Lolligag Adventures

Orillia Ontario

2010-07-23T17:28:00.017-04:00

The city of Orillia and the Chamber of Commerce run and maintain the Port of Orillia Marina – and what a wonderful job they do! Everything is first rate from the staff to the shower/restroom facilities to the picnic areas to the quality of the docks AND MOST OF ALL, the internet connection was reliable and free of charge. In addition, if one pays for two nights in the marina, then the third night is free. So we took advantage of the long stay so that Mark can rest and relax for a couple of days.

Sharing the same birth year as Canada, Orillia was originally incorporated as a village in 1867. The history of the area dates back at least 4,000 years ago as archaeologists have uncovered evidence of the Huron and Iroquois peoples in the area. In addition, numerous sites have been discovered which were camps used by Native Americans for hundreds of years for trading, hunting, and fishing.

Immediately upon arrival, we were invited to dinner to meet fellow Loopers which was organized by our non-Looper friends Sally and Ron aboard Summer Star. We spent the evening getting acquainted with the crew of Quixote and Salt Shaker, with Sally and Ron being the perfect host and hostess. I inquired about mariner Frankie the dog, and he is doing fine. He still gets a little overheated and agitated but he will be home soon where I am sure he will rebound to his old darling self once he is on land.

We set out Thursday afternoon to explore and we found the entire town of Orillia to be charming, quant and welcoming. The two main streets are lively and filled with small shops and boutiques. This whole area is full of cottages so many of the stores catered to the cottagers with merchandise that was cute, functional and very expensive. It was fun to window shop but most items were totally out of my price range.

At first we thought it was odd that the town’s Christmas decorations were still on display because Orillia seemed like a town that stayed on top of its maintenance, then we discovered that the week before our arrival, Orillia had a huge summer festival entitled Christmas in July when the entire town was decorated.

All around the town we found Guitars on Parade which were decorated and painted by local artists or children’s groups.

However, there was one shop that both Captain Mark and I fell in love with…it was the Mariposa Market. Upstairs was a wonderful deli/bakery filled with the most delicious smells of fresh baked breads, chocolate cakes and just about every conceivable dessert. I think I gained at least 15 pounds just walking the aisles looking at all the goodies trying to decide on only ONE item to purchase. I settled on the Cranberry-Walnut bread while Captain Mark got a pound of fudge and a chocolate cupcake. Downstairs was an authentic old fashioned general store with all sorts of local items like Orillia honey, dip mixes and baking items. I am such a sucker for regional items that I had to get a jar of Blueberry jam and a yummy butter spread for my Cranberry-Walnut bread.

Kirkfield to Orillia

2010-07-21T16:14:00.011-04:00

It rained all through the night while we were at the Kirkfield Lock but we knew that the icky weather would pass about mid-morning. So we slept in a little longer than usual and headed out while it was still drizzling just a tad.

Today will be another unique and cool lock experience for us. This section along the Talbot River was originally the portage between Balsam Lake and Lake Simcoe. However when the Trent-Severn Waterway was constructed these five original locks were placed between Canal Lake and Lake Simcoe to replace the land portage.

These locks are designated historical landmarks and are maintained and operated in exactly the same manner as when they first went into operation almost 100 years ago. The lock doors are opened/closed manually as are the flood gates which are operated by manual hand cranks which are located on the top of the lock doors. Once the boats are secure and the lock doors are manually closed by the attendant, then each of the attendants will manually open or close the flood gate located in the lock door to adjust the water flow accordingly.

Even after the rain, the heat continues to just be nasty…it is so hot and humid. But we caught a break in that following Gamebridge Lock # 41, we were be on the open waters of Lake Simcoe which is quite large and provided some much needed “sea breeze”. We were a little concerned about the wave conditions on Lake Simcoe since the wind direction had changed, but the waves were in the 1-2 foot range and the Lolligag handled them just fine.

There is no pump-out facility in Orillia and none until we reach Penetanguishene (at least two more stops ahead), so we took advantage of the facilities just as we exited off Lake Simcoe. Yes, we have found the pump-out charges to be very high in Canada. We have paid fees ranging $15 to $27 per pump-out with most marinas charging $20. This is quite a bit considering that we are accustomed to receiving either free pump-outs or paying in the area of $5-10 dollars in the US. If a pump-out fee is charged by a marina in the US, the fee is almost always waived if fuel is purchased, so it was certainly a double whammy to have to pay so much for a pump-out when purchasing $200 worth of fuel.

When we entered the Port of Orillia we could not believe all the Looper boats – there had to be at least ten of us all gathered together. Of course, we were very excited to see our friends aboard Summer Star and we could not wait to find out how mariner Frankie the dog was feeling.

Hours on the water: 5.75
Nautical miles traveled: 28.25
Number of bridges to be opened: 3
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 5
Next Destination: Big Chute Marine Railway
What we are listening to: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Lesson for the day: Loopers Loopers Everywhere!
Obligatory knitting report: Socks for me

Bobcaygeon to Kirkfield Lift Lock

2010-07-20T18:34:00.016-04:00

Today was another exciting day because we experienced the Kirkfield Lift Lock, the Hole in the Wall and the Trent Channel. We saw more beautiful homes and lots of small cottages. The people who own/stay in the cottages are called cottagers, which I think is quite clever and unique as I had never heard that expression before.

Before reaching Kirkfield Lift Lock there are two areas of concern for boaters. The first is the Trent Channel which is extremely narrow and extremely shallow. Water depths averaged six feet. As we entered the channel I made a Security Call to notify any oncoming boats in the vicinity that we were approaching. This is NOT an area where one wants to encounter a boat of our size or larger coming toward us – there simply would not be enough water or room to maneuver. We did meet a small twenty foot boat about mid-channel and it was obvious that they did not have a VHF radio onboard, but we made the pass without incident. Next up was the infamous Hole in the Wall pass through. Again we made it through without incident.

Finally we came to the Kirkfield Lift Lock. This is the first lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway where we will be lowered rather than raised. This is significant because this means that the red and green buoy markers switch sides to reflect the “return to sea” positions. Captain Mark has always had a good grasp of this concept but it causes concern for many boaters. An easy way to remember the concept that we learned in our Coast Guard training was “Red, Right, Returning” which means keep the red buoys on your right when you are returning to sea. The hardest part for some people is to accept the concept of which direction water is flowing that represents the return to sea issue. They just do not understand how you can be miles from the sea yet still be returning when an actual sea may be closer as the crow flies. There are all sorts of little gizmos to help boaters with this issue but being aware of ones surroundings and following the charts is always the best way to navigate.

Knowing what to expect, I was really excited to enter the Kirkfield Lift Lock. And it was as much fun as the Peterborough Lift Lock. In fact, I seemed to be able to see the operations better this time since we were being lowered rather than raised. We decided to stay on the lock wall overnight at Kirkfield so that we could watch the lock in operation and explore the area.

Hours on the water: 5.5
Nautical miles traveled: 27
Number of bridges to be opened: 1
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 4
Next Destination: Orillia
What we are listening to: Finished Envy the Night by Michael Kortya and started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
Lesson for the day: I love Lift Locks
Obligatory knitting report: socks for me

Reality or Fantasy?

2010-07-19T21:51:00.009-04:00

I love to fly – the smaller the plane, the more I love the experience. Most people think I am nuts to feel this way but the thrill of flying is beyond explanation for me. Our daughters know this of me, so for my 60th birthday, my gift was a skydiving adventure. I had to wait until I was 61 to actually make the dive due to this trip and weather conditions, but when I jumped, it was THE MOST AWESOME experience of my life – nothing compares to the thrill of free falling. And the view from up that high was extraordinary beyond words.

I often joke that my next husband will be a pilot and that he must possess his own plane so that I can fly whenever I want. I have tried every which way from Sunday to convince Captain Mark to get his pilot’s license but he wants absolutely no part of flying or even riding in a small plane.

Before making this trip, I thought that any plane would be fine but now I have concluded that my next husband must not only be a pilot but own a seaplane as well. Up here in Canada, they are also called boat planes and they seem to be everywhere.

Of course, the real solution to my fantasy would be for me to get my pilot’s license…and I just might do that!

Buckhorn to Bobcaygeon

2010-07-19T21:30:00.005-04:00

Our day today was relatively short. It was either go a short distance and rest or go a longer distance and then rest an entire day. So we decided on a very short day of travel with medium rest. The weather is not as hot has it has been but it is warm and since Captain Mark really needed to get some rest, we opted for staying at the Gordon marina in Bobcaygeon for the electricity and the air conditioning. Shower and restroom facilities were newly remodeled and staff attentive and very friendly.

Again we saw gorgeous homes along the way and we had no locks or bridges to be opened for us. We were in Bobcaygeon before we knew it. Bobcaygeon is a lovely small town with thriving main street merchants. It reminded both of us of New Buffalo, Michigan.

Hours on the water: 2.25
Nautical miles traveled: 15
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 0
Next Destination: Kirfield Lock Wall
What we are listening to: Envy the Night by Michael Koryta
Lesson for the day: Taking it easy is a good thing
Obligatory knitting report: Socks for me

Buckhorn Ontario

2010-07-18T20:23:00.006-04:00

We arrived in Buckhorn to find it quite the party place. Immediately upon exiting Lock 31 we were astounded to find the lock walls completely full. As we passed a larger boat they told us that they were leaving and that we could have their space. So Captain Mark adeptly turned us around and we had the primo docking space. Of course, with the primo docking location comes the myriad of questions about the Lolligag and Chicago which is fine as we always enjoy meeting new people.

Check out this canoe with an addition - who would have ever thought of something like this?

We were docked almost in front of the Main Street Landing so we, of course, had to have dinner there. Food was good – they have the most wonderful French Fries up here but they call them Fresh Cut Fries. They are homemade French Fries made from fresh potatoes. While Captain Mark is boring and prefers ketchup, I prefer malt vinegar on mine.

Dottie is such a perfect dog but she does go rather crazy around horses. She can hear a horse coming toward our house in Indiana when it is more than a half mile away. Since she has not found any horses here in Canada, she decided to bark furiously at this elk statue.

Since we were on the lock wall and consequently had no electricity, once again we were asleep by dark.

Lakefield to Buckhorn

2010-07-18T16:28:00.017-04:00

It was refreshing to discover that it had cooled of slightly overnight when we awoke early Sunday morning. We wanted to get an early start as it is always crazy to travel/boat on the weekends. Of course this is prime vacation time as well so we knew that the locks and waterway would be very crowded. This was evidenced by how we were all jammed into Lock 31.

As we travelled through Stony Lake we began to see our first true glimpses of what is known as “God’s Country” to the Canadians. The lake is influenced both by the rugged granite of the Canadian Shield to the north and by the more heavily forested Great Lakes region to the south. The name is evident by the island and shoals everywhere which were created during and after the last North American Ice Age. As we begin to see the gorgeous pink granite rocks, they are a constant reminder of how important it is to stay within our channel of navigation. What we see above the water is only but the tip of the iceberg as the saying goes…

The region has been inhabited for thousands of years. Early First Nations settlement is evidenced by a remarkable collection of prehistoric rock carvings to be seen at the east end of Stony Lake at the significant Petroglyphs. On-going historic research argues convincingly that Samuel De Champlain traveled the area lakes, rivers and overland portages in the 1600s. I have always wanted to own my own island and there are certainly plenty of them available. It was just one spectacular home after another…

As we approached one of the locks and secured on the blue line, the lockmaster asked us to tie at the location as far back from the lock door as possible. Inside the lock and ready to exit was a 100 foot cruise boat that needed all the room available to maneuver coming out of the lock. Note how the bow of the cruise boat folds upward to enable it to fit within the lock.

Hours on the water: 5
Nautical miles traveled: 19.5
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 4
Next Destination: Bobcaygeon
What we are listening to: Envy the Night by Michael Koryta
Lesson for the day: Do you wonder if the people who live in the above glass house throw stones?
Obligatory knitting report: Socks for me

Peterborough to Lakefield

2010-07-17T18:17:00.013-04:00

The day was gorgeous but hot as we left Peterborough. We are really excited about our travels today because we will have the first of two Lift Locks on the Trent-Severn Waterway.
This will be Peterborough Lift Lock and will be our second lock in a series of seven locks total for today. As we entered our first lock of the day a huge cruise boat pulled in behind us and travelled with us through the Peterborough Lift Lock.

Just beyond the Peterborough Lift Lock we came to the first of two swing bridges that will need to be opened for us.

Then just a little further along we passed through the campus of Trent University. We were totally taken by the outstanding and futuristic architecture of the campus buildings.

Then just a little further, cows as far as we could see.

We only travelled 9.7 nautical miles but it took us a whopping five hours to go the distance. I know that we lolligag, but 2 nautical miles an hour is slow even for us. It did rain for about ten minutes when we were in the last lock just before Lakefield but after the rain stopped the heat and humidity were intensified. We reached Lakefield and decided to spend the evening at the Lakefield City marina so that we could sleep with air conditioning. This marina was wonderful and had extremely clean restroom suites with relaxing showers. Even though it was not our longest day on the water..we were exhausted, so it was early to bed just as the sun set.

Hours on the water: 5
Nautical miles traveled: 9.7
Number of bridges to be opened: 2
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 7
Next Destination: Buckhorn Ontario
What we are listening to: Envy the Night by Michael Koryta
Lesson for the day: We loved the Peterborough Lift Lock!!
Obligatory knitting report: Socks for me

Peterborough Lift Lock

2010-07-17T16:28:00.010-04:00

I am going to jump out of sequence for just a minute and tell you about our second lock of the day. It was the Peterborough Lift Lock that is Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn Waterway. It is the first of three super exciting and different locks that we will travel through on the T-S Waterway and certainly a highlight of our trip.

As we approached the lock we were instructed to enter the left caisson, which as you can see is totally submerged. We are going to be lifted with a huge tour boat in the caisson with us and no boat in what will be the lowering caisson. The Peterborough Lift Lock has dual lifts that are the highest hydraulic boat lifts in the world, with a lift of 65 feet. The lock has two identical ship caissons (think bathtubs) in which vessels ascend and descend. Both caissons are enclosed at each end by pivoting gates. The gates on the caissons fit into slots on the gates on the canal reaches so that they open in unison. The caissons are guided up and down on either side by rails affixed to concrete towers.

No external power is needed: the lift lock functions by gravity alone using the counterweight principle. One caisson always ascends and one always descends during each locking cycle. When one caisson reaches the top position, it stops 12 inches below the water level of the upper reach and the control valve is closed. After the movement has settled the water will drop the additional foot to the match the canal water level.

The lift lock was designed by Richard Birdsall Rogers. In 1896, he travelled to Europe to see existing lock examples in operation. The final project included many engineering firsts. It was the first lock to be built entirely of concrete and at the time was the largest structure ever built in the world with unreinforced concrete. This was a considerable accomplishment at the time when conventional locks usually only had a 7 foot rise.

This is the photo I took as we neared the top...I did not want to lean too far over the edge... The lift lock officially opened to the public to a crowd of thousands on July 9,1904,and remains in full use today. It was so exciting and it all happened WAY TOO fast. I wanted to turn around and do it all over again but alas, we only have a one-way canal pass. Fortunately, we will have another Lift Lock when we reach Kirkfield.

Peterborough Ontario

2010-07-16T19:00:00.011-04:00

We had a delightful dinner with Ron and Sally Thursday evening and then Summer Star headed out early Friday morning. We decided to stay another day in Peterborough to rest and regroup before taking on the next series of T-S Waterway locks. The marina is very conveniently located to major shopping areas including a grocery store, LCBO and indoor mall. We walked to the mall, which was about ten blocks away and contained a very nice book store, an okay food court and a very small sampling of yarn which was located within a scrapbooking store…couldn’t quite figure that situation out but I will take yarn wherever I can find it.

Immediately adjacent to the marina is a huge outdoor concert venue. It is unfortunate that we will miss the next performances as some very nice concerts are booked within the next couple of weeks.

In honor of our friend, now Captain Fireman Jim, Mark and Dottie visited the tribute to Canada’s firefighters which is located in the lovely park area next to the concert venue.

We knew that it was just a matter of time before Dottie fell into the water and it finally happened in Peterborough. Dottie loves vanilla ice cream and she and Mark had just returned to the boat from the ice cream store at the marina. Dottie has become very adept at jumping off and on the boat and the leap this time was considerably shorter than she had jumped in the past. However, she was much too concerned about where Captain Mark had her ice cream to be paying full attention to where she should jump and of course, she came up short. I don’t think she had a clue that falling into the water was even a possibility as the look on her face was of total disbelief. Mark quickly fetched her out of the water and brought her inside to quickly dry her off. Usually she loves having her hair blown dry but I think her main concern was eating her ice cream before it melted.

Being good and law abiding citizens we obeyed the Canadian restrictions on how much liquor could be brought into their country – which is a very limited amount, like one bottle of wine and a six-pack of beer. The liquor sales in Canada are done in government owned stores LCBO: Liquor Control Board of Ontario (or respective Provence). We visited our first LCBO while in Peterborough and were in for a very rude shock…the cost of wine is at least double and in most cases three times the price as it is in most US states. Most of the wine brands were Canadian, which was preferable as I like to taste local wines, but Holy Moley, I could only afford to purchase one bottle. Another example is the boxed wine which costs about $15 for a 5 liter box in Indiana – here in Canada, the cheapest 3 liter box of wine that I saw cost $33. Needless to say, I left with only 1 bottle of wine and six pack of Blueberry Cider which I will ration until we get back to the States.

Milestones

2010-07-15T22:42:00.002-04:00

We are very proud to have crossed two major milestones today. First, on a boat travel is measured in hours not miles. This is calculated by the length of time the engine has run. Today we passed the 1000 hours marker of the number of hours that we have put on the boat. The boat had approximately 30 hours on it when we purchased it so we are very excited to have passed the first major travel indicator.

Secondly, we have been reading (listening to) the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling off and on for the past year or so. Today we finished the series. Ironically it was just about the same time that we reached our 1000 hours mark on Lolligag’s engine. We both thoroughly enjoyed the HP series and both loved listening to the audio version. Jim Dale, the narrator, does all 100+ character voices himself and is an engaging artist. If you have not read or listened to this series, we cannot recommend it highly enough. While designed for children, the subtle and wise way that JK Rowling teaches us all how to live by the Golden Rule is a lesson for children of all ages.

Hastings to Peterborough

2010-07-15T18:48:00.009-04:00

After sleeping for almost twelve hours, we were up and ready to tackle another hot day. Fortunately, today we only have one lock and when we reach Peterborough we are going to rest for at least one extra day. Again today we follow Summer Star's lead.

When approaching locks on the Trent-Severn Waterway one does not hail the lockmaster as we did in the States. If the locks doors are open, then we may proceed ahead into the lock. If the lock doors are closed, then we take a spot on the “blue line” and tie off until the lock is ready for us. The “blue line” is a blue painted line on one of the two lock walls at each end of the lock. The lock wall without the blue line is where boats tie off to spend time at the lock. By securing at this location, it lets the lockmaster know that they do not desire a lock through at this time. As we approached our only lock, it was in service so we took our spot on the blue line to await our turn. As you can see, when the water is being drained from the lock it comes out quite turbulently.

Our travels today took us through rustic areas filled with cottages and summer homes. I am not sure what kind of bird’s nest this is, but we have seen two bald eagles and several large hawks today.

We knew we were near Peterborough as soon as we saw the giant fountain in the middle of the harbor. We have heard very nice things about the town of Peterborough so this is a great place to rest and explore for a couple of days.

Hours on the water: 5.5
Nautical miles traveled: 33.7
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 1
Next Destination: Lakefield
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: Mark needs to slow down and rest
Obligatory knitting report: Started a pair of socks for me

Campbellford to Hastings

2010-07-14T19:25:00.015-04:00

It rained for a very short time just as we were getting up and while it was overcast, the weather report indicated that the most of the serious rain had passed. So while Captain Mark took advantage of the reasonable fuel prices in Campbellford, I ran over to the local farmer’s market. I love to make jams and jellies so whenever I get the chance to purchase other homemade jams, I grab the opportunity. At this farmer’s market I found rhubarb jam and some fantastic looking tomatoes.

We found our place behind Summer Star, our newly acquainted boat buds, Ron, Sally and Frank (their darling Dachshund). We met them upon arrival in Campbellford when Ron graciously shared his electric connection with us…I guess you could say this “sparked” our friendship.

All of the traditional locks in Canada have the steel cables to which we secure our lines. In the States when using a cable connection, we just secure one line mid-ship but the lockmasters in Canada require that we secure both bow and stern. Last year I made special shorter lines just for working with the cable-type securing. These lines have worked great for the stern but the distance between the cables on the lock walls have required that I use the traditional length bow line while Mark uses the short lines at the stern. This way I can adjust our forward-backward movement as needed with the longer line.

There were six locks today which included one double lock set. It continued to be very so hot. Even though there were half as many locks as our first day on the T-S Waterway I think today’s travel wore us out more due to the spacing of the locks. No sooner would I get settled into my knitting to relax when another lock would appear.

We only went 18 nautical miles today but it took us over five hours.
When we reached Hastings we had the choice of either staying on the lock wall (with no electricity) or going into the marina…at the last lock, while literally melting, both Summer Star and the Lolligag enthusically decided to stay at the marina for a wonderfully air conditioned sleep.

After getting settled in at the marina, we were all going to have dinner at the Captain’s Table in downtown Hastings. Unfortunately, Frank was not feeling well so Ron and Sally did not want to leave him. While Ron got carryout, Mark and I had the outstanding fish, chips and shrimp. Believe the rumors…this was exceptional fish.

We were so tired and the air conditioning felt so good that we were asleep before the sun went down…

Hours on the water: 5
Nautical miles traveled: 17.9
Number of bridges to be opened: 1
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 6
Next Destination: Peterborough
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: Paying for the electric (AC)= a good night's sleep in 90 degree weather
Obligatory knitting report: Finished Opal socks for Captain Mark

Campbellford Ontario

2010-07-13T17:49:00.007-04:00

Dottie and I let Captain Mark sleep in a little bit this morning to recover from our physically stressful day yesterday. Later in the day while I worked on the blog, Mark and Dottie set out to explore the town.

Located approximately midway between Toronto and Ottawa, Campbellford was first settled during the 1830s. A wealthy community at the turn of the twentieth century, Campbellford is home to many fine Victorian homes. Today Campbellford is notable as the home to Empire Cheese, which is eastern Ontario’s only remaining rural cheese and butter co-operative.

An eclectic tourist attraction is the 27 foot high statue of a Toonie (the unofficial name for Canada's two-dollar coin) which was designed by local artist Brent Townsend.

Word along the T-S Waterway spread quickly to let us know that the best fuel prices could be found in Campbellford. Captain Mark and Dottie scoped out the fuel docks as they walked around downtown and determined that the cost of diesel fuel when converted to US measurement was $3.80 per gallon.

Trenton to Campbellford

2010-07-12T20:41:00.003-04:00

The locks on the Trent-Severn Waterway open for the first lock through at 8:30a, so we were up early and on our way. On this first day we will pass through twelve locks with the last two locks being a double flight. In addition to the twelve locks there were two swing bridges that also needed to be opened for us.

Many of the lock doors on the T-S Waterway are manually opened by lock attendants. There will be an attendant on each side of the lock wall and each will “walk” the turnstile around to open or close the lock door. As you can see from the photos, they are also masters of multi-tasking because while the lockmaster was opening the door for us, he was also calling ahead to the next lock to let them know that we are headed in their direction.

The landscape during our travels was very diversified – from the urban areas with the man-made canal to the primitive wetlands.

As the day wore on and the heat/humidity increased, we wore down physically. Personally, I did not think that we were ever going to come to the last flight of locks # 11 & 12 with the city of Campbellford just beyond. We knew that a major storm was headed in our direction and we felt pretty confident that we would make Campbellford before the storm hit. However, we were incorrect. We had just entered the lower of the two connecting locks when the rain first began. It had been so hot that the rain felt good and I think the rain drops even sizzled as they hit my hot skin. The combined lift on these two locks was 48 feet and by the time we had partially lifted the first 24 feet,and were ready to proceed into the second lock, the storm intensified with rain literally coming down in sheets and lightening striking the ground immediately outside the lock. As crazy as it seems, we were really lucky to be where we were when the torrential rain and lightning came. Due to the fact that we were in the lower of the two locks we were protected, especially from the lightening. The lockmaster told us that he would not raise us any higher or into the next lock until the squall passed due to the wind and the lightning. So Mark and I tied off the boat and came inside to change our clothes when the rains started to let up a little. We were both totally soaked. The storm passed within twenty minutes and the heat came back, not quite, but almost as bad as before.

The city of Campbellford provides dockage on canal walls in the heart of downtown. Clean restrooms as well as a great internet signal were all the incentive we needed to stay an extra day to rest and recover.

Hours on the water: 8
Nautical miles traveled: 27.4
Number of bridges to be opened: 2
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 12
Next Destination: Hastings, Ontario
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: The storm was exciting and thrilling but I am glad we were safe!
Obligatory knitting report: Regular sock for Captain Mark with Opal Yarn

The Trent–Severn Waterway

2010-07-11T21:49:00.003-04:00

The Trent–Severn Waterway was formerly used for commercial purposes but now is exclusively for pleasure boats, connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to the Georgian Bay portion of Lake Huron at Port Severn. Begun in the 1850’s, ironically by the time the waterway was completed in 1920, its design had been made obsolete by larger boats and the railroads as the waterway had been designed for boats too small to be commercially viable.

The major natural waterways include the Trent River, Otonabee River, the Kawartha lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching and the Severn River. The total length of the waterway is 240 miles, beginning at Trenton, Ontario, with roughly 20 nautical miles of man-made channels. There are 44 locks, including 36 conventional locks, two sets of flight locks, hydraulic lift locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield, and a marine railway at Big Chute which transports boats between the upper and lower sections of the Severn. The system also includes 39 swing bridges and 160 dams and control structures that manage the water levels for flood control and navigation on lakes and rivers. It is maintained and operated by Parks Canada, a federal government agency, and now is being used for tourism by recreational boaters.

Trenton Ontario

2010-07-11T15:55:00.009-04:00

It stopped raining early Saturday morning but the heat and humidity just continue to make it extremely uncomfortable…I don’t think that we could leave Picton fast enough…if it was possible to leave skid marks on the water – we would have done so leaving the Picton Marina.

We had a leisurely ride to Trenton, Ontario which is town located at the beginning (southern end) of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Traveling on the open waters of Picton Bay was wonderfully refreshing as we were able to take advantage of the cool breeze. We watched as two seagulls had lunch.

We found our spot at the Fraser Park-Trenton Marina which is strategically located at the mouth of the T-S Waterway. Different marinas and towns have different flavors and as icky as the Picton Marina was, the Trenton Marina was delightful. The staff was fun, welcoming and most accommodating which always makes a stay easier.
We used the time to walk around the town once the sun went down a bit and found a great grocery store, the Metro which is an A&P but certainly not like any in the US…it was clean and well stocked. We purchased ribs which were so good that I sent Captain Mark back on Sunday to get another batch.

I also had another treat in Trenton…when inquiring about a Laundromat, I was told by the marina owners that a laundry service was available and that I would be very pleased with the end product…since the Laundromat was at least a half a mile walk and the temperature was back up in the high 90s, I quickly took advantage of this charming soul who would come to the boat, pick up my dirty clothes and then return them to me in less than four hours. Normally, I enjoy doing laundry but with this heat, having someone else do the wash was my idea of heaven. I could not have been more pleased…the clothes came back promptly and folded in exactly the same way I would have folded them. This service was a little pricey…but just this one time it was a perk I was willing to pay for!

All day Sunday we rested and read about the upcoming Trent-Severn Waterway experience. Just about every person who has done this Loop trip has commented that the Trent-Severn Waterway and Georgian Bay were the highlights of the trip so we are most excited to start this next leg of the journey.

Hours on the water: 4.75
Nautical miles traveled: 36
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 0
Next Destination: Campbellford, Ontario
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: It was nice having someone else do my laundry for a change.
Obligatory knitting report: Second blue sock for Wunder Kid Mark

Picton Ontario

2010-07-09T19:53:00.008-04:00

Upon arriving in Picton Marnia I was in for the rudest docking awakening yet …as I hopped off the boat to secure the lines (as there was no deck hand to meet us, which was okay) I nearly fell off the pier. The docks which are floating docks are so wobbly that the only thing that saved me from continuing to topple over into the water was the fact that instinctually I hit the deck to secure my balance. No other boats were secured to our pier and I was not sure if that was because no one else wanted to experience this thrill-ride or if they just chose not to stop in Picton. Most of our friends who have come to Picton had anchored out and I can certainly understand why…but since it has been so hot we wanted the electricity in order to run the AC.

After I had calmed down and gathered my courage to once again step on the pier, we decided to explore the actual town of Picton. It is now about 105 degrees and the heart of town is literally straight up the side of a mountain. By the time we reached the top of the hill, we were in serious need of a cooling station and water. We found the most charming bookstore with a coffee shop to regroup before we explored some more. I found a yarn shop and was forced to purchase some hemp/Merino blend yarn for socks for Captain Mark.

It rained through the night but the rain did not make the humidity go away and the rain continued off and on throughout the day on Friday. So we just stayed inside the boat for the remainder of our visit to Picton. Mark read, Dottie slept and I alternated working on the blog and knitting. It was early to sleep Friday evening as the rain continued…

Kingston to Picton

2010-07-08T17:11:00.007-04:00

It continues to be just brutally hot so we left Confederation Basin in Kingston rather early in an attempt to catch cool sea breezes on Lake Ontario. As we headed west we travelled along the channel north of Prince Edward County which is a large island in Lake Ontario with our destination as Picton located in PEC.

The water and winds in this particular portion of Lake Ontario make for some of the best and most challenging sailing in the world. People come from all over the world to test their skills in these waters. When the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, the sailing venue was held in Kingston to take advantage of this natural phenomenon. An ironic and humorous fact is that a special marina was built for the 1976 Olympics and is located immediately adjacent to one of Canada’s maximum security prisons. The area joke is that this marina is where the convicts keep their yachts!

We were extremely surprised to see a US Coast Guard ship docked not far from the prison/marina and of course we made up all sorts of stories to explain why a USCG vessel would be in Canadian waters near a maximum security prison. I just knew they were after me as they must have found out how much yarn I had smuggled into Canada…

The ride was calm and rolling with barely one foot waves. The scenery was peaceful and quite beautiful.

Hours on the water: 4.5
Nautical miles traveled: 34.5
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 0
Next Destination: Trenton, Ontario
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: It is so hot!
Obligatory knitting report: Finished blue socks for Wunder Kid Mark

Martello Towers and Fort Henry

2010-07-07T21:35:00.013-04:00

As we approached Kingston and our slip at Confederation Basin we could not help but notice several large round block structures with a hint of painted wood near the top and pointy roofs. At first they looked like the round red barns of Indiana but upon closer inspection it was obvious that they were not barns. Before the dock hands had even finished tying our lines, I was asking a millions questions about these buildings, especially since there was one immediately at the end of our pier. I was informed that they are Martello Towers, but simply called Martellos.

They are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. Standing 40 feet high and with two floors inside, they typically had a garrison of one officer and 15-25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse in a 360°arc.

The interior of a classic British Martello tower consisted of three stories. The ground floor served as the magazine and storerooms, where ammunition and provisions were kept. The garrison of approximately twenty-five men lived the first floor. This floor which was divided into several rooms and had fireplaces built into the walls for cooking and heating. The officer and men lived in separate rooms of almost equal size. A well or cistern within the Martello supplied the garrison with fresh water.

The Martello towers were used during the first half of the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Nine of the fourteen Martello towers built in Canada still survive today. A common characteristic of Canadian Martello towers was removable cone-shaped roofs to protect against snow.

Six Martello towers were built in the US, but sadly we do not take care of our historical objects and building so only one Martello remains today. It is located in Key West and is currently a botanical garden site.

Fort Henry

Just across a small bay from downtown Kingston are two peninsulas that hold great historical and current day military significance to Canada. The Royal Military College of Canada which is a degree granting university that trains and educates the officers of the Canadian Military Forces all in one location similar to our West Point, Annapolis and Air Force Academy but just combined. This certainly makes sense because then each branch of the armed forces does not have to duplicate services. During our trolley tour we were visited RMC and found it to be very similar in history and tradition to our Annapolis.

Then across another small bay and atop an imposing hill stands Fort Henry. We missed our chance during the trolley tour to hop off at Fort Henry so the next day we took a Kingston City bus that dropped us off at the bottom of the Fort Henry hill. I am not exaggerating when I say that we had to walk 1.25 miles, straight uphill in 100 degree heat. By the time we reached the actual fort at the top of the hill, we were in serious need of liquid refreshment and I have never tasted such good water in my life.

It has been extremely hot this summer thus far and while I thought I was dying of the heat I only had to look at the Canadian students who worked at Fort Henry to represent the soldiers and their families of the day. Their uniforms are authentic and made of 100% wool. Still, the military interpreters known as the Fort Henry Guard did not allow the heat to interfere with their duties and continued to perform the tasks to which they are assigned. We were given a lengthy tour of the fort and all of its interworking’s and history.

The fort was originally was constructed during the War of 1812 when the British anticipated the possibility of a US attack on Point Henry due to Kingston Royal Naval Dockyards which were located adjacent to the Fort. Also to be protected was the vital and strategic shipping route, where the St Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario, so that supplies to Kingston and the rest of Upper Canada remained intact.
Canadian troops then garrisoned the fort until 1891.

During WWI Fort Henry served as a facility for holding Canadian citizens of Ukrainian descent as detainees. Then during WWII the fort was a prisoner-of-war camp for German personnel. Today Fort Henry is a Canadian National Park and is undergoing a complete restoration.

Three Days in Kingston Ontario

2010-07-07T19:31:00.018-04:00

Kingston was chosen as the first capital of the united Canada and served in that role from 1841 to 1844. However, the city was considered too small and lacking in amenities. Its location also made it vulnerable to American attack. Consequently, the capital was moved to alternating locations in Montreal and Toronto and then later to Ottawa in 1857.

The city of Kingston, Ontario is just as I expected it to be…like everywhere in Canada that I have visited, it is tidy, charming and full of history. While Canada was settled at approximately the same time as the United States, the country seems to be “older and more historic” than the US. Maybe that is because we in the US are all too eager to tear down the old and fill the spot with something new and modern but not necessarily more attractive.

As we left Confederation Basin (our marina location in Kingston) we were right in the heart of historic Kingston. The waterfront of current day Kingston was once the bustling railroad and ship building capital of Canada. Even today remnants of that era are evident by the Prince George Hotel and of the farmers market that has an old and long standing tradition of being located in the same dedicated spot for over 150 years.

Imagine my surprise as I lifted the shades of the Lolligag to see "what" was docked next to us! And I did not even hear it land...

One of the things we love to do when we visit cities is to take a trolley and so that is the first thing we did. Lasting well over an hour, we had an informative tour given by a former city official who was quite knowledge and most entertaining. We especially enjoyed visiting the Queens College campus. The city is filled with charming inns and B&Bs and this would be wonderful destination for a romantic or fun filled long weekend.

We spent three delightful days in Kingston and it was not nearly enough time. I would love to return to explore the countryside and vineyards of the area. The more I see of Canada, the more I fall in love with this country.

Pubs vs Bars

2010-07-06T13:59:00.012-04:00

Having lived most of my life within the state of Indiana where children cannot enter a drinking establishment or even pass through a bar, I did not ever cultivate or understand the habit of stopping at a neighborhood beer joint. I was already married and a mother by the time I turned twenty-one so when I could legally enter a bar within the state of Indiana I had neither the inclination nor the money to do so. In addition, I really do not like the taste of beer.

When we moved to Chicago, where neighborhood bars are often the best dinning spot as well as local watering hole, I saw a little clearer the appeal of the neighborhood tap. However, as drinking and smoking often go hand in hand and I cannot tolerate being in a smoky environment (and Chicago had not yet banned smoking in public places) I still did not frequent bars very often.

I often read about people gathering at their local “pub” and of course watched the television show Cheers, but I still could not grasp the appeal of why anyone would want to spend more money for a glass of wine and/or watch a baseball game with a bunch of other people when doing these two things at home in my jammies would be much more comfortable and cheaper. I never really got the difference between a bar and a pub – they seemed the same to me…but I could not have been more mistaken.

Two of my knitting heroes, Lucy Neatby and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who both happen to be Canadians, often mention “going to the local pub for a pint” from time to time and I still not did not get it…THEN, while we were in Kingston, Ontario, I finally got it. We were having lunch at the Kingston Brewing Company and I looked around the Pub and I fell in love with the atmosphere, camaraderie (even though I did not know anyone present other than Captain Mark) and the wide selection of ale products. People were watching the sporting events on the TV while laughing and chatting as they ate lunch. As I looked around, I could understand how easy it would be for me, like Lucy and Stephanie, to bring my knitting with me as I joined my buds and had a pint every once in a while.

Clearing Canadian Customs

2010-07-05T21:36:00.006-04:00

This is our first time to travel into international waters and there is a very specific and formal protocol that must be followed by boaters. At all times we are to fly on our stern the colors of our home country, which in our case is the US flag. Upon leaving US waters and entering Canadian waters, we are are required to fly the yellow international quarantine flag until such time as we are cleared by Canadian Customs. Only after we have been cleared or “invited” to stay in Canada may we fly the Canadian Courtesy flag. This flag must be smaller in size than our US flag, must be placed forward of our stern and displayed on the starboard side of the boat.

Across Lake Ontario to Canada

2010-07-05T18:47:00.016-04:00

Bright and early we were up and ready to head across Lake Ontario to Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The winds were favorable which meant that the waves upon the lake made travel very comfortable. We pumped out the head while still in the US as we have heard that the cost to pump out in Canada can be pricey – we shall see.

This is Fort Ontario which played a huge role during the War of 1812 as a strategic outpost for the US forces.

Finally we were left the Oswego River and entered the waters of Lake Ontario.
Traveling was quite easy and in fact, so easy that after about an hour, First Mate Dottie and I were lulled to sleep leaving Captain Mark to fend for himself at the helm. What is interesting about traveling in open water is that all open water looks the same. It does not matter if one is in Lake Michigan or the Gulf of Mexico or the Chesapeake Bay or the Atlantic Ocean – water is water is water. Only when we were in the Florida Keyes did the open water appear different due to the beautiful blue color of the Caribbean waters otherwise the water is an almost green color lighted by the white caps of the waves.

We travelled through the western most area known as the Thousand Islands. This part of Lake Ontario is spotted with almost two thousand small islands. Known for their remoteness and some truly spectacular homes these islands are also bird and wildlife sanctuaries.

It has been tremendously hot for the past few weeks so it felt wonderful to be on the open water with the “sea breeze”. Again I was thankful for the enclosed pilot house so that we were not exposed to the heat and sun as would have been with a fly-bridge. It was also extremely hazy and we were rather close to the shoreline before we were able to make out the city of Kingston. We found our slip at Confederation Basin and as soon as we were settled Captain Mark (and Dottie) went to check us in with Canadian Customs.

Hours on the water: 6.25
Nautical miles traveled: 51
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 0
Next Destination: 0
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: It felt so good to be out in deep water again
Obligatory knitting report: Navy Cardigan for me

Tell Tale Community Traits

2010-07-04T21:48:00.016-04:00

As we travel we have had the opportunity to experience many different ways of life, culture and local trends within both urban and rural settings. I have found that the best way to get a “feel” for an area is by paying close attention to the local grocery store. Almost every town has one and they come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. I have taken every opportunity that I could to avoid the almost ever-present Wal-Marts as they are the same no matter where one travels and they seldom give one a flavor of the area unless one is doing a sociological study of the native inhabitants but that is a blog story for another time.

Most groceries are pretty routine with the basic staples of life such as bread, milk and People magazines. I discovered that two areas of a store truly make a grocery outstanding; these areas are the bakery aisle and the meat counter. If fresh bread is baked within the store that is a dead give-away that the store will have quality produce and savvy consumer goods. I love vegetables and since I am the only crew aboard the Lolligag that eats any fresh vegetable other than celery and white potatoes, I am always excited when I enter a grocery store and the smell of fresh baked bread because I know that yummy vegetables will be part of my next meal.

The next area is the fresh meat counter. I love it when I find a grocery that has a real person, in an apron, standing behind a tall glass case just waiting to assist me with my choice of meat or fish items. I love being able to point to the salmon filet that I want and to tell the “butcher” how I wish to have the fish wrapped. I know that the person waiting on me is most likely not a butcher but pretending that he/she is completes my grocery shopping fantasy experience.

Now if a store has both an in-house bakery and a fresh meat counter then it is guaranteed that I will also find a delightful deli, choice cheeses, and scrumptious snacks along with a plentiful soda/pop selection. Using these standards as the basis of comparison I am able to deduce an unscientific but very accurate assessment of the local community. It is interesting that some several of the “best” grocery stores have not been in the “best” communities from a socio-economic perspective. Also interesting is the fact that often the grocery store is the social hub of a community and a place where the community spirit is most evident. This is especially true if the local high school sports team will be facing a long standing rival on Friday evening.

Now with all of this being said I will reveal my top five favorite grocery stores based on our travels thus far:

#5
Farm Fresh which is located in the south

#4
Kroger which is located in the Midwest

#3
Buehler’s Buy Low which is located in Lionville and surrounding Southern Indiana towns

#2
Harris-Teeter which is located in the Mid-Atlantic states. This grocery chain came in a very close second to Wegmans. Harris-Teeter did have an unfair advantage in that these stores are allowed to sell wine while the grocery stores in New York state are not allowed to do so…

#1

Wegmans which is located in New York State. This is by far my favorite grocery store in the whole United States. If I could get the company to branch out to the Midwest, I would be in hog heaven for sure (pun intended). Since this is highly unlikely to happen, I did the next best thing and that was to shop in as many Wegmans stores as I could while I was in the area even if I did have to go to another store to purchase my wine.

The Making of a Future Chicago Cub

2010-07-04T17:19:00.012-04:00

I love baseball…I am a Die Hard Chicago Cubs fan and I know baseball inside out. Mark my words when I say that we have, in our family, a young man who is destined to be a Major League baseball player. His name is Nathanial and he is our youngest nephew. Nathanial is a member of the Indiana Baseball Academy from Carmel, Indiana and his traveling team was recently invited to Cooperstown, New York to participate in a national tournament. Fortunately for us, Cooperstown was only a drive of a few hours from where the Lolligag was currently, so we eagerly rented a car to watch Nathanial play ball. My brother Bill, as well as Nathanial’s parents Lisa and Greg, also came to watch the tournament and it was nice to visit with my sibs while watching some outstanding baseball.

I was not exactly sure what to expect, HOWEVER, I could never have imagined the wonderful baseball program and experience that is offered at Cooperstown Dreams Park. It truly is beyond even Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams park…every detail of a quality wholesome baseball experience has been conceived and executed for the enjoyment and skill enhancement of the participants and fans. With twenty-two baseball diamonds available for tournament games, literally hundreds of youngsters have the opportunity to be invited to Dreams Park each year to play. The players and their parents are given an orientation by park personnel and then the players are “housed” in team barracks where they will spend the remainder of the week away from their parents. This allows the players to experience what it is like in a training camp environment and to focus on the hands-on skills training seminars that they each attend during the week.

While Nathanial is a very talented athlete, he is also a very humble young man and not one to seek the limelight. He takes his training and coaching advice very seriously and even at this young age has that “Major League Baseball Player” look about him. He is a well-rounded player who can play multiple positions but pitching is where his heart lies. He also wields a mighty bat and while at Cooperstown, Nathanial hit three home runs. One of which we were present to witness as well as the wide smile on his face as he rounded third base.

Nathanial’s family are tried and true St Louis Cardinals fans and as everyone knows, the Cards are the nemesis of the Chicago Cubs. Several years ago when we still lived in Chicago, I had the pleasure of taking Nathanial to his first Major League baseball game…of course it was Cubs vs Cards and the Cubs actually won the game. I have often been chastised by my family of Cardinal’s fans when I have referred to Nathanial as a Future Chicago Cub…but I think his father Greg said it best when he said “…if Nathanial gets drafted by the Chicago Cubs organization EVEN I will become a Cubs fan!”

Phoenix to Oswego, New York

2010-07-03T21:58:00.013-04:00

The weather has cooled off and it was an absolutely perfect day when we waved good-bye to the darling Bridge House Brats as we departed Phoenix. Our journey today was still within the New York Canal System but in realty we will be upon the Oswego River which will empty into Lake Ontario. The Oswego River is part of the New York Canal System because it has a system of 7 locks which lowered us a total of 118 feet to the water level of Lake Ontario. There is no lock #4, so our destination is the Oswego Marina located immediately outside Lock 8 in the heart of downtown Oswego. However in all of our travels thus far this is the first time that we have ever seen a bridge in the middle of a lock! We could not go forward until after the water level had been lowered so that we would fit underneath the bridge.

Since we were traveling in a river, the shoreline was considerably different than it was within the man-made canals. Trees lined the shore and for most of the way, we were able to enjoy the undeveloped wetlands. The area reminded us of the Illinois and Tennessee waterways with many of the same trees and water fowl.

I hardly had time to knit…every time I took my yarn and needles out of my bag, it was time for Deck Monkey lock duties. FINALLY, after the third lock, I remembered the special “lock line” I made last year for securing us to the lock wall cables. Once I found the line and used it, my Deck Monkey lock duties became much easier.

Dottie does not seem to mind her life jacket and has found the courage to come outside the boat whenever either one of us is outside. She has not even come close to falling off (knock on wood) and is totally unbothered by the ducks and geese. She just hangs out looking cute and knowing that she is in charge.

We arrived in Oswego Marina and will stay here until the seas are favorable for us to cross Lake Ontario. Look who has the slip next to ours…these guys come and go all around the clock and carry very serious looking weapons. Of course, they are extremely nice, polite and love the Lolligag. I think that they would much prefer to be driving the Lolligag but is it doubtful that they would capture any bad guys at 7 knots.

Hours on the water: 4.5
Nautical miles traveled: 19
Number of bridges to be opened: 1
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 7
Next Destination: Kingston, Ontario Canada
What we are listening to: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Lesson for the day: Don’t forget what you learned last year
Obligatory knitting report: Navy top down cardigan for me

Bridge House Brats

2010-07-02T16:57:00.009-04:00

Located in the center of Phoenix, New York, at Henley Park, on the Oswego River next to Lock One is the Bridge House Museum. Here The Brats have made a place for boaters to feel most welcome. The kids that work in Henley Park are called the "Bridge House Brats". They maintain the park and historical museum all summer long, keeping both the park and museum clean, operational, and safe.

The Bridge House hours are from 7am to 4pm on Monday through Thursday and from 7am to 8pm on Fridays and 7am to 3pm Saturday during the months of June, July and August. Closed Sundays. Free lemonade and coffee are served every day to all. The Brats are at our service from 7 in the morning until 4 at night, to run errands or serve you dockside. We are welcome to order from any of the restaurants in Phoenix. We simply ordered from the menus and one of The Brats will phone in the order, and gladly bring it straight to our boat. On Friday night, I had some of the best pie in world for only $1.

The following services are also available from The Brats:
* Wash your boat - Free
* Docking - Free
* Watch your boat while away and we're open - Free
* Deliver Dockside Meals - Served at no extra cost
* Run local errands - Free
* Museum tours - Free
* Walk your friendly dog - Free
* Pick up groceries - Free
* Waste Dumping - Free
* Rest Rooms - Free
* Rides to local stores - Free
* Water connection - Free
* Electricity (110 volt 15amp & 2 30amp lines) - Free
* Local Phone calls - Free
* Telephone line for Modem connection - Free (time limited)
* WiFi 802.11g Wireless Internet Server - Free
* Three-Wheeled Basket Bikes - Free Rental

Not only are these young people the cutest and most friendly, they are some of the hardest workers as well as some pretty shrewd business people. Frugal Captain Mark would never pay $10 for two bags of ice but with The Brats “working for a donation only” even Captain Mark was willing to ante up some cold hard cash.

Season Four Begins

2010-07-01T21:14:00.011-04:00

The most important factor in making this “Loop Trip” for us was that we allow ourselves the time and money to truly see the areas in which we travel. First the trip was going to take two years and then we both fell in love with the Chesapeake. We certainly did not want to hurry through the Chesapeake Bay area and so we decided to stay there a year. We probably could have and more likely should have completed the “loop” last year but I have to admit, right up front, that I whined until Captain Mark agreed that we could “stay out” one more year. SO…that means that this summer will find us returning to Chicago or Traverse City, Michigan to cross our wake to complete our circle of travel.

As we travel farther north in the hemisphere, the boat season becomes shorter which meant we did not head back to upstate New York until the middle of June. Over the winter the Lolligag was snug as a bug in a rug inside Ess Kay Yards in Brewertown at the junction of the Erie Canal and Lake Oneida. Upon our arrival we found the Lolligag ready for adventure as we prepared to head west on our journey back to Chicago.

Our friends, David and Lenore aboard Mr G greeted us warmly as did the gracious family staff at Ess Kay. We spent several days provisioning and cleaning the interior of the Lolligag as well as making sure that, First Mate Dottie, was acclimated and comfortable aboard her summer home.

Our departure was delayed for several days due to extremely high winds on the western New York area waters. While this is not a factor on the NY Canal System since the water way is relatively narrow, it is a major factor when planning to cross Lake Ontario, so we just stayed put for a few days longer at Ess Kay. Thursday morning, July 1st found the “seas favorable” and it was off we go from Brewertown to Phoenix, NY for our first days travel in season four of our adventures.

It was fun and exciting to be underway again and I think we both amazed ourselves in that our boating skills returned to us quickly after a long period of non-use. At first, Dottie was not too sure what was happening but she also quickly adjusted to her role as First Mate.

We came to the junction where we had our choice of the Erie Canal or the Oswego Canal and this year our route takes us in a different direction upon the Oswego Canal. For our first day out, the day was short and sweet with only one lock and peaceful scenery. We docked at the City Dock of Phoenix, New York and were greeted by the Bridge House Brats.

Hours on the water: 2
Nautical miles traveled: 10
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 1
Next Destination: Oswego, NY
What we are listening to: Just the sounds of nature
Lesson for the day: It is great to be back on the water
Obligatory knitting report: Navy top down cardigan for me

Meet Crew Member: Dottie

2010-03-01T13:44:00.008-05:00

We are delighted to introduce the Lolligag’s newest crew member, Dottie. Captain Mark and I have been “cat” people for a long long time since our family dog, Muffin, ran away from home in the late 1970’s leaving us all heart-broken and devastated. When planning and preparing for this trip, we very reluctantly and sadly for us but happily for the felines found homes (thank you Nina) for our two cats who literally and undeniably HATED the boat.

During our journeys we have met and seen many boaters who have pets aboard and the animals seem to actually love living on the boats. This made us (me) sad about not having our cats with us but neither of us was sad about not having a litter box on board. So we resigned ourselves to the knowledge that we would get a critter when our trip was completed.

Everything changed when we met Dottie for the first time at our daughter Beth’s house last summer when we were home for a visit. I must admit for all three of us, it was love at first sight. Beth rescues Pugs and it seems the older and sicker the Pug, the more Beth loves them. So following the passing of her most recent Pug rescue, Buddy, Beth decided that she would NOT rescue any more dogs – for at least six months. WELL, it did not surprise anyone who knows Beth that less than two weeks later, she announced that Dottie had been rescued. Beth selected Dottie from the “pound” because she looked so much like Muffin. As Beth soon discovered, Dottie is indeed a perfect dog = for OLD people. Dottie does not play well with others and favors her “only child” status. Most notably, Dottie is very protective, loyal and does not share her owners well so when Beth served as a rescue/foster home, Dottie did not welcome the Pugs or any little children who visited.

As much as we can tell, Dottie is a Cairn Terrier/Lhasa Apso mix and has the cutest and best features of each breed. It was all that we could do to restrain ourselves from taking her last summer but we all agreed to wait until October when we returned to Lionville before allowing Dottie a trial visit to our home. A wonderful transformation occurred as the bond between Dottie and us cemented immediately. She loved having us entirely to herself and we both fell hard for those huge brown eyes and constantly wagging tail. She adores spending her days sitting on Captain Mark’s lap only interrupted by their long walks all around town. We have found that she does not like going into pet stores as she thinks she will be left for grooming but loves having her hair blown dry following a delicious bubble bath.

Not that she is spoiled or anything like that BUT we did have to purchase a new bed…we have had the same bedroom suite since we were married (42+ years ago) that included a standard double bed. After four nights of the three of us sleeping in that small area, the frugal Captain Mark readily agreed that we needed to upgrade to a queen sized bed and all three of us have been much happier ever since.

While Beth and Chris are very disappointed that Dottie does not live at their house any longer, they quickly admit that Dottie has it made as the Lolligag’s newest crew member.

Our Daughter, the Snake Handler

2010-02-15T16:55:00.016-05:00

I am always talking about how wonderful the Wunder Kids are but I really should take a minute to talk about their mother. Today is her 42nd birthday and while I am sure that she probably will be mortified that I am telling everyone her age, she will just have to bear with me even if it is her special day. She was born while Captain Mark and I were still kids ourselves and in spite of us, not necessary because of us, she grew up to be a very wonderful mother, wife, sister, daughter, teacher, medical practice manager, special education advocate and dear friend to many. She has the patience of Job and I don’t think that I have ever heard her raise her voice in anger since those couple of minutes when as a teenager she wanted to stay out later than we thought was necessary.

As parents when our children are small we tell them that they can be whatever they wish to be as adults. I think this was especially true of my generation while raising daughters as the employment gender barriers imploded. Education and going to college was never an option in our household it was an expectation. The rule was always that as parents we would be responsible for the undergraduate degree but both Sam and Beth were on their own for advanced degrees. We were fortunate enough to be able to keep our end of the bargain as did both girls.

Sam is a teacher by education and training but instead of getting a Master’s degree in education, she choose to become certified in each grade level and almost every subject from pre-school through grade 12. I think the only subject that she is not eligible to teach in any of these grades is art.

She called us very excited one day last fall to tell her father and me that she had just obtained THE best job of her life – one that tops all the educational jobs that she has done previously and one for which she was immensely trained. She was hired by one of the best zoological parks in the Midwest as an educational liaison. Now I have been her mother for a long time so I cut through the fancy jargon and said “So what…you are going to be a snake handler!?” Samantha giggled and stated that “Yes indeedy, she would be the Jack Hanna for the northern tundra of Indiana. That she would be ever so cool as she drove the Zoo Mobile.”
She later told us that the snake was just fine to handle but the owl was pesky. As if to prove her point, we received the above photo within a few days of her call. AND we could not be prouder of our daughter, the snake handler. AND YES, she can be whatever she wishes when she grows up.. Happy Birthday, Sam!

Ravelympics

2010-02-10T16:02:00.021-05:00

Ravelympics, you say…what is that? Well, it is the way that knitters, spinners, and those who crochet have fun during the Winter Olympics. If you notice on the left side of the blog, there is a link to Ravelry along with my id. Ravelry is an online social site for fiber people of the world. The last time I looked, there were in excess of 600,000 members world wide. One can participate in/on the Ravelry site as much as one wishes but the hardest part for most of us is actually leaving the site to do some knitting or fiber work. With literally thousands of groups available for every possible life interest, one could potentially spend the rest of one’s life interacting with fellow members and never knit again.

In addition to the groups, Ravelry provides a platform to inventory one’s stash (yarn or fiber), needles, books, patterns as well as linking all of these items together when making a project. Projects can then be shared (or not) with fellow Ravelers so one has a documented history complete with pictures and comments of the project. Because this history is online and not on one’s own computer, the worries about losing the data are reduced for those of us less computer savvy. Ravelry is a wonderful resource for determining if that really expensive yarn that you have been drooling over (and quietly transferring money from the grocery allotment to pay for) is really as good as your fantasy OR is it just overpriced? Is that less expensive yarn you have heard so much about even better for the project? With over 600,000 members you know that someone will have already purchased/worked with the yarn and will be more than happy to share their opinion.

So back to the Ravelympics…like the real Olympics that will be held in Vancouver starting on Friday, February 12th, we Ravelers have picked up the knitting needle torch to participate in our own form of winter games. We have divided into teams and entered events. While there are guidelines/formats to keep us in order and focused, there is only one rule to rule them all: We must challenge ourselves by starting and finishing projects during the 2010 Winter Olympics with the goal of expanding our fiber horizons above and beyond normal expectations.

I am a member of Team Master Seekers. What defines our team is not geography but the fact that we all are seeking to become Master Knitters. Members of our team may be working on any of the three levels and have the choice of what event(s) in which they wish to participate. I am working on the Level II certification and have chosen to make the argyle sock as my first project. Therefore, I will represent Team Master Seekers in the Sock Hockey Event. If I finish the argyle sock before the closing ceremonies, then I will participate in the Mitten Moguls by working on the required Fair Isle mittens. I have chosen to work on the argyle sock first because it truly will be a challenge for me. While I have made many a sock during my knitting years, I have yet to create an argyle sock which involves several non-routine knitting skills such as intarsia and the use of bobbins to make the different yarn colors behave themselves and fall into the proper location.

Mass Cast-On will begin at 9p (Indianapolis time, 6 pm PST) February 12, as the Opening Ceremonies begin in Vancouver. Anyone casting on prior to that time will be immediately disqualified – you know the knitting and Ravelympic police will be everywhere to make sure that no one has an unfair advantage. I did ask…drinking wine while participating in Ravelympics does NOT violate doping rules.

This is what my argyle sock looks like prior to the Opening Ceremonies:

Updates to follow.

Not a Good Day in Indiana

2010-02-08T15:05:00.010-05:00

Yesterday (Sunday morning) when I got out of bed, the snow had stopped and the sun was brightly shinning. All atmospheric signs and the odds makers pointed to an excellent day for Indiana sports fans. IU (Indiana University Bloomington) was playing Northwestern at 2:30 and following that game all television sets would immediately be turned to CBS for the Colts Super Bowl game.

The IU basketball team is this year in what we Hoosier fans call a transition year. To those of you who have not followed IU basketball since the much revered Bobby Knight was so rudely run out of Bloomington, I will bring you up to speed by simply saying that having a basketball team comprised of wholesome players who actually made grades and attended classes was not a priority until Coach Crean arrived on the scene a couple of years ago. Say whatever you will about Coach Knight, but one can never accuse him of not having the grades and graduation of his players as the most important aspect of his basketball and life coaching requirements. It is much to Coach Crean’s credit that he too seems to be able to see the whole persona of a well rounded college athlete. During the recent basketball games that IU played against both Purdue and Illinois, Coach Crean’s team showed their stuff. While IU lost both of these games in the last few seconds, all of us Hoosier fans knew that we on our way back.

So it was that Hoosiers settled into their television viewing seats for what we all figured would be a slam-dunk day both for college basketball and professional football. As I watched the IU-Northwestern game I could not believe that this was the same team that almost beat Purdue on Thursday night…to allow Northwestern (of all teams) to take the lead and never look back? Those of us who refer to the Big Ten, which now has eleven teams in the conference, as “the Big Ten plus Northwestern” could hardly comprehend what we were seeing. AND Coach Crean, I thought he was going to have a hissy fit and possibly even throw a chair as he watched his team play in Evanston. I don’t think I would want to have been on that team bus travelling down I-65 as it returned to Bloomington.

We all had just enough time to refill our wine/beer glasses and grab the chips before it was time for the next chapter of Indiana sports. I think the only people in this country who did not think that the Colts would win were those people living in Louisiana. How could the Colts, not win? After all Payton Manning was a Colt and the only games the Colts lost this year were games in which the name brand players did not play so it just made sense that if Payton was playing then the Colts were destined to win.

The first half of the Super Bowl game looked like the Colts that we here in Indiana know and love…however, it seems that we all in Indiana had forgotten that valuable and vital lesson that the Milan, Indiana basketball taught us in 1954, never doubt or under estimate the spirit and will of the underdog.

Lionville, Indiana

2010-01-05T20:17:00.023-05:00

I haven’t really talked about the very small town that we moved to in Southern Indiana when we retired but today seems like the perfect day to introduce you to our town. So as to not embarrass anyone and to protect the innocent, let’s refer to the town as Lionville. The reason that Captain Mark and I choose to relocate here was because this is where “my people” are from. For more than 150 years, members of my family have lived in this county and since 1929, in this very house. This is the house where my father lived most of his formative years and the house was purchased in 1940 by my great-aunt (grandfather’s baby sister) and her husband. It was from her estate in 2003 that Mark and I purchased the house.

We are often asked how we could move from the Chicago Loop to a tiny town in Southern Indiana where the closest Wal-Mart is over twenty-five miles away and the nearest Target is over fifty miles. The decision was very easy and the reasons are multi-fold. While I did not go to school in this county, I spent a great deal of my childhood here – every weekend and summer while my father farmed the family homestead – so there is comfort and familiarity with Lionville that comes filled with wonderfully distorted and cherished childhood memories. When this house was for sale following my aunt’s death, I just could not bear to allow it to leave the family and it seemed easier for us to move here than have the house moved elsewhere. Captain Mark and I knew that we wanted to travel and we simply could not afford to travel like we have and still maintain our condo in Chicago. We loved living in Chicago, especially being right downtown with Grant Park as our front yard, with so much culture, diversity and all of the wonderful restaurants. But we had to make a choice regarding our retirement years. For us it was either continue to live in Chicago and never venture outside the city limits OR we could relocate to Lionville where the cost of living is more affordable and would allow us to travel. I must admit that it did take some smooth talking on my part to convince Captain Mark to purchase this house…it was in dire need of updating and pretty much required a total overhaul of all the major components like heating/plumbing/roofing/siding to say nothing of the decorating. I was able to convince him by appealing to the accountant (frugal/cheap) aspect of his personality by pointing out that in remodeling this house we would have a home (with no mortgage) that would be exactly what we want. It would cost considerably less over the remainder of our lifetime than keeping the condo in Chicago especially when one factored in the monthly maintenance fees that were over and above our mortgage.

So it was in 2003 that we purchased the house and began what would be a four year renovation. The house was originally built in 1905, and it was important to us that through the renovation process we keep the original flavor of the house. We did this by updating the infrastructure that could be hidden while maintaining the plaster and lathe walls, woodwork, and basic framework of the house.

While Lionville does not have multiple ethnic eateries or a world-class symphony or dance lessons/movies/festivals in the park or a lakefront like Chicago, it does have several things that make it uniquely appealing and that one would never find in Chicago…Amish buggies that travel each day in front of our house, lightening bugs and butterflies in the summer and most of all stars that fill the night sky. Best of all, with only three stop lights in town that are totally synchronized, rush hour traffic is a piece of cake. Never once have we regretted our decision and it has proven to have been one of the best decisions that we have made in our forty-two years together.

Yes, we have cougars or mountain lions or whatever you want to call them. This photo was taken about five miles from our home in the fall of 2009.

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-01T19:40:00.005-05:00

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, I have in the past made the same generic resolutions that everyone else makes like trying to lose weight, spend less money and get more sleep. Of course, like everyone else these resolutions stay in my mind/resolve about as long as it takes to enter them into the list section of my Blackberry. I think this is because in my heart I really do not think that the New Year begins on the first day of January. I have always thought that the first day of the New Year is actually the day after Labor Day for this is when the new school year started, I had new shoes and underwear, new school books, a new teacher and sometimes even a new school. Everything in my life was starting refreshed after a long summer of fun and foolishness so it was time to settle down and start anew. The fall has always been my favorite season, so it just makes sense that the New Year should begin with my favorite time of the year.

Also I am a firm believer in that resolutions made in January are just another means for self-flagellation. I never keep them and then I feel upset with myself that I am still fat, that my savings account did not grow as much as it should have, I still have not become a Master Knitter, yada, yada, yada. So why set myself up to fail?

Now with all that being said, for some odd reason this January 1st I felt compelled to reflect back and seriously think about what I wanted to accomplish in the upcoming weeks/months/year. I think most of this compulsion is fueled by the knowledge that this will most likely be the last year of our Great Loop boat trip. We have stretched our funds, our time and the distance around the Eastern half of the United States about as long as we can. I find the thought of not being a “Looper” or serious boat traveler most distressing and therefore I am forced to focus my attention elsewhere, hence a new and improved approach to New Year’s Resolutions for the calendar year 2010.

So using my logic while looking at the Julian calendar for 2010, I have only nine months left to finish the things I need to complete before the end of my year. Therefore, I need to make a prioritized list of what I want to accomplish before we cross our wake in Chicago in September. Here goes:

1. Keep the blog “reasonably” current (as many of you have reminded me, I have been woefully negligent in this area)

2. Finish/submit/pass Level II of the Master Knitter Certification (there are only 3 levels so I will be 2/3 of the way done)

3. Lose 20 pounds by working out regularly (even when my knees hurt or it is raining outside or I am tired or it is morning and I would rather sleep or any of the million other excuses I can find)

4. Keep all non-essential purchases (knitting, spinning and wine mostly) to cash only transactions (I find that I spend way less money when it is hard cold cash that I have to hand over to someone else)

I think four major items are enough for me to tackle in nine months – I am retired after all and I do not want life to become too stressful.

Cayuga-Seneca Canal: Watkins Glen

2009-08-30T21:31:00.040-04:00

Our destination today is Watkins Glen, New York which is located at the southern most tip of Seneca Lake. Upon departing Seneca Falls we were a little concerned that, when allowing for the TV antennae, the Lolligag would be too tall to pass beneath several of the fixed bridges in this area of the canal system. Our first test came almost immediately upon departure with a fixed bridge at the west end of the city dock area in Seneca Falls. It was the duty of this Deck Monkey to stand on the bow, with headphones in place and relay to Captain Mark the approximate inches (not feet) of clearance we had as we passed under the bridge. According to the waterway chart, we should not have cleared the bridge but again Neptune was watching over us (or more likely the lock master was maintaining a lower water level) and we cleared the bottom of the bridge with a good 10 inches to spare.

We were looking forward to venturing into the heart of the Upstate New York Finger Lakes Region known for the internationally famous Watkins Glen race track, fantastic vineyards and breathtaking scenery. As the day wore on, the humidity increased to the nearly unbearable point to where I was not sure if I was sweating or melting – I was just one constant dripping soul. Captain Mark did offer to run the generator and the air conditioning for me but I decided it was more fun to just moan and groan. So I sat outside on the bow to capture what little breeze we could make by traveling a the whopping speed of seven knots (8 mph). However the day was hardly a disappointment because while sitting outside I was able to truly enjoy the rustic wetlands that are unique to this area of the New York canal system. Then, what to my wondrous eyes should appear…? But an alpaca farm!

Aren’t they just the cutest critters ever?! Not only are they friendly, adorable, cuddly and truly lovable but there is no fiber that I enjoy spinning or knitting more than alpaca. Mark my words…someday I will own at least two of these wonderful creatures.

Our route was leisurely and the only other water traffic we encountered was kayaks and canoes. As the day wore on, the humidity increased and just as we entered Seneca Lake we could see the dark thunder clouds approaching from the south. As we were headed in a southerly direction it was just a matter of time before we met the storm head-on.

However, the clouds looked worse than they really were and when the rain came, it was a steady rainfall that was heavy in spurts but there was no wind. It was a little tricky to enter the Seneca Harbor as there are large submerged granite rocks on either side of a very narrow entrance channel. The water was extremely clear so even in the rain I was able to assist Captain Mark by letting him how close we came to the underwater boulders. We were lucky that we came through the harbor entrance when we did because shortly after we were secure, the wind picked up and the strength of the storm increased immensely and continued throughout the night.

I just love sleeping in the boat during a rain storm. There is something very relaxing listening to the rain fall upon the boat immediately overhead. Of course the rocking of the boat caused by the wind just lulls me to sleep. So we both slept in on Saturday morning and instead of breakfast, we had lunch at the Seneca Lake General Store. The store has a wonderfully nostalgic atmosphere and tons of fun merchandise. The mercantile lives up to its name as a General Store – what a charming place. It is full of fun toys and games that brought back childhood memories. The best part was the old-fashioned soda bar and candy shop. I ordered what has to be the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. In addition, there was a cooking demonstration by Chef William, a local TV celebrity, who was giving away very generous samples of his Italian Wedding Soup. So I had soup and grilled cheese for lunch – just like I did when I was kid. Captain Mark left with a full pound of homemade fudge and me with Chef William's cook book.

Watkins Glen is home to Watkins Glen International, one of the premier road racing tracks in the United States. The first Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix, however, was held in 1948 on public streets in and around the village. Organized by local resident Cameron Argetsinger, it was the first post-WWII road race held in the United States and it marked the revival of American road racing. The streets used for the original course remain intact today and a checkered flag marks the original start-finish line on the village's main street. In addition, the street signs are adorned with the cutest little race cars.

As we walked around the town, I came upon Finger Lakes Fibers. A very nice shop that just happened to have the exact Addi Turbo Lace knitting needles that I just happened to need at that very moment.

We were going to walk the mile or so to one of the local wineries, but it was just too hot and humid to hike up the huge hills. So we opted to purchase a few bottles from a store in town and enjoy it in the wonderfully air conditioned Lolligag.

We had originally planned to only stay one or maybe two nights in Watkins Glen, but we ended up staying three. A funny thing happened each time we paid the harbor master – the price per night got cheaper by five dollars. We laughed and thought that if we stayed a month eventually we would be staying for free.

Hours on the water: 5.25
Nautical miles traveled: 37.5
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 1
Next Destination: Waterloo, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: Its okay to just hang out and relax when it is hot
Obligatory knitting report: Finished the Navy Blue Sweater for WK Madeline

Seneca Falls: Gal Pals and Me

2009-08-27T13:01:00.029-04:00

Seneca Falls – here we come and I could hardly wait. When discussing our plans for this summer and we decided to fully explore the NY Canal System, I informed Captain Mark that a stop in Seneca Falls was vital to this Deck Monkey’s continued nautical servitude. As an Anthro major and a Women’s Studies minor, I knew the importance of both the town site of Seneca Falls, NY and its women as movers and shakers in the birth of the women’s movement within the United States. I wanted to see firsthand and walk the same streets as my feminist heroes. In the above photo I am hanging out with Amelia Bloomer as she introduces Susan B Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the street in Seneca Falls.

Even the rain did not daunt my feminist zeal as we headed out early from Baldwinsville. In order to reach Seneca Falls we needed to exit off the main Erie Canal route into the off-shoot Cayuga-Seneca Canal which allows access to the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. This meant 3 locks. Did I mention that it was raining? All day long! Immediately before reaching Seneca Falls are two consecutive locks Nos. 2 and 3. AND to make matters worse, there were these creatures living on the lock walls that spit at me!! It was only in these lock walls that we saw these nasty little spitting varmints. Thank goodness I was wearing my foul weather gear…

Almost like magic as we exited the last lock and rounded the bend, the sun came out and the town of Seneca Falls lay before us. We easily found a spot along the City Dock Wall and settled in for what would be several days of serious touristy exploration.

Even though it had rained, the humidity was thick and the temperature was in the 90’s. Normally this would put a damper on the amount of walking around that I could do in the heat however, the City Dock is located so conveniently to all of the historical sites, restaurants and grocery shopping that we were able to make short bursts of exploration and then retreat to the boat for cool comfort.

Due to its location along the Seneca River and the abundance of local natural resources, Seneca Falls quickly attracted forward thinking entrepreneurs and the necessary immigrant workers to man the mills that took advantage of the falls to provide water power for the working flour and woolen mills. Very quickly distilleries, tanneries, saw mills and general merchants settled along the river making Seneca Falls a vital industrial town in upstate New York by the mid-1800s.

It is my contention that behind every successful man, there are at least two equally bright, motivated and unsung women. Most often, these two women are HIS mother and HIS wife. Now here is where my theory begins…my thought is that inventive, driven and prosperous men tend to find life partners that are inventive, forwarding-thinking and driven women – something like water seeking its own level. Thus we have the citizens of Seneca Falls, New York in the early to mid part of the 19th century which formed the intellectual and cultural climate that gave birth to the Women’s Movement in 1848.

My personal favorite is Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At their wedding, Elizabeth Cady refused to promise to "obey" her husband in the vows, later writing "I obstinately refused to obey one with whom I supposed I was entering into an equal relation.” Throughout her marriage and eventual widowhood, Stanton took her husband's surname as part of her own, signing herself Elizabeth Cady Stanton or E. Cady Stanton, but she refused to be addressed as Mrs. Henry B. Stanton

Often overlooked but certainly as important are Amelia Bloomer, Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann McClintock and Jane Hunt who with Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first Women's Rights Convention, held in 1848 at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. A "Declaration of Sentiments" was adopted, drafted by Stanton and McClintock which included support for women's suffrage. Frederick Douglass, a former slave and publisher of a Rochester New York abolitionist newspaper, attended the convention. His eloquent support for the women's suffrage resolution was instrumental in its passage.

On a fun side note, the term “bloomers” referring to underwear also came about during this era in Seneca Falls. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, Amelia Jenks Bloomer became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy.

Created in 1969, The National Women's Hall of Fame is located prominently in the heart of Seneca Falls. The mission of the National Women's Hall of Fame is "to honor in perpetuity those women, citizens of the United States of America, whose contributions to the arts, athletics, business, education, government, the humanities, philanthropy and science, have been the greatest value for the development of their country." We spent an entire afternoon visiting the museum. Even though the museum was undergoing a remodel, the display was easy to follow and the inductees were comprehensive and impressive in their diversity and life accomplishments.

I could not even consider leaving the museum gift shop without purchasing this pin for Wunder Kid Madeline and all of my female cohorts. It seems to capture the spirit of a Deck Monkey…

Seneca Falls also is thought to be the town of inspiration for the Frank Capra movie It’s A Wonderful Life. As we walked around the town, we just knew that any minute Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed were going to round the next corner.

A major change to both the town and C-S Canal occurred in 1915 when the re-structuring and routing of the Seneca River eliminated the “falls” and rapids by flooding a portion of the town. This was done in order to build a pair of locks to replace the three smaller locks making it possible for boat traffic to pass through the village. So today, there are no falls in Seneca Falls…

Hours on the water: 5.5
Nautical miles traveled: 33
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Number of locks: 3
Next Destination: Watkins Glen, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: I took great pride in visiting Seneca Falls
Obligatory knitting report: Navy Blue Sweater for WK Madeline

Erie Canal: Brewerton and Baldwinsville

2009-08-25T18:58:00.044-04:00

We left Utica early as it would be medium long day in order to reach Brewerton’s Ess Kay Yards and still have some day left to scope out the area. This is one of the places Captain Mark wants to consider for winter storage.

We will have three locks today before we enter the open waters of Lake Oneida. The Canal pace is leisurely and relaxing and then all of a sudden we round a bend and there are all sorts of boats, homes and activity which means that Lake Oneida lies immediately before us. For the first time since leaving the Atlantic, Captain Mark is able to crank up the Lolligag to a galloping tug speed of about 10k (11.5 mph) on the wide expanse of Lake Oneida. We smiled and laughed as we commented about how impressed Mare Soleil Captain Bob would be if he were only here to witness the Lolligag not lolligagging across Lake Oneida.

We were warmly greeted by Kim, the owner of Ess Kay Yard and then were delighted to see our friends David and Lenore of Mr G. They welcomed us and caught our lines as we took our place in the well next to Mr G. We went to dinner with David and Lenore and had a wonderful time chatting about family, boating plans and life in general – once again reaffirming that boating friends always have lots in common.

Ess Kay has a courtesy vehicle which was wonderful as Laptop Kurt and I needed to visit the Geek Squad for some serious R&R ASAP. We also needed to receive some packages, so we decided to spend a week in Brewerton. This gave Captain Mark ample time to look over the marina and chat with Kim about winter storage. Mark liked what he saw and it is our hope that Kim will be able to accommodate us this winter. We much prefer indoor storage, especially when one considers the amount of snowfall this area receives each year. Neither of us is comfortable in thinking of the Lolligag being outside covered with six feet of snow…

We took the dinghy up and down the Canal several times to explore some of the little coves and inlets. We also saw two of our Nordic siblings: Valentine from California and Pennywise from this area as she came and went several times. This now makes three Nordics that we have seen while on the Erie Canal which is the most that we have seen in one locale since leaving of the rendezvous in Virginia. These, combined with the five other Nordics that we have seen since leaving Chicago that brings our total of Nordic sightings to eight.

After a restful and rejuvenating week for us and a total make-over for Laptop Kurt complete with a new hard drive and operating system, we were all ready to head out and go westward.

Baldwinsville

Just two locks and less than twenty miles west of Brewerton is the charming town of Baldwinsville. Again we have free dockage at the city dock on the west side of Lock 24. We had all sorts of fun trying to scare each other with stories about the creatures that we just knew were living in cemetery adjacent to the city dock.

This is a popular town for visiting and has several nice restaurants and a great diner which we found well worth the walk. Unfortunately, we arrived several days too late for the final concert of the season but it is obvious that this definitely is a great venue for entertainment on the water.

There is a visitor’s center located conveniently to the docking wall that is staffed by cheerful and informative volunteers. While there is no charge to stay on the lock wall/city dock, there is a $5 per day electricity fee. Currently there is no pump out facility or fresh water, but it is hoped that the funds for these items will be in the town’s future budget. Nonetheless, Baldwinsville was great place to stop and visit. I am sure that we stop here again when we travel back east on the Canal.

Utica to Brewerton

Hours on the water: 6.75
Nautical miles traveled: 43.8
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Number of locks: 3
Next Destination: Baldwinsville, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Lessons for the day: We loved staying at Ess Kay Yards & Thank Goodness that Laptop Kurt has been given a second life
Obligatory knitting report: Navy Blue Sweater for WK Madeline

Brewerton to Baldwinsville

Hours on the water: 3.75
Nautical miles traveled: 18.9
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Number of locks: 2
Next Destination: Seneca Falls, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: It was great to be on the move again
Obligatory knitting report: Navy Blue Sweater for WK Madeline

Oh My Beloved Kurt

2009-08-16T09:14:00.015-04:00

I think, no I know that my computer is dying…my trusty friend Kurt (as he, the laptop, has been affectionately named for the love of my fantasy life Kurt Russell) has been acting out for the last couple of weeks. It started by his passive-aggressive behavior whenever I wanted to view pictures. Kurt would wake up, yawn, stretch and after about fifteen minutes he would maybe open a photo. If I wanted to edit the photo, that would not take quite as long – say only about five minutes before Kurt would show me see my picture.

When I was not daunted by this childish behavior, he would simply hiccup several times, make his screen turn all sorts of crazy colors and then return to whatever task I was performing at the time. While this was irritating, I continued to pretend that all was well in the cyber world.

Still not giving him the attention that he thought he deserved, Kurt then pulled the mother of all temper tantrums…he simply chose to turn himself off whenever he pleased. I would be happily working on an extremely important email or engrossing blog entry and without so much as a “see ya later alligator”, Kurt would just shut down.

So before he faded into the sunset forever, Kurt did allow me to back up all of my data files and copy my pictures onto CDs. I am eternally grateful that Kurt granted me this final task as I would have been most upset if I had lost my photos. To thank him for his act of kindness, Kurt and I will be spending some quality time at the luxurious laptop resort at the BB Spa (aka Best Buy) to be fondled and pampered by the Geek Squad.

Erie Canal: Waterford to Utica

2009-08-15T12:12:00.047-04:00

As we travel on the Erie Canal for the remainder of this boating season, I am going to revamp the way the blog entries are configured to correspond to the different sections of the Canal. It is our plan to travel west on the New York Canal system to Buffalo with a few side trips off the Erie Canal. Then we will turn around to return east to wherever we will dry dock the boat. At this time we are not yet sure where that will be so part of what we will be doing as we travel west is looking at and meeting with marina owners to see where it will be best to leave the Lolligag this winter.

Technically Lock 1 is the official start of the New York Canal system and we passed through Lock 1 when we left Troy and before we arrived in Waterford. Lock 2 impressively sits at the west end of the Waterford City Docks. As a respectful and constant reminder of how far we have technically advanced in almost two hundred years is the structure of the original Waterford locks that has been saved and sits side by side to the current Lock 2.

The adventure truly starts upon leaving Waterford. Immediately the elevation begins with a set of five lift locks known as the Waterford Flight. We must pass through all five in one continuous trip. There is no place to stop in between as the five locks follow each other almost simultaneously. When we came through the Waterford Flight we were the only boat going in either direction and it was very exciting to approach each lock to have the massive steel doors open magically just for us.

Then almost immediately upon setting in and attaching the Lolligag to the lock wall, we hear the unmistakable loud thunder-like rumble as the doors close and lock. Then the mini whirlpools of water quickly start to form as the water enters the lock to lift us anywhere from 33-35 feet each time.

Sometimes the lock doors leak...

Amsterdam

We could have stayed for free at the lock wall in Amsterdam but we opted to stay at River Link Park instead. Our reasoning was because a young couple recently became the operators of the dock and café and we wanted to support their spirit and enterprise. They could not have been friendlier or welcoming so the $32 per night that we spent in dock fees was money well spent.

The park at River Link is very well maintained, unusual with clever art designs/displays and very convenient for walking into the downtown area.

In walking to the downtown area, we noted the Professional Wrestler’s Hall of Fame which brought back all sorts of traumatic childhood issues for Captain Mark. Growing up in the Midwest, Captain Mark took great pride in a professional wrestler of his youth by the name of Cowboy Bob Ellis. He would never miss watching Cowboy Bob each Saturday on the 10” black & white television and knew in his heart that somehow they must be related. Sadly, Captain Mark was crushed when is parents informed him that even though he had an uncle named Bob Ellis, he was not related to Cowboy Bob Ellis.

Beautiful and stately homes remain as testament to the thriving carpet mills that once drove the economy of this area. Unfortunately, the mills have long since closed. After climbing a huge hill (small mountain) we found a waterfall in a small creek that leads to the canal.

Canajoharie

We continue to be impressed by the natural beauty in upstate New York. Our travel along the canal is peaceful and the scenery is some of nature’s best. Again today we will have multiple locks so this Deck Monkey will be quite busy.

We docked at the free city dock which is located within two blocks of downtown. Having arrived early in the day we had enough time to take a walk around town to scope out the area before most of the businesses closed for the day.

The Beechnut Foods Plant is the primarily employer in town. Canajoharie is taking great pains and pride to maintain the original look of this canal town. Buildings have not been modernized so one gets an authentic feel of what this town looked like over a hundred years ago.

Neither of us could remember when we last saw a stop light in the middle of an intersection like this one in downtown Canajoharie.

We did not have enough time to visit the Arkell Art Museum but plan to make time when we return next Spring.

Utica

Between Canajoharie and Utica is one of the most unique locks that we have encountered thus far. This lock’s east door opens like a garage door by raising rather than opening inward or outward. This means that one can get wet when entering the lock from the dripping gate. Only two locks in North America have lock doors that open in the manner. The other lock is located on the Ottawa River in Canada and we will pass through that lock next year. Lock 17 is also the largest single step lock on the Erie Canal with a lift of 40 feet.

It was a long day today as we made our way into Utica. We were very pleased and excited to see our friends from Mr G who greeted us and caught our lines. The Utica city dock is now maintained by Aqua Vino which makes sense since the dock is located immediately adjacent to this wonderful eatery.

Our 42nd wedding anniversary was officially celebrated on August 12th in Canajoharie but I convinced Captain Mark that we needed to celebrate with another anniversary dinner at Aqua Vino. We had joined the crew and guests of Mr G upon arriving in Utica for drinks and we found Aqua Vino to be one of the best restaurants that we have found this side of Tavern on the Green. With an impressive wine list to choose from, the staff recommended an upstate New York Riesling by Vinifera Wine Cellars. This proved to be an excellent wine that we enjoyed very much for our second celebratory anniversary dinner.

We were delighted to meet the crew from Tug Digby, a Nordic 37, which docked in the spot vacated by Mr G. Also while in Utica, our friends and fellow Loopers Lynn and Bob aboard Legrace passed us as they travel east on the Canal.

There is a grocery store in Utica which is about a mile from the dock. Normally a mile is not that far for us to walk but since the temperature was at least 93 degrees with a heat index of 209 degrees Fahrenheit, I thought I would melt before we got back to the boat. The weather has been rather comfortable for most of our journey this summer so I think that made the heat more difficult for me. So in order to escape the heat, I decided to spend the remainder of our time while in Utica comfortable with the air-conditioning inside the Lolligag catching up with blog entries.

Waterford to Amsterdam
Hours on the water: 7.5
Nautical miles traveled: 32.8
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Number of locks: 9
Next Destination: Canajoharie, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

Amsterdam to Canajoharie
Hours on the water: 3.5
Nautical miles traveled: 19.7
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Number of locks: 3
Next Destination: Utica, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Obligatory knitting report: Finished the Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

Canajoharie to Utica
Hours on the water: 6.5
Nautical miles traveled: 34.9
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Number of locks: 6
Next Destination: Brewerton, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Obligatory knitting report: Finished Brown & White Alpaca socks for Captain Mark

The Erie Canal: A History Lesson

2009-08-10T11:42:00.015-04:00

The Erie Canal is famous in song, story and American history. Proposed as early as 1768, and often sarcastically referred to as New York Governor Dewitt Clinton's “Big Ditch", canal construction broke ground July 4, 1817. The problem was that the land rises about 600 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie in the West. Locks at the time could handle up to 12 feet so at least 50 locks would be required along the 360 miles of canal. Such a canal would cost a fortune today. But in 1800 the expense was barely imaginable, with even forward thinking President Jefferson calling the canal "a little short of madness" and refusing to consider funding the project.

As an engineering marvel when it was built, some have called it the Eighth Wonder of the World. The sides of the cut were lined with stone set in clay, the bottom was also lined with clay and required hundreds of German masons to complete the stonework. It was the first transportation system between the eastern seaboard and the western interior (Great Lakes) of the United States that did not require portage, and cut transport costs by about 95%. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York state, opened regions further west to settlement, and helped New York City become the most important port in the United States.

When finally completed on October 26, 1825, it included 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over ravines and rivers, 83 locks, with a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide, and floated boats carrying 30 tons of freight. A ten foot wide towpath was built along the bank of the canal for horses, mules, and oxen led by a boy boat driver known as a hoggee (pronounced HO-gee).

Ten years after its opening, the Erie Enlargement Project was begun in response to the immediate overcrowding of the original canal. By expanding the canal to 70 feet wide and 7 feet deep, it could handle boats carrying 240 tons. At this time the number of locks was reduced 72.

In 1903, the state of New York once again decided to enlarge the canal by the construction of what was termed the "Barge Canal Construction Project”. The new canal system would consist of the Erie Canal and the three chief branches of the State system: the Champlain, the Oswego, and the Cayuga/Seneca Canals. The resulting canal system was completed in 1918.

Today the canal system is 12 to 14 feet deep, 120 to 200 feet wide, 363 miles long from Albany to Buffalo, with 57 locks built to handle barges carrying up to 3,000 tons of cargo and with lifts of 6 to 40 feet. Commercial barge traffic has all but disappeared within the New York Canal System since the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway. Recreational boating and tourism is the main traffic on the canal today with great emphasis being placed on the history and heritage of this great waterway.

In Waterford where the Canal officially begins is the most interesting and creative map of the Canal system. A to scale representation has been made within the sidewalk bricks illustrating the towns and locks along the Canal route.

Etched into the concrete leading to the orginal towpath are a set of mule and young hoggee's footprints.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

2009-08-09T23:17:00.004-04:00

With the extra time we spent in Waterford and since from Waterford we could go either to the Erie Canal or Lake Champlain, Captain Mark studied routes, cruising guides, our budgets of both time and money, AGLCA message boards and finally arrived at two distinctly different plans for the remainder of our boating season. Over several days we discussed our overall plans and goals for what has now become a four summer three year boating adventure.

It was clear that we would not be able to do the Erie Canal and also travel to Montreal via Lake Champlain this summer. Being able to stop to really see and visit the cities and towns we pass is our primary goal in making this trip. With just a little less than two months remaining in this season, we needed to decide literally which direction we were going to take.

Finally we decided that we would travel the Erie Canal for the remainder of this summer, dry dock the boat at a location in upstate New York and return to the Midwest for the winter. Next year we will travel to Montreal via the Champlain. Followed by the Rideau Canal, the Trent-Severn Waterway, Georgian Bay, the Great Lakes and return to Chicago to cross our wake and complete our “loop” by October 2010. SO…with all that being decided we are very anxious to start our adventures on the Erie Canal.

Meet Crew Members Irene and Joe

2009-08-09T19:02:00.017-04:00

Irene and I went to high school together and were Physical Education Assistants for two years. Back in the day, being a PE assistant, taking advanced PE classes and being a member of GAA (Girl’s Athletic Association) Intramural sports was as close as we came to participating in sports in high school. Title Nine did not coming into being until my high school days were long over. However, Irene went on to participate in AAU gymnastics and swimming and ultimately became a PE teacher. Today, both she and her husband Joe are on staff at West Point as teachers and coaches. When we discovered that we would be in their neck of the woods, it was our fondest hope that we would be able to make our schedules match so that we could spend some long overdue time together.

Joe and Irene drove to Waterford on Friday evening to spend the weekend aboard the Lolligag. It was just like old times as soon as Irene and I saw each other - the chattering and laughing was almost nonstop about this and that and who had done what with whom in the past forty plus years. We looked at pictures, laughed, drank wine, looked at more pictures, laughed even more and drank more wine…Captain Mark and Joe just rolled their eyes at the giggles coming from Irene and me as we looked at high school yearbooks and class reunion photos. It was such a pleasure to meet Joe and to hear all about his experiences as a college athletic coach.

This weekend in Waterford was Heritage Days, celebrating the community’s rich heritage in fire protection and featuring the Button Fire Engine which had been manufactured in Waterford. Friday evening events included a community dinner and fireworks.

Saturday morning following breakfast at the local diner, we watched a parade of fire engines from all eras and then headed to the community athletic field for the “mustering” event. Never having attended a muster before, it was really quite interesting…teams using human pumping power test their skills to see which team can pump water the furthest distance.

All too soon our time together drew to a close. With promises to keep in touch and to join us in the future for a Lolligag cruise, we hugged and laughed some more before wishing each other safe journeys.

A Week in Waterford

2009-08-09T13:41:00.000-04:00

It was up early and on our way for the three boat flotilla of the Carolyn Anne, Fidelitas and Lolligag as we pulled away from the city dock in Troy. Just around the bend in the Hudson River we will enter our first lock in since leaving the Dismal Swamp (site of the Lolligag’s television debut) in Virginia during July 2008. Surprisingly, “locking through” is rather like riding a bike…the knowledge and skills do return with almost auto-pilot finesse. Fidelitas and Lolligag are headed the 3.5 miles to Waterford and the Carolyn Anne is headed toward Lake Champlain. So it was that when we came to the parting of the ways there were boat horn honks, thrown kisses and best wishes given for safe journeys.

The Waterford City Docks are the first of the city docks that are available as a cooperative effort between municipalities along the Erie Canal and the state of New York. To promote tourism and the historical significance of the Erie Canal, financial grants have been provided to the cities along the Canal so boaters may receive free or reduced docks rates. This is a win-win situation for everyone as the cities and towns, many of whom have been severely impacted by the financial downturn as the Erie Canal is no longer used as a means to move commercial goods and commerce, can now benefit from the tourism dollar generated by recreational boaters. Each city can set the dock rates that they wish to charge as well as the facilities available.

Dock fees to stay in Waterford are free for the first two nights and then $10 per night thereafter payable to the Waterford Visitor's Center. The pump out fee is $2 and the restroom/shower facilities are certainly above average, making our stay in Waterford financially most refreshing after the major expenses we incurred in NYC. The volunteer staff at the Visitor's Center was extremely helpful and took great pride in their community and heritage. In addition, the local merchants actively cater to the boaters by allowing us to take the shopping carts from the grocery store to the marina area OR they will send a driver to pick us up and take us to their stores. Also, there is a terrific farmer’s market each Sunday morning in Waterford. Every item from local wines to goat cheese is available from a wide variety of local vendors. This was one of the best farmer’s markets that we have seen since leaving the Midwest. Sunday evening we feasted on fresh green beans with Smithfield ham (from our stay in Virginia), new potatoes, corn on the cob and fresh olive bread accompanied by a white wine from a local vineyard.

Originally we had planned to only stay in Waterford for a day or two but when we discovered that my friend Irene and her husband Joe would be able to visit us over the weekend, we decided to stay for a week. This gave us plenty of time for laundry, catching up with our sleep and the ever constant blog writing and picture editing. Of course, this also left lots of time for knitting and I am making great strides in completing the purple lace shawl for my friend Linda.

Hours on the water: 1
Nautical miles traveled: 3.5
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 1
Next Destination: Amsterdam, NY
Lesson for the day: Waterford was wonderful
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

Joy in Troy

2009-08-02T21:44:00.018-04:00

The rain stopped just before dawn and the sun was shining as we headed out early from Kingston. Our destination was to be city of Waterford, New York which meant it was going to be long day. The rains of the previous day did little to clear the humidity and as the day wore on, the muggier and more intolerable the weather became.

Again today the Hudson River Valley was stunning with the Catskill Mountains visible in the distance on our port side.

We were so surprised when once again we came upon Freddy Freddy, the vessel with the most unique self-made design. We last saw Freddy Freddy while in Solomons Island, Maryland.

This is the Saugerties Lighthouse.

And a little further along is the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse that sits as an island all by itself in the middle of the Hudson.

Just before Albany we encountered three marinas/yacht clubs very close in proximity to each other whose members found great pleasure in verbally abusing passing boats who they thought were making too large of a wake. Since this chatter was being broadcast via the VHF radio we were able to listen and take note long before we arrived on the scene of screams as Captain Mark and I described the area. How and why this banter was not stopped by the Coast Guard is a mystery as the language was quite interesting and colorful.

As we passed Albany and we were both a little surprised by how there is literally no place to dock or even stop in Albany. Just a little further is the city of Troy, New York where Captain Mark planned to stop for fuel. We reached the fuel dock thinking that we would take on fuel and then head the very short distance to Waterford. However, a wonderful thing happened…Joe the Troy Dockmaster was attending to other business so Don the captain of the Carolyn Anne caught our line and assisted with docking the Lolligag. While we were awaiting the fuel dock to be available, we very quickly became acquainted with Don and his lovely wife Kathleen. They toured the Lolligag and we chatted and by the time Captain Mark was finished fueling up, we had changed our plans, decided to stay the evening in Troy and have dinner with Don and Kathleen.

Just as we finished getting settled into our spot on the dock, Paul and Sandy aboard the Fidelitas pulled in behind us. The Fidelitas is a custom made 43 foot North Pacific Yacht and is truly a beautiful boat. Having now made friends with Paul and Sandy as well, we all went shopping and to brunch on Sunday morning. Since it was raining and none of us had a vehicle Dockmaster Joe graciously loaned us not one of his cars BUT TWO so we could all go together. Naps were required after our decadent and delightful brunch but we all agreed to meet for drinks and the swapping of boat stories aboard the Fidelitas Sunday evening.

Don, Kathleen, Captain Mark and I could hardly contain ourselves in our anticipation to see the inside of Paul and Sandy’s boat. The interior of their boat is simply gorgeous with multiple custom features which enhance the ease of living aboard.

The six of us who had never met before arriving at the Troy City dock simply blended together like long lost friends. We are all at the same point in our lives and our shared excitement about boating cemented our bond. And then to add to our delight, Dockmaster Joe joined us at the end of his shift adding even more humor to our mix.

Uncle Sam resides in Troy

Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) was a meat-packer in Troy whose name is purportedly the source of the personification of the United States known as "Uncle Sam". At the time of the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson obtained a contract to supply beef to the Army, which he shipped in barrels. The barrels, being government property, were branded with the initials "U.S.", but the teamsters and soldiers would joke that the initials referred to "Uncle Sam", who supplied the product. Over time, it is believed, anything marked with the same initials (as much Army property was) also became linked with Wilson's name. The face of Uncle Sam used in the WWI poster is said to be based on a portrait of Sam Wilson.

Hours on the water: 8
Nautical miles traveled: 54.8
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 0
Next Destination: Waterford, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: It is the people we meet along the way of our adventure that truly makes this trip memorable
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

Captain's Log: Star Date July 31, 2009

2009-07-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

Instead of showing "the ponytail" I have decided to share one my favorite pictures from the month of July.

What a Difference a Day Makes

2009-07-31T21:01:00.004-04:00

Finally it stopped raining and a beautiful day appeared full of sunshine and cool weather as we headed out early from Scarytown onward to Kingston, NY. I can not state strongly enough how absolutely beautiful upstate New York State becomes the more north we travel. We were totally blown away by the immediate change in terrain when we passed the Harlem River dividing Manhattan from mainland New York, but the Hudson Valley that we travel through as we make our way north just becomes truly breathtaking. I can only imagine how gorgeous this way must be in the fall months when the leaves change colors. It is my hope that when we come back with the pickem-up truck this fall that we may be able to drive through this area as the leaves are changing.

Hudson Valley surrounding West Point Military Academy is stunning almost beyond words. A dear friend of mine from high school and her husband are on staff at West Point as teachers/coaches and it is our sincere hope that we will be able to connect with them in the near future. West Point sits high atop the cliffs of the Hudson. The river forms whirlpools as it winds around and through the sharp cuts in the mountainous terrain. Access via the river is no longer allowed for transient boaters at West Point so we were unable to stop to tour the campus.

This the castle in the river that we have heard so much about when researching our trip on the Hudson. Pollepel Island was discovered during the first navigation of the Hudson River by early Dutch settlers. There are accounts Native Americans believed the island was haunted and European settlers also told tales about it, including the legend of Polly Pell, invented to explain the island's name after its Dutch origins had been forgotten. It is also said that sailors making their first journey up the Hudson River were left stationed at the island until the ship returned as a rite of passage.

Francis Bannerman VI purchased the island in 1900 not for a residence but for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business. At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War Bannerman bought 90% of the US army surplus, including a large quantity of ammunition. Because his storeroom in New York City was not large enough, and to provide a safe location to store munitions, in the spring of 1901 he began to build an arsenal on Pollepel Island. Bannerman designed the buildings himself and let the constructors interpret the designs on their own. On the side of the castle facing the eastern bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" into the wall to serve as advertisement of his surplus business. Today, the castle is property of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is mostly in ruins. The island has been the victim of vandalism, trespass, neglect and decay. While the exterior walls still stand, all the internal floors and non-structural walls have since burned down.

Also at approximately this spot on the Hudson River American Revolunitary forces attempted to attempted to prevent the British from passing upriver by emplacing 106 upright logs tipped with iron points between the island and Plum Point across the river.
Caissons from several chevaux de frise still rest at the river bottom. However, these obstructions did not stop a British flotilla from burning Kingston in 1777.

Saying hello and goodbye as boaters travel the Hudson is the most charming lighthouse that sits and indicates the entrance to Rondout Creek and the city of Kingston.

Speaking of Kingston, fortunately the city was rebuilt following that nastiness during the Revolution. In sharp contrast to Tarrytown, Kingston is one of the most welcoming communities that we have visited thus far. From the minute we hailed the harbor master to our departure two days later we were greeted, welcomed, chatted with by literally everyone strolling the waterside or along the streets. People often comment on the Lolligag as many have never seen a Nordic Tug before. We had an unusual number of requests for tours of our boat while in Kingston. We are always proud to show off the Lolligag and to do our small part to promote Nordics. For a small town, Kingston had several good restaurants of which Ship to Shore was our very favorite. We also found a very good wine shop which carried several New York local wines. Of course, we sampled eats and drinks at each.

An interesting structure in Kingston was the Healing Circle Arbor which is dedicated to cancer victims and survivors. As a place for contemplation and reflection, the arbor is also said to provide positive energy and good karma for all who seek peace and reflection within the dome. As a cancer survivor, I found the Healing Circle structure to be comforting and encouraging.

Here is the defining difference between Tarrytown and Kingston: While Tarrytown had clean restrooms/showers, Kingston’s facilities were being painted and were therefore unusable during our stay. However the friendly, courteous and outgoing way we were treated more than made up for the lack of facilities. After all, we almost always use the facilities aboard the Lolligag anyway making the people we meet the most important factor in determining the quality of a visit.

Hours on the water: 8
Nautical miles traveled: 57
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Number of locks: 0
Next Destination: Waterford, NY
What we are listening to: Finished Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: Kingston is a wonderful place to visit
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

Two Days in Scarytown

2009-07-29T17:13:00.016-04:00

After visiting and spending time in Tarrytown, we have decided that the area should be renamed Scarytown. Not every port, town or marina can be spectacular or exciting and we found this to be the case in Tarrytown. The marina restrooms were clean and the diesel fuel was reasonably priced and that pretty much sums up the high points of our Tarrytown adventure. Of all the marinas/docks that we have visited in our ten plus years of boating with the big boys, I don’t think we have ever encountered a marina staff less willing to assist us or less knowledgeable of the surrounding locale. If it had not been foggy and raining heavily on the morning following our arrival, I think we would have moved on, but since we could not see across the river due to the fog, we decided to stay put another day before heading to Kingston.

Two completely different “residents” make Tarrytown scary…one is fictional and one is much more subtle. Tarrytown's positive claim to fame is American author Washington Irving. It was in Tarrytown that Washington Irving became familiar with the nearby town of Sleepy Hollow with its quaint Dutch customs and local ghost stories. From these stories, Irving created Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. In 1835, Irving purchased a "neglected cottage" and its surrounding riverfront property in Tarrytown, New York. The home named Sunnyside is visible from the Hudson River just before approaching Tarrytown.

The second factor that makes Tarrytown scary is infamous Sing Sing Prison that is located several miles from the center of town. I always thought that Sing Sing was a fictional prison but it is live and well and living in upstate New York. In fact, the prison is not really in the town of Tarrytown at all but in the municipality of Ossining, NY. Originally the prison was named after the town of Sing Sing but then the town opted to change its name so that the residents would not be thought to be imprisoned. The phrase “to be sent upriver” was derived from prisoners being convicted in New York City and being sent up the Hudson River to Sing Sing Prison which is located immediately on the shores of the Hudson.

However and most importantly, we met the crew Of Mr G from St Petersburg, Florida who docked next to us. It is our hope to see Lenore and David often in the future as our paths cross while traveling on the Hudson and the Erie Canal.

New York City to Tarrytown, NY

2009-07-28T20:20:00.037-04:00

Since discovering the Chart House Restaurants while staying in Annapolis, I have made it a personal quest to sample the cuisine at each location. As it just so happened, the NYC metropolitan Chart House location was immediately adjacent to the Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club in Weehawken, NJ. I think Captain Mark knew this in advance and just smiled proudly when I squealed with delight to see how close our slip was the restaurant. The evening before we left, we had a most wonderful meal to conclude and celebrate our time spent in New York City. While the menus are similar, they are slightly different at each location. Instead of cream of crab soup as in Annapolis and Philadelphia, I had the lobster bisque which is the specialty of this location – I was not disappointed in the least.

We were up early as we readied for our departure.

This is the view of Manhattan directly across the Hudson as we pulled out of the Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club marina. We turned south on the Hudson for one last quick tour of New York City before we turned around to head north on the Hudson to upstate New York.

The New Jersey side of the Hudson almost directly across from where the Twin Towers were located.

The Robin's Reef Light aka the Staten Island Light

The Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island

A private marina in Manhattan about 25th Street

A private home in New Jersey across from 57th Street in Manhattan

The approximate area on the Hudson where the US Airway plane safely landed earlier this year.

Grant's Tomb

This is the George Washington Bridge which is significant for several reasons:

1. It marks our official departure from New York Harbor and New York City

2. Geographically, immediately beyond this bridge the terrain of New York takes on a completely different look of hills and forests

3. Our boat insurance premium drops substantially as we are not longer considered to be in "hazardous ocean waters" but back within the waters of the Great Lakes and their tributaries

Hours on the water: 4.5
Nautical miles traveled: 35.7
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Kingston, NY
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: I left my heart in NYC
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

The Lady, The Island, The Land and The Teardrop

2009-07-25T21:55:00.016-04:00

As we came through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River I put my new mini video camera to use. Unfortunately, I have not yet learned now to edit videos, so please bear with my unedited stuff until I master the video editing software…

The Lady and The Island

The Land

The Teardrop

There has been a resounding amount of urban legend surrounding the Russian tribute to September 11th which made the Lolligag crew very curious to discover the facts about this iconic monument. We made it a special point to learn as much as we could about the statue, its construction, controversy and beauty. We found the monument to be exceedingly moving and wonderful tribute to all who have lost their lives to terrorism, not just those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. This is especially poignant when one considers the infighting and territorial concerns that have prevented a memorial from being constructed in Manhattan. Standing in Bayonne, New Jersey and pointing across the water toward Manhattan, Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli stated "from here if you looked at the trade towers, they looked as if they were blended as one." He further added that the tear symbolizes "sadness over grief that will become happiness in the future when terrorism is defeated." The massive 100-foot tall memorial evokes the World Trade Center that once sat across the Hudson River. Jagged lines divide the monument into two tower-like pieces, and a 40-foot steel teardrop gently hangs in the open center, like a bell. Like the 72-year-old artist, known for grand statues that some critics have called more "kitsch" than art, the sculpture isn't without controversy. The first plan had the sculpture located on the Jersey City waterfront, but city officials there rejected it. Jersey City Leaders said they didn't realize the monument's height and thought it would impede views of the Hudson and New York City skyline. City officials in Bayonne welcomed the sculpture. They offered a city-owned parcel of land that was once the site of a military base. The sculpture, To The Struggle Against World Terrorism, is the centerpiece of a two-acre park in Bayonne, whose officials are happy and proud to display the public art. The city is not paying for the memorial, but agreed to pay $1.25 million to create the first phase of the waterfront park. The monument also has been described as a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and the artist to the people of the United States, in the spirit of France's gift of the Statue of Liberty.

To further this point, when standing behind and looking through the Teardrop, the Statue of Liberty and the site of the Twin Towers are within the direct straight line of vision. The memorial was dedicated on September 11, 2006 in a ceremony attended by former President Bill Clinton. Also in attendance were Michael Chertoff, the Bush Administration Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and family members of World Trade Center victims. Contrary to the claim of the internet rumor/urban legend, the announcement of the intended memorial as well as its dedication did receive extensive worldwide news coverage as did the visit to New Jersey on September 15, 2005, by Russian president Vladimir Putin for the groundbreaking ceremony.

New York City from the Water

2009-07-25T14:43:00.042-04:00

Look what we found next our boat as we were leaving our slip at Great Kills Yacht Club…and we thought we had left these guys in the Chesapeake!

We are not going all that far as a crow flies but by traveling via the water it will take us a while to get to Weehawken, NJ. As we will go back out and around Staten Island and then into New York Harbor proper we pass the Great Kills lighthouse.

Both of us really wanted to visit Coney Island and were immensely disappointed when we learned that the bulk of the amusement park would be closed effective last September. So instead of journeying to Coney Island by land we decided that on our way to Weehawken we would do a boat drive by of the Island to see what we could see. We were not disappointed in the least and in fact, I think we were able to see more of the activities from the water than we would have from the land. Overall, we got a wonderful feel for the area and rumor has it that the park will continue to be an area of amusement, but just updated and more modern. The roller coaster, Ferris Wheel and Tower are all land marked so any new additions will be required to compliment them so as to retain the original flavor of the area.

This is the Coney Island Light that sits right in the middle of a residential area.

This is the Verrazano Narrows Bridge that connects Staten Island to the rest of NYC. Since when traveling into the city we did not go over the bridge we will just go under it instead.

The amount of commercial traffic is very impressive and makes for very rough waters. Not only are there ferries coming and going from every conceivable direction but there are plenty of ocean going vessels as well. I find it very “New York” that the tugs and barges are fashion coordinated. We also saw some of the largest commercial/ocean going vessels that we have seen thus far that require four tugs (two on each side) to guide them in/out of the harbor.

Heading north on the Hudson the Manhattan skyline as well as the East River with the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges are on our starboard side while New Jersey was on our port.

We had planned to anchor near the Statue of Liberty, which would have been wonderful in theory but in reality was not such a great idea – first, it is way too hot for me to be without air-conditioning and still allow Captain Mark to live. Secondly, the water is so rough due to all of the ferry traffic that we would have been literally beat up within the first hour. SO… our destination for today and the next couple of days is the Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club in Weehawken, NJ, which is located almost immediately across from 34th street in Manhattan. This is a wonderful place to enjoy the city lights at night and still be somewhat protected from the rough water of the Hudson in this area.

Hours on the water: 3.5
Nautical miles traveled: 27.5
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Tarrytown, NY
What we are listening to: Nothing - just took in all there was to see!
Lesson for the day: New York is just as spectacular from the water.
Obligatory knitting report: Nothing - just took in all there was to see!

New York City by Land

2009-07-24T21:46:00.000-04:00

With the Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island as our home base, we traveled into the City several times. In keeping with our favorite way to see local sights we opted to take as many different modes of public transportation as possible.

We started our days by walking a little over a mile to the Staten Island Railway station for about a 25 minute to ride to the Staten Island Ferry Depot. What is most interesting about riding the Staten Island Railway is that the ride is free if one gets off at any stop before the Ferry Depot. If departing at the Depot, then a fare is charged that can be combined with the MTA subways via a transfer making the commuting cost $2.25 one way which is exceedingly reasonable when considering that there is NO charge whatsoever to ride the Staten Island Ferry.

Combine these commuting costs with the savings by staying at GKYC and we had saved enough money to spurge on a lunch at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. I can not think of any other time in my life where I have had a $100+ lunch date, but our experience at the Tavern was absolutely wonderful and definitely THE highpoint in our visit to New York. The food was excellent, the wine intoxicating, the ambiance ritzy, the service impeccable and my date was divine which made for a once in a lifetime afternoon.

Opting for another mode of transportation, a bike taxi, we rode around Central Park following our lunch. Not too far along in our tour of Central Park, we came to the Dakota located on Central Park West. Stately yet charming, this was the home to John Lennon and the movie location for Rosemary’s Baby. Of course no trip to Central Park would be complete for a Beatles fan without a visit to Strawberry Fields.

We did the totally touristy thing of taking a Double Decker Bus tour several days in a row as well. This was a wonderful way to see as much of the City as possible and our guides were all fun and informative. This allowed us the option of getting off and on as much as we liked over a 48 hour period. The places we wanted to see and visit may seem a little out of the ordinary for the mainstream tourist but where else would a Macy’s Elf want to go but to the Mother Ship in order to see the wooden escalators:

OR where a new Mac computer owner can go for cool stuff:

OR where a Deck Monkey can shop for new accessories:

OR where some entertainment can be found:

OR where there is some Ghost Busting:

OR for a light lunch:

AND we did find some regular touristy stuff as well:

You have to love the honesty of this guy:

We did not visit the Twin Towers site but chose instead to visit the fence of tiles. Thouands of handpainted tiles were created by school children to process their thoughts and feelings regarding the September 11, 2001 tragedy. A very moving tribute, this fence displays the tiles on a rotating basis

Staten Island and Stereotypes

2009-07-21T13:35:00.009-04:00

The weather was cloudy, a little chilly and rain was in the forecast so instead of heading into NYC we decided to stay a little closer to home and explore Staten Island. As one of the five boroughs of New York City, Staten Island is located on the west side of the Narrows at the entrance of New York Harbor. The existence of the borough dates from unification of New York City in 1898, however until 1975 the borough was known formally as Richmond. By far the least populated and most remote but a very ethnically homogeneous borough of New York City, Staten Island is often the object of humor as being somewhat enigmatic and rustically suburban. Except for the areas along the harbor, the borough remained relatively underdeveloped until the building of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in 1964, which is considered the watershed event in the history of the borough since it opened up the island to explosive suburban development. For the last half of the 20th Century, Staten Island was arguably best known as the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, the primary destination for garbage from the five boroughs of New York City and the largest single source of methane pollution in the world. The landfill was closed in early 2001 but was temporarily reopened later that year to receive the ruins of the World Trade Center disaster.

Throughout the 1980s, a movement which had as its goal the secession of Staten Island from the city steadily grew in popularity. Reaching its peak during the mayoral term of David Dinkins the movement quickly evaporated with Rudolph Giuliani's election as mayor in 1993. However deep below the current day issues of Staten Island’s potential succession thoughts is the lurking legend of how Staten Island came to be a part of New York. When looking at a map of the area, it makes sense that Staten Island could/would/should be a part of New Jersey. Like the sale of Manhattan to Dutch settlers for $24, it is the historical tale that has been repeated time and again: Staten Island became part of New York rather than New Jersey as a prize in a sailing contest held in the 17th century. Over the many centuries, this legend has been confirmed, disputed, called into question and twisted, bent, exaggerated and embellished. Only one thing is certain - there is still doubt in the minds of some people about what really happened but like most urban legends it is fun to believe.

While ethnically very diverse, Staten Island is largely populated by Italian descendants. I have been in search of Tony Soprano even while we were in Philadelphia but now that we are in NYC/NJ, I was totally on the lookout. When Captain Mark first told me that we were going to be staying at the Great Kills Yacht Club, I immediately “knew” that Tony and “the guys” would be close at hand. After all, Great Kills could only have one meaning…correct?

Well, my overly active and somewhat dramatic imagination was extremely incorrect – in fact, majorly politically incorrectly as well. It seems that “Kills” is the Dutch word for river and since this area was first settled by the Dutch, Kills is a very common name/phrase for locations in the area of New York and New Jersey. Alas, it has nothing to do with murder, the mob or illegal activity. However, we very quickly understood where and how the stereotype persona of the mobster came into being. Oh my gosh, we walked into a market (which is a tiny grocery store) and we met our first Tony Soprano street lieutenant - he was a fast and wise talking, cigar smoking hulk of a guy and I just knew that he shaking down the owner of the market. All I could do was stare while Captain Mark told me to pick my chin up off the floor as he quickly pulled me away from the store.

A Long Day in the Atlantic

2009-07-20T23:02:00.011-04:00

Once again, bright and EARLY we started our day. Today we had our second day of long travel in the Atlantic Ocean as we leave Atlantic City headed for New York City. There is an alternative route of travel via the ICW to Manasquan , NJ but we really wanted to continue travel in the Atlantic. It just seemed the more adventurous and exciting thing to do…The seas were a little more rolling than from Cape May to Atlantic City but again nothing that the Lolligag and crew could not handle, but definitely not for the weak of stomach. I secured all potential flying objects both inside and outside the Lolligag and then settled into knitting another Seaman’s Scarf for charity as I would not be able to work on the lace shawl during today’s travel. An odd and yet rather sad aspect of traveling in the Atlantic Ocean is that once we get away from the shoreline about five miles, then all we see is water and a tiny bit of land to the port side of the boat. Basically, it is no different than traveling across Lake Michigan, the Gulf of Mexico or the Chesapeake Bay – water is water is water. SO, I constantly find ways to remind myself of where we are and what we are doing…to remember the thousands of people who have navigated these waters before us and those who will follow in our wake.

Just as I was getting too philosophical for my own good, Captain Mark tells me to quickly grab my camera. For the fist time this season, we spot dolphins. Earlier today we had discussed whether we would see any dolphins this far north and then how and behold – there they were running along side of us! What a treat!

We plan to stay in the NYC area for at least a week (or longer) and the docking fees are the most expensive that we have experienced thus far in our travels. The most convenient location to Manhattan is Liberty Landing located along the New Jersey side of the Hudson River but with the $5 per foot = $170 per night rate PLUS an electricity charge times seven nights, we simply could not afford to stay at this location. For a $170 per night, I want someone other than Captain Mark to put a mint on my pillow at night. So once again the accountant aka Captain Mark found a more reasonable location for us to have as our home base for the first leg of our stay in NYC. The Great Kills Yacht Club, located on Staten Island offers the wonderful rate of $1 per foot per night for Great Loop Cruisers. Not as conveniently located as Liberty Landing, GKYC had different and to our tastes more exciting amenities to offer, so since the price was right and people friendly, Great Kills became our first nautical home base in NYC.

Hours on the water: 10.25
Nautical miles traveled: 87.1
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Weehawken, NJ
What we are listening to: Finished Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets and started Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: We never tire of spotting dolphins
Obligatory knitting report: Seaman's Scarf for charity

In Search of Delaware

2009-07-20T09:47:00.011-04:00

I have heard rumors most of my life that there is a state within the United States called Delaware. Normally, I am not a conspiracy theorist; however I have concluded after much observation and thought that there is really is not a plot of land or an actual physical location of Delaware. Yah, yah yah, I know that this is the address where I mail my credit card payments. That the colonial leaders in Delaware were able to secure ratification of the US Constitution on December 7, 1787, making Delaware the first state to do so and therefore giving claim to the slogan that I have seen on bogus Delaware auto license plates naming Delaware as the first state. Speaking of Delaware license plates, again I think this is just a rouse by those sly folks who for some unfathomable reason want to continue the Delaware myth. I have been to Disney World and even Disneyland, I know the magic that can be made by talented and clever artists who want us to believe in something that really defies logic and hard concrete evidence. Here is my reasoning for thinking that the state of Delaware does not exist:

1. I have never in my entire life met any person that was born, lived in or owned property in Delaware

2. We spent well over a year in the Chesapeake Bay/East Coast and not once did we go to Delaware

3. I could not locate one yarn shop within the state of Delaware

4. When we were traveling along what was supposedly the coastline of Delaware, fog/haze mysteriously rolled in suspiciously hiding any tell-tale landmarks

5. The ferry boats from Cape May, NJ headed to Lewes, DE looked almost exactly like the Tom Sawyer Mississippi Riverboats from Frontierland - they leave and they return, often times with the same people onboard leaving me to conclude that the ferry boats are just an amusement ride

6. We all know that UPS stores will provide a valid address for anyone wanting an alternative mailing address and this must be where my credit card payments are processed

7. To the best of my knowledge, IU basketball players have never played a team from Delaware and as every Hoosier knows, if IU has not played a team from Delaware then, Delaware must not exist

If you ever meet anyone who tells you that they are from Delaware look them straight in the eye to see if you can tell if they are joshing you…

Atlantic City

2009-07-19T22:27:00.015-04:00

We left early from Cape May and headed out into the Atlantic for our first extended travel in the ocean. We have been in the Atlantic for short bursts before but never for an entire day. The seas were rolling with two footers but it was fun and nothing that the Lolligag (and crew) could not handle. After a short while, rolling seemed normal. I was not able to work on the lace shawl because I was afraid I would drop a stitch due to the movement of the boat so I knit a Seaman’s Scarf for charity instead.

It was exciting to spot the casino towers of the Atlantic City Boardwalk from a distance and watch as they grew larger indicating that we were getting closer. Look what else we found...windmills - even gambling is going green! We arrived at our slip by mid afternoon and immediately caught a bus to head to the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk is huge and exactly what we were expecting…lots of souvenir crap, every make/model, shape and example of human kind and lots of food everywhere. We had the bus take us to the very end of the Boardwalk and then we walked all the way to the other end which is about three miles. I wanted to see Caesars and the Trump Taj Mahal casinos. They were just like every other casino once we were inside.

We are staying at the Trump Marina and Tower Hotel which is not located on the Boardwalk but across town - kind of like the Strip and Downtown in Vegas. The marina is nice and has a pool which we hit Sunday afternoon. We are only staying through Monday morning and are headed onward to NYC if the weather permits. As part of staying at the Trump Marina we received a $20 gaming ticket so of course after eating at Hooters (for the wings only, of course and I hate wings) we hit this Trump casino. Mark immediately won $40 and called it quits, came to find me where I was up about $5. He showed me where he won his money so I played the machine a couple of down from where he was and within just a couple of minutes, I won $170. I immediately cashed out, converted my money into 2 $100 bills for my new nose fund and we left as fast as my little fat legs would carry me before I was tempted to play my newly found fortune.

Sunday morning we slept in and then headed to the pool atop the Trump hotel attached to the marina.

I will confess that normally when I show aerial shots of the various marinas we stay in that I did not take the photo, however I did take this shot. It was nice to relax by the pool as this will probably be the last time we stay at a marina with a pool this year.

Before returning to the boat Captain Mark still had some Trump currency to use so he tried his hand at roulette. This is his game of choice and is usually very lucky at the wheel. This time was no exception because within less than five minutes he had earned $150. Again, we left as fast as we could before the gambling gremlins forced us to put the money back into the slot machines. Overall it was a very unusual and lucky weekend for us as together we won more than the cost of our boat slip for the weekend.

Hours on the water: 6
Nautical miles traveled: 9.8
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island
What we are listening to: Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: The Atlantic Ocean was very calm today - this was a good thing!
Obligatory knitting report: Seaman's Scarf for Charity

Three Days in Cape May

2009-07-17T18:12:00.002-04:00

Even after traveling over ten hours on Tuesday we could not resist walking into the downtown area of Cape May after settling into our slip at Utsch’s Marina. It is about a three mile round trip walk to the heart of Cape May where the main shopping, beach and most of the restaurants are located. To say that this town is charming, quaint and delightful is a most egregious understatement. We have seen a lot of small seaside towns thus far in our adventures but never anything like Cape May. Even with our dear friends Eleanor, Harold and Nancy raving about Cape May for years, we were not prepared for what we discovered. Immediately noticeable and blatantly refreshing is the fact that there are NO name brand businesses within Cape May proper. All hotels, restaurants, shops are locally owned and operated – most of them family owned for generations and never have we seen so many beautiful establishments in one location. It did not take me very long to spot the yarn store but since Captain Mark was hungry I offered to come back to the yarn store the next day so that he did not perish from malnutrition.

Cape May Canal

The Cape May Canal stretches nearly three miles from Cape May Harbor to the Delaware Bay. The waterway was constructed to provide a route to avoid German U-boats operating off Cape May Point. Dredged as a wartime emergency measure in 1942, the canal was the final link in a protected waterway intended to allow coastal shipping to travel along the coast with a greatly reduced risk of attack from German submarines.
Today the canal is part of the Intracoastal Waterway System (ICW). The current in the canal flows the opposite way that it would if the canal were a river emptying into the bay. When the tide is moving from low to high (flood tide), the canal current is flowing toward the Delaware Bay. Located at the junction of the Cape May Canal and Delaware Bay is the Cape May Ferry Terminal. Huge ferries scurry back and forth from the terminal to Lewes, Delaware providing a valuable and logistic means of transportation and reducing by hours the time it would take to drive around the Delaware Bay to points south.

Hoosiers in for a shock…

I know that I am naïve at times but I have to tell you that I was dumbfounded, appalled, stunned and downright flabbergasted by this seemingly charming looking gentleman. Captain Mark and I awoke early on our first full day in Cape May so that we could walk along the beach and explore the town more fully than we did the evening before. We walked to the area where we thought the public beach began and very innocently started to walk through the sand toward the water. WELL, you would have thought that we were attempting to rob a Brinks Truck by the decibel of shouts aimed in our direction and the large (I might add gorgeous) bodies of young men blocking our path. It seems that there is a fee to enter the city beaches in New Jersey and they are not kidding in the least.

Stunned beyond words, all we could do was walk back to the Promenade and try to get glimpses of the water. Now the stupidest part of this whole thing is that I really don’t like beaches, especially the sand and the salt water. It wasn’t that we did not have the $5 each for the daily fee…it was that there was a charge for the beach in the first place. Captain Mark, being the reformed juvenile delinquent that he is, spent the rest of the day thinking of all sorts of ways in which we could sneak onto the beach…and if we did and were caught, how would we ever be able to look our kids in the eye once they had to send money in order to bail us out of jail for “beach breaking and entering”?

Eleanor and Harold come to visit

I am not sure what I was thinking but I did not get a photo of all of us together in Cape May so I will just recycle our photo from Florida. We last saw our dear friends Eleanor and Harold when we visited them at their winter home in Florida in early 2008. Now that we are all within the state lines of New Jersey it was more than time for a visit. They come to Cape May often to relax with family so they knew all the best places to show us. After catching up aboard the Lolligag they took us for a tour of the hinter lands surrounding downtown Cape May.

They took us to the remains of the Atlantus, a concrete ship whose story is probably not our country’s finest naval accomplishment. Then we went in search of Cape May diamonds but opted to purchase them instead of trying to break into another Cape May beach where the “diamonds” are often located. As our very own personal tour guides, they took us to a New Jersey State Park where we could walk in the Jersey surf without paying a fee, climb a lighthouse if we desired, found a local winery for us where we sampled the local vino and finally found the perfect spot for dinner on the water. As frequent travelers themselves, Eleanor and Harold know exactly how to showcase their local area and the day was over all too soon.

The Lobster House

Located immediately adjacent to Utsch’s Marina is the world renowned Lobster House of Cape May. We tried to eat at this restaurant each day that we were in Cape May and never found a wait time of less than 1.5 hours. It seems that folks drive from all over the eastern shore to dine at this establishment. While at first disappointed, we quickly concluded that since we were not able to eat at the Lobster House on this visit it meant that we were destined to return to Cape May in the future.

Philadelphia to Cape May

2009-07-14T15:24:00.018-04:00

It was hard but I refrained from eating at my new favorite restaurant chain, The Chart House, until we could have dinner last evening with Lolligag Crew Member Georganne who crossed the Delaware to join Captain Mark and me. Unfortunately, Crew Member John was in Florida working hard to ready their new home and was unable to join us. The food was excellent and we had a delightful time laughing and chatting away the evening before we had to say goodnight.

Isn't this just the cutest boat that you have ever seen? People call the Lolligag cute all the time, which is fine and we certainly do not mind at all, but this tug is REALLY CUTE!

This morning it was literally up at the crack of dawn as Captain Mark wanted to get to Cape May in one day making it the longest distance that we have traveled in one day. I lasted just about long enough to perform my Deck Monkey duties of recoiling the lines, tying down the cooler and securing the fenders before I announced to Captain Mark that this Deck Monkey was going to take a nap. The last thing I remember seeing was the skyline of Philly as we left.

I awoke with a start as we passed the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant located in New Jersey. I could say that I “felt” the radiation in the air but that would just be the environmentalist in me whining again. In fairness, I will add the following: The Hope Creek unit was placed in operation in 1986 and is a boiling water reactor. Nuclear power, including that produced at Hope Creek, produces nearly 50 percent of the electricity consumed in NJ. It has also played a vital role in the reduction of pollution in NJ’s air. Hope Creek is a major contributor to South Jersey’s regional economy, creating hundreds of jobs and contributing millions in taxes and economic benefits to the region.

Now awake, I was able to appreciate the beauty of the rest of my surroundings as we entered the Delaware Bay. We could not have requested better weather or seas. The sky was the most beautiful blue without a cloud to be seen and the water was a gently rolling 1-2 foot seas. It is so cool to first spot a lighthouse and then to make out the shape as we draw closer.

There are two ways to enter Cape May at the southern most tip of New Jersey. Since we were coming from the Delaware Bay and it had been such a long day, Captain Mark chose to take the man made short cut named cleverly The Cape May Canal thereby cutting off over an hour of travel time. Our destination was Utsch’s Marina located within a reasonable walking distance to downtown Cape May.

Hours on the water: 10.25
Nautical miles traveled: 87.2
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Atlantic City
What we are listening to: Started and Finished Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
Lesson for the day: Naps are a good thing for the Deck Monkey
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

Philadelphia – Waxing Philosophic

2009-07-13T17:14:00.003-04:00

I am not sure what I was expecting and exactly why I am leaving Philadelphia with a major sense of disappointment...but I am…

The Philadelphia Marine Center where we stayed was fine. The staff could not have been more friendly or helpful. Overall the marina facilities were more than adequate and the location was convenient to the historical and downtown areas. The welcome bag filled with Philly maps, restaurant information and other goodies was most helpful and the tote bag itself has already become an onboard knitting bag.

After thinking about it for a while, I have come to the conclusion that Philadelphia today is not the City of Brotherly Love that I think Ben Franklin originally had in mind. The residents were certainly helpful outwardly when we asked for directions or touristy recommendations. However I did not see evidence of the civic pride that I thought was worthy of THE city where our nation was literally created. So many formative and truly historical events took place in this city that are today either commercialized or minimized that I felt a sense of sadness rather than awe when I visited them. I know the city is old and old in my opinion is a good thing, but the city is filthy dirty everywhere and I don’t think that old should equate to dirty. Boston is old, Savannah and Charleston are old but these cities are not dirty. By dirty I mean weeds growing in the sidewalk cracks of major downtown streets and litter/trash everywhere. Gang graffiti was ever present marring even the most reverent of historical locations. There seemed to be no effort to remove or be concerned about the gang symbols. The number of abandoned and/or boarded up buildings further adds to the dingy feeling. A sad depressed city resigned to accept industrial failure was all I could see as I walked amid the stone streets. I could not help but think that our Founding Fathers would also be disappointed to see how their independent sprit is reflected in Philadelphia today.

Meet Monkey A

2009-07-12T16:11:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time long ago there was a Wunder Kid whose grandmother took him to a Build a Bear Store in the far away land of Lincoln. After looking over all the options for critters, WK Mark told his grandmother that he wanted the black and white dog. His grandmother not being in the correct grandmotherly frame of mind at the time suggested that he consider the monkey instead. WK Mark looked at his grandmother in shock because what kind of grandmother tells a Wunder Kid that they can not have something that they want - this has never happened before - what to do? So being the polite young man that he is, WK Mark agreed to allow Monkey A to go home and live with him never telling his grandmother that he did not want the Monkey.

As time passed and as legends grow, the story within the family quickly became one in which poor WK Mark was forced by his grandmother to NOT adopt the darling black and white puppy that he really really wanted but instead was made to take home a monkey instead. And then to make matters worse, the monkey was wearing a Chicago Cubs outfit while riding back to his grandparent's condo on the Chicago subway from the Build a Bear Store.

No family visit has been saved from the retelling of this horror tale. In order to show his grandmother how traumatized he has been by the experience, WK Mark always sleeps and travels with Monkey A. Please note the look of dismay on Mark's face as he accepts his chess trophy at the World Open in Philadelphia. The poor child was mortified.

Wunder Kid Mark Visits Philly & NYC

2009-07-11T13:13:00.005-04:00

There is nothing more fun in this whole wide world that Captain Mark and I like to do than spend time with the Wunder Kids. The summer before each grandchild turns ten years old they may choose a place in the US and we will plan a trip to that destination - just that Wunder Kid and us. This year it is Mark's turn to choose and he wanted to see New York City. When planning the trip, we learned very quickly that staying in NYC is extremely expensive anyway but boat dockage for 7-14 days was totally outside of our budget. SO, we got creative and as most life events turn out, our plan could not have been better if we had actually planned it this way from the beginning.

In researching all the transportation options, dockage fees, time available around WK Mark’s summer camp plans and interests we finally concluded that the best plan was to stay in Philadelphia for a longer period of time. By renting a car for a three week period we could drive back to Indiana to get WK Mark, have the car in Pennsylvania as needed and then drive into NYC to stay in a hotel for three days. Believe it or not, this plan was so much cheaper and more flexible than either flying into NYC or having the boat in a NYC marina for the duration of WK Mark’s visit. BUT the best part of the plan was one that we did not initially even consider…The World Chess Open was scheduled for July 3-5 in Philly and if we timed it right, both Marks would be able to participate. All the nautical/chess/knitting stars must have aligned because our plans fell into place almost magically.

Philadelphia

After an extremely brief visit with family and with WK Mark in tow, we headed back to Philly. While I am sure that WK Mark considered The World Open to be the ONLY reason to visit Philadelphia, this grandmother insisted that historical sites, tours and some video games be added to his touristy diet. Being the polite and well mannered young man that he is, he did agree to indulge his grandmother – however I am not sure that his heart was totally captured by this City of Brotherly Love. As a reward for being such a good sport, several trips took place to which was located adjacent to our marina.

Finally, it was time for The World Open that was being held at a downtown Philadelphia hotel not too far from the marina. Over the course of three days, the two Marks each played nine games of chess in a rated format. Theoretically they could have met each other in a match since they were in the same ranked category. The final outcome for their division was that WK Mark came in 10th, Captain Mark came in 39th and both had a wonderful experience. The smile on WK Mark’s face when we saw the final results was priceless.

Since I am the reigning Ellis/Ledgerwood family Sorry Game champion, I was delighted to find an urban art display inspired by contemporary board games located in downtown Philly.

The Phillies were playing at home and the blimp was constantly overhead.

New York City

Quickly recovering from the World Chess Open we headed to New York City. Since none of us have visited NYC before what better place to stay than the Westin at Times Square. This was the perfect place as it was centrally located for easy transportation and what an exciting place to have as our home base while in "the city". Of course in keeping with the Times Square reputation, the first "attraction" that we saw was the naked cowboy standing right in the middle of the street.

WK Mark had done his homework and he knew exactly where he wanted to go, see and do while in NYC. Keeping historical sites to a minimum and lighthearted, we visited only the most important places in a young man's dream vacation where only a granparent will buy you an eight foot Anaconda (stuffed) and a pound of M&Ms that you do not have to share.

AND most importantly, we visited the Chess and Checkers House in Central Park. Like a plot from a movie, WK Mark's experience was the very best!! Upon arriving he was a little shy so Captain Mark played the first game of chess with Elvin, the chess master of Central Park. Then kindly Elvin agreed to play a match with WK Mark and was immediately blown away by the moves that Mark was making and the caliber of the game unfolding. Let me add that while adults will often let children win at board games that is never the case in chess. Most importantly no serious chess player wants to slight the intelligent aspect of the game or opponent by making a match less challenging. Once Elvin realized that WK Mark was indeed an outstanding chess player the game took on life of its own. Over the course of the 90 minute match crowds gathered to watch as WK Mark gave Elvin the "best game in a long long time". At the conclusion of the match, Elvin graciously declined the money Mark offered him and asked instead only that Mark continue to enhance his chess skills so that one day Elvin can say that he had known Mark when he was just starting out...

Sadly, all too soon it was time to return WK Mark to his parents.

When we returned to boat after taking Mark home, we found the following message that was left on Captain Mark's whiteboard:

S is for Knitting

2009-07-01T16:41:00.016-04:00

Before leaving Indiana when packing items for this leg of the Lolligag Adventures, I determined that the yarn that I would gather together from my stash would be such that everything I would make this summer would begin with the letter S. Items like sweaters, socks, scarves, and shawls (maybe even a shat or some smittens). My thought was also that I would not “need” to purchase any additional yarn because I brought along lots and lots of sock yarn, a medium amount of yarn suitable to make the Seaman’s Scarves for charity and just one large skein of lace weight yarn for a shawl for me.

As most knitters would agree, this thinking was just an addict’s feeble attempt at rationalization or a Deck Monkey’s way to slip yarn past the Captain without too much of a fuss. In my knitterly fiber heart, I knew that as soon as I entered the first yarn shop I would succumb to the allure of 100% pure Merino fibers. I resisted the urge to locate yarn shops for the better part of the first month aboard…however, when we found ourselves with extra time while in Annapolis, I could no longer prevent the rental car from driving to The Yarn Garden. I had heard that this was a terrific yarn shop and I was in “need” of a set of size 00 double pointed needles for the socks that I was currently making for Captain Mark… I was not to be disappointed in the slightest even though I did not find the size 00 dpns because I found instead the friendliest and most cheerful of yarn mavens. In addition, I found the most decadent alpaca sock yarn and the newest Noro sock yarn hot off the slow boat from Japan. So while I did not have the size 00 needles, I did leave with more sock yarn in keeping with the S plans for the summer. I also left full of laughter, good wishes and hugs from the wonderful staff at The Yarn Garden.

For the next three weeks, I happily alternated knitting between socks and scarves as Captain Mark’s sock drawer filled and the charity scarves increased in number.
When I spoke with one of my BFFs, Linda, back in Indiana who is going through a rough time with some icky medical procedures the desire to knit her a shawl became a driving force (obsession). Having known Linda for over thirty-five years I knew that the only color choice for her shawl would be purple. So with the assistance of my Ravelry friend Tanya, I found the perfect yarn for Linda’s shawl at Vulcan’s Rest Fibers in Chesapeake City.

The main section of the shawl is made with a 100% Merino lace weight yarn in a purple/lavender/gray variegated colorway. The outer lace edging is even more luscious in that it is knit with a Silk & Cashmere combination purple yarn that is a delight to hold, fondle and form into stitch after stitch.

I will admit very freely that one of the main reasons that the blog has recently been behind scheduled production is due to the fact that I have been knitting instead of typing. As there are several knitters in the Lolligag blog audience, I know that I will be cut some slack for being behind with my blog entries. Now I just have to convince Lolligag Blog Editor Bob that knitting is as important at times as is blogging…

Captain's Log: Star Date: May & June 2009

2009-06-30T11:33:00.004-04:00

The ponytail is really looking like a pony's tail...

The reason that we had so many free nights in harbor was due to the break-in. As a good will gesture to compensate us for the break-in at the York River Yacht Haven we received free dockage for the duration of our stay after the boat was put in the water. Then while the boat was actually being repaired in Annapolis, we received free dockage compliments of the Annapolis Sail Yard as the authorized Nordic Tug dealer.

Heading to Philadelphia

2009-06-25T21:55:00.022-04:00

After our short travel through the C&D Canal we took the Delaware River north to Philadelphia. Neither Captain Mark nor I have ever been to Philly and it is one of the places that we really wanted to visit. Most boaters making the Loop trip do not journey out of the mainstream waterway to get to Philly. Therefore, reaching the city by water makes the experience even more fun as we try to imagine the journey as it was made during the formative years of our country.

The first thing we notice is how wide the Delaware River is…it’s a good thing that this is not the area where General Washington crossed the Delaware as I am not sure he would had made it across on a winter’s day in a storm. Large manufacturing, mostly pharmaceutical plants, line both shorelines. In the past the area was heavily industrialized. Everywhere we look we see huge warehouses and abandoned commercial piers that leave evidence of the manufacturing jobs that have left the area. While many cities have capitalized on reinventing these huge open buildings, it is sadly evident that this has not occurred on either side of the Delaware in Pennsylvania or New Jersey.

The next thing that totally amazes us is the amount of debris floating in the water. This area has received a great deal of rain within the last couple of weeks and the foreign items in the water are the worst that we have ever seen.

It is our plan to stay in Philadelphia for about three weeks. We will be staying at the Philadelphia Marine Center located on the Delaware River immediately beneath the Ben Franklin Bridge. As we take our location under the bridge, we will await Billy Goat Gruff and his two brothers to pass our way as they travel from Philadelphia to Camden, New Jersey.

Hours on the water: 6.5
Nautical miles traveled: 49.2
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Uncertain at this time
What we are listening to: Stone Cold by David Baldacci
Lesson for the day: I should NOT do lace knitting while drinking wine...
Obligatory knitting report: Purple Lace Shawl for BFF Linda

C&D Canal

2009-06-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

Today as we head to Philly, we will begin our travel on the 14-mile long Chesapeake and Delaware Canal which crosses the northern Delaware/Maryland peninsula. Its eastern mouth is on the Delaware River and its western mouth the on Chesapeake Bay at Chesapeake, Maryland. Logically, the name of the canal reflects the names of the two water bodies that it connects. The C&D Canal provides a shortcut of about 300 miles for ship traffic between the Port of Baltimore and northeastern US cities and Europe.

It is one of the few fully sea-level shipping canals in the world. The original C & D Canal was built privately and opened for business in 1829. The depth of the water was 10 feet, had four locks and it carried barges and sailing vessels that were towed by teams of mules from the shore. The canal was purchased by the US Government in 1919 and the canal was excavated and deepened to create a sea-level facility with a channel 12 feet deep and 90 feet wide. The new canal configuration eliminated the locks and was completed in 1927.

In order to be adequately accommodate two ocean going vessels traveling in opposite directions, the canal underwent another expansion during the mid 1970s. At this time the channel depth increased to 35 feet and the channel width was increased to 450 feet.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the C&D C canal is designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering landmark. The Canal is the only major commercial canal in the US that is still in use among those which were built during the heyday of canal building in the early 1800s.

Knitting, Friends & Boating

2009-06-24T20:52:00.013-04:00

I could have just as easily entitled this blog entry Boating Knitting Friends or Knitting Boating Friends. My favorite thing about both knitting and boating is how well the two action verbs go together – in fact in my mind, they are inseparable. I can knit when I am not on the boat but I am never without my knitting while onboard. I am busy with my Deck Monkey duties while docking and departing, but then I have all the time in between to knit. There is nothing better in my mind than cruising along, listening to a great audio book and knitting away the day.

Ravelry is a wonderful knitting (and crochet) site which brings together over 300,000 knitters (and crocheters) from around the world. Once inside the Ravelry site one finds hundreds of groups for like-minded folks to join and to share our passions. I can not tell you how excited I was to find a Ravelry Group for Chesapeake Bay Cruisers, but to be honest “they” found me and asked me to join. I could not have been more flattered and joined immediately. The group’s cheerleader is Tanya who keeps the conversational threads lively and fun. She also happens to work in a knitting shop where many knitterly Bay cruisers frequent.

To my delight, Chesapeake City was the perfect place to stop and spend some time. Captain Mark totally indulged me by saying that we could stay as long as I wanted so that I could meet Tanya and spend the day at Vulcan’s Rest. Tanya was such a trooper because while she was not feeling well and had laryngitis, she readily and eagerly agreed to come into Vulcan’s Rest on her day off to spend the day with me. Tanya has the most delightful sense of humor and infectious laugh. Immediately upon meeting shop staff Pat and owner Margaret, I fell in love with the Vulcan’s Rest. We spent the day laughing, chatting while sharing boating and knitting adventures. Tanya and her husband are anxiously awaiting the delivery of a new custom made sailboat which should arrive in August.

Then when I thought the day could not get any better, Tanya invited me to Open Knitting which was to take place that evening. After taking all of my yarn & book purchases back to the Lolligag, Captain Mark rowed ** me back to shore again so that I could attend the evening Open Knitting Group. Everyone was most welcoming and friendly and I had a wonderful time. BUT then the coolest thing happened…as I was leaving and asked if I could have a group photo for my blog, another member of Ravelry introduced herself…Deb. We just laughed in delight to discover that each other was present the whole evening and did not realize who each other were…it just goes to show how well knitters and boaters blend together!

** Captain Mark had to row me to shore in the dinghy because the NEW outboard motor was not starting. It turned out there was an air lock in the fuel line and Mark was able to get it fixed by the time he had to return to shuttle me back to the Lolligag.

Annapolis to Chesapeake City, Maryland

2009-06-23T23:53:00.004-04:00

This was our third trip/time spent in Annapolis so that made the leaving even harder. Having spent so much time in and around Annapolis, we quickly came to discover the charm, history and proud tradition of one of America’s oldest cities. So while departing when I was doing my Deck Monkey duties of tidying the lines, fenders and the outside of the boat, I was able to look back upon Annapolis and know that our time spent in Annapolis was truly one of the highlights of this trip.

Our destination today is Chesapeake City, Maryland at the very top of the Chesapeake Bay. I am so pleased to be going to Chesapeake City for several reasons. With the boat doors repaired, it seems like this year’s adventures are finally getting underway – we can head north to see what there is to see. Secondly, our arrival in Chesapeake City will mark our departure from the Chesapeake Bay and officially designate our travel into the C&D Canal, the Delaware River and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean. Thirdly, I am extremely excited to meet in person my cyber Boating/Knitting/Ravelry friend Tanya who works at the knitting shop in Chesapeake City. This event will, I am sure, warrant its own blog story.

As we travel north on the Bay, we note that the waterway narrows from the area where neither shore is visible into a wide winding river-like path. We pass several large ocean going vessels making their way to/from Philly and Wilmington, Delaware.

As we approach Chesapeake City, the first thing that we see is the huge bridge spanning the tip of the Bay and officially (at least to boaters) designating the beginning of the C&D Canal. Captain Mark does an excellent job of navigating the shoal and shallow water which marks the entrance to the CC harbor and anchorage basin. There is a marina, but we opted to anchor in “the basin” during our visit. It has been so long since we have anchored out that I think we both wanted to anchor out just because we could.

On a humorous note, we quickly saw/heard that the anchorage had a boating bully. For some odd reason this guy did not bother or yell at us but he literally chased away (with not very nice language) at least four sail boaters who he claimed were attempting to anchor too close to this boat and/or anchor rode.

Hours on the water: 7.5
Nautical miles traveled: 52.5
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Chesapeake City, Maryland
What we are listening to: Stone Cold by David Baldacci
Lesson for the day: It feels good to be on our way again
Obligatory knitting report: Brown Striped Sox for Captain Mark