.

Certainly one of our favorites:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/portland-maine-best-towns-america/index.html

Desire and Nick new proud parents.

Lucas Alexander Sirois

No Social Security Number yet.

St Lawence River

Yes. We’ve started counting our 1000 Islands! <grin>

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Team Photo of dock-mates:

Julie & Jennette of Zellah

Bill & Sheila of Mystic

Dave & Tamara of Dog Days

Shelly & Ray of Shellerina

Pic taken by “Kim”. Thanks Kim!

US Customs is also a very short walk. (Near ferry terminal).

No rest rooms. No trash? Odd. Everything is a close walk.

RON at Cape Vincent Marina will also accommodate your needs and give you good advice.

Bob’s Liquor Store (aka Cape Vincent Liquor Store) delivers to the docks. They have a very respectable inventory for a small town.

Their service was a noteworthy contrast to what we experienced in Ontario for most of this past month during the LCBO strike. A major irritation. We are SO happy to be OUT of Ontario, without that strike + full Internet etc.

Remarkable improvement over Ontario! Thank You!

Annual POKER RUN fund raiser today in the 1000 Islands region: a parade of “muscle boats” traversed all the ports including this one this morning.

This boat led the fleet of dozens of power boats.

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Click to see videos.

Checked into US Customs, stopped at the local market.

Wine will be delivered this hour, to our boat at the public dock… which has 30A shore power and city water!

Behind north side of Cressy Point

Bay of Quinte

I usually associate creamed spinach with very high end steak houses.

Well, tonight in this fantastic anchorage we had this great meal. This creamed spinach went great with Haddock! Amazing.

Here is what Shelly did for the spinach:

When we got back to the marina, Rene & Isabelle invited us aboard All Aboard III for a grand tour and to share a bottle of their red wine together.

Walking distance from Meyers Pier Marina!

Our choices:

Seafood Chowder

Escargots

Lobster Roll

Seared Scallops

It was all excellent.

Highly recommended … not only by us!

This past weekend in the shadows of the 54 foot Lift Lock at Peterborough ON, Shelly and I decided that 90 miles of the 240 mile Trent Severn Waterway would have to be enough for 2024.

We left behind 142 (x2) miles of waterway and 24 (x2) locks to get to the end and the eastern end of Georgian Bay and back to Peterborough. Then another 5-7 good weather travel days to make Kingston ON again.

We also left behind the chance to transit The “Chute” Railway Lock in the town of Georgian Bay.

While we are chagrin at leaving all that behind, our new itinerary ensures the plan to navigate the St Lawrence River and Lake Champlain remains intact.

We want to be on Long Island NY with our son, Nick, on US Labor Day September 2, and ultimately make Jacksonville FL during the first few days of November.

Transiting locks and weather (Beryl’s remnants), and routine maintenance simply took more of our time than we expected. “240 miles in 24 [leisurely] days (x2 … each direction)” was not enough time.

Internet Service

Good Internet was elusive… and reportedly it was on a trajectory to get worse if we continued west. I could elaborate on this, as it was my field, my profession. When I was paying the bill at the office, the dockmaster here said, “The WiFi should be pretty good, we just got this whole system upgraded a couple of weeks ago,” pointing to the antennas and routers on the wall.

So, I asked, “Is this the only place in this marina were there are antennas?” “Yes.”

Armed with the secret marina WiFi codes, I walked back to the boat to give it a try. The bandwidth was too slow to even get a “mbps” test result down or up! So I went up to the fly bridge, and hooked up my directional yagi antenna for 2.4gHz WiFi.

I was now able to get a halfway respectable signal I can use for the night.

Adult Beverages

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) has a clear agenda and plan to release their monopolistic grip on wine and liquor retailing in this province. This is a good thing in our opinion and experience.

However LCBO’s retail employees don’t agree so they have forced store closures as they strike across this whole province during the same time we are cruising up here.

https://financialpost.com/news/lcbo-strike-ontario-what-you-need-to-know

Transportation

There was a lack of Uber/Lyft type services. Some of the taxi services were price gouging. They laugh at the thought of a marina courtesy car!

There is no Instacart either.

Pharmaceuticals

Rx and OTC drugs were going to become a problem if we stayed in Canada. Some OTC drugs in the States require a prescription from a CANADIAN physician.

Pharmacies here cannot fill Rx scripts by US physicians. There is zero reciprocation agreements.

Fuel, Ice, Pump Out

Availability of fuel and pump-out locations were a fraction of the same stateside. Same with ICE. Almost every marina in the States sells ice, as they know it is something their customers need! Sadly, not here in Canada.

The lack of a competitive market for diesel fuel means prices will be higher of course. We paid US$6.57/gallon (CAN$2.25/liter) in Peterborough ON at the only fuel dock we had seen since Trenton, 90 miles earlier.

(By comparison, diesel we purchased in US this year ranged from $3.30 to $3.79 per gallon).

All these little things equate to “death by a thousand paper cuts.” It’s just irritating.

I guess it makes me really appreciate the free-er market, and more entrepreneurial mentality that is very influential in the US.

The availability of products and services is much more plentiful in the United States. Sunday cannot come soon enough! Clayton NY! We can’t wait to get back to the US.

I *almost* did not post this, as we rarely take on a “negative” tone on this blog. We are “positive” thinkers. But, I also wanted to be journalistically accurate.

I’m hoping the remaining miles [kilometers] in Canada are better than the past few weeks. The PEOPLE have been WONDERFUL: Lock Staff, vendors, local boaters, etc. So we do not want to paint a picture that any of them have let us down!

Addendum 7/27/24

ALSO

7/30/2024

We were all heading to the famous Peterborough Lift Lock (# 21), which is about 0.6 miles north of this lock.

We lifted a total of 54 feet through Flight Lock 16/17. This is the view backwards from the top.

There are two “double locks” here on the Trent Severn. The other is # 11/12 Ranney Falls, which we did July 8.

There is also one on the western Erie Canal which we did on June 14, 2012

https://shellerina.com/2021/06/14/lockport-ny/

Two hours later, Lock 18:

Further up the Trent River, we locked through #18. See the crosshairs above.

Then, keeping our distance from the dam to our left (right side of this pic), we fought 1.5 – 2 mph currents to take the T-Head spot on A-Dock… where the blue dot is.

Dockmaster Emily and Francine of Bon Vivant helped catch our lines in this current. Care was taken to not allow the swift current to push us into Bon Vivant’s stern.

After we were secured, Ray fixed Shelly a Bloody Mary, helped Emily with our Pump Out. He then took a shower and squared up our bill at the office.

Then Ray met “Jim” of Monica’s Old Smokey. He was sitting in the shade of his boat on the swim platform, and he offered to give me a ride over to the “Beer Store”. This local chain really has it made this week as the ONLY local wine ‘n’ liquor retailer is closed due to a labor dispute. “Everyone is drinking beer!”

These folks sport a large cooled warehouse and a conveyor that brings your goods out to the front of the store. It was hot today. The stock boy filling orders inside that huge cooled warehouse was not complaining about his “work environment” today! (I should have taken a pic!)

Thank you SO much Jim!!!

OK. Dinner.

Shelly was going to cook. “Dr. Hook” aka Doug, pictured below…

Dr. Hook, the avid fisherman, points to the Italian place(s) very close to this marina. “Jim” also weighed in with his recommendation.

There are several other establishments across the bridge (all walking distance).

Addendum:

on LCBO Strike making wine and liquor unavailable in Ontario. LCBO stands for Liquor Control Board of Ontario! It is a government agency!!!

Good food, good new friends enjoyed this evening’s meal followed by a brief tech tour aboard Shellerina.

“The first of many dinners further down the ship’s log.”

It is now noon, and the rain has stopped for a bit. We’ll walk over to check the “facilities”…

Addendum:

There is just enough southbound current (+/- 1 mph) here that you will have to take it into consideration for your dock landing. A light wind out of the north was also present when we arrived Tuesday.

This crew also chronicles their travels on a blog:

https://pearlsaboardoyster.com

I highly recommend their blog. As we are hoping to transit Lake Champlain next month, I have begun digesting all their well-done ‘pics and prose’ of their time there.

Shelly and I will also check out their Youtube content once we have good Internet again. https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCbGHynrW0bZqy9xdxhexQIA

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Check out this amazing pic of the giant coin near sunrise! ((I *think* this pic is by Pat or Teresa Clements of Rock N Roll ))

These $2 coins are very much in use every day here in Canada. They are very frequently given out as change when we pay with cash. Reportedly, King Charles is not yet showing up very often on coinage.

Get a Reservation for this wall:

Call: 750-653-1551

https://www.visittrenthills.ca/oldmillparkdocking/

The Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce does a great job of managing the many available spaces on both sides of the canal.

They are friendly and competent: Karen and Cindy in the office, plus a number of dock hands “workin’ the walls” all make it a team.

A “Welcome Shellerina” sign was hanging on the railing in our assigned space when we arrived.

Some TIPS and Canadian NORMS for you to know:

The eastern-most locks are all Starboard-side-to (westbound going up).

Canada wants our engines OFF once secured in the chamber. PFDs are not required here, but they are a good idea, obviously.

The chambers are typically left FULL at night for safety reasons. So early-rising UP bound vessels may need to wait for the chambers to empty.

If there are three 40-50 foot boats, the lock master is likely to have 3rd and 4th boats RAFT UP to the boats on the starboard wall… so long as wind conditions make it safe to do so.

On the way UP these locks have too much turbulence on the port side wall. So while that wall has cables, they are only used for locking DOWN.

Lock #6 Wall (high side) has 30 Amp shore power. They accept plastic. So you don’t need Canadian currency (CA$10.75).

The next place with power is the Town of Cambellford Town Walls between Lock 12 & 13. I believe all the lock walls have picnic tables, washrooms, (no fresh water hose spigots), and maybe showers. Everything is first-come-first-serve as Lock Walls. But in general, it does not appear to be a problem to find a place to tie up for the night someplace here on the TSW, plus there are anchorages shown in the cruising guides. The walls at Campbellford DO take reservations. We recommend it!

With the exception of Lock 1 none of these locks have VHF radios!

Some say the bridges and locks use VHF-14 here. But it has been pretty quiet on 14 and 16. So, if you NEED to contact a lock you can try the phone.

But my observation is these folks are not sitting in the office much! They are outside helping boaters lock and tie up to the walls and, in addition, several of the upper gates are HAND OPERATED! ((I’ll have to capture some video of that.))

The staff are clearly well-trained, 20-Something year olds, who are encouraged to be as friendly and outgoing as naturally possible.

Tying up to the BLUE painted wall means “I intend to lock thru.” If you tie up before getting to the BLUE wall, it will probably be assumed you are just tying up to the wall for the night or for a bio-break or whatever.

This morning, we only tied up to Lock 1’s Blue painted wall (before they opened for business at 9:00am. The well-coordinated lock masters called ahead to the next lock, so there was “instant service”. We could simply enter into the open lock gates. Unlike in the States, There are NO GREEN / RED lights here. So there was no VHF or light signals to say “Come on in!” It seemed to all work just fine.

The “lifts” were typically 15-28 feet for most of these first six locks.

Here are two links with more information on the TSW and more specific info about each lock.

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern

https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/posteeclusage-lockstation

Five boats are tied up here at Lock #6 today.

We followed Cygnus V thru locks 1-6 today. They continued on to Lock #13. Ray has to change out our fuel filters. So we turned back to get a spot at Lock 6.

Summary Notes about the first 35-40% of TSW:

Lock 1: Buy your PASSES / stickers.

Lock 6 (high side): First lock NB with Shore Power.

Lock 9: Sells ICE. Both block + cubes. They take plastic.

Between L12 and L13 Campbellford City Walls (east has 50A shore power, west has 30A shore power.) Calling Karen & Cindy & crew to get reservations is highly recommended. 705-653-1551. Tell them Shellerina sent you!

Stickers cost for the season: US$ 602.20 (CA$819) for a 39 ft vessel.

You buy your stickers at the Lock 1 office when you arrive.

We taxi-ed over the day before… one less thing to do in the morning. It also gave us a chance to get acquainted with the first TSW lock, and ask the staff all the questions we had.

Addendum August 2024

Weeks later when we turned south, NE of Montreal onto the Richelieu River & Chambly Canal ( towards Lake Champlain, ) these stickers “worked” for those locks and walls. So, we figure we got our money’s worth.

Half decent facility <wink>.

Marina WiFi “above average”. At boat: Solid 6.0 mbps down, 3.8 mbps up, with regular paddle antennas. And it lets the ship’s router connect (not just endpoint devices).

There is a large grocer (Metro) nearby, and a great Rx too, (Shoppers Drug Mart) … very easy walk!

UBER does not work here. But we found ABC TAXI to be very responsive. 613-392-3525.

Great anchorage halfway between Kingston ON and Trenton ON.

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No boats were anchored behind this impressive breakwater. Perhaps it is too deep?!? +/- 24 feet.

Customs may require a visit to your boat, and possibly to board it and inspect it. OR you may luck out and get your “Report Number” over the phone.

We loved our stay here. The Confederation Basin Marina was excellent. Wooden docks were kept in good repair, and the dockhands (and office staff) were on top of their game. Marina WiFi was good. Nice Showers 24×7, nice laundry is only available during business hours.

UBER worked well in Kingston. Amey’s Taxi also had a dominant presence.

Grocer, Rx, liquors, many gr8 restaurants are all walking distance, with lots of wonderful ethnic varieties to try out.

This waterfront city park is a very busy place!

Not in that order!

The priorities:

1) clear Canadian Customs and get our “Number”

2) Pay for our slip + get the “secret codes”, (showers, laundry, dock gates, WiFi, etc.)

3) Get Ray a haircut!!!

Before pic:

After pic:

We loved our visit with Chelsea (the entrepreneur/proprietor and licensed cosmetologist from Paris France (I believe)) and Lena (the barber we know for sure is from Cuba),

They can be found here at this place, a very short walk from the docks at Consolidation Basin Marina in Kingston ON.

They told me Lena’s schedule was full. But then I told them I just travelled all the way from Florida -by boat- to get a haircut here! So, Lena fit me in!

His “business name” is Fades Jimenez. So if you see that in your Google search, this is the place to find him. ((He did not seem to object to gettin US$ cash instead of Canadian bills for his fee+tip.))

As busy as they are, their rates are reasonable. “You just gotta get lucky like me, or get on their schedule!” ((Kinda like marina reservations.))

4). Then dinner!

Newly-groomed-Ray and Shelly started walking “back to the boat to fix dinner.”

Good luck with that … here in this town. There are really great restaurants within every block and at every corner. We didn’t get very far.

Dinner here was delectable. Shelly and I focused on the seafood section of their diverse menu: Harissa Coconut Curry PEI Muscles, Thai Curry Cod, and gourmet garnished Octopus. All had 3 different and fantastic sauces which complemented the medley of garnishes masterfully selected by the chef for each of these proteins.

It is very easy to over-cook calamari and octopus making it rubbery. Not at this place! They did it perfectly so it was soft and melted on the tongue!

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Once docked at Confederation Basin Marina in Kingston ON, we simply called: 888-CANPASS. (888-226-7277) and gave them all our vessel and passport information.

We declared some of Shelly’s potted cooking herbs (basil, rosemary, scallions) that will not be leaving the boat. We also declared alcohol only for “SHIP’S STORE” that won’t be leaving the boat.”

“If you use the correct vocabulary, it’ll save you from having to itemize all the types and quantities.”

We got our “report number” over the telephone! Evidently, a physical visit to the boat is also common to get one’s “number.” But not for us, not for today.

I *think* our Blog gave them more than enough details about us, so they felt comfortable doing ours all by telephone.

Apparently, here in Canada, Verizon Wireless has us covered for all our devices. (We’ll soon see?!).

NEBO’s website says our NEBO tracker will continue working here in CANADA without changing anything.

When asked about “duration” of our stay in Canada, we estimate 40 days should cove our longest possible itinerary… which will include St Lawrence River to the canal south to Lake Champlain.

Pretty easy!

Addendum:

https://shellerina.com/2024/07/04/new-flags-2/

Happy Fourth of July 2024!

Tomorrow, our weather window looks like it remains a good day to cross this Great Lake to Kingston ON.

Seas were calm the whole way across.

Here you can see a time lapse video Shellerina doing Lock O6 and Lock O7 today with others we met along the way.

Click to see Time Lapse:

Fortunately we saw patches of blue sky amidst the clouds by 8:30am. We were underway by 9:15.

Tuesday’s WX Window still looks promising 36 hours before start.

Cluck on the video below.

It was an interesting day on all-new waters for us.

4 stages…

Stage Two:

I was amazed that the 1”[ID] sanitary hose run in my 2000 Mainship 390 was 17.5 feet long! I actually had to go back to Home Depot to get the 25 foot version of this auger snake. The 15 footer wouldn’t make it all the way. (I did not attempt to return the “used” + wet ‘n’ dirty 15 footer.) <wink>

There are several twists and turns AND several horizontal runs where rock-hard calcium can accumulate. The snake did not work for me until after the chemical soak for 24 hours. I found the ability to rotate the auger snake is essential. The clog is “hard” as rock and the twists and turns all mean “I need to be able to push AND rotate the thing.”

When done, I hosed this snake down on the dock and I will oil it before pushing back into the crank’s storage / crank end.

But, we are NOT done yet!

Stage Three

Check out Ben Kayfetz’s highly acclaimed Youtube video!

For my Stage Three, I pretty much followed Ben’s example to cycle the CLR product through a circuit of hose to get all the calcium “rocks” out and into a strainer as shown in the vid. About 30-60 seconds of flushing every 10-15 minutes over 2 hours got it all. (1.5 gallons of CLR for this stage.)

Shelly suggested, “Sometimes “pulsing” the electric flush switch is more effective to get things started.” She was right! Try this if ‘laying into it’ fails.

After “straining” out all the calcium “rocks” and saw only clean “coffee” circulating thru, I began to pump the coffee into a 5 gallon pail.

Stage Four

We Started to pour clean fresh water into the toilet bowl to “cycle” it and watched the magic as clean water went through our “new” sanitary hose!!! (When clear water reached me, I moved the hose back into the toilet bowl to let the new clean water to go around the long hose “circuit” for a few minutes.

We see and hear the difference! Flushing now “hums” whereas before it sounded like a loud low frequency dentist’s drill.

The flow is 2x better than anything we have ever seen in the 4 years we have owned this 24 year old boat! No exaggeration. I’m pretty sure I will be able to retire the cleaned plunger to a storage spot in back of more commonly needed things! LOL

Clean up and Credits

Then I Re-attached all our plumbing with some plumber’s putty, and cleaned things up. Sanitized everything, including the tools!

Note: Simply replacing the 17.5 feet of sanitary hose would have been nice. But many boats, including this one, make that impossible; the hose runs behind the shower, cabinets, and bulkheads.

Bottom Line:

This combination of chemical soaking, and auger snaking, followed by a chemical flush cycle worked great.

A special thank you to Ben Kayfetz for his Youtube video.

A special thanks to Shelly’s brother Capt Rich Charette for his research and finding the video. Also to Capt Gene of Galene who prompted the research effort in the direction of a chemical compound-type approach. He also owns a Mainship 390. I bet Gene and I do this preventative maintenance on his 390 next time we are together in FL next Nov or Dec.

My recommendation is to do this every five years as shown in Ben’s Youtube video so you do not get the more severe clog that our week started with. It is a lot easier to do this as a preventative measure than a restorative measure if the hose gets fully clogged up such as ours did.

This project cost us two weather windows to cross Lake Ontario. Net loss=1 full week of cruising progress.

Do you need this? Evaluate the need.

IF you are experiencing the need to use a plunger or loud (or slow) flushes, your toilet may be fine. The sanitary waste line may be getting constricted. Read all the comments by others thanking Ben on his Youtube vid!

Know: This problem will not solve itself. AND we have used “digester” chemicals such as Noflex and Thetford for years. They do not prevent this problem.

Do this type of preventative hose cleaning for a remarkable improvement in your head system’s operation on your vessel (or RV.)

Note: we did this with zero waste going into the waterway (or holding tank). We only consumed 2 gallons of CLR, which is “septic safe” and the 2 gallons of waste was simply flushed in the marina’s head… easily carried in a single 5 gallon bucket.

So, It is an environmentally sound solution.

Plumber’s putty enhances all final hose-clamp joints for a leak-free, worry free finish.

Boat Soap and an extra 5-gallon bucket or two comes in handy for the clean up. Lysol wipes are a nice finishing touch for all surfaces and tools.

Some ask;

Why didn’t I try “Barnacle Buster?” (BB).

Answer: The BB product as described online simply did not mention sanitary hose as one of its recommended applications. CLR did. (Both are great products for what they do.) BB might have worked; I don’t know. CLR is sold in more places than BB. Plus CLR claims to be “Septic Safe”.

Final details

Our head is 3 years old. Electric, 12 vdc, Jabsco Model 37010. US Standard full size bowl. This is not one of the Jabsco “Quiet Flush” units, but it is a LOT quieter now, with no obstructions in the sanitary hose! (If they made an extended size bowl, marine head, we’d buy it!)

Admittedly, for months we were a bit perplexed. “Why is it less reliable recently?!” This week’s diagnosis and subsequent project proved it was not the head at all.

Remarkable improvement to a critical system used every day.

Addendum:

I did the math. The volume of this 1” ID hose x 17.5 feet comes out to 2.86 gallons! (Amazing).

659.73 cu” = 11.43 quarts = 2.86 gallons

So, if you want to occasionally flush out the whole length of sanitary hose in your MS390, you gotta put more than half a 5 gallon bucket down the head. ((Which we did today!))

Looks like Friday is the next great crossing day.

On-site at Pirates Cove Marina.

He is kinda hard to get along with, as you can see.

Get in touch with Dan if you need a free slip near Green Turtle Bay in TN. That’s his home port. Use NEBO to contact him.

The score is 1-1 in game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Northern-most team vs. Southern-most team.

Owners Ethan “Radar” and Kim of Ess Kay Yards show off their new illuminated Sponsor of the Year Award from 2020. Married 31 years!

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I picked up some new sanitary hose here this afternoon. My suggestion that these folks carry USED sanitary hose for half price didn’t seem to take root for some reason. They didn’t even offer me anything for my 24 year old, used + clogged sanitary hose … even if I can get it unclogged. A steel snake did not work.

So: new sanitary hose is goin’ in tomorrow a.m. provided by Ess Kay.

Sorry no pics of this failed system.

Thank you for lunch!

Of course the nasties (T-Boomers) never materialized, as sometimes happens. But we all agreed that it was a no-go call.

Details of the last time we were together follow:

https://shellerina.com/2021/06/08/quinn-family-rendezvous-on-the-erie-canal-weedsport-rte-34-bridge-wall/

Shelly and I will leave for a 5-hour trek to Oswego in the morning setting up for a Tuesday crossing of Lake Ontario for a very good “weather window” Tuesday for 42 miles of open water: Oswego NY to Kingston ON.

The pool was wonderful!

Dock’s Grill (Burger & Pizza better than their broiled Haddock.)

“New waters” for us tomorrow as we take the right onto the Oswego Canal towards Lake Ontario.

3 years ago:

https://shellerina.com/2021/06/05/final-decision/

Three years ago we went LEFT. Tomorrow we will go RIGHT!

We have some special guests coming aboard at Lock O1 in Phoenix. Looking forward to that!

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VWZ 5G = very tempermental

VZW 4G LTR = very tempermental

Marina WiFi = very temperamental

We are NOT accustomed to such difficulty.

Getting us ready for Canada Internet problems???i

We’ll soon see.

We first met these folks in Peoria in Sept 2021. They have since become lifetime friends.

Mac is recovering from some medical issues. We love you guys! Glad to report your boat is in good shape here!!!

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https://shellerina.com/2024/04/27/major-powerhouse-meeting-tonight-beaufort-nc/

https://shellerina.com/2022/10/28/rendezvous-with-janthenas-crew/

Tammy and Haille greeted us at the fuel dock. Filled up at $3.7899999999. Our last dose of U.S. diesel fuel until after our Trent Severn Waterway trip up in Canada in the weeks ahead.

We feel like we won the lottery cuz tonight Ess Kay Yards is hosting an AGLCA Reception co-sponsored by them and Curtis Stokes and a local whiskey distillery from Phoenix NY near Lock O1.

5:00pm be there or be square!

Partial List of Loopers in Attendance:

M/V Remedy Steve & Mary Ellen

Bella Rumore Katie & Darryl

Nabi Ms Chen & Peter

Carolina Girl Allison & Greg

Shulan Voyager Legia & Larry

Lady in Red Alan & Renetta

Survivor II Michael

Survivor II Scott for National Pediatric Cancer Foundation

Survivor II Captain Red Flowers

Shellerina Shelly & Ray

KSera II Mike & Lynne

Magic Jeannie Art & Jeanne

At Last Karen & Lee

Liberty Sandy & Tom

Kittywake Dan & Gena

Sweet Equity Kim & Andy

Grand Ole Gal Brenda & Michael

Shingebiss Steve & Liz

Andy Stratton & Curtis Stokes

If you were here but don’t see yourself listed, let me know!

I know we didn’t get everyone’s name.

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Tomorrow is the third and last day of the heat wave affecting the NE states.

I guess when we cross over to Ontario in a few days, everything will be copasetic!

While there is traffic noise from the highways nearby, it is less invasive than the train whistles of the last few stops!

48.7 miles to Ess Kay Yards tomorrow + 3 locks. Long day. But it’ll be a 1 or 2 hours shorter because of our passage today!

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Continue reading →

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She’s the one you pay $1 / foot to, and in return, she’ll give you all the “secret codes”.

If you ask nicely, she’ll show you a number of great slices of history on display inside this welcome center.

We’ve got the POW-WA!

How do you spell WiFi?

Yep, they include WiFi too.

Below: Her hubby Wayne snuggles with others when asked by bloggers like me.

E-17: 40.5 foot lift – largest lift of any other lock on the Erie Canal. No pipes. No cables. Just hangin’ nylon. More on this to follow.

BTW: Port side only in E-17 (Westbound).

ADDENDUM

Day 2 at Rotary Park

We decided to stay a second day / night here. Since most all the other boats cleared out, two of us took advantage of the empty space on the floating docks and moved from the wall!

Dockmaster #3 James

James is a former [local] restauranteur. So he can advise on the best places to go out to eat. Head’s up: Mondays and early weeknights are tough.

Shellerina is in the background.

ADDENDUM 2

Open on Monday nights!Across the parking lot is this food truck. The burrito was fantastic. It’ll feed 2 or 3.

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We took a day off at anchor Saturday after a physically and emotionally stressful day Friday.

The Admiral had us up earlier today to make the first westbound transit at Lock E-11 in Amsterdam NY. Less wind in the mornings make for easier line handling for her on-deck as we lock through.

The plan today is to pass through E-17, the largest single lock on the Erie Canal, then tie up less than a mile later at Little Falls Canal Harbor and Rotary Park.

Shelly boasts that Shellerina transited the Rogersville AL lock with a lift of 93 feet in the fall of 2021. However, its floating bollards made things easier than what we are likely to deal with today.

With both of us teaming up on a single nylon 1” hanging line we were able to stay in control nicely.

All secured for the night. Little Falls Canal Harbor [wall] just west of E-17. We even have shore power!

Rumor has it that this food truck has awesome Mexican food Monday-Friday.

Happy Father’s Day to all the moms out there. We couldn’t have done it without ya!

He spent Mother’s Day with his other siblings and their 88 year old Mom, Nora last month in NH.

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He has joined his wife Becky who also died young a couple years ago. They lived in Rockland Maine. He is survived by four adult children.

Photo by Vern & Lisa Sessler of Out of the Blue whom we followed here today on the Erie Canal.

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((Whenever possible, we use the pipes or the lock’s “coated cables” to a line “round turned” on the midship cleat; we use the “hanging ropes” when there is no alternative.))

On Monday, while transiting “The Flight” she was on her feet for two or three hours…NOT good for someone with MS. It was unhealthy.

Problem solved, and she now has more confidence with all the locking we have coming up over the next several months.

Most (not all) lock masters let us pick which side we prefer. For the rare occasions when we NEED to lock starboard-side-to, she can sit on the molded F/G stairs on that side.

If we need to do the same project to starboard, we will.

It will be a bit more complex as we have a door on that side, and the gunwales are not “level” aft of the cleat. We’ll MacGiver somethin’ with spacers if need be.

Total Project Cost today: $112 incl 8% NYS sales tax; (the 1/2” plastic sheet of ‘Starboard’ brand stock was most of that.)

5 Tips:

When screwing into fiberglass, 1) countersink your pre-drilled holes a bit so the gelcoat won’t develop “spider” cracks from the holes in the months following a screw going in. 2) F/G does not ‘give’ like wood, so finding the right drill bit size will be just a hair smaller than the threads of your screws. 3) for a truly very permanent screw into F/G I dip the screw threads into 3M 5100 before screwing them in. (That was not necessary for this project.) 4) I purchase SMALL tubes of 3M 5100, cuz most of my projects don’t require much product! 5) When resealing my tube, I put the tube in a zip-lock bag, and put it in the boat’s refrigerator. This makes that tube last for months instead of days… (without hardening) for the next time I need some!

Addendum:

https://shellerina.com/2024/06/14/erie-canal-lock-e7/

We have absolutely fallen in love with the people here. It does NOT feel like 3 years since we were first here.

https://shellerina.com/2021/05/30/crescent-boat-club-a-real-gem/

They use Dockwa.com

Then call them to be guided into their docks. There is adequate depth for most cruisers, IF you get their guidance.

Without much if any public notice, this major spot of interest was essentially shut down today. We have no idea for how long.

We were originally scheduled to pick up a family with young teens today… to give them som “hands-on” experience of Locking Thru the “Waterford Flight” on the Erie Canal. Fortuitously, they had to cancel, as I’m not confident we could have taken them aboard here today. It would have been a 2.5 hour drive for them to get here!