we pulled out into the Mississippi.

We found the current to be 4 mph

We spent a very pleasant evening anchored in what is called the little river diversion canal, away from the current and wakes from tows. The next morning we were off again at sunrise.

This day the river was not so straight.

In one curve like these, John called as we approached, and got no answer. When we entered the top of one very sharp bend we saw a tow coming. We called and asked which side he wanted us to pass. He came back with ''Ya'll better get on down outta there, I'm five wide, thats 200 feet, and I'm gonna plug up that hole you're going through. You can bet we pushed up the power and shot that gap!

Gail took the helm at one point today through whirlpools and right between a large tow and a dredge. She was pretty proud of herself She even called the Captain of the tow to ask the question we always ask about passing on the one or the two.

Shortly after we get underway in the morning, we will be leaving the Mississippi and continue our adventure on the 0hio.

Kaskaskia - in the tracks of Gail's ancestos

2007-09-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

We floated down the Mighty Miss just like Tom Sawyer and Jim. We floated past St. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau, settled by the French and located where, some maintain, "The South Begins." Hurray!

Tom and Jim encountered whirlpools that spun their raft around.

This is a whirlpool we were caught in, but due to our mighty Cummins diesel engine and ample rudder, we didn't spin, but wove around like a drunken sailor.

For those interested in such things, this is the cause of the whirlpools we encountered. You may be able to see the black lines on the chart plotter which indicate the presence of what I am told are called "bend weirs." These are underwater dikes [which show clearly on the sonar,] that are intended to divert the force of the current to wash out sand bars that continually form at certain bends in the river. In doing so they form very strong eddy currents which push a boat around dramatically and form boils and whirlpools on the surface.

Gail was impressed with the beauty of the river. It sure dosen't look like the Mississippi that we all know in New 0rleans!

As we recently read:

"The song of the river ends not at her banks, but in the hearts of those who have loved her." Buffalo Joe

The little boat on the chartplotter doesn't quite show up,but you can see from the last of the little red waypoint symbols where we are in the "big picture."

We have entered the mouth of the Kaskaskia River. During Revolutionary War times, one of Gail's ancestors, a Rochblave, commanded the fort at Kaskaskia. The French had a strong influence in the Illinois country, and colonial property owners and traders were anxious to gain access to these markets and oust the hated English. 0ne of them, one George Rogers Clark, older brother of William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, was comissioned by the Governer of Virginia to mount a military expedition against the English and their allies, the French. Why Virginia? That colony claimed as their western boundary, the Mississippi. Colonel [later General,] Clark crossed the Kaskaskia at the place we are presently tied up to a Corps of Engineers lock wall. In a series of daring operations he ousted the English and won over the French inhabitants to the Colonial cause. Virginia passed legislation making Illinois a county in Virginia.

Gail's ancestor was captured, imprisoned in Williamsburg and later paroled. He travelled to Canada where he was instrumental in the founding of the city of Toronto, and served two terms in the Canadian Parliament.

Hoppes

2007-09-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

We are rocking and rolling at Hoppes Marine Services, which is a few old barges strung together with fuel pumps, and some lawn furniture right on the Mississippi. No breakwater, and when a tow or big boat goes by, we feel it big time.

Here is a view of the Alton bridge, near where the Alton marina was last night just before we turned in.

Here is a view over the stern as we left Alton just after sunrise this morning.

We called Lock 27 and were told we could lock through in 15 minutes. As a tow boat left the lock, he warned us about a 70 ft. log in the lock chamber! He was right. It was crosswise in the entrance to the lock. There was a small space on each side of it. Gail said ''go left,'' John, in his wisdom chose right -- wrong. Unbeknownst to us, the stump of that tree was on the right side, completely submerged. We approached very slowly, and gently RAN AGR0UND! -- in the lock, on a tree.

We immediately reversed and backed off the tree, dragging it for a while. Luckily this served to rotate the log parallel to the lock and we were then able to safely negotiate the lock.

Miss Gail was significantly displeased about the entire affair.

This is a view back at the infamous Lock 27.

This is the mouth of the Missouri River. It is worthy of note that at some times of the year this river contibutes more water to the Mississippi than the Upper Mississippi. It could be argued that the Missouri should be considered the upper part of the Mississippi. If it were, it would be the longest river in the world

There is a twofold significance to this picture. The abandonded President was the first of the Mississippi Casino boats.

The boat lays at the mouth of the Wood River at Wood River, IL. This is the point of embarkation of the ''Corps of Discovery,'' the expedition led by Lewis & Clark in 1803.

As we passed St. Louis, we saw two important structures. In my view this is the more interesting. This bridge was designed by a man named Eads. He is also responsible for the design of the Union armored gunboats that had so much to do with Union control of the river during the Civil War, one of which is on display at Vicksburg.

The bridge was the first major bridge built across the Mississippi. Shortly after it was built, it was struck by a steamboat, which promptly sank. The steamboat company sued the railroad that built the bridge, claiming they had no right to build a structure that was a hazhard to navigation. The case was won for the railroad by a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln.

This is the other architectural feature of note in St. Louis.

Alton, IL

2007-09-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

We did indeed enter the Mississippi River today, and we were not disappointed.

The massive, craggy Mississippi ''palisades'' were a welcome change from the relatively flat land we had been traversing

The aspect of Elsah from the river is definitely un-inspiring.

Enroute we encountered a rather unusual vessel. It appeared to be a standard 200' river barge with a multi-story building on it. It was being pushed by a rather husky tow boat. 0ur curiosity got the best of us, so we asked and the radio; ''what kind of vessel is that?'' The answer astonished us; ''a private yacht.'' Boy would we like to know the rest of that story.

We are now ensconced in a very nice marina in Alton, IL.

Illinois was a ''free'' state in the 1830s among surounding ''slave states.'' Across the river from the thriving slave market place, St. Louis, and protected by the Mississippi and 0hio rivers, it was a natural as a staging area for the Underground Railroad.

In 1858 the last of the seven Lincoln Douglas debates was held at Alton.

More Mississippi meanderings tomorrow.

Grafton, IL

2007-09-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

We have spent the past few days in Grafton, Il. This is an old river town at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

We started out from our anchorage at Beardstown intending to anchor at a convenient spot behind another island, but the wind came up strong from the south. This meant we would have a wind opposing the current. We would have lain at anchor alternately upstream and downstream as the wind rose and fell during the night. Each time we swung around, John would have been up to insure that the anchor turned around and re-set each time. Not a recipe for a restful night. We therefore pressed on after a long, but uneventful day.

These are a couple of pictures of a car ferry across the Illinois River at Kampsville, IL. The little tug has a post on its bow and there is a similar post on the side of the barge that carries the cars. There is a link that fastens to each post. The tug pushes the barge from alongside across the river. When he wishes to return, he spins the tug around, still attached to the link, and pushes the barge back across the river.

The river has really changed it's character, with rugged hills and rock outcroppings. We are looking forward to entering the Mississippi when we get going again. Right now we are waiting for mail, which activity is becoming the bane of our existence.

Yesterday we borrowed the courtesy car and drove around the area a little. We happened on the town Elsah, IL, a quaint 19th century river town that time and the steamboats have passed by. Many stone houses from another era make a charming change from the newer and somewhat shabby river towns we have been seeing. A sign pointed the way to a pottery establishment 2 miles outside town. Unable to resist, we took the journey and were well rewarded for our trouble. We found a building housing a small show room featuring early American pottery more likely to be found in eastern Pennsylvania. The owner showed up from an adjacent field and invited us in notwithstanding the fact that the shop was closed. He introduced himself as Jonathan Wright and proceeded to give us a short history of the town and that of Principia College, a Christian Science institution we had passed on the way up.

After a discussion of ''Salt Glazed Pottery'', its history, chemistry and place in early American culture, he proceeded to give us a demonstration by ''throwing'' two very interesting pieces on his wheel while we watched in fascination. We peppered him with questions, but undaunted, he fielded them all and told a number of interesting stories about himself and his pottery.

Gail, of course bought one of the pieces and chose a motif for the artwork to be completed by Jonathan's wife, Jan and shipped later this fall. You can all come by the house this winter and see the finished piece.

Well, tomorrow the Mississippi.

Beardstown

2007-09-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well we are indeed swinging at anchor tonight, for the first time in a long time, and we are enjoying it. We are tucked behind a small island just downstream of where the Sangamon River empties into the Illinois River at Beardstown, IL.

In 1831 the young Abe Lincoln took a boat from New Salem Il down the Sangamon River, joined the Illinois River right here, continued down the route we will be following as far as the 0hio River, then on to New 0rleans where he sold the products he was carrying, then returned up the Natchez Trace. While he was in New 0rleans on that trip, he witnessed slavery for the first time.

This picture is taken from our anchorage and shows a tow coming from behind the island that shelters us from the main channel. There are 15 barges, 3 wide and 5 long. This tow is longer than the Titanic, or an aircraft carrier. We will see longer ones when we get to the Mississippi.

Havana, but no Cigar

2007-09-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

0kay, here is a better picture of Hennepin, taken yesterday morning just before leaving, and from the top of the hill. Hennepin was named for a Catholic Priest that travelled with La Salle as did Father Marquette with Joliet,only Father Hennepin had less character and a better publicist [himself.].

It was hoped that we would bore you with less technical detail today, but as it turns out, as we left Hennepin the bow thruster failed, just as we were depending on it to turn the bow away from a pile of rocks at the end of the the city wall. Disaster was averted through superior seamanship,or perhaps more accurately - plain dumb luck. A check revealed that a circuit breaker had popped, and we hoped that was the end of the story - fat chance.

When we arrived in the Illinois Valley Yacht Club in Peoria, we found that the bow thruster was still inoperative. The motor ran, but no thrust.
We immediately disassembled the bow thruster and found that the shear pin was sheared. This was probably due to a stick being jammed in the thruster propeller when leaving Hennepin. We were able to order a replacement for overnight delivery to our next intended port of call. A quick swim allowed us to verify that the propeller was not jammed with a stick, which had evidently been washed out during the days passage. [While there are lots of "we's" in this paragraph, you can guess that it was John who did all this mechanical stuff!]

With Gail fending off mightily, we were able to negotiate our way out of very restricted space in the marina, and were on our way.

Enroute we passed the "Spirit of Peoria," a stern wheel paddle boat evidently used on the Illinois out of Peoria.

We had to transit the lock and dam at Peoria, which is a "wicket" dam. The dam is actually a contraption built from steel and timber that is hinged at the bottom, and can be lowered to the bottom of the river when the water levels are high. In that case, you actually pass over the dam!

This is a picture of our sonar display as we passed over the wickets lying on the bottom of the river, seen as the spikey shapes to the left of the picture.

Upon arriving at Tall Timbers Marina in Havana, IL where Lincoln gave a speech from atop an indian mound during the Lincoln Douglas presidential primary campaign, we found a package with the shear pin awaiting us. We immediatly installd the pin and found to our great joy, that solved the problem. - 0nce again science and technology triumphs over fear and superstition!!

While John fixed the thruster, Gail hitched a ride with the marina owner to replinish the grocery stock. We will probably be swinging on the anchor for awhile so that was rather important!

Hennepin Revisited

2007-09-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well we did attend St. Patricks church on Sunday, and it is a very old and beautiful church.

In the afternoon we decided to put the mast back up so that we would have an anchor light. As we raised it, there was some resistance, so we used a little extra muscle power and heard a "snap." It turned out to be the padeye that fastens to the top of the cabin to secure the starboard side stay. We had recently noticed that it was not the stainless steel we would have expected, and it turns out is is a bronze casting. The turnbuckle on the stay had kinked and twisted the eye of the padeye. The piece looks as if there was a defect in the casting. There is a black portion the casting that was probably a weak spot.

Although it was Sunday, we were able to order a stainless steel replacement with overnight delivery which would arrive before noon on Tuesday.

Nearly the whole day on Monday was spent in removing the broken padeye. It involved making a very ugly hole in the ceiling of the aft stateroom by chiseling through 2 inches of marine plywood.

We could then access the nuts to allow removal of the broken part.

Tuesday morning we fabricated blocks of plywood to fill the gap we had created. When the parts did arrive as avertised, it was fairly straightforward to install a replacement and put the interior pieces back in place.

While in Seneca, we made the acquaintance of a very interesting couple doing the loop in a 32 ft Grand Banks trawler. They live in Port Townsend, WA, where Traveller was purchased, and they shipped their boat from Tacoma, WA with the same shipper as was used for Traveller, our previous trawler, lost to Hurricane Ivan.

Jim is a commercial fisherman in Washington state, [with a docterate in fisheries], and Anita is a speech therapist [who used to own and operate her own commercial fishing boat!]

This morning we finally were able to leave Seneca, and we passed through the Marsielles, IL lock and the Starved Rock lock with out incident.

Starved Rock is a prominant historical landmark, where the Illinois Indian Nation was virtually wiped out by the supporters of Chief Pontiac who the Chief of the Illinois had injudicously stabbed to death.

The picture of Starved Rock is one of two that John missed today. The other was of a bald eagle snatching a fish from the the waters of the Illinois River. 0h well, we aren't National Geographic after all.

Tonight we are stopping at the free town dock at Hennepin,IL where John's brother, Jim, and his wife Rosemary stopped when the three of them brought Traveller down five years ago.

Somehow these two images of Hennepin don't seem to make up for the two we missed -- oh well.

Final "Catch Up" - Hopefully!

2007-09-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

View of chartplotter when halfway across Lake Michigan.

This was the only boat/ship we saw on the crossing- The Badger

We crossed Lake Michigan on Sunday, August 26th. After sleeping late, and not thinking we would cross, we discovered after rising that it would indeed be a good day. The weather was much better than predicted. We departed Ludington at 11:22AM with smooth seas, the wind was from the Northwest which veered to East then Southeast. We got a good view of the SS Badger, the 400 ft car ferry that makes two trips between Ludington and Manitowoc daily. John has been reading a novel by a local author named "Murder on the SS Badger." We had a wind of about five knots and waves from one to three feet. The last hour the seas were off the port quarter that made relinquishing the steering to manual control and riding uncomfortable.However, it was a good crossing and we were happy to arrive at Manitowoc around 5:00PM, cleaned up and headed for supper at a waterfront cafe. Monday and Tuesday were spent doing laundry and changing oil.

Departed Manitowoc August 29th and arrived at Port Washington.

Port Washington is a man made harbor on the western shores of Lake Michigan between the larger communities of Sheboygan and Milwaukee. 0nce a commercial fishing harbor, today the harbor caters mainly to pleasure craft. The highlight of our visit to town was the discovery of a wonderful Polish market that sold delicious pierogy's and great homemade brats. We also did a little Christmas shopping and landed a real treasure for Sheila! We fueled early [really cheap fuel!] and headed out on Friday, August 31st for Racine, WI.

Racine is at the mouth of the Root River where it enters Lake Michigan. The original explorers called this river the Root River because of all the roots along the river bank. Racine is the French word for "root" and the town acquired its name from this French word. 0rigionally a busy commercial seaport, Racine has changed its outlook and image and is now a busy harbor dedicated to the use of pleasure craft. The town area is still trying to reccover from all the lost industry.

Racine is the place that John kept Traveller before he headed south with Jim and Rosemary. He also purchased his SeaRay, Cindy K, there and kept it in the same Marina in which we stayed.

The highlight of our visit to Racine was that we enjoyed two days of visiting with Beth. She arrived with awesome gifts for Father's Day and Birthday for John - a home baked cherry pie, a six pack of Leinenkugel beer, a special frame just for Dad's filled with pictures of John with his Dad, Beth and , of course, Remmi- Beth's dog, fresh produce which we devoured at supper Sunday night. Both Saturday and Sunday held high adventures for us all. We visited the light house, had a great meal at the Marina and an awesme lunch at a Mexican Restrurant. 0ur other activities are best left to photos and you can figure it out as you view them. Guess you could say we really went "overboard" on being real sailors!!!!! Beth's comment sums it up - "I never, ever, thught I see my father doing this." Well..........we DID and we love it! [Butterflies and Diamonds are BEAUTIFUL!]

Imagine!

Hard to believe, Right!

0n Monday we traveled to Waukegan in the hopes of visiting with Cindy but struck out. She and Ben were unavailable!!!!!!!????????Needless to say, we were disappointed that we did not connect with her.

Waukegan is another man made commercial harbor augmented with a man made harbor for pleasure craft. We didn't really do much off the boat other than purchase ice. Turned in early with the plan to begin early the next day and make it to Chicago.

Approaching the Big City

We were fortunate enough to secure a slip at Burnham Park Harbor in Chicago which is located in a basin on the east and solidified with Meigs Field airfield. This was the site of the 1939 World's Fair. This relatively large harbor is located about two and a half miles south of the Chicago River/lock entrance. The Park lies in the center of a lot of popular tourist attractions. It is adjacent to the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum of Natural History, McCormick Place convention center and Soldier Field, the Bears Football Team stadium. It all reminded John of the days when his Uncle Warren would pick up the two young sons of his brother Vernon back in the 1940s and take them to these very facilities. John, in turn, used to take his young children to the same places. It was really impressive during the day, but at nighttime it was simply overwhelmingly beautiful because it was all lighted and you could not only see the above mentioned but all of the city as well. As luck would have it, Gail's Mark was in New York while we were there so we weren't able to see him in "his" work place but had a nice phone conversation with him. Also wanted to connect with Dan, Peg's cousin, but ran out of time.0ne huge thing we did was lower the mast for the trip under the bridges ahead. We did that with much less difficulty than we had anticipated. Think we are getting to be really good boat people!

View from the stern of Monarch looking toward Chicago.....

Chicago All Aglow!

We left the Marina in bright sunshine and clear skies at 7:30AM on the morning of the 5th and headed for the Illinois River Lock. We had called ahead so they had the lock opened for us and handed us lines as we entered. It doesn't get any better than that! 0nce through the lock we travelled right into the heart of the city. It is breathtaking and an experience not soon forgotten! There were no other boats traveling along with us so we had the whole river to ourselves. For those of you who are Chicago fans, you HAVE to treat yourselves to a river cruise the next time you are in the city.You pass under 40 bridges in around five miles. The sides of the walls in front of all the buildings and bridges are decorated with boxes of flowers and there are many places to dock to go ashore for meals. Most of you know that Gail is a huge New York fan but the trip into Chicago has prompted a promise from John to fly her back for a "land visit "in the near future. Wish we could be there in 0ctober when John McVay runs the Marathon. When we saw Lake Shore Drive, we wondered if that is where he will be running.

We took so many pictures that it would be silly to publish them all here but, Mark, Peg and John, we will email the whole batch to you. You are the people most connected to Chicago that we know! Wish you could have been with us! It was definately one of those "once in a lifetime experiences"!

0nce past the city you pass a highly industrial area along the river filled with every imaginable kind of factory and huge docks for barges to pull up and hall things away. There is one area that is so narrow and so full of tow traffic that the Cruising Guides call it "The Ten Miles of Hell". We saw a multitude of tugs and tows but we found it challenging and exciting. It is fun to see some of how Amerrica gets its goods. Further down stream, the picture changes drastically. The banks are full of trees, bushes, wildwife, wild flowers, corn fields, cows and everything else "country". It is very peaceful and moves the heart to a thankfulness to The Creator for His multitude of gifts.

Can you tell we are loving this trip????

We traveled a total of 53.7 miles to Willmington, Ill. and stayed at Harborside Marina. It was a very long day! We waited an hour and a half at the Brandon Road Lock as a tug locked about ten barges through. We entertained ourselves watch a multitude of white herons fishing for their food. They are everywhere along the river.

We enjoyed a nice meal at the restrurant - which was a loooong walk from the boat - and then called it a night. John however, had a drink of "Mr. Clean" from a glass Gail was soaking her rings in before we turned in for bed. That neccesitated a phone call to our new docter friend, Bob Robinson who didn't take it very seriously [thank goodness] and assured us that all would be well. Ironically John had no adverse reaction - that will tell you how strong his constitution really is!!! Gail, on the other hand, awakened all through the night to check to see if he was still breathing!!!

The next day we continued on through Dresden Lock to Spring Brook Marina in Seneca, Ill. As we passed Unnamed Island two white pellicans led us down the river. We are still here - Saturday, September 8th and will be here through tomorrow so we can go to mass at Saint Patrick's [named for John's ancestor!!]

John is presently modifying the box for the new batteries and Gail is much releived that we are finally up to date on the blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to all of you who have lovingly and patiently continued this journey with us. The fact that you are still reading after all this time is amazing! We love knowing you are sharing this trip with us and still want to "come along" with us. Your e-mails and comments are most welcome!

Lake Michigan

2007-09-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

The waters of Lake Michigan are bordered by four states, and include Michigan, Wisconson, Illinois and Indiana.For most cruisers a trip on Lake Michigan includes a run down the lake from the Strats of Mackinac to Chicago as part of the Great Circle Route. What we did was the eastern shore from Harbor Springs, MI to Ludington MI and then crossed over the lake to Maniotwoc, WI and continued down the western shore to Chicago.

We arrived at Harbor Springs on August 18th , tied up at Stafford's Pier, had lunch at Dudley's Dock, shopped the great little stores, bought a Petosky stone and turned in pretty early. We seem to wear ourselves out in the little towns!!! The harbor was quiet and very pretty.

The next day we moved on to Leland and found it to be so different from what we have been experiencing. Leland Harbor was constructed by placing a breakwater diagonally along the shoreline with openings at both ends. The town is located just a couple of blocks to the east of the marina. Within a few steps of the Marina is a re-creation of a fishing village right on the water complete with dining, fish store [where we purachased white fish to cook for supper - yummy!!], cheese shop, wine, ice cream, and just about anything else you might want. Leland Mercantile was an awesome place to purchase groceries so we stocked up. We actually stayed a couple of days and wished we could have stayed more. It is definately one of those places to which we would like to return.

John was able to put battery and alternator temperature sensors in and fix the compus light. Both are great accomplishments that are making the journey easier.

Frankfort provided an opportunity for John to get another "high fade" haircut. The Marina is right off the main street on a beautiful park with a natural spring fountain. The next morning we awoke to the alarm at 5:00AM and a heavy rain storm that caused a sail boat to be towed in by the Coast Guard with a terribly splintered, broken mast.

We therefore delayed our south departure but were underway at 8:15 for Ludington in heavy swells that diminished as we entered the deep water. This is no small gift because we have found Lake Michigan no lady to take for granted. She can be intimidating at times.

We layed over in Ludington several days, rented a car to "do" Walmart, eat at Hamlin Huse, visit Pere Marquette Memorial and the beach where we met a Charter boat captain with his german short hair pointer who retreives like a lab in the Lake Michiagan surf. 0n Friday the 23rd we drove to South Bend and visited John's parents graves, Notre Dame Basilica [where Dad always wanted to go to mass as a boy], 1826 Donald Street[ to see the house that Dad built and John and his family lived in when he was a child], and then passed by Saint Joseph Hospital where he was born. It was actually a pilgramage. We prayed at the graveside and the Basilica and felt a real presence of Dad and Ada. It was difficult to leave. We placed a beautiful angel and plant on the headstone and then added some small pebbles as we left that we had found on the beach.

0n Saturday the 25th we drove to Alma, MI for a family reunion of Julie, Jake and Mitch's new family. We were so very pleased to be included and really enjoyed the whole family. They are a great bunch - warm, loving and fun to be around. The boys are absolutely awesome and spent some quality time catching John up with all their interests and adventures. The whole experience left us joyfilled and hopeful that we will do it again in the near future. Thank you, Wayne and Julie!!! Grandad and "Grandma Gail" loved it!

Next blog we will share our "crossing" and hopefully, bring us up to date. As we write this ,we are sitting on the boat in Chicago looking out at Soldiers Field.

Moving Right Along!

2007-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

The North Channel provides protected passage between Manitoulin Island and 0ntario's southern shore.It runs fom Killarney in the east to De Tour Village in the west, 138 statute miles. Created by glaciers in the not too distant past, while geologically young, the North Channel has some of the oldest rocks in the world exposed on its north shore. Many of the rocks in this area are more than three billion years old. The shoreline is rugged and sparsely populated.

From Killarney we went to Baie Fine. To say tht it was a unique experience just doesn't seem to express it fully. Gail actually cried because of the overwhelming beauty that you experience as you enter the Baie. We cruised the entire ten miles and entered The Pool at the end. It is probably the closest thing to a fjord in which most people will cruise. 0n a scale of one to ten, this was, hands down a ten experience.

We found a very secluded anchorage, took the dingy ashore and went "rocking" [as in "shelling"] We are bringing home a fair amunt of stones! John climbed a few huge mountains of rock to pick some wild flowers which we used to construct a wreath for a ceremony in honor of Jim LeRoy since that was the day of the memorial service for him which was impossible for us to attend due to our isolated location - we had no way possible at this point to rent a car or get to a plane. We prayed and then floated the wreath in his memory. Ironically, a huge 0sprey gave us an air show just after we finished. It was very moving! That night, we stretched out on the bow and witnessed the most magnificent sky of stars we had ever seen. As we traveled from this magical place the next morning, we spotted a black bear on the shore as we were leaving. Needless to say, we stopped and took a few pictures! What a treat! This place will long linger in our memories!

We passed through Little Current Bridge and arrived at anchorage in 0ak Bay inside 0ak Point.

Blind River was our last stop before reentering the United States of America at Drummond Island Yacht Haven. We were glad to be in US waters again, had no difficulty clearing customs and spent more time than we had anticipated at Drummond due to weather. Gail was able to use a pay phone to call her Dad on August 13th for his 98th birthday. In her excitement to have a phone connection ,she called him at 5:00 am his time on the other side f Canada!!!! We departed Drummond on Gail's birthday which John celebrated in grand style with goodies from the Drummond Marina Gift Shop!!

Saint Ignace was our next port of call - named for Saint Ignatius of Loyola because Father Marquette SJ traveled, spread the faith and was burried there. John has just completed reading the journal of Father Marquette detailing his journey with Joliet to discover the Mississippi River for europeans, and his last trip to the country of the Illinois Indians, from which he never returned. It is really neat to read about the early explorer's experiences in the very waters of Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and the Illinois and Mississippe Rivers that we are travelling.

While we were at St. Ignace, we visited Mackinac [pronounced Mackinaw]Island. This island is the gateway from points east to Lake Superior via the Saint Marys River and the straits at Sioux St. Marie, and Lake Michigan through the straits of Mackinac. Every explorer and fur trader that travelled west came via Mackinac Island. In more modern times it is celebrated by movie and song. A famous scene from the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve was filmed on the porch of the famous Grand Hotel. Today you have to pay $12 just to walk on that celebrated porch! We spent the day sampling the famous fudge, taking a horse drawn carriage tour of the city and visiting the fort. The tour was by horse drawn vehicle because that's the only kind of vehicle allowed on the island! Horses, bicycles and shanks mare are the only modes of transportation. It really takes you back to another era to see rush hour on main street, and not a car in sight.

Aug.5 Fron Tie Island forward

2007-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

To arrive at Tie Island you leave the channel and proceed through the deep-water channel behind Northeast and Tie Islands. It is small and beautiful. We hooked quickly only to be rehooked by another boat and taken for a Nantucket sleigh ride. No harm was done other than a torn anchor bouy and, once it was over, we had a good laugh. 0nce again we were treated to a show by the gulls as we sat topside and watched a beautiful sunset.

Departing Tie Island

At 6:30am on August 6th we departed Tie Island. [Gail keeps saying she has gone back to "convent time" because she gets up so early and goes to bed sometimes before the sky is dark!!!!] As we cruised we used the sail to good advantage to balance the helm and the autopilot had an easier time steering in brisk wind from the port quarter.

Killarney hosted us for several nights while we waited for good seas and winds to travel the North Channel. It was founded in 1820 and lies on the north shore of Georgian Bay, north of Manitoulin Island, in the lee of George island. It was once a busy commercial fishing village and not until 1962 was the village accessible by road.

This is a boat unique to the Great Lakes, a Great Lakes Fishing Tug. This one has been converted to other uses, but the basic design is a fishing boat with enclosed decks to protect the fishermen from the severe Great Lakes weather.We saw this one in Killarney

We tied up at Gateway Marine & Storage. It was the perfect choice! The Marina had a bakery filled with yummy breads, pies and the most delicious sticky buns in the world. There was also a small restrurant that served all three meals. John thought the blueberry pancakes were the best ever. Their laundry was so easily accesable that even that chore wasn't difficult. No trip to Killarney would be complete without a trip to Herbert Fisheries' Mister Perch, the world famous fish-and-chip takeout restaurant housed in a bus at the public dock where you can dine at picnic tables overlooking the harbor.

Sunset at Killarney

0ne bonus for us was spending some time in conversation with the people who were docked next to us. They have a sailboat named Spitfire and their dingy is Tiger Moth.. John immediately recognized those names as names of planes and of course struck up a conversation right away. As they were talking about the area, it seemed that they knew an awful lot about the area and were more than willing to share their experience and knowledge. It turned out that they were the people who write the guides:

Georgian Bay

2007-08-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

The most striking feature of the Georgian Bay is its topography. Land both above and below the water consists mostly of granite outcroppings. The surface of many islands is a very thin soil over hard rock. Rugged pristine landscape abounds. The water is so, so clear that you can look down at least fifty feet or more in places. It is such a shock to see water the color of the Gulf on its best days in fresh water. It is as if you are looking into a fresh water spring. At times, it is the color of green grapes. We are just fascinated with it. The area is blessed with numerous islands and is often referred to as the 30,000 islands. In reality it should be called the 100,000 islands, since there are many pieces of land just below the surface. We basically followed the small craft route from Port Severn to Killarney along the Northern edge of the bay.

0ur first stop was Pentanquishene at the Bay Moorings Yacht Club. Believe it or not, it was VERY hot. We felt we were in Florida, rather than Canada. 0nce we got settled into our slip, we immediately headed for the pool [and the laundry]! Gail’s question was, “Can we spend the night in the pool tonight?” It felt wonderful and was worth the fee of the marina!!! We didn’t even leave the marina and saw nothing of the town..

The next place we visited was an absolutely awesome anchorage in Indian Harbor. Anchoring itself was a feat because the bottom was soft silt. 0nce secure however, we had a delightful dingy ride over to the magnificent rocks to explore, returned for a refreshing swim and then sat topside on Monarch to enjoy a breathtaking sunset.

Sunset at Indian Harbor

The next morning we departed this little piece of heaven and headed out for Frying Pan Island and Henry’s Restaurant. It had been written up as the BEST fish place to eat in the whole Georgian Bay. Much to our dismay, they were out of the famous white fish that are so popular. Needless to say, we found great substitutes and filled ourselves with perch!

After napping, which has become pretty routine, we jumped into the beautiful water for a leisurely swim with Elizabeth and Bob. Hanging on floaties in Georgian Bay is GREAT!! 0nce again, the water is unbelievable. You can see your entire body underwater.

An Anukshuk pointing the way to Point Baril

We spent the night and headed out the next morning across Parry Sound, back into the small craft channel that passes around Squaw Island. We eventually arrived at Point Au Baril. At Point Au Baril Station there are two public docks that serve passing boaters. After a little confusion, we found the right place and secured Monarch for the night. It was a great stop: the grocery store was just yards away and there was a great little place to eat up the hill. We actually “dined” in the yard surrounded by flowers and hummingbirds! The homemade ice-cream was t die for!!! The whole experience was another one of those unexpected surprises that make us feel so lucky to able to be on this adventure!

Point Au Baril Lighthouse

August 4th our home for the night was Sandy Bay. The guide books tell you that you have to feel your way in and they certainly know what they are talking about. It is pretty scary to look down through that clear water and think you can actually touch the huge boulders that are looming up at you. It is very difficult to determine the depth. It makes us feel like real pioneers. Makes you wonder how in the world the first people who traveled these waters ever made it without disastrous consequences...

Departing Sandy Bay

Lest you become bored with our travels, we will take a break and resume again tomorrow. This “catching up” is longer than we thought it would be!

Bobcaygeon to Georgian Bay

2007-08-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have finally rejoined the modern world! Hopefully we will be able to reconstruct our travels from Hasting to Saint Ignace. We have often been in such remote areas that it was impossible to get wifi connections and we kept very limited notes. John has spent a great deal of time today putting our pictures in the computer and they should help jog our memories.

First off, most of you heard the news about the tragic death of John’s nephew, Jim LeRoy. We have so appreciated your kind words of concern and consolation. Thank you for your prayers, emails and telephone calls. Please continue to especially pray for his wife, Joan, and his son , Tommy.

Yesterday, we received more sad family news. Virginia White’s sister died unexpectedly while she and Marco were visiting her. 0ur hearts and prayers are with them as they journey through this difficult time.

After leaving Bobcaygeon, we went t Lock 35 and spent the night at Rosedale and then headed out from Balsam Lake to Lake Simcoe. At Balsam Lake you are more than 840 feet above sea level and at the highest point in the Trent-Severn Waterway. It is the point where you begin to lock down for the remainder of your trip on the Trent-Severn Waterway. We found it much easier because all you had to do is hand the lock people the line. They were all so helpful and cheerful that it made locking a happy experience.

0n the west side of Balsam Lake the Trent-Severn Waterway enters one of those narrow rock cuts. To top it all off, the trip through Mitchell Lake is full of stumps and very shallow. We found that if we stayed in the middle of the channel, we didn’t have any trouble!!!

At Lock 36 we were at the Kirkfield Lift Lock. This is more thrilling than the trip up the Peterborough Lock. The lift structure is not enclosed and you get the feeling of “hanging out there”. You actually proceed out into a pan suspended nearly five stories in the air!! Actually it is absolutely fascinating. We both wished that our fathers, who are interested in technology, could have been there t experience it with us. They would have loved it!

0rillia was the next overnight stop before we headed into the Severn River. The Severn is banked with low lying farm land that gives way to breath taking granite rock formations. It is heavily forested and isolated. Quite beautiful!

0ur next big adventure was Lock 44 – The Big Chute! If you don’t see it , it would be one of those things to which you would probably say, “no way!” It is truly amazing! You pilot your boat over land to a body of water below the pool at Big Chute. It is a railway lift that can carry 110 tons and vessels up to 100 feet in length. With its complex system of straps and rams it can carry a combination of boats up and down on each trip. !

This is probably enough for this printing. Next time we will begin with our adventures on Georgian Bay – probably the highlight of the trip so far.

Hastings & Peterborough

2007-07-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry-- but we thought this might happen, and probably will again.

We had no coverage for our air card in Hastings, and could not connect with the wifi at the marina across the river. So no blog.

We spent an additional day in Hastings due to a cold front passing through stirring up the weather.

While we were tied to the wall in Hastings, we heard a bunch of yelling on a passing boat. Looking outside we were surprised to see Adirondack, a Monk 36 go by with all four on board waving and yelling.

This is the first Monk 36 we had a chance to look at right at Palafox Marina in Pensacola. We saw it there and asked if we could take a look. Jeff and Sally were the people who put us in touch with Dave, the man from whom we purchased Monarch. Many, many moons later, after visiting the Bahamas, and then continuing north on the Hudson and Lake Champlaign and the canal then later down the Rideau Canal, they have caught up with us on the Trent Severn Waterway. We had a joyful reunion and later enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine with Jeff and Sally and Bob and Elizabeth off Slow Dance. Good fun.

We all left Hastings on Thursday morning and here is a picture of Adirondack leading the way to Peterborough.

Leaving Hastings we left the through hull fitting valve closed which meant no cooling. Bad news. The engine overheated a bit until John tore down to the engine room and opened the through hull. No damage.

We have, however, had problems with the engine not starting at the first push of the start button. Suspecting a weak solenoid, we had both solenoids in the start circuit replaced in Peterborough. The delightful and extremely well informed mechanic also inspected the water pump impeller to see if the short stint without water had damaged it. It was fine.

Here's a picture of the bay in front of the marina here in Peterborough and the fountain which has the light show at night.

We pushed our dock cart, ( a gift from Sheila and company) twice to stock up on groceries, take the laundry into town and load up on fresh veggies from the farmers market. Gail had been longing for some ragatouille for a long time and tonight was the night!

Last night there was a concert in the park right next to the marina, so we had front row seats, right from our sun deck for an evening of Beatles music, a light show at the fountain, concluding with a fireworks display. Cool!

Tomorrow we start off with an ordinary lock, followed by the Peterborough Lift Lock. You can get a good picture and explanation of the lock by clicking on the following url.

http://www.cruising.ca/trent/docs/L-21.html

Then we will probably continue through 6 or 7 more locks, or until we get tired. We would like to spend tomorrow night at anchor if possible.

We found the above url by doing a Google search for Peterborough Lift Lock, but it looks like it might be an on line cruising guide for the Trent Severn Waterway. Might be you could follow our route on that link!

Well anyway, we have to take a good look at the charts for tomorrows adventure. I suspect we will not be able to blog for several days, but our phone seems to be getting pretty good coverage.

Thank you Marco and Virginia, and Gail Thomas for checking on us. It was so good to hear from you!!

Yea! We're back on line.

On Monday July 23 we left Peterborough and arrived at Lakefield, Ontario. The next day, Tuesday, we motored to Lovesick Lock, near no town and sp;ent the night on the island park with the animals. We were warned that the raccoons might invade the boat, but they didn't. We took an island walk through the woods and finally got our feet into the water.

Today we are in Bobcaygeon, Ont. It is a lovely little village, and we stocked up on baked goods at Grandma's Bakery, some groceries, and of course an ice cream. Gail glanced at a few shoes on sale but refused to buy $110.00 shoes, even if they were 10% off! Imagine! Makes you grateful for Bealls!!!! We did visit one art gallery and the artist once resided in Orange Beach! There are a zillion boats here. It looks like all of Canada is on vacation. One of our big surprises is that it is very warm. As we log this, we have the air on because the boat got very, very hot during the afternoon while we were out roaming the town.

And finally, this picture is for you, Sean and Kate. It reminded us of our great time with you at Wakulla springs. We're guessing you would both like to try this one!

Campbellford, Ontario

2007-07-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Campbellford, Ontario, tied up in a park next to a 20 foot replica of the Canadian two dollar coin. It turns out that the "toonie" bears an image of a polar bear created by an artist local to Campbellford.

That's the toonie to the right of Slow Dance, the boat belonging to Bob and Elizabeth Robinson, a delightful couple we have met in several marinas along the way. They hail from Gulfport, MS, and we expect to be seeing them often along the way. That's Monarch behind Slow Dance. This is where we are sitting now writing this post.

Yesterday, when we left Trenton in company with Slow Dance, we had a leisurely sail on our first day in "The System," as locals call the Trent Severn Waterway. We transited 6 locks and found both the locks and the lock keepers more friendly to pleasure craft such as Monarch than we did on the Erie.

In between the locks is a quite different story. We passed through several stretches of very narrow passages between vicious looking rock ledges on either side. In addition, many stretches are choked with very heavy weeds. Some trawlers ahead of us on the system have experienced over heating problems in engines from clogged strainers in the engine cooling water intakes. We have tried to follow the path of previous boaters and avoid the worst of the weeds, and check the strainers each morning and have had no problems in this regard.

We stayed at a lovely spot last night in the tiny town of Glen Ross, tied up to the wall just before lock 7. We hoped to be able to get some ice at the convenience store mentioned in the cruise guide, but the lock keeper informed us the store had gone out of business. He then proceeded to hand us a bread bag full of ice from his ice maker.

We joined the Robinsons at a picnic table next to the lock wall for cocktails about 5 pm. Later we were joined by a single-handed boater in a large trawler headed back the way we have come. He was heading in our direction ahead of us when his first mate/girl friend was called home to Maryland due to a serious illness in her family. John was obviously hungry for some company, so he brought a bottle of wine over to join our happy hour. We had a good time until bed time.

As you can see from the picture, which we took at 6:30 this morning when the mist was still on the water, in addition to being a fine gentleman, the lock keeper has a green thumb with the flowers at his lock!

Shortly after this picture was taken we heard a series of loud splashes. It seems a couple of dozen Canada Geese were locking through! They must have landed in the full lock chamber, then when they came to the closed lock gates, they climbed over and leaped into the river below. Some spread their wings and kind of glided, others crash landed like a pile of bricks!

The lock keeper later told us that last spring some of the geese had hatched broods above the lock. When they were out of the nest, he found them in the full lock chamber honking loudly. So he locked them down to the river below. They must have gotten used to this route from their old nesting ground, and still lock down by simply jumping off the high side when there is no lock keeper to lock them through.

We set out at 8:30 this morning and took a slow leisurely cruise through some very beautiful country and some very narrow rocky passages. The river was like glass and we saw a lot of wildwife and many lovely cottages.

We were feeling pretty good about our success so far until Bob talked to a friend of his several days ahead of us. He said, "Well you have enjoyed the easy part, from there on it gets much narrower and rockier."

We expect to take our time, however and be very careful. We will start when the locks open at 8:30 in the morning and stop around 2 pm for our afternoon nap.

Today we hit the high points of Campbellford, the bakery for bread and cookies, and the chocolate factory which makes the chocolate many of you have bought from your children and grandchildren in their annual fund raising activities.

Tomorrow we set out for Hastings, Ontario.

Happy Birthday, John McVay! We have thought about you a lopt today and hope you have had a happy day!!!

It is great to be back "on line", we have missed visiting with all of you and reporting our whereabouts! Don't know when we will be able to be on again so just keep checking!

Internet problems in Trenton

2007-07-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

We are currently sitting in the public library in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. We have been here for 30 minutes trying to get access to our own blog from a foreign computer. We finally made it.

We spent two nights in Kinston, Ontario, then set out for Picton, Ontario. Upon further consideration, we decided that we would much prefer to spend a night in solitude from the helter skelter of marinas and such, so we anchored north of Picton in Hay Bay off the Bay of Quint. We had a little trouble getting the anchor to set due to heavy weeds, so we backed off a little off shore and got it set. Not as much protection from the NW winds, but we expected to spend a calm night there anyway.

After dinner, we went to bed soon after sunset only to be accosted by a rambunctious thunder storm complete with thunder, lightening and high winds. Actually, it was quite exciting and beautiful! John took a bearing on a lighted TV tower so we could check during the night to see if we had dragged the anchor. The anchor held and we slept soundly -- after the thunderstorm banged and clattered its way off to the east, knowing full well that the morning would dawn bright and clear and we could be on our way early.

NOT----

We awoke early to another thunderstorm which changed our plans to a mid-morning departure. Even with all the noise and light shows, we really enjoyed our night at anchor. On the way to our next destination, Trenton, Ontario we passed through a heavy rain shower with high winds, but we kind of enjoyed the day even though we spent it heeled over like a sail boat.

Speaking of sail boats, we have used the sail twice crossing Lake Ontario, and had it up over night again, to help steady the boat in the wind while at anchor.

Arriving in Trenton we soon met up with a couple on the boat "Slow Dance" from Gulfport MS. We expect to be seeing a lot of them in the next couple of months.

This morning at breakfast, two birch bark canoes pulled up in the slip next to us with people in period costume. It made all the history we have learned seem very real! We took pictures but will have to post those when our own service returns!

It turns out that there is a cold front expected through here this weekend, and that coupled to the stories we have heard about hordes of rental housboats to be found on the waterway during weekends, peopled with people who have never been on a boat before, we have decided to stay here and enjoy this marina located right downtown in a lovely little city with music in the park next to the marina and an outdoor market we intend to visit as soon as we leave here.

We are in this library because our Verizon air card does not seem to work in this part of Canada, so we may be unable to blog unless we are in a city that provides a service like this one. So if we don't show up at the same time and same station as usual, it's not due to a lack of interest but a lack of connectivity!

Cruising to Canada

2007-07-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

We left Cape Vincent and headed across the main channel of the Saint Lawrence River to Point Alexander in Canada. We docked at the ferry terminal dock and went therough customs very quickly. (Perhaps because it was almost time for the ferry to dock where we were!) From there we cut through a channel behind Wolf Island and headed for the Admiralty Islands. Admiralty Islands are numerous small and large islands that occupy the Middle Channel just south of Gananoque. There are a lot of places listed that have dockage that are National Parks but there was absolutely no space to pull in for the night so we continued on to Kingston. It was a beautiful ride, bright sunshine but very little wind.

Kingston was settled in 1784 by loyalists from New York and has been a growing and vibrant city ever since. When the Rideau Canal was finished in 1832 it further increased the improtance of this community. It is a city rich in history offering the cruiser many sights to visit and places to shop, but since we have spent the last two days doing that, we have decided to just enjoy the quiet of the boat.

We are in the Kingston Confederation Basin Marina at the mouth of the Cataraqui River. It is very large and has a protected basin which might be important because there are thunder storms forcast for later tonight.

Much to our surprise, there were two other Monk 36 boats coming into the marina at the same time we were!!

Thought all of you might enjoy this little quote that was on the "River Rat" Cheese advertisement which we picked up when we visited the River Rat Cheese Store in Clayton, NY:

What is - Who Is- A "River Rat"?

"So, this - is - a - river? ventured the lad.
"The River" corrected the River Rat. "It's the mighty St. Lawrence and all of its islands."
"And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!"
"By it and with it and on it an in it," said the River Rat. "It's brother and sister to me, friends and food and drink. It's my world and I don't want any other. What it hasn't got is not worth having and what it doesn't know is not worth knowing."
A "River Rat" can cleat his boat before he knows how to tie his shoe. River Rat is the essence of the North Country - the spirit of our region.

For now, we are River Rats! It is a "jolly life" indeed!!

The Saint Lawrence is sooooooo beautiful. The water is crystal clear and the color is breathtaking. We have learned that it is actually 99.9% pure and you can actually drink it!

As this was being written, John came rushing into the saloon urging Gail to hurry topside. "Pathfinder", a training wooden brigantine came cruising in. They tried to dock here but found there wasn't enough room for her. She is beautiful and we counted seventeen kids on board having a ball. Gail yelled out, "you're beautiful" to which they responded, "thank you"! What a great sight! We don't know minute to minute what surprises are in store for us!

Cape Vincent, Clayton & Alexandria Bay

2007-07-09T17:39:00.001-07:00

We have spent two delightful days with Carol Sue visiting by car the sights in this part of New York. She picked us up at the marina in Cape Vincent and we visited their home under construction on the St. Lawrence River. It is a beauty...

Perhaps we will return for another visit when Carol Sue and Tom are actually staying in the house and watching all those ships Carol Sue loves so much!!

We then visited the Tibbets Point lighthouse. This very famous lighthouse stands at the source of the St. Lawrence River at the east end of Lake Ontario. It's a real beauty!

Gail and Carol Sue wait for John to tour the light house.

Our next stopping point was the antique boat museum in Clayton, NY. This place has more old wooden boats than you can imagine. We didn't even get to the whole building filled with racing boats. These, however we found fascinating. They are St. Lawrence River Skiffs. They are powered by oars, sail, or gasoline engine. We saw a video on sailing these interesting craft. They use a three part center board, sprit sail..... and no rudder. The techniques they use to tack and jibe are fascinating. I would love to see them race!

John's brother Jim, who has an antique boat, would have loved this place!

This one had a "disappearing propellor.

The next day we visited Alexandria Bay and, of all things, took a boat trip. We decided to take this trip to visit Boldt Castle. This is the site of a very sad love story.

Mr. George Boldt came to this country from Prussia in the 1860s, a penniless boy of 13. He ended up managing and profit sharing in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and the Bellvue-Stratford in Philadelphia, and a very wealthy man. His family vacationed in the thousand islands. He purchased much land there and started farming on Wellsley Island and selling the products to the hotels he managed.

As a testimony of his enduring love for his wife Louise, he built this castle on Heart Island. After four years of construction, and just before it was finished, Louise unexpectedly died. Mr boldt stopped construction, and never visited the island again. It fell into dis-repair and after many years of neglect was restored to it's original opulent condition, and opened to the public. It is really a magnificant architectural masterpiece.

This weather vane high up on the ramparts of the castle are but one small example of the delights to be found on a tour of the castle.

In doing a little research, we have concluded that the "Station Island" that appears prominently in the book "The Pathfinder" by James Fenimore Cooper, is the one pictured above. Station Island is not the name of the present island, and nobody that we asked among the tour guides was even familiar with the book, but we think this "Grenadine" island is the one.

This is a statue of St. Lawrence for whom the river is named. St. Lawrence is known for the fact that he stole from the Catholic Church and gave the money to the poor. His charitable instincts caused him to be burned on a grating, and during the process, he is said to have called out; "I'm done on this side, please turn me over."

One of the more interesting of the homes on the Thousand Islands is this one which reside on two small islands. The international border goes right between them, and this is said to be the shortest international bridge in the world.

We will be taking our leave of Cape Vincent tomorrow, but we haven't decided where we will go. I guess we'll know when we get there, and we'll let you know.

Sackets Harbor, NY

2007-07-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

As you enter Sackets Harbor you can see that it is a small quaint place to visit.

The marina is immediately to the right and is the site of the ship building activity in days gone by.

The welcoming committee was out to greet us,

and the locals have posted a sign sayinng "stay off the rocks" which advice that we definitely expect to follow on our trip in the north country. While we have been travelling in waters that have mud and sand bottoms, the Canadian Shield is composed of the "roots" of ancient mountains that have been compressed into the hardest of rocks, gneiss, marble, granite etc. As the mountains themselves have weathered away these roots have been left for the waters draining out of the Great Lakes to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

We visited two museums in Sacket harbor, this is one that uses the very old Union Hotel building.

The other finds it's home in the "Commanding Officer's Quarters" at the old fort.

The Commanding Officer had this view over his back fence of the harbor, which is now filled with pleasure craft, Monarch being one of them.

This harbor was a very strategic location during the war of 1812. The Americans and Canadians had been trading with one another across Lake Ontario. Many of the american businessmen complained about the competition, so Congress passed an act outlawing the trade. There wasn't much less trade, but it was then called "smuggling." American authorities tried to enforce the ban. Meanwhile England was in a protracted war with France and needed the trade, and on top of that they began stopping American merchant vessesl and "impressing" the American sailors into service with the Queens Navy. Soon hostilities broke out and Congress declared war.

It was primarily a naval war on Lakes Erie and Ontario. Since the St. Lawrence River did not allow sea going vessels to pass at that time, and Niagra Falls precluded ship travel between Ontario and Erie, all the vessels to fight the war had to be built on the lakes. It turned out to be a ship building war.

A large ship was built at Oswego by the Americans, only to find out that it drew too much water to enter the Oswego River. It was then realized that Sackets Harbor would easily accomodate ships of that size and a naval shipbuilding industry rapidly grew. Sackets Harbor was also recognizewd by the Army for its strategic importance, and several forts were built. We will leave the details of the "Battle of Sackets Harbor" and the outcome of the War of 1812 to be researched further by our gentle readers.

The Navy Point Marina at Sackets Harbor is the first one we have found with a rock/flower garden.

2007-07-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

As we left Oswego, we glanced over the stern at the marina we had just left, and noticed the visibility was not so good. We remembered the sage advice, "Cheer up, things could be worse."

So we cheered up, and sure enough things got worse.

It didn't look bad as we passed the Oswego light house, but soon the visibility was down to about a quarter of a mile. We then noticed that all those early riser fishermen liked to fish in a spot right on our course! Luckily the radar we had installed before starting this journey is a very good one, and we had a perfect picture on our screen of the flotilla hidden in the fog. The radar will even track many targets simultaneously and determine if any are collision risks. Love that technology.

After about an hour the fog began to lift, and a fresh breeze sprang from the west. What a great opportunity to try our our sail. It is not much more than a handkerchief, but it does have a steadying effect in a beam wind.

Our five hour sail to Sackets Harbor was very satisfying, and we felt a new sense of freedom from the constraints of canals and rivers. Here we're out of sight of land for hours and we're able to take any heading and find any port of our choosing.

We are in a very nice marina in Sackets Harbor now, and a very interesting town it is. We took a short bike ride into town and visited an interesting museum, but a thunderstorm cut our tour short. We plan to devote all day tomorrow (Saturday) to touring the town and will send some pictures tomorrow night.

A Day in Oswego

2007-07-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

The harbor at Oswego was recognized early on for its strategic importance. It is the western end of the water route comprised of the Hudson River, the Mohawk River, Oneida Lake, the Oswego River and is the entry to both the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.

Our day in Oswego was so very enjoyable. We rode our bikes over to the H. Lee White Marine Museum and found a treasure trove of information and displays. The Museum allows you to explore Oswego harbor during the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and even the part Oswego played as a major terminus in the underground railroad during the Civil War and much later as a refuge for victims of the holocaust during WWII.

There are exhibits on the Oswego Lighthouse, shipbuilding and transportation, shipwrecks, the Underground Railroad, the NYS Barge Canal and more. As part of the tour, we visited the WWII Tug "LT-5" which was built for the invasion of Normandy, a national Historic Landmark, and the "Lance Knapp", a 1925 NYS canal boat. Needless to say, the whole adventure took us the entire afternoon but it was well worth it!

One funny thing happened. When one of the persons who worked at the Museum asked if we had any questions, John asked a very simple question about when the forts were built in Oswego. This person was unable to answer him and went on a wild search. She asked everybody who was working there, searched through the volunteer materials and finally, Gail found three people in the gift shop frantically calling the fort (without giving their names) to find the answer!!!! You can alway count on John to make you think!!!

We managed to end our biking with a yummy ice-cream stop in town.

The Marina where we docked was loaded with fishing boats and they seem to love leaving before the sun is up. It's fun to watch all their preparations and hear their chatter as they set out to bring in the "Big One".

Everyone has been most friendly and more than willing to lend a hand or to chat. We have met several people in our travels who have family in the Navarre area and they are familiar with Pensacola. So many of them have asked why in the world we are up here?????

Celebrating the 4th

2007-07-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

While others were at parades and watching fireworks all across America today, we watched this parade on the Oswego Canal. Actually, it is a very appropriate way to celebrate because of the freedom we feel in being able to do this in this beautiful part of our awesome country!!

Happy 4th to all of you! God bless America!!!!

We left Fulton just before Lock 3 after breakfast and, much to our surprise, the wind caught us, turned us sideways, and we had to struggle to get ourselves into position to lock through. Interesting!!!! It seems that each lock presents a new adventure. Since the wind was blowing pretty briskly from the stern, it was a challenge! The good news is that we have now completed Lock 8 and we won't see one again for about a month!

Pathfinder Island which was named after the lead character, Pathfinder, in James Fenimore Cooper's book of the same name. "The Pathfinder" centers on a trip taken down the Oswego River in 1759. John just finished reading the book and enjoyed it. Gail has begun and is struggling with the tedious, flowery Cooper writing. John insists that it tells a thrilling tale of naval adventure, rival love, and wilderness experience that captures the rough-and-tumble life on the shores of Lake Ontario during the French and Indian War.

Battle Island. This site is a place that a historic battle between the British and the French took place on July 3, 1756. Imagine, over 250 years ago amost to the day!!

The remains of the origional Oswego Canal

Tonight we are docked at the Wright's Landing Marina in Oswego, New York. The rain has arrived and we are tucked in our snug little "home" for a couple of days as a warm and a cold front pass before we venture out onto Lake Ontario on Friday the 6th.

Our tentative plan is to spend the 7th at Sackets Harbor and proceed on to Cape Vincent on the 8th.

We're Baaack!

2007-07-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Here we are again aboard Monarch after a two week layoff to take care of Grandchildren and relax in the sunny south. Sean and Kate are delightful and we enjoyed a multitude of fun!!! It was a joy being with them!

One of our highlights, other than being with family, was being with the "Lunch
Bunch" for supper. Thank you, Sandra, for arranging all that!

We flew back into Syracuse on July 1, and went to the nearest motel and collapsed!

The next day Carol Sue picked us up and took us to a Super Wal*Mart for a grocery binge.

That night John spent 45 minutes installing the XM-Radio package he bought in Pensacola, and then an hour and a half getting XM-Radio to activate it. Bummer, but it is working great now and we love it.

Next morning we attacked the dinghy problem. One tube wouldn't hold air and we spent a lot of time looking for a replacement valve, both in Pensacola and Syracuse only to find that the valve wasn't actually defective, but set up for de-flating instead of in-flating. Now it is inflated and so are we!

Last, but maybe most important we have solved the problem with pumping out with a new deck fitting and adapter.

All that accomplished, we left Brewerton at noon, transited our last lock on the Erie Canal and turned right at three rivers, the junction of the Oneida River which we have been travelling since Lake Oneida, and the Oswego River. We are now on the Oswego canal, and are spending the night on the wall at Fulton, NY. We both agree that we like the Oswego Canal better than the Erie.

Since the Oswego Canal IS the Oswego River, we will end with a most appropriate quote from Henry David Thoreau which is about a lake but applies to the river we are experiencing right now!

"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. The fluviatile trees next to the shore are the slender eyelashes which fring it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows."

Carol Sue's Generous Addition

2007-06-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

As we mentioned in the last blog, Carol Sue recreated with photos our day together. The following pictures are a few of those she sent to us. While we didn't include all of them, we have put them in safe keeping in the computer and they will ultimately go into a slide show of our journey.

THANK YOU, CAROL SUE! THESE ARE WONDERFUL!!!

This is Lock 51 as it was then......

Lock 51 today.......

The next three photo are self explanatory! Words fail to fully described the thrill of seeing these wonderful creatures. God has a great flair for the beautiful!

These were all taken in Carol Sue and Tom's yard. Imagine!!!

Today and yesterday were non-stop preparations for our trip to Pensacola and getting the boat ready to be hauled for a power washing so she will be bright and shiny for the next leg of the adventure. John spent the major portion of the day in the "holy place", better known as the engine room. He continues to rave about the virtures of Monarch!

We won't be posting again until we return on July 1. We are getting excited about seeing many of you on our return to Pensacola!

Slowing Down

2007-06-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 10

A day of rest for us while Tom biked back to Utica to retrieve the car. His ride was longer than he expected, 31 miles, but he enjoyed it, especially the segment which took him right along the old Erie Canal (Clinton's Ditch,) and the first improved canal.

We had talked about a journey across the bridge for ice cream but that became unnecessary because an ice cream vendor came by in his truck just for us . There is NO room in the freezer (maybe a good thing) for such things so you can imagine the delight we experienced. There is nothing quite like ice cream on a balmy summer night!

Monday, June 11

Since our next leg takes us across Lake Oneida, the time for Tom to return home was upon him. We said our farewells and set sail for Brewerton on the western shore of Lake Oneida just before 8:00 am.

We reached the town dock at Brewerton, NY at about 11:00am after a very pleasant, calm, sunny passage across Lake Oneida.

Once secure at the dock and a brief nap, we took a bike ride that was cut somewhat short by the discovery along the way of a marina with a store that had a multitude of charts, boat gstaffear, etc. After loading up with a few "necessary" purchases, we headed back to the boat rather than continuing our bike ride because of packages. Gail was particularly thrilled to find a flagstaff to fly the great loop burgie and we are now proudly flying the flag on the bow. It is a great way for all the "loopers" to identify themselves.

The flowers that we saw both coming and going were breath taking. As you ride along you can actually smell them. People in even the most humble of homes have awesome gardens filled with every possible blossom.

By the way, we were talking to Durelle about an experience we had in Rome that led to an article in the local paper. She asked that we include the url to the article in the next blog, so here it is:

http://www.romesentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/NEWS01/106080190

Since Brewerton is not far from where Uncle Lee's daughter lives,we contacted Carol Sue McMullan. She and her husband Tom offered to pick us up at the boat and show us some of the very well preserved sections of Clinton's Ditch near their town of Jordan, NY.

We were thrilled, but we really needed a day to clean up
the boat, and rest up a bit.

Tuesday June 12

A day of rest and renewal. Felt good!

Wednesday June 13

Tom and Carol Sue showed up as promised (with fresh picked strawberries in hand) . Our first stop was the Salt Museum at Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool. They had a fascinating depiction of Syracuse's salt industry with displays and exhibits including iron kettles, wooden barrels and other equipment used for making salt from the abundant salt springs around the lake. From there we went to see several sections of the original "Clinton's Ditch." We were really thrilled to see these remnants of the canal that constitutes the reason for this portion of our journey.

They then took us to their beautiful home, built in the middle of 100 acres of forest near Jordan. Tom has created a sportsman's paradise with its own population of deer and turkeys. We were treated to an unbelievable segment of nature when we observed from the window's of their house, two does, with yearlings nearby, nursing this year's fawns, while a pair of huge wild turkeys strutted by. Unbelievable!!

After a great dinner Tom and Carol Sue returned us to the boat.

Wouldn't you know ,we didn't bring the camera. The memory of what we saw is etched in our brains to relish for years to come ,but we wish we could share what we saw with all of you.

Thursday June 14

We moved the boat today to the:

Winter Harbor Marina
604 County Route 37
Central Square, NY 13036

The boat will be here until July 1st, while we will be returning to Pensacola on Sunday the 17th to begin preparing for the arrival of Sean and Kate who will stay with us while John and Sheila sail in the British Virgin Islands. We will meet the McVay grandparents on the 19th somewhere near Lake City, Florida and take the kids from there to Wakulla so they can experience the springs and all that entails. On the 20th we will return to Pensacola for fun in the sun!!!

Tomorrow will be spend doing laundry, changing the oil, cleaning the boat and sundry other worthwhile activities.

Guns and Roses -- well -- daisies

2007-06-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 8

We stayed in Ilion last night again; got up early and did visit the Remington Arms factory. We got a guided tour (eat your heart out Tom Peters!) and learned a great deal about the art and science of gun making. We were not aware that Remington was the oldest gun manufacturer in the country or that they had developed the first successful breech loading rifle. They produce a lot of Model 870s, and it is the most owned gun in the US, including ours!

After the museum, we set sail for Utica, NY, arriving at 1:27 in the afternoon. Tom saddled up and rode back to Ilion for the car. We were glad he got back before the cold front hit. They were forcasting severe thunderstorms with winds up to 70 mph. We doubled the lines, had dinner, turned out the lights and on the oil lamp as we watched the lightning. Luckily the storms passed just north and just south of us.

Saturday, June 9

We got a fairly early start; decided to tie up at the lock wall at lock 21. It has been reported as a very nice, quiet spot. It is a run of about 21 miles.

Lock 21 is the first descending lock we have encountered on the Erie.

You can see the canal ahead of the lock at the lower level.

Arriving at lock 21 there was a New York state tug tied up, but plenty of room for us. The lockmaster, however, told us we couldn't stay and would have to go down to lock 22, where there was a nice wall. Lock 22 has a very short wall and not very inviting, so we pressed on another six miles to Sylvan Beach.

No, this is not the old man of the sea; it's just Father Tom "navigating on the Erie Canal."

There are a lot of restaurants right at the free city wall, but it is a sunny Saturday, and there are also a lot of boats, and we are exposed to the brisk winds right off Lake Oneida. There are so many locals tied up at the wall next to the town that we had to tie up across the canal. We may wait until the wind dies down this evening and the locals go home, then move across . Tom will wait until tomorrow morning to ride his bike the 27 or 28 miles back to Utica and retrieve his car.

The canal we traveled today is beautiful. There are a lot of yellow flag growing everywhere and it is so peaceful and quiet.

Gail had a little trouble "hooking" the line in lock 22. We have been locking in and being floated up. Lock 22 was just the opposite! Ah well, experience will help!

We will be headed for Syracuse soon, and today we heard from Carol Sue. We are anxious to visit with her!!

For the fishermen out there, you might like to know that there is a little boy about five fishing next to us and he just caught a large mouth bass and a yellow perch. He and his grandmother didn't know what to do with them or how to take them off hook, so Gail jumped off the boat and gave a quick lesson. He will be hooked for life. He was soooooo excited!!

Here are a few pictures we were unable to upload earlier.

This is the team of mules that took us down to the river boat, and Gail and Tom boarding this reproduction of an Erie Canal packet boat.

And, last but not least, a whole field of daisies. This one's for you, Sheila.

Herkimer and Rome

2007-06-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

Tom arrived earlier than expected by car, so we all drove back to see the museum and Fort Plain. It was closed, but we did get a chance to visit a very early indian mission church which has been restored by a local society.

We also passed an entire field of daisies. For some reason I am unable to upload any pictures, but will try later.

Tuesday, June 5th

We left Little Falls early and ran down to Ilion, NY. There is a great little marina there and the fuel is less exorbitant than elsewhere on the Erie.

Father Tom rode his bike back and got his car, returned and we drove to the famed Herkimer Diamond Mines. We only found 6 or 7 diamonds, they were very small and ,truth to tell, not really diamonds, but some other clear crystal, but it was fun until the rain started.

We returned to the marina and shortly a cold front fell upon us and it began to blow very hard. We doubled up the lines and went to sleep.

Wednesday June 6

We awoke to a very cold and bleak day and felt that we couldn't send Tom out on a bicycle trip, so it would be a good day to do some more-sight seeing. We drove to Rome, NY and visited the Erie Canal Village. This is a reconstruction of a village along the Erie Canal and is situated at the location of the first excavation for the old Erie canal. The remnants of the old Erie, as well as the improved Erie, built 10 years later, are clearly visible. We took a ride in a wagon pulled by mules down to the reconstructed canal boat, but it was not yet giving the rides on the improved canal this year.

We next visited the Rome city museum, the Fort Stanwix museum and the reconstructed fort. This National Park Service facility is really interesting and worth more time than we were able to give it. Including the museum at the village, we visited a village, 3 museums and a fort.

Sleep came easily.

Thursday June 6

Today is laundry day! We planned to visit the Remington Arms museum here in Ilion, but missed the tour. Hope to visit a cheese factory and a memorial to the Challenger later today.

R & R

2007-06-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 2

We spent the day in Little Falls. In the morning we took our bikes down the Erie Canal bike path to the 1764 home of General Nicholas Herkimer. The General is known as the hero of the Battle of Oriskany, for which battle the aircraft carrier recently sunk at Pensacola was named.

In 1777 the British planned a three pronged attack to separate New England from the rest of the Colony and end the Revolutionary War quickly. General Burgoyne was to come down the Hudson, Colonel St. Leger was to come from the West through Oswego, take Fort Stanwix and proceed down the Mohawk, and General Clinton was to bring a large contingent of troops up the Hudson from New York. They would join forces at the Albany.

General Herkimer gathered 800 colonial militamen and Indian allies and headed West from here to Fort Stanwix. On the way, St. Leger's troops and their Mohawk indian allies ambushed the Americans at an indian village named Oriskany. They fought with muskets, pistols, bayonets, tomahawks and hand to hand all day in the bloodiest battle of the Revolution. General Herkimer was severely wounded in the leg, but had his men prop him up against a tree from which he continued to direct the battle.

The result of the battle was inconclusive and General Herkimer returned to his home where his leg was amputated under very primitive conditions. He died 10 days later believing that this battle, that cost him half his men, was a defeat.

In fact ,due to his losses at Oriskany, St. Leger never advanced past Fort Stanwix at Rome. That fact, combined with General Clinton never arriving from New York decided the Battle of Saratoga in the American favor, and that victory was decisive in the eventual winning of the American Revolution.

We can probably say then that, had it not been for the bravery of General Herkimer, we would all probably be speaking English today!

The Herkimer house was a delightful example of a fine Colonial Mansion, and we enjoyed our visit very much.

The trip back along the bike path was through a delightful pass through the rock and is probably the route of a railroad that once ran on the south side of the river.

Along the way we whole fields of wild Phlox.

Sunday June 3, 2007

On Sunday we got a ride from the young lady from the office at the boat dock and attended a lovely old Catholic Church in Little Falls.

As a matter of fact, that young lady Sarah has been a highlight of our trip. She and her husband grew up in the litte town of Little Falls. She went to Albany and got a degree in economics and he is a teacher in the local middle school. Sarah has one 2 1/2 year old and one on the way. They are both happy to raise their family and spend the rest of ther lives in this small town. How refreshing!

Monday June 4, 2007

Today we are getting ready for our guest, Fr Tom Sas. He will arrive about noon and we are going to retrace our path a little bit to see some things that we missed on the boat.

Tomorrow we will take the boat to the town of Herkimer, Tom will ride his bike back and get the car and bring it up to Herkimer and we will repeat that procedure for most of the next week.

Canajoharie / Little Falls

2007-06-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

During morning coffee on Thursday, we were amazed to see the "Half Moon" glide by our window. The Half Moon was the ship Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson opening that magnificant river to the Europeans in the early 1600s. There are many legends about Dutch ghost ships sailing on the Hudson, and when this black hull flying no sails ghosted by it was a moment of sheer wonder. Evidently someone is building a replica, and for some reason she was travelling West on the Mohawk.

We left Lock 12 at 7:30 and traversed lock 13. Later we passed between the "noses" which is the pass through the Appalacians (Adirondocks to the North and Catskills to the South) many of our forebears travelled. It is one of two such passes, the other being the Cumberland Gap which we have visited by car.

Our cruising guide told about the floating docks at Canajoharie and the water and electricity available at no cost which make this an appealing stop. Unfortunately, we found that the docks, water and electricity were gone, evidently washed away by the floods the canal were subjected to last year. We had to tie up to a concrete wall with very limited maneuvering room in shallow water, but we were successful and found Canajahorie a quant little village. Of course one of our main reasons for stopping was the art museum said to be one of the best small art museums in the US. At the heart this museum 's collection of more than 350 paintings by American artists is oils and water colors by Winslow Homer. Naturally the museum was closed for renovations. So we had to be satisfied with a slushy the "20 below Choco" at Perussi's Meat Market and Grocery which is mainly a furniture store.

We bicycled extensively, too extensively, around Canajahorie (the bike path was filled with wild phlox) and across the river to Palatine Bridge where we bought groceries.

On Friday we departed Canajoharie at 8:30 and traversed locks 14, 15, 16, and the most impressive, 17. This lock is the highest lift on the Erie Canal at 40' and one of only two in the US where the entrance gate, instead of being opened like a set of french doors, is actually lifted above your head like a guillotine. You pass under the gate as it drips on your head!

At lock 16 we left the Mohawk River momentarily, following an excavated canal for a short while, then back to the River, which is narrowing considerably.

We have been using the term ":Erie Canal" quite loosely. That canal was finished in 1815 and was more than twice as long as any canal in Europe. It was an engineering marvel from several aspects and was a tremendous economic success. At the same time the Champlain Canal was dug to allow boat travel north from Waterford to Lake Champlain, as the Hudson become too shallow for ship travel above Waterford.

The Erie Canal was only 40' wide and 4' deep. All commercial travel was by small barges pulled by horses or mules. The stable was in the bow of the barge, and the living quarters in the stern. When night fell the barge was tied to the side of the canal and the beasts of burden went aboard and were fed. In the morning they were brushed and found their way out to the traces to begin the next days labors.

This canal was dug along the course of the Mohawk River, because the river had naturally found,or perhaps formed, the best course through the mountains over millenia. There had to be a tow path next to the canal, so the river itself was not suitable, and the canal was beside the river.

The canal was renovated several times over the years. In 1915 a new project was completed called the New York Barge Canal. This canal was built for self propelled craft of much larger tonnage, not requiring a tow path. The Barge Canal uses the Mohawk River extensively for its course, and its construction, and that of I-90 and other "improvements" has largely obliterated the original Erie Canal. There are historical sites where one can see remnants of the old canal but they are few and far between.

What this means is that we have not been on the Erie Canal! We have been on the NY Barge Canal, and that is nearly always the Mohawk River up to this point. So if you think we have been travelling down a narrow ditch with concrete banks, we have actually been on the beautiful Mohawk River most of the time.

Meandering on the Mohawk

2007-05-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

It is totally incredible, but we cruised from Waterford to Fort Hunter, NY today. Would you believe, that is lock #2 through lock #12. It was a busy, busy day for us and we are somewhat exhausted tonight but the scenery has been breathtaking on the Mohawk River. We encountered the tug above which began life as the "Henry J. Donbos" and was constructed in the Johnston Brothers Shipyard in Ferrysburg, Michigan near Lake Michigan. She was originally registered on July 18, 1901 to a family which operated a commeracial fishing business. After some major repairs and a new coat of bright blue and yellow paint, she was renamed the Urger and began a new life as a floating museum and classroom. In 1991, the Urger sailed the length of the Erie Canal encouraging people to celebrate New York State waterways by learning their history and folklore from the time when Native Americans paddled the rivers in canoes to the modern era of barges and tugboats on man-made canals. Wouldn't you love to join that class!!!!!

Tonight we are tied up to the walls right after lock #12 and plan to head out for Canajoharie first thing in the morning. From what we have read, it sounds like a great place to disembark and do some sight seeing.

We can see the bright, shiny moon and its reflection on the water as we write this. Wish all of you who are reading this could see it. It is a perfect example of the kind of beauty Hopkins describes in his poem, "God's Grandeur".

Still in Waterford, NH

2007-05-29T16:53:00.001-07:00

The weather here is perfect today. We took a very long walk to visit the Waterford Museum. On the way Gail posed at the confluence of the Erie Canal and the old Champlain Canal which was built at the same time as the original Erie Canal.

Along the towpath they have re-created the footprints of a mule driver and his mule in cement.

John was of course intrigued by the electrical and mechanical aspect of the Lock which the Lockmaster at Lock #2 was kind enough to explain in detail and even open up the cabinets to allow pictures.

The Waterford Museum is a must see for any one visiting, either by boat or car. It is easily reachable by car, but more interestingly, you can walk the old original tow path for the Champlain Canal from Lock #2 right to the museum. The director was more than accomodating to these visitors who mistakenly walked by a much longer route only to find the museum closed on Tuesday. However the director was there having a meeting, and not only did he give us a personal tour, but gave these weary travelers a ride back to the boat!

This is a picture of the opening ceremonies for the "new" canal, called the barge canal in 1915. Note the first boat with the flag from the flagstaff and the bridge in the background.

This is the same view in 2007 with a restored canal boat followed by a sailboat with his mast down, and third in line, Monarch. Note the bridge!

Tomorrow we start the Erie.

Low Bridge Everybody Down

2007-05-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

Our stay at Saugerties was very pleasant. We were anchored in a wide spot in the creek, surrounded by many nice river homes. Though we were right in their backyards, nobody seemed to mind, and they all waved cheerily.

The forcast called for thunderstorms for the next day, possible in the morning, probable in the afternoon. We arose before dawn, pulled the anchor and got on our way. We are now tieing a line to the head of our anchor with a clorox bottle buoy to help retrieve it if it gets caught on something in one of these creeks or rivers.

We called a marina on Coeymans Creek and made sure they had room for us. The thunderstorms did not develop as we approache Coeymans, so we called Albany Yacht Club and they said they had room for us. That put first lock just 9 miles away, so we proceeded to Albany.

The marina is in downtown Albany. Durelle called and described the post cards that she has that Mum-Mum sent her mother in the years 1910 to 1914. She told us one of them was a picture of the state capitol in Albany. We said, "Durelle, we are looking at that very building as we speak." We snapped a picture of it as we left Albany this morning.

About 9 miles up the Hudson we came to Troy lock in Troy, New York. Shortly after leaving that lock we turned left into the Erie Canal.

We have just watched the sun set at a beautiful park, and gazed in wonder at the confluence of the Hudson River, Mohawk River and the Erie Canal!

As the song says;

Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, for we're coming to a town.

And you'll always know your neighbor, you'll always know your pal,

If you've ever navigated the Erie Canal.

Later tonight we are going to read some more from a novel called "Rome Haul." which is about a young man who goes to work on the Erie canal as a driver of the mules that pulled the barges and went on to own his own barge.

We plan to stay several days here in Waterford. You can visit the lock, see some of the original locks and spend some time in a museum with many exhibits on the history of the canal.

The Beautiful Hudson Highlands

2007-05-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of the promised pictures from yesterday when we passed along the west of Manhattan. It is overwhelming to see if from the water and to recognize so many of the sites we have already visited via. land.

Mark and Sheila will recognize this ipicture. We crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge so very many times heading south. It looks a little different from this vantage point!

United States Military Academy At West Point-commonly called the Gibralter of America because of its strategic situation. In sailing days, ships had to change course here because of the sharp bends in the river, and virtually came to a hault. In the narrow waters, they became easy targets for guns on shore. Early in the Revolution, fortifications were built both on West Point and Constitution Island on the opposite shore.Today the cadets live a strick military life in an atmosphere of learning. All cadets receive considerable basic military instruction, particularly in the last two years. The curricululm includes much mathematics, physics, and engineering and leads to a B.S. degree.

When we were anchored bihind Pollapel Island we heard trains all night, but we weren't bothered. The ruins of Bannerman Castle are evident on the island. Bannerman was an arms deler who bought up all the Union's military supplies left over after the Civil War and stored them in a warehouse in New York City. He published a mail order catalog of his holdings and became the Sears Roebuck of munitions. Most of the world's rebellions from 1880 through 1910 were fought with Bannerman supplied weapons. The city fathers did not look kindly on his storing munitions in mid-town and convinced him to move. He bought Pollepel Island and stored them there and carried on his trade. It seems that the Hudson valley gets more than its share of thunderstorms, (we may test this theory tomorrow), and the arsenal caught fire and blew up on several occasions. Some of the turrets of the castle are located in the river far from the building!

We got a fairly early start this morning and headed for Kingston, NY. I think some of John's forbears had a hand in settling that community, so it had a personal interest. It turns out, however that Kingston is a very popular boating destination: this holiday weekend brought out all the boaters. We bypassed Kingston in favor of an anchorage in Saugerties, NY.

While we didn't see Kingston, we did get a good look at Poughkeepsie, NY. The guide book mentioned one of the earliest homes at that community, which was built by Baltus Van Kleek. It turns out he was one of John's many-great grandfathers as well.

We passed the home Franklin Roosevelt was born in at Hyde Park, as well as the CIA, Culinary Institute of America and some of the finest homes we have ever seen.

The CIA facility was once St. Andrews-on-the-Hudson, a Jesuit seminary and monastery.The famous French scientist and philosopher Peirre Teilhard de Chardin is buried on the grounds in the old Jesuit cemetary, still beautifully maintained by the Institute, and this site has become a pilgrimage site for those interested in the philosophy of science and religion.

ENTRANCE TO OUR HOME

FOR THE NIGHT!

In the wake of Mum-Mum

2007-05-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well we are getting behind, so no pictures tonight. I wish I had my apple. This PC needs a lot of attention.

Any way we spent the last night in Sleepy Hollow. Well they call it Tarrytown now, but is was where Washington Irving lived when he wrote about Ichabod Crane and his adventures.

The area we cruised through was the setting of the story of Bendict Arnold and his treason against our country during the Revolutionary War.

Tonight we are anchored behind Pollapel Island where a Mr. Bannerman built a castle that lies in rather impressive ruins. We will include a picture soon.

The big news is that Durelle found a post card from Mum-Mum sent in 1913 when she travelled the Hudson River by boat from Albany to New York, exactly the route we are travelling, in reverse. She passed right by where we lay at anchor 95 years ago. Gail's mother Shiela would have been 2 years old then. Where was she? At any rate it is rather overwhelming to learn this news while are actually travelling the waters she traveled!

In the Shadow of the Lady

2007-05-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus

Yep, this is where we were anchored last night. It was a really inspiritional experience.

The trip up from Manasquan inlet was uneventful: passed many boats of many different types, getting bigger and bigger as we approached New York harbor.

The seas got quite rough as we turned for the Verazano bridge, and steering was a chore as they were directly from our stern, but we soon reached the Verazaanno Narrows bridge.

Coney Island!

And Manhattan!

After negotiating the upper harbor with all its trafic, we got to Liberty Park. A bottle of champagne seemed appropriate to celebrate John's birthday and our cozy historical anchorage. We could hear the trains running on the same tracks as those who carried millions of immigrants from this place to all parts of our nation.

We are now waiting for the tidal current of the Hudson to turn in our favor for our first day on that great river.

Continuing The Atlantic Adventure

2007-05-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Our anchorage in a little creek off the Atlantic City Inlet was the best yet. The water was so clear you could see the anchor line at least nine or ten feet. There were a multitude of great white herons that kept us company. It was quite a contrast to the bright lights of the Atlantic City we have heard so much about. From the boat we could see all the neon but know we were in a better place than those $300.00 a night rooms. There were only two other boats in the creek - both from Canada.

The Atlantic was wonderfully calm and beautiful today. The sea was filled with long rolling waves and we had the wind at our back.

Arrived at Manasquan around 3:30pm (John navigated the entrance beautifully - the current was REALLY strong) and checked into a marina right on the New Jersey intracoastal waterway complete with a draw bridge off our bow for the commuter train. We rode our bikes into town, had supper and did a little grocery shopping. If you have been keeping up with the blog, you will know that this was our sixth day aboard the boat and we needed essentials like milk, juice, bread and eggs! We have been on long enough to have that "Im still rocking" feeling even on land!

We are both a little punchy tonight but it is a nice exhaustion from a busy but rewarding day. We're beginning to feel like real explorers!

Tomorrow we will be heading back out into the Atlantic for the last time. After rounding Sandy Hook we will head for the western shore of the lower bay and find the anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty.

Blue Water

2007-05-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

After a great night anchored next to a huge revovery vessel in a tiny creek called Lower Thoro, listening to the squawking of about a million sea birds in the flats on the other side of us, we survived another anchoring "adventure."

We elected to leave at 0700, as that would be a slack current, and would make recovering our anchor easier. Glad we did. As the anchor came up, it brought with it a tangled mess of discarded crab trap, some line, and about a ton of river mud. The windlass got it to the surface, but couldn't raise it clear of the water. John had to heave on the chain to help out the windlass, then reach over and haul the crab trap off the anchor, then reach over again to cut the lines tangled in the anchor. He has a pulled muscle to remind him of the affair.

This is our wake after we cleared the bridge leading to the Cape May inlet. Shortly after taking this picture, Gail whooped and ran to the rail. A pod of Dolphins had joined the boat. One of them, at least 8' long took station on our port quarter, right where Gail was standing. He stayed there a long time as Gail talked to him and thanked him for escorting us out into the blue water of the North Atlantic. She convinced John to leave the helm and see the porpoise, but the porpoise took one look at him and parted company.

After a glorious cruise up the coast, between one and two miles off shore, we sighted the tall buildings of Atlantic City, NJ.

Atlantic City has a light house right down town.

Neither of us had seen the boardwalk in Atlantic City, now we have.

Right now we are bobbing at anchor with the lights of the casinos twinkling in the distance.

Tomorrow, Manasquan inlet at Point Pleasant, NJ

The "Treacherous" Deleware Bay Conquered!

2007-05-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

We left Chesapeake City bright and early this morning and reentered the C&D Canal headed for Cape May New Jersey.

There were a multitude of large vessels again today that fascinate us as they pass. Their size and the countries from which they have travelled are overwhelming.

After exiting the canal we traveled on the Deleware River for about an hour. We both commented on the fact that we don't know a whole lot about this river other than the fact that Washington crossed it during the Revolutionary War. If slack time ever hits us we will do some research or if any of you know who explored it, etc, you could post it in the comments!

One special treat was a lighthouse named for John! It is formally called the Ship John Lighthouse. Gail decided that it is the best looking lighthouse she has ever seen!

Crossing the Deleware Bay was much smoother than we had anticipated. Every boater we have talked to about crossing it has told some kind of horror story about it. It is usually a chore to cross but we found it very beautiful. It was fun to actually be out of sight of land for awhile.

While talking to Durelle on the phone as we were about to approach Cape May, we commented on the fact that the water actually reminded us of Pensacola Bay but that we had not seen any dolphins. Low and behold, a pod of them jumped just off our bow as we said that.....they must have heard us. As we continued on two more pods welcomed us to the shores of Cape May. Upon arrival, we entered the Cape May Canal where we were waked a multitude of times and then were unsuccessful in finding a good anchorage due to high winds, shallow waters, and strong currents. On our third attempt, we discovered Lower Thoro creek and have settled in nicely among the shrimp boats.This is a fascinating community, reputed to be the first resort city in the country. They fish for marlin, tuna, crabs and lobster. We have read that whale watching is a favorite pastime, so we are excited to see if we can spot one when we, weather permitting, make our first leg of the trip off-shore tomorrow.

Monarch has been performing splendidly. The new equipment; inverter, flo-scan fuel monitoring system and electronics are all working to perfection and making life on the water much more comfortable. Its also nice that the engine starts on the first push of the starter button, purrs contentedly all day and burns not a drop of oil.

As if all our days adventures weren't enough, God treated us to one last gift for the day. As the sun was setting there were a thousand gulls settling into the sweet grass flats right across from the boat. Their "night prayers of praise" can still be heard as we write this. Among them there are two very majestic white heron who have claimed a very large space as their dwelling place for the night.

It doesnt seem possible that we haven't set foot on land for three days and feel more comfortable with the boat each day!!

Elk Lake to the C & D Canal

2007-05-19T15:47:00.001-07:00

The pictures will speak for themselves!

We saw a multitude of sights as we went across the Chesapeake and entered the Elk River. Our trip across was wild. The wind was howling and the waves as rough as Gail has ever experienced. Every single thing on the boat was moving. As we entered the Elk River, however, things were much smoother and much more pleasant. The above tow was one of the first things that greeted us. It is amazing to have them in the same channel with us!

The next surprise was this huge ship that even cast a shadow on us as it approached. The picture below is looking back at the entry to the C & D Canal as we left the Elk. The C&D opened for business in 1829. At that time it was 13 miles long with a waterline width of 667 feet, a bottom width of 36 feet, and a depth of 10 feet. The present channel was deepened to 35 feet under a long-term improvement program. The canal is government owned and toll free, a vital link of the Intercoastal Waterway that connects the Chesapeake and Delaware bays.

We were headed for an anchorage off the canal in South Chesapeake City.It is an embarkation point where ships transiting the Bay pick up a pilot, Chesapeake City serves thousands of small craft every year. An amazing number are sharing a little basin with us tonight. The bridge we passed under is within sight of our boat for the night.

Our boom under the bridge!!!!

It is a little difficult to see but there is a mama osprey on the marker protecting her babies. As we have mentioned before, they are everywhere.

The end of our crusing for today - John tending the anchor, and tending the anchor, and tending the anchor. We were in a silt bottom and had a "little" difficulty holding. It is about 9:00pm and John is still working on charts for tomorrows adventure.

Monarch On the Move!

2007-05-17T17:30:00.001-07:00

After an early start this morning and a trip to the dump-station and the fuel dock in Deale, we headed out into the Chesapeake Bay under bright skies and calm seas. Needless to say, we were overjoyed to head Monarch north. We passed some great sights: Annapolis, the Thomas Shoal Light, the Severn Bridge, wonderful landscapes and homes. As we passed Annapolis we thought of John McVay and wished he could see it as we were seeing it!

There are many beautiful lighthouses along the way. The Sandy Point Light to your left is just one that we saw today.

Not too long after we were treated to this sight we arrived at the Magothy River and entered the Sillery Bay where we are anchored for the night. There are several small islands around; one called Dobbins Island which is totally uninhabited and Little Island which has a huge house with a built-in light house next to it. The only drawback is that they have planted a plastic palm tree in the front yard!!!

Canada Goose visited us and we have reentered the world of the Osprey. They are all around us searching for food.

John is having great fun using his new GPS equipment. He already has all our waypoints marked for tomorrows voyage.

From the Other Side!

2007-05-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

We traveled by land yesterday to view the places we had already seen from the water as we traveled the Little Choptank off the Chesapeake. We were able to view things up close and personal and were delighted with what we saw and experienced. Below is a picture of Trinity Church probably built between 1670 and 1680.

As you can see, it is a diminutive Flemish bond structure that was restored in 1953 and services are held there each Sunday. The church yard unfolds like a page from history. Beneath its spread of cedars, sycamores, elms, and wild cherries lie the bodies of Thomas King Carroll, one time governor of Maryland, and his illustrious daughter Anna Ella Carroll, one of Abraham Lincoln's confidants.

A pair of giant millstones taken from a nearby 18th century gristmill mark a miller's grave. Soldiers from the American Revolution rest in the shadows alongside veterans from every other war in U.S. history.

We traveled northwest to Spocott Windmill on Grays Creek. (We ran aground with Marco the day we were trying to see this from the water!!!) On the same site there is Llolyd's Country Store Museum, The Castle Haven School and the origional Spocott tenant house. Each were unattended by anyone (open 24 hours a day!) and all were filled with treasures that made you want to stay a very long time.

The school house was particularly appealing to Gail who found some old books with wise words on teaching children to read published in early 1900.

John ,on the other hand ,was completely fascinated with the windmill. The gears are hand-carved and we were able to climb to the very top to examine them. Dad LeRoy would have loved it!

After a short tour of the quaint town of Cambridge, our final stop for the day was a wonderful restaurant in Oxford right on the Tred Avon River. That of course put us in mind of the bard, and our favorite English Professor, Sheila. We dined outside and watched a sailing regata as the sun was setting. Of course, we both had Maryland crab and enjoyed every mouthful.

Back in Deale

2007-05-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Never made it to Saint Michael's due to a BIG wind that changed our plans. Arrived back in Deale and started making ready for our next trip out. Purchased bikes, restocked the fridge, made ANOTHER trip to West Marine for "just a few more needed things", and then had a "final meal" aboard with Marco and Virginia. This morning we had a great breakfast at a local restaurant, went to the car rental to get us a car for our remaining time here and then bid farewell to Marco and Virginia. We returned to three seperate companies at work on the boat!After a loooooong nap, we spent the remainder of the day in the laundry and reading. The wind continues but the sun is bright and wonderful! Even though we are not out on the Bay, it is a treat just being on the boat. The more time we spend on it, the more we like it.

Marco's day at the helm

2007-05-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

We found the flag and she now flies proudly at our stern!

Marco took the helm for all of today and John had the chance to spend a lot of time in his favorite compartment, the engine room.

We awakened to bright skies and sunshine then left Hudson creek this morning and explored a number of other creeks off the Little Choptank. Next we returned to the Choptank and took a tributary, the Tread Avon past a lovely little town, Oxford, MD. We are now at anchor in the Plaindealer creek across from Oxford. Tomorrow we are considering cruising to St. Michael, MD.

Back across the Bay

2007-05-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

A few updates to yesterday's post. The Log Canoe that we took the cruise on is the "Wm. B. Tennison." It was built in 1899 and served as an oyster boat. The boat is part of the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, MD. Their website is www.calvertmarinemuseum.com. On the way out of the Solomons harbor we passed a webcam on a piling of an Osprey nest. The website is http://www.life.umd.edu/biology/paynterlab/video/webcam.html. While we were on the boat a reporter for a local newpaper approached us and said they had taken our picture. They were doing a story on the seasons first cruise of the Wm B. Tennison and asked why were were aboard. We don't know if they printed a story, but their website is www.somdnews.com.

Today we departed Solomons and cruised up the Patuxent River to St. LeonardCreek. It was at the mouth of this creek that Commodore Joshua Barney drove off a British blockading fleet during our country's second war with Great Britain. I think we said it was during the revolution, but I suspect Durelle is going to correct that and say it was the war of 1812. Onthe way back down river we explored Mills Creek, shut down the engine and had lunch. Fulton Lewis Jr. a
WWII correspondent had a home on Mills Creek.

After lunch we motored across a calm Bay to the Little Choptank River and found a snug anchorage in Hudson Creek, where we lay at anchor at this moment.

Full day at Solomons

2007-05-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

This beautiful swan greeted Gail this morning at Solomons!

We spent most of the day at the local museum with great displays of local history and sea life. The high point was a cruise on the only registered "log canoe" in existence.

This is the oldest registered boat of any kind on the East Coast and probably the second oldest in the U.S.

This "Bugeye" oyster boat is the same kind of construction as that built by Joshua Slocum to sail with his wife from South America to Boston as described in his book "Single Handed around the World."

Another fascinating adventure was climbing this "screw pole" lighthouse which once stood on Drum Point at the mouth of the Patuxent River. This is the same design as the "Mid Bay" lighthouse in Mobile Bay.

Tomorrow we will set sail up the Patuxent River, the route the British took when they sailed from the Chesapeake up the river and burned the White House and Capitol during the Revolution. From there we will cross the Bay and find an anchorage or two on the Eastern Shore.

First of May on Chesapeake Bay

2007-05-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

Left Choptank River around 10:00 A.M. and headed out south in the Chesapeake Bay to Solomons Island. It was bright and sunny, calm and beautiful. Tied up at Spring Cove Marina for the night, showered and had a great meal at the Naughty Gull. We're continuing to indulge ourselves and will have carrot cake on the boat for dessert! Marco and Virginia are a joy to have on board; we have a lot in common.

Under Way

2007-04-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

We are finally under way with our new boat. We left Shipwright Marina in Deale MD at 10 am. Crossing the Chesapeake Bay had its ups and downs, but after sighting a bald eagle, swan and many Ospreys, we found a snug creek off the Choptank River. Marco and John inflated the dinghy while Gail grilled steaks. Virginia just finished the dishes and we are about to turn in.

On The Road Again!

2007-04-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well, we are on the road again. Finally got away from Pensacola this morning with Marco and Virginia.

We had a very good travel day, and are staying at a delightful Hampton Inn in Salisbury North Carolina. It was an easy walk to an "Itchi Ban" Japanese resturant with a hibachi grill. We will be at the boat tomorrow afternoon. Of course our "workers" have been tardy once again and the boat isn't quite ready, but we should have enough done by Monday morning for a short sea trial and start of our week long cruise on the Bay.

John & Gail

99 and 44-100ths % done, She Floats!

2007-04-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, Monarch is in the water. They launched her yesterday, and we are busy storing away the mountain of stuff we have put aboard for our 7 months cruise.

Felix and Kiri Anderson Cardegna visited us on the boat shortly after it was in the water and we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion.

It looks like the weather will not cooperate for a Monday sea trial, so we may have to put that off until we return from Pensacola on about the 27th.

Monarch Lives!

2007-04-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

We finally have the new name on the transom, and on the light boards as well. Looks great, doesn't it?

Monarch will be "splashed" tomorrow, and we can hardly wait.

Our schedule is to spend 13, 14, 15, and 16 making Monarch ship shape, and doing a sea trial. On the 17th we will start for Pensacola, returning to Deale on about the 26th.

Wicker Ahoy!

2007-04-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I have new GPS, radar, sonar, and fuel flow computer being installed. More importantly, Gail has found the perfect wicker furniture for the sun deck. Now I ask you, what boat is complete without it's suite of wicker furniture?

Oh yeah, we arrived in Maryland and the next day peeked our the window and saw 1/2 inch of snow on the car. Nice start.

We celebrated Easter with Gail's old friend, father David Thayer, attending the mass he celebrated in St. Michaels Church in St. Michaels MD on the eastern shore. It later occurred to us that St. Michaels is on our itenerary while cruising the Chesapeake with Marco and Virginia later in the month. What a coincidence!

Tomorrow night dinner at the home of Kiri Anderson Candenga and Felix,two of Gail's old friends from Mt. Agnes. Later in the week we'll visit another old friend Carol Kennedy Mullen. What fun!

Mayberry RFD

2007-04-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while since we have posted. Both Gail and I contracted a severe case of the flu on our last trip to Maryland, and were out of action for 3 weeks. We then spent the last days of his life with my recently departed father, and are recovering from both.

We spent last night with Sean and Kate in Atlanta, and are currently in the Mayberry Motel in Mount Airy North Carolina, childhood home of Andy Griffeth. Out front on Fife street sits Barney's squad car and Goober's truck. We enjoyed the reproduction of Mayberry in the down town district.

Tomorrow, back to the boat

On the Chesapeake

2007-02-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

Well here we are on Chesapeake Bay for the first time since we actually own the boat, and guess what? It's snowing -- can you tell?

Oh well, we're at the Chesapeake Beach Inn after two days drive from Pensacola. (Thanks to Todd for house sitting!)

Tomorow we go to the boat and unload the Tahoe.

Tentative Schedule

2007-02-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

The tentative sailing schedule of Monarch includes a week long cruise in the Chesapeake Bay with Marco and Virginia White in late April, followed by a departure during the first week of May.

Up the Jersey Coast, New York Harbor, spending a night below the Statue of Liberty then up the Hudson River.

We will enter the Erie Canal at Troy, NY, and plan to leave the boat in Syracuse, NY from June 15 until July 1 while we make a trip back to Pensacola.

After leaving Syracuse we will proceed up the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. We may make a short foray down the St. Lawrence River. Our course will then be westward through the Trent-Severn Waterway and points beyond.

What is the Great Loop

2007-02-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

Gail and I keep telling people we are going to do part of the "Great Loop," and they ask "what is the Great Loop." Well, here it is.

In May we will be starting from Deale MD and heading counter clockwise around the loop ending up back in Pensacola sometime around Thanksgiving.

Saturday, 17 February we will drive to Deale to take some of the huge pile of things we have set aside for the boat, and supervise the installation of some electrical equipment we have ordered.

We plan to return on Thursday the 22nd.

Added Picture

2007-02-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

I've added a picture of Whimsy so all can see what the new boat looks like. It will soon be "Monarch."

First Post

2007-02-08T07:31:00.001-08:00

This is the first entry in the Monarch's log. She should become ours today. She is on the hard in Deale MD and we are trying to coordinate the changes we want to make from here. Should splash on Apr 15, and planning to start loop on May 1.