Current Events

Originally posted www.svsweetescape.com

We are learning a lot about currents and tides, something that we never had to be concerned about on Lake Michigan.  More on this later.

We weighed anchor and said farewell to Lady Liberty on Thursday morning.  We had spent the night in a very tight anchorage located west of Liberty Island behind the statue and were happy to get out of there.  We pointed the boat southeast and motored under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, through Sandy Hook Bay and out into the North Atlantic Ocean headed for Manasquan Inlet about 40 miles to the south.

The weather wasn’t bad at first - just cloudy and cool.  We had three to four foot waves with 10 to 15 knot winds out of the east.  

We deployed the jib and after about an hour we raised the main but had a problem getting the outhaul extended all the way to the end of the boom.  The main had come out but the outhaul had bound up about a foot short.  Sailing is all about sail shape.  Having the mainsail all the way out but not hauled to the end of the boom just wasn’t working as we were spilling too much wind out of the belly of our loose footed mailsail.

About this time we noticed storms building along the New Jersey coast.  We decided to reef in the mainsail in anticipation of the approaching weather and to improve the trim of the main.  Brian wrapped the furling line around one of our cabin top winches while Judy held the boat into the wind.  The furler wouldn’t budge.  It was like it was jammed.  Another wrap around the winch drum and “bang” the furling line comes out of the furler altogether.  

One of our greatest fears with the in mast furling system is the possibility of it becoming jammed making it impossible to lower the mainsail.  Aside from the obvious inconvenience this can also be dangerous especially in situations like storms.

Brian grabbed a winch handle and made his way to the mast to attempt to crank in the main from there while Judy continued to hold the boat into the wind.  Thankfully the sail furled with no trouble although this a tedious and time consuming process where because of obstructions you can only get half a turn on the furler before having to remove the handle and reinsert it again for another half turn.

This problem was created by us when we re-rigged the boat back in Catskill, we apparently didn’t rig the furling line properly.  As for the problem with the outhaul, it’s possible that this was related because everything worked okay later at the dock after the furling line was properly installed.  We’ll see how it goes.

As we continued south the winds picked up and we were rained on just a bit but nothing major.

We had been reading about some of the inlets along the Jersey coast and about how tricky they can be to enter especially on an outgoing tide.  As we approached the Manasquan Inlet we had an outgoing tide and there wasn’t much we could do about it so in we went.

Wow.  On approach it appeared that waves were breaking from north to south across the inlet and onto the rocks on the south side so we’ll just cheat to starboard and there will be no problem right?  Wrong.  Once inside the inlet we got hit by a wave that rolled the boat to the extent that stuff went flying below.  In fact we found our laptop computer on the floor.  When this happened Brian was wrestling with the helm, trying to keep the boat off the rocks on the south side of the inlet despite the ocean’s best efforts to put us there.  Note to self, try to avoid going into inlets on a strong outgoing current.

Once inside the inlet we were stopped by the Coast Guard who wanted to do a safety inspection of the boat.  A great way to cap off an already wonderful day.  We told them that we were heading to a marina up the channel and they instructed us to proceed there and that they would follow us and then perform the inspection after we were docked.

Back to the title of this post - Current Events.  The river there has a very strong current and this along with the winds and the fact that the CG vessel was right on our stern made an adventure out of what should have been a routine docking scenario at the end of a T dock.  Eventually, we were able to get the boat restrained with no damage and only slight damage to ego.  We had no problem passing the safety inspection by the way.

Needless to say we were happy to say good night to this day.  Next up:  Atlantic City.

New York, NY

Originally posted at www.svsweetescape.com

New York is our kind of town.

When you look at the island of Manhattan it is hard not to be amazed at what human hands have created. A huge metropolis with incredible architecture that has anything and everything you could ever want or need.  And people.  There are people from all walks of life and they are wall to wall. 

Liberty Landing Marina is located on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River almost directly opposite the the World Financial Center and Ground Zero.  

When we last left you we were bouncing up and down the river in 25 knot winds with traffic everywhere and four foot waves trying to figure out how we were going to get the boat docked in those conditions.  We wish we could say that it was our above average boat handling skills that allowed us to glide cleanly into our slip but the credit goes to the wind that surprisingly subsided once we made the turn into the entrance channel where the marina is located.  No problem, we were able to cruise right into our dock space.  No damage to boat or ego. 

So we’re in New Jersey across from one of the best cities in the world, docked in a beautiful marina and what do we do?  We make supper on the boat and collapse into bed. Yup, after the wild ride down the Hudson and through New York harbor we were exhausted.

Wednesday morning we were recharged but the weather seemed like it would not cooperate with our sightseeing plans. It was cloudy, rainy and very windy, but that did not stop us from going into the city.  We took the Liberty Landing Ferry across and we landed by the World Financial Center which was only a short walk to the 911 Memorial.  We were able to get tickets for the outdoor memorial and fountains.  The museum is still under construction.  Our tickets were for 12:30 pm and we had about 1 1/2 hours to kill so we had lunch at the Stage Door Deli and from there walked across the street to St. Paul’s Chapel, the closest church to Ground Zero and God’s comfort station to the thousands of workers who toiled in the ruins for years.  Seeing the chapel was a moving experience and notwithstanding the rich history of the chapel itself prior to 9/11, it’s identity will forever be linked to that tragedy.  

At the 9/11 Memorial and since it had only been a few days from the anniversary,  notes were left at some of the names on the memorial. The story of the survival tree is inspirational.  After having been at the 9/11 site in 2002, we could not help but feel a sense of pride looking up at the Freedom Tower still under construction and the hard working men and women who are building it. 

We took the subway to Time Square for no reason other than to visit the West Marine store located near there.  Brian’s inflatable life vest had malfunctioned and we needed a part to repair it.  Our plan was to go to the West Marine and from there to the Enterprise Air Museum but the weather continued to deteriorate and we felt it would be best just to return to the marina.  

So after a wild ride in a taxi cab past the heliport where the President was due any second for his appearance that night on Letterman, (the presidential limousine also known as “The Beast” was sitting there waiting for him) we were returned to the ferry landing and then back to the boat.

Liberty Landing Marina is the swankiest marina that we have ever stayed at and unfortunately it is also the most expensive.   We met some great people with Wisconsin connections and common acquaintances.   If not for the cost we could have stayed there weeks, months, or just a lot longer.

The reason that we were at the marina in the first place was the weather.  They were predicting winds to 50 MPH and lots of rain and storms.  We got some wind, probably nothing like 50 MPH although there were damage reports from around the area and we had some rain but again luckily not the deluge that had been predicted.

The next morning we caught a cab to the Shop Rite.  The winds were still blowing but the sky was clear.  After restocking the boat with food and filling our tanks with water we refueled and pumped out.  This was an ordeal in itself.  The wind was still blowing, the marina was quite compact and there was ferry traffic coming and going along with many pleasure craft.  

We pulled up to the fuel dock only to be told to stand off and wait for another boat which was using the diesel pump.  Okay, no problem so we sat out in the channel for 15 minutes waiting for this big sport fishing boat to finish refueling.  This is a fun exercise that involves battling the wind and current, both of which were in abundance.  Once we pulled up to the fuel dock we were told that the pump out there was not working and that we would have to change docks.  Then a very large Coast Guard cutter pulls up behind us, also looking for diesel and blocking the pump out we needed to use.  Okay, pull away from the fuel dock and go to another smaller T dock where there was yet another pump out station.  There are some things we won’t miss about New York.  

So after finally getting our fuel and waste tank needs satisfied we headed out around the corner past the Statue of Liberty to an anchorage that yes, was again very crowded.  We were able to squeeze in and anchor  probably a little closer than we would have liked but we were able to get through the night with no problem.

Up next: the Atlantic Ocean along the New Jersey coast.

The Hudson River

Originally posted at www.svsweetescape.com

Sweet Escape had her first taste of salt water on Monday.

Monday morning we left the free dock at Mariners on the Hudson at Highlands, New York.  Mariners is a “dock and dine”.  We had stopped there on the way south and had a nice dinner with the crew of Vindand preceded by drinks aboard the catamaran.  The dock at Mariners left a little to be desired in the cleanliness department as lots of geese and seagulls apparently call it home when no boats are there - and of course do what they do.

Heading south along the Hudson River was something of an eye opening experience for both of us.  We had not realized just how beautiful the scenery was here.  The Hudson meanders through some very rugged and mountainous terrain.  Some of which could best be described as fjord like.  

Upon leaving the dock at about 8:30 AM we found ourselves riding the outgoing tide.  We normally motor at 6.5 knots but that morning we were exceeding 9 knots, taking advantage of the 2.5 - 3 knot current.  The downside to this is that by 11:00 AM the tide had changed and we then were being opposed by that same current.  Oh well, guess we should have gotten up earlier.

Late morning we motored south past the hallowed halls of West Point and could not help but to think of the graduates of this esteemed institution founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 that went on to figure prominently in the history of our nation.  On the north roof of the field house is painted the words “Beat Air Force” and on the south roof it says “Sink Navy”.

The weather has been very cool in the morning here providing ongoing incentive to keep moving south.  Both of us have been bundled in layers with jackets, hats and gloves.  The winds have been out of the south and on Monday morning they were especially brisk, blowing directly upriver and directly in our faces.

We were headed for New York Harbor.  Initially we had intended to anchor in Haverstraw Bay near Tarrytown but changed our minds when it appeared that the weather was going to be bad with thunderstorms and high winds on Tuesday.  Instead, we booked a slip at the beautiful Liberty Landing Marina for what would turn out to be two nights.

Just north of the Tappen Zee Bridge we began seeing a lot of floating debris, pilings and what appeared to be pieces of a pier that had given way.  We spent the remainder of the trip watching for and dodging these hazards that could do a lot of damage to the boat if we hit one.

This became more difficult as we approached New York City.  Well north of the George Washington Bridge the winds kicked up with gusts near 30 knots creating three to four foot waves right on our bow.  This made the floaters tough to see as they would hide in the troughs of these large waves.  We did hit a small piece of debris that bounced off the side of the boat and didn’t do any damage.

As we approached the GW Bridge we noticed a newer Hunter 41 with a blue hull under full sail tacking back and forth across the river.  As we passed this boat, the operator hailed us on the VHF.  After we responded he informed us that his engine had quit, that he had an overtemp alarm and that he was single handing the boat.  He inquired whether or not we had someone who could “hop on” his boat to go below and clean out his engine sea strainer.  Really?  Raft two 40 foot plus sailboats up in three to four foot waves and 25 knot winds and then effect a personnel transfer?  I think not.  We respectfully declined as there were many other ways that he could deal with the problem without putting his own our our boat in jeopardy.

The skyline of New York is a thrilling sight no matter how you see it but it is really special to see it from the deck of your own boat, a boat that had carried us over 1200 miles of lakes, rivers and canals and that we had piloted here ourselves.  But hey, snap out of it - back to reality.  We’re headed south into one of the busiest harbors in the world with commercial traffic all around in poor conditions.  Just to give you an idea of how busy it was, our AIS alarm went off to tell us it had maxed out at 40 targets.

Further increasing the anxiety level is the knowledge that we would have to dock in these wind conditions in a large and very tight marina where we had never been before.  Whoever said we would be bored after retirement had apparently never been in this situation.

So what happened?  Did we get in?  Did we do any damage in the process?  For the answer to these and many other questions, loyal readers will have to tune in to the next installment of the Journey of the good ship Sweet Escape.

We're a Sailboat Again

Originally posted at www.svsweetescape.com

We are pleased to report that Sweet Escape is once again a sailboat.

After 11 days motoring through the Erie Canal with our mast being carried on deck we went through the final series of locks on Tuesday afternoon before being spit out onto the Hudson River at Waterford.  The New York Canal Corporation operates a large visitors center at the entrance to the canal.  The visitors center provides free dockage for up to 48 hours with all the facilities and so we took them up on that deal and hung around for two days.  We took this opportunity to clean the boat up a little as the locks with their green slimy walls and ropes had taken their toll.

After moving every day since we left Tonawanda and transiting 34 locks, we were both pretty tired and looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.  It is interesting.  While at Waterford we began to run into other cruisers heading south.  We have met some really nice people and we expect to see them again as we all travel generally in the same direction.

Waterford provided a great opportunity to reprovision the boat as there was a large supermarket just a couple blocks from the dock and they allowed us to use one of their carts to transport the goods so we took outrageous advantage of that and spent $130.

We left Waterford at 6:00 AM on Thursday and headed south along the mighty Hudson River.  We left that early to try to take advantage of an ebb tide that would last until 10:00 AM at which point the tide would reverse and we would be fighting the 1.5 knot current.  Our destination was Catskill New York where we would have Sweet Escape’s mast stepped at Riverview Marine Services.

We arrived at Riverview at about 1:00 PM and docked directly under their crane.  We were scheduled to have our mast done on Friday.  Riverview Marine was destroyed at this time last year by hurricane Irene.  They spent the winter months rebuilding their docks and seawall.  We found the staff here to be great.  They know what their doing and could not be more helpful.  Truly nice people. 

After getting the boat secured and organized, we walked the 2.5 miles to Walmart to do some shopping and then ate dinner at a really good Italian restaurant near Walmart before returning to the boat - yes, another 2.5 miles but after the Italian restaurant we should have walked five.  Oink.

Later that night, we listened to the Green Bay Packer’s glorious win over the sad and confused Chicago Bears.  We have a season subscription to NFL Game Day Audio which allows you to access the radio play by play of all games streamed over the Internet.  

Friday was work day.  We changed the oil in our generator while we waited for the yard to get our mast standing again.  Once that happened we spent the rest of the day putting the boat back together.  Standing and running rigging has to be reinstalled and all the wiring for the mast lighting and other systems such as the radar and TV antenna must be reconnected.  We were up late last night (Friday) and finally finished earlier today.

This afternoon we walked to downtown Catskill and stopped at the Texas Wiener.  The Texas Wiener is a little family run diner that specializes in sandwiches, most notably large “texas size” hot dogs.  Passing on the wiener, both of us ordered cheeseburgers with lettuce and tomato.  The proprietor, a congenial greek named Vic served us cheeseburgers with thick slices of deep red beefsteak tomato from his own garden.  Delicious.

We will leave Catskill tomorrow morning and head south on the Hudson to Highland New York where we will meet up with Jon and Cherel from the sailing catamaran Vindand.  There is a restaurant there called Mariners on the Hudson that allows you to stay overnight on their dock for free if you patronize the restaurant - otherwise known as a “dock & dine”.  We’re going to give it a try.

We will add photos to our gallery from this period.  

West is Done

Originally posted at www.svsweetescape.com

It is Thursday evening and we are tied to a floating dock just west of Oneida Lake in Brewerton New York.  The dock is free but provides no services such as power, restrooms or showers.  That’s okay since we are pretty self sufficient.  At the end of the dock next to the bridge are two restaurants - bars with tropical themes.  You know the kind, outdoor deck seating, fake palm trees and Jimmy Buffett music although tonight is Karaoke night and we are being treated to the usual song stylings of people who are not professional singers for a reason.

We crossed the bridge this afternoon and walked into town.  We needed to visit a marine store in order to replace a deck key that was dropped in the river earlier today at the fuel dock by a person who shall remain nameless.  Incidentally, we paid just $3.99 for marine diesel here today, the lowest on our cruise so far.  We found Brewerton to be a typical middle class town.  Not bad but lacking the charm of some of the communities we have seen further west along the canal.

We spent last night in Baldwinsville tied to a free wall just west of Lock 24 following a long 60 mile run east on the canal from Newark New York.  Newark was interesting.  They had everything you could think of there - a beautiful dock with shore power, brand new restrooms and showers and laundry facilities and it was all free.  Even the WiFi was free.  It amazes me the lengths that some of these communities will go to in order to be boater friendly and welcoming.

As this is written at sunset we are sitting in the cockpit surrounded by waterfowl.  In fact, we have been surrounded by waterfowl for a couple days now.  Neither of us have ever seen so many Blue Heron or Snowy Egrets as we have seen on the canal.  You see them wading along the banks as you approach and they stand frozen until they think that they have been spotted and fly away - all blue and gray or white, almost prehistoric looking in their appearance.

Here though we are surrounded quite literally by ducks. These are not normal ducks like you see at home.  No, these are New York ducks with a New York attitude.  You have never heard such loud, obnoxious and continuous quacking as we are hearing tonight.  Oh well, at least it helps to drown out the Karaoke.

And speaking of wild life.  Yesterday as we were motoring along the canal we saw a guy fishing wearing tiny thong underwear.  Disturbing to say the least.  Judy took a photo which we are pleased to present here.

We are at the halfway point in the canal.  Tomorrow we will cross Oneida Lake, a 22 mile long body of water which separates the western canal from the eastern.  As we put miles under Sweet Escape’s keel we are both feeling an increasing sense of freedom.  Just how fortunate we are is made clear to us by people everyday.  In fact, we have spoken to three different couples just this evening who strolled by along the dock looking at the boats.  The last, a young man and his wife expressing envy that we don’t have to go to work in the morning as they do.  It wasn’t very long ago that was us...walking along the docks and dreaming.   Life is good. 

See our album pages for additional photos of the western Erie Canal.

A Slower Kind of Cruising

Originally posted at www.svsweetescape.com

The ding, ding, ding of the traffic gates on the Brockport lift bridge signals that the bridge is being raised to allow a boat through.  This is how we woke up this morning.  

Yesterday, we had ended our day on the canal the way we seem to end every day on the Erie Canal - tied to a wall in front of a welcome center at yet another friendly and quaint upstate New York town.  

Brockport is a community of about 13,000 residents.  It is also home to the College at Brockport, part of the State University of New York system and is typical of the communities we have seen along the canal.  Each has dockage available along walls lined by restaurants, ice cream shops, stores and facilities for the boaters.  Most provide power, water, restrooms and showers and are free or there is a nominal charge for their use.  At Brockport the charge was $15 for the night including WiFi.

We left Buffalo on Thursday and headed north through the Black Rock Canal which runs alongside the treacherous Niagara River.  After locking through the Black Rock Lock we made our way to Tonawanda and the entrance to the Erie Canal where we intended to stay put for a couple days.  After really humping it through the Great Lakes the past month, we were ready for a rest and Tonawanda was a great place to stop.

We tied to the wall in downtown Tonawanda where it was very busy with people and boats there for the labor day weekend.  Most of the boats we have encountered so far have been locals.  We have yet to meet anyone doing what we’re doing.  People have told us that we’re about a month early and that they don’t see many people headed south until October.

We were able to do some serious reprovisioning in Tonawanda.  There is a Topps Grocery Store two blocks from the canal and we made two separate trips there during our stay.  We also had a chance to sample some of the local restaurants and had McDonalds for the first time in a month.  It hasn’t changed.

Judy was able to get her hair cut in Tonawanda.  There is a beauty school situated right on the canal there directly across from where Sweet Escape was tied.  She went in and a student cut her hair under the supervision of an instructor.  Despite her initial anxiety she is very happy with the result and the price was right - just $12.

During our stay in Tonawanda we found that Sweet Escape is garnering quite a bit of attention.  People are noticing the Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin hailing port and are curious about where we’re headed and we have been getting a lot of compliments on the boat.

We left Tonawanda on Saturday headed for Middleport about 30 miles to the east.  En route we encountered two locks and several lift bridges.  The Erie Canal has 34 locks between Tonawanda and Troy New York and we will experience all of them before we are done.  

There are also countless lift bridges which have a closed vertical clearance of eleven feet.  Most of these bridges are staffed by “roaming operators”.  It is not uncommon for one bridge master to be responsible for three different bridges.  When you approach a lift bridge it is necessary to call the bridge via VHF but the operator might be busy at a different bridge and you might have to wait while he gets in a car and drives to the bridge you need opened.  This has happened a couple times so far but the wait has never been more than ten minutes.  This system actually works pretty well because the bridge and lock operators all talk to each other - calling ahead to the next operator to let them know you are coming.  I wonder what they are saying to each other about the two idiots in the sailboat from Wisconsin?

Middleport was a very small community with very little in terms of amenities.  We tied to the wall there for free including power and restrooms and spent the night.  The next morning we continued on towards Brockport, passing through some beautiful farm country.  At one point we passed through an area of apple orchards on both sides of the canal - trees loaded with red and yellow apples growing so close to the edge of the canal they were almost within our reach.

At Brockport we needed the Union Street Bridge raised.  The town’s wall is east of the bridge.  Once through the bridge we pulled up directly in front of the welcome center and tied up.  We were welcomed there by Gary, a volunteer who works at the Welcome Center.  Dinner was an excellent pizza from a little pizzeria right next to the canal.

This morning we left Brockport and continued east across the Genesee River and through Rochester.  We stopped at Fairport where this is being written and where - you guessed it we are tied to another wall.

We will post additional photos on our albums page from this time period.