9-30-10 Oswego, NY

We motor sailed from Rochester until the wind died down and the rain started.  We motored the rest of the way to Oswego.  We had a lot of rain when we were in Oswego.  This is where we will take the mast down and start through the Oswego Canal.

                Jim provided some entertainment on the trip to Oswego.

A small bird just to the left of the black rope joined us for a while when we were about 10 mile off the shoreline.  It looked very tired from flying in the rain. 

                                          Docked at Oswego, NY

9-29-10 Rochester, NY

Today we ran under power from Olcott Beach to Rochester, NY.  The wind was light and behind us.  Two Coast Guard Boats zipped by us today going West with their three 200 HP motors about 20 miles East of Rochester.  When we got to Rochester they were at the fuel dock and we had to wait for them to fuel up before got our 9.6 gallons of fuel.  I think they got a lot more than that.

                              Kyle waiting to capture the sunrise on film.

A New York power plant before sunrise.

The start of the Sunrise.

I think they put us next to this power boat because they thought we were "Aqua-holics" also.

This is the car we got to drive around town.  No, wait a minute.  This is the car we wanted to drive around town.

9-27 and 9-28-2010 St. Catherines, ON and Olcott, NY

We went through the Welland Canal Locks (8 locks) on the 27th.  We started at 6:45 AM and made it out of the last lock at about 7:00 PM.  The first lock dropped us 5 feet.  The other 7 dropped us 45 feet in each lock.  It went very smooth.  I guess going up in the locks is much more challenging.  Half of our time was spent next to the locks waiting for the commercial shipping boats.  We went through with two other power boats.  We spent the night is St. Catherines, Ontario.

                                            The color of Fall on the Canal.

One of the locks had a floating device the we tied to.

One of the locks

Tied up in front of one of the locks waiting the the a big ship to exit.

The boat docked at Olcott Beach.

Kyle with the catch of the day.

On the 28th we sailed to Olcott Beach, NY and checked in with US Customs via a video phone in the Newfane Marina.  It was a short day of close hauled sailing.  The winds were predicted to pick up to 25 knots with gusts of 40 in the afternoon, so we decided to make it a short day and got in at about 1:00 PM as the winds started picking up to 20 knots.  This is another resort town with not much open this time of year , but there were several bars open.

9-26-10 Port Colborne, Canada

Dunkirk, NY behind us.

Canada ahead

The crew preparing the bumpers for the big boat locks.

The first lift bridge before entering the locks.

Our competition for the locks tomorrow.

A fast joy ride life boat for the crew on this ship.  Easy and fast to release, but quite a drop to the water.

A cook-out on the dock with a picnic table.  Sugarloaf Marina is very nice.

Another beautiful sunset to a great day.

The sailed today from Dunkirk, NY to Port Colborne, Canada with light winds.  Checking in with customs was just a toll free phone call to Canadian Customs at a phone in the marina.  They wanted to know the boat name, registration numbers, length, width, make and model, HID #, and our personal information on our passports.  As you can see my camera was working overtime today.  Tomorrow we start through the Welland Canal that will take us into Lake Ontario.  We thought this would be better than taking the Niagara river and going over the falls. 

9-25-10 Dunkirk, NY

We decided that the wind and waves would be better today, so we pulled up or anchor and headed toward Dunkirk, NY.  We made it there with winds of 20 to 25 knots and 6 to 9 foot waves.  They were behind us so our speed got up to 8.5 knots going down the big ones.  Steering was more strenuous with the big waves, but it was fun.  We finally made it to a town with a grocery store close by.  With our rations running low, my leather shoes were starting to look like a good meal.

                                                                   No more 90 degree weather for a while. 

9-24-10 Erie, PA No forward progress today

We heard the weather forecast for 20 to 30 knots and 40 knot gusts this morning and decided today would be a good day to stay at anchor in our protected cove.  It was blowing so hard in our protected cove that our danforth anchor started dragging and we almost ended up on a sandy beach.  As we pulled the anchor up a mangled beach chair came up with it.  That is why it did not hold us.  We moved to a spot further from the shore and set the 35# CQR anchor with 100 ft. of chain.  The winds have died down and now we seem to be holding fine.  That was our excitement for the day.

The night before was nice and calm with a full moon.

9-23-10, Erie,PA

Kyle and his clean, but wet laundry hanging out to dry.  The dryer in the marina

quite working in Geneva-on-the-Lake.  Everything was still wet in the morning.

We thought we were seeing the Black Pearl in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" when

 we saw this ship coming out of the fog.

No pirates, but it was an impressive ship.

Two fish in the water at our anchorage in Erie.

Today was a very pleasant trip from Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH to Erie, PL.  Light winds on our beam allowed us to motor sail a while until it turned on our nose.  We made it to Presque Isle State Park Bay.  The marinas were full, so we anchored in the bay for the night.

9-20 thru 9-22-10 Cleveland and Geneva-on-the-Lake

The Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Cleveland Science Center.

This was half of the people we ran into in the Resort town of Geneva-on-

the-Lake.  The other person took the picture.

Kyle getting in some computer time.

Me outside a resort hotel next to the State Park.The gas dock was not too busy.  I guess the sea gulls were waiting to get gassed up for the flight South.

Monday we made it to Cleveland and stayed there for a day of rest, relaxation and exploration.  It was about 88 F and a wonderful day for exploring the city of Cleveland.  The downtown area was nicer than I had imagined.  On Monday we did not get in our slip until about 6:00 PM, which made a long day since we left Kelley;s Island at about 6:30 AM.  The West winds of 10-15 knots were not as high as we would have liked.  Today we made it to Geneva-on-the-Lake.

Sunday, (9-19-10) Detroit to Kelly's Island

Today we travelled down the Detroit River and across part of Lake Erie to Kelley's Island, OH.  The wind was light on the River, but it was 12- 15 knots and a great day of sailing on Lake Erie.  We managed to keep the boat speed at 6.5 to 7.5 knots, a beam reach almost all the way. 

This is one of the many boats we crossed paths with on the Detroit River.  Notice how much water the bow is pushing!

This is one of the down bound channels on the Detroit River.

This is us on our way to Kelley's Island as it started coming into view.

This was the sunset from the boat in the harbor at Kelley's Island.

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Saturday 9-18-10, Detroit, MI

We started the day with bacon and eggs cooked on board.  I like my bacon crispy and when I looked up from the frying pan, I was glad I didn't have a smoke detector. I filled the cabin up with bacon smoke.  It made us hungry all day. 

On the trip from Port Huron to Detroit we travelled down the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair, we shared the shipping channel with about 15 freighters.   The pictures are of a couple of freighters. 

This is the captain shouting out orders. It doesn't look like there will be a mutiny. 

This is the harbor we chose to stay at in Detroit.  I was going to walk to a place to eat dinner, but when I saw the security fence, I decided that this part of Detroit might not be the best place to be wandering around.



Port Huron, MI 9-17-10

We had light rain when we left Port Sanilac this morning.  We were rewarded for leaving in the rain, by natures display of a double rainbow that arched across the town of Port Sanilac.  As we approached Port Huron and the St. Clair River, we passed under the Blue Water Bridge that separates the US and Canada.  It was a nice day of sailing with the wind (6 - 10 knots) out of the NE.