Crazy Eights on Downward Side of The Chute

Here's some more photos of the Big Chute. The one photo shows buddy Dennis from "Sea Quest" and Rich in front of a sign that says that we're about to do the Big Chute at our own risk! The folks in charge couldn't have been more helpful and professional. I'm sure they have many stories to tell!
We had 3 smaller boats in front of us in the cradle as we were all loaded and lifted out of the water on the railway system and then offloaded back into the water. It really was quite the thrill - and not a scratch. Amazing!

Photos of The Big Chute in the Trent-Severn

Day 36 - Day 50, Jul 9th - Jul 23rd, Trent-Severn Waterway

We traveled with our buddy boats from Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands to our port of entry into Canada in Kingston. After some anxiety about customs and stories that we had heard about Kingston, in particular, we had no trouble at all. Check-in is by telephone but then you are subject to boarding more frequently when there is a customs office at that port. We were 6 Looper boats by then and none of us was boarded, even with a weather delay of one day. We had more wine and meat on board than was allowed. Others had wine, liquor and cigarettes in excess.

Kingston was an interesting city and quite pretty. We took a trolley car tour to get the overview. We were working our way to the Trent-Severn Waterway system at Trenton, Ontario. There are 44 locks, 2 special lift locks and a railway system called "The Big Chute" that make up the 240 mile system and ending at the Georgian Bay.

Having finished the Trent-Severn yesterday, we can tell you that it has been a highlight in our adventure. Canada is very beautiful. There are parks with picnic tables and often barbeques at each lock that we went through. Boaters can overnight at the locks. Often there are camping facilities and hiking trails.

Each lock is in competition with the others for landscaping, with a winner chosen annually. Consequently, the flowers and plants are everywhere. The lockmasters are especially friendly and helpful, giving directions or tips on our next stop.
About half the of 44 locks were "locking up" and then we began "locking down."

There were two pan locks, one at Peterborough (65 feet high, locking up) and one at Kirkfield (49 feet high, locking down). The pan locks have two large metal pans side by side, with one raised and one lowered. Each pan weighs 1300 tons, including the water. As one pan is made heavier by adding more water, it descends, pushing the other pan up via hydraulics. When traversing either of these locks, we were literally lifted in the air inside a large metal pan filled with water.

The other unique lock was the Big Chute, a railway lock that was built to lift boats over rapids on the river. Depending of the size of the boats, several boats go through at a time. The car or cradle holding the boats is submerged to allow the boats to be driven on the cradle. This cradle then literally raises the boats out of the water on sophisticated cables and rods to support each boat, over the road and river back down on the other side.

All three were "E-Ticket Rides" for sure! They were great experiences and certainly an unusual adventure.

One of our many stops along the canals and rivers was Bobcaygeon. There are three houseboat rental companies there. Our cruising guides warned us to be on guard when seeing these. Many are inexperienced boaters and probably not familiar with their vessel. We asked several of the lockmasters about this. We heard a couple of funny stories. The lockmasters are professionals who really only want your boating experience to be fun, but safe. One told us that they get houseboats in, any way they can get them tied up. One houseboat got turned around in the lock, was finally secured going backwards in the lock and then exited the same way! Another one was tied off dead center in the lock with a line off the stern on one side and a line off the bow on the opposite side! We never had any challenge with the houseboats.

We had a "system" of three boats, 37', 43' and 44' locking through together, filling up the lock most of the time. One day a small runabout came in between one of us, throwing off our "system" because now we were quickly switching fenders from one side to the other to be prepared. All ended well.

Locking requires BIG fenders (bumpers) and more are better than less, in number. You always wear gloves due to the lines and fenders getting slimy on the lock walls. I handle the lines on the bow and Rich works the stern. You soon get your routine down.

We're done with locks now until we get to Chicago. We've completed 63 locks so far.

More later on Georgian Bay and the 30,000 Islands area.............

Day 31 - Day 36, Jul 4th - Jul 9th, Oswego to Thousand Islands, NY

4th of July was spent in Sackets Harbor, NY, a quaint town dating back to Revolutionary times with museums and a battlefield from the 1800's. The main street were lined with flowers and hanging baskets of flowers on the light poles. One can "OD" on museums after awhile; however, we do try to see what interests the local town offers.
There were fine fireworks shot over the battlefield after brief afternoon thundershowers threatened the show for the evening.

Clayton was our next stop on the side trip up the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Thousand Islands. We thoroughly enjoyed the Classic Antique Boat Museum here. There was everything from canoes to old motors, fishing boats, to racers, to cruisers and shuttle type boats. The "Woody" is very popular here - beautiful wooden hulls that shine with their exquisite finish.

Alexandria Bay's finest attraction is the Boldt Castle, a magnificient castle built by George Boldt for his wife Louise. She took a sudden illness and died before he could finish the gift for her in 1904. He stopped all work on the castle the day she died and never returned to the property. After many years of decay, areas are now being restored. The tour was awesome. It's hard to imagine such wealth so many years ago. Mr. Boldt, an immigrant from Prussia in the 1860's, became the most successful hotel magnate in America, managing/profit sharing the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and the Bellevue-Stratford in Philadelphia.

There really are nearly 1,800 islands, at last count. In order to be considered an island, it must be above water all 12 months of the year and have at least one tree.
Many of the homes are very elaborate and most of them are summer homes. The cost to have electricity run in a cable below the St. Lawrence Seaway to a new island home today is $125 a foot!

Day 23 - Day 30, Troy to Oswego, NY

In these eight days, we completed the Erie Canal and Oswego Canal, both part of the New York Canal System - 84 miles and 19 locks. There are different kinds of locks so varied techniques of locking are required. Mostly we were "locking up," meaning that as we moved from lock to lock, the river/canal levels were rising as we locked in to the next section.

It doesn't take long to learn what works best for you and your boat. The lock masters are very helpful. After a number of locks in your day, it does get tiring. I think the most that we did in one day was 12, which was actually on the Trent Severn Waterway in Canada. The wind and current are big factors in entering or exiting locks and can make for a few thrilling moments.

There is little anchoring in these areas. Many boats tie up to the lock walls, above or below the lock for the night, or we would go to a marina. Thus the cruising budget is suffering from higher mooring fees and fuel prices than last year.

So the daily routine usually includes some planning for the next days' cruise, checking the boat systems, keeping up with charting while underway. Each small town along the way has its own charm. We must savor antique stores, shops, markets, marine stores, restaurants and good walking. Usually you've been told about favorite spots from other Loopers or you read about them in the cruising guides, before we arrive at the next place. Ice cream is always a priority.

Illion, NY, the Mayor of the City came to the marina to greet the new arrivals, give us his card and tell us that if there was anything that we needed during our stay, not to hesitate to call him! None of us vote in NY - imagine that hospitality!
Rich and another Looper toured the Remington factory in Illion, which they enjoyed.
New Yorkers have been very friendly and accommodating to boaters.

At this point we were still traveling with "Sea Quest" and "Beach Cat" from FL.

Day 17 - 19, Jun 20th - 22nd, New York - Troy

It's 155 miles up the Hudson River from New York City to Troy, NY, and the beginning of the Erie Canal. After cruising about 45 minutes north, you leave the City in the distance and another world opens up. The Hudson River is beautiful. The Palisades area has high cliffs and hills on either side of the River. This part of the area reminded us of TN with the plants and trees growing right out of the rock. We saw some commercial traffic, some steel mills that were in decline and others closed, a nuclear plant and some gorgeous estates on the Upper Hudson.

We were amazed at the number of trains in this area. The photo is at Highland Falls, NY, just below West Point. This marina where we stayed overnight was the site of an old train station. We spent an uncomfortable night between trains running every 15-20 minutes (for real! 24/7) and the tugs and barges running the river all night and causing huge wakes, bouncing us around broadside.

The West Point Museum can be seen at the top of the photo. Touring West Point was a highlight in the area. I had toured the Naval Academy at Annapolis last summer and thoroughly enjoyed that. The grounds of West Point are lovely, although the campus isn't as large or as grand as the Naval Academy. The buildings are all built out of the local limestone and frankly, the campus looks a bit prison-like. They surely have an awesome view of the Hudson River.

We saw several lighthouses on the river. I've gotten quite a collection of photos of lighthouses along the way. Though none of them are manned any longer, they certainly still provide an important role in navigation on the water.

We arrived in Kingston, NY, under threat of a storm, which arrived shortly after we did. We met several other Looper boats in the marina. Two of them we would be travelling with later - both from FL. We managed to see the museum on life on the Hudson River in the early days before the weather hit.

When we arrived in Troy the following day, it marked the end of the Hudson River. The next day was Saturday and we attended the local Farmers Market nearby - a neat experience. There were wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables, honey, maple syrup and candies, crafts, local wine, cheese products and fresh flowers.

Jun 5th - 11th Making our way northward

Day 2 – 4, Jun 5th – 7th, Harbour Town, Hilton Head to Wrightsville Beach, NC

We had a good weather window and we knew that we must “make tracks” to be in New York by mid-Jun. Since we had been as far north as Annapolis last year, we would travel quickly.

We departed Harbour Town at 0730 under cloudy skies, but with more wind than yesterday. The weather didn’t sound good to run the outside, so we committed to travel the ICW for the next several days, at least.

We arrived in City Marina, Charleston, SC at 4:20 PM, just as a storm was about to hit. We had intended to anchor off the marina but the windless suddenly did not work so we took a slip at the marina. The windless was a simple fix, Rich determined that evening. We had traveled 103 miles. We were both tired so we grabbed a bite to eat at local restaurant. Reggie had his walk and it was time for rest.

The next morning the sun was out. We expected a great day on the water as we motored with Myrtle Beach in mind as our destination, 106 miles north. We decided to see how things went, stopping earlier if need be.

About noon we spotted a 3 foot – 4 foot alligator swimming across our bow. A short way up the ICW there was a 5 foot – 6 foot dead alligator floating in the water. Soon we saw another small alligator swimming. This was amazing, because all last year we saw not one alligator, even though signs were posted different places.

When we were in the Waccamaw River, south of Myrtle Beach, a 3+ foot fish jumped out of the water in front of us! Dinner was missed since we have no fishing equipment on board.

We arrived at Barefoot Landing Marina, Myrtle Beach at 7PM, exhausted but both of us agreeing that it was an awesome day on the water. Crazy Eights is working terrific. Reggie really liked this marina last year. It’s next to a mini-mall with lots of people and shops. He deserved a long walk after many hours today. All is well.

We were off again at 8:00A the next day, headed for Wrightsville Beach, NC. The scenery is getting prettier along the coast. Myrtle Beach has tons of beautiful homes along the ICW. The plan was to complete about 75 miles today, anchoring in a bay surrounded by gorgeous homes and condos. It was a routine day out on the water, watching water depths, tides and charts and just enjoying the moment.

We arrived at 3PM – we felt like it was a short day! We put the dinghy in the water, took Reggie ashore and then stopped in at a local pizza place. The dinghy rides on a lift platform on the back of the boat so it’s easy to put down and bring up each time. When we got back from pizza, the lift would not engage. Rich trouble shooted the problem for a couple of hours and decided that he could “fool” the system to get the dinghy up again, but once it was up, there was no more putting it back down. If you aren’t familiar with boating, let it be said that there is always something that needs to be fixed and always maintenance to be done to keep problems to a minimum. My Captain does a terrific job maintaining and fixing things himself.

Our plan was to take Reggie ashore again in the morning before leaving and then put the dinghy back up on the lift. Rich called a marine electrician in Swansboro who had helped us out last year. He was available the next day and said to call him just as soon as we got in and he would diagnose our problem and hopefully get it fixed for us.


Day 5 – 8, Jun 8th – 11th Wrightsville Beach, NC to Norfolk, VA

We were underway bright and early at 6:40AM – no easy feat for Ms Lee. We arrived at Dudley’s Marina in Swansboro, NC by noon. The electrician was able to fix the dinghy lift for us – yeh! After fueling, we were off to Portside Marina, Moorhead City, another 30 miles north, arriving at 5:10P and 78 miles further on our trip. This was a new marina for us. The Kingfish Tournament was in town all weekend so marinas were full and everything was busy. We made a trip to West Marine to pick up electronic chart chips that we had ordered for the next portion of our trip.

It was time to catch up on a little laundry again. It will be nice to have my own washer and dryer at home again. It’s funny how we take things for granted. Some marinas have laundry; others don’t and we must use a laundromat. Distance varies but always it costs $7-$10 to do laundry each week.

We were underway a bit later the next morning and the cruise plan that day depended on the weather and how we felt, as to how far we would travel. All went well and we finished with 64 miles to Dowry Creek Marina, Belhaven, NC. It was cool, cloudy and windy most of the way. We arrived at 3:15P to find another boat there that we’d met before, along with several new folks that met as we all gathered for cocktails early evening.

We fly the AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruisers Association) burgee on our bow. Each time you anchor or go into a marina, other “Loopers” (as we call ourselves), stop by to say hey. They are new friends, quickly, who are always happy to lend a helping hand, whether helping with lines into the dock, sharing a glass of wine or beer, good places to eat or what the latest fuel prices are.

The next morning we left at 7:30AM, bound for Midway Marina, Coinjock, NC. The weather continued to be on the cool side, much to Rich’s chagrin. We’ve worn jeans and sweat shirts or jackets most every day. This day we crossed Alligator River which has some tricky shallow areas and then across Albemarle Sound into Coinjock. It was windy and the seas were a bit sloppy. We arrived at 3PM. I did a couple more loads of laundry and we decided to cook on board.

We met a couple from New Bern, NC, who shared a lot of cruising tips with us on New York, the Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron an finally the Lake Michigan area. We routinely work off several reference books in addition to charts but it’s always terrific to get first-hand information from someone who recently did the trip.

The next day we left NC and arrived in Norfolk, VA, one of our favorite spots. We lifted lines at 8:35AM. This was a day of dealing with a lock schedule and several bridge opening schedules as we got closer to Norfolk. The first lock of the trip – Great Bridge Lock – went well at 1PM. We timed bridge openings OK so that we were through the last one before 3:30P, when they will not open the bridges for boaters again until 6PM due to commuter traffic.

We traveled with two tugs. Then we caught up with a tanker that had two tugs working with it. We all made it through the last bridge at 3:15P. It’s pretty awesome to motor next to a big tanker and really interesting to listen on Channel 13 to the tugs, tankers and bridge tenders talking.

We anchored off Hospital Point on the Portsmouth side of the river, across from the waterfront in Norfolk. Our friends, Don and Barbara, on Sea Weed were already there. It was great to visit with them for a couple of days.