Sept. 14-Oct. 21 Atlantic Highlands to Aquia Harbour, VA

We left Atlantic Highlands anchorage very late morning after picking up our mail at the local post office. The ocean was calm and we had a good ride, but because we left Atlantic Highlands so late in the morning, we had to go in the inlet at Mannasquan, NJ. We anchored for the night and traveled the remaider of the way to Atlantic City via the inland waterway. It is a very winding route and some parts are shallow, but we reached Atlantic City without a hitch and anchored for the night. We still had good weather and calm seas so we went out the Atlantic City inlet to Cape May where we again anchored before preceeding on down the Delaware to the C&D Canal. The current was against us all day and by the time to reached the C&D canal we were both tired so we decided to stop at Summit North Marina. We had great meals at their restaurant and we needed a rest so we stayed a second night and again went back to their restaurant.

The remainder of our cruise to Aquia Harbour was uneventful, which is a good thing when you're cruising. We stopped off in the Baltimore area to see friends on Great Harbours Puffin and Lo Que SeA and at Solomons to see Forever 39 crew.

We spent almost 4 weeks in Aquia Harbour at our home dock. Time went quickly. We participated in our yacht club and power squadron functions, took care of our dental and medical needs, took care of some items in and around our house, visited with some friends and provisioned for our trip south.

Sept. 10-14 Poughkeepsie to Atlantic Highlands, NY

We said farewell to cousins Judi and PJ the previous evening after a wonderful meal at the Culinary Institute of America and departed on Thursday. The weather prediction for NY Harbor and the Atlantic coast was for winds and rough seas. We decided to anchor a couple of nights north of NY until the weather improved. Additionally, we had called for mail and that would arrive on Monday at the post office in Atlantic Highlands. So there was no point in rushing. On Sunday, we felt that there would be no problem going through NY Harbor. Two to three foot seas were forecast for Monday. Our plan was to position ourselves so that we could go into Atlantic Highlands Post Office early Monday, get our mail, and head down the coast.

As we approached NY Harbor we heard a Coast Guard announcement that most of NY Harbor was closed to boat traffic because of sail boat races. We were having a hard time figuring out exactly what part of the Harbor was closed. Since no one was stopping us, we continued cruising through the Harbor. We finally figured out what was going on. There was not a race going on. It was a parade of Dutch tall ships celebrating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson River.

We got to the anchorage at Atlantic Highlands in the afternoon. We lowered the dinghy so we would be ready to go into the post office early in the morning. As planned, we got up early, got into the dinghy and headed for the post office. Ollie was happy for the opportunity to get off the boat. We figured the post office would open at either 8 am or 8:30 am. It didn't open until 9 am. We got our mail, without a hitch, and headed back to the boat. Ollie did some fast walking that morning.

Sept. 6-9 Waterford to Poughkeepsie, NY

From Waterford we took our time getting to Poughkeepsie since it was Labor Day Weekend. We try to avoid cruising on holidays. Usually all the crazies are out. We spent 2 nights anchored out before arriving in Poughkeepsie on Wednesday. Stayed at the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club again. Cousins Judi and PJ made dinner reservations for Wednesday night at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). The CIA has several restaurants on campus. We decided on the Italian restaurant. There was an extensive menu and also set price meals that included an appetizer, entree, dessert, and beverage. We all went for the set price meals. Fewer decisions to make. We also ordered wine. All the chefs, waiters and busboys are students at the institute. Our waiter was close to graduating from the institute. It was a lovely evening. We really enjoyed Judi and PJ. Next time we are up that way we would like to try the French restaurant.

Sept 2-5 Lock 8 to Waterford, NY

A dog being walked in Waterford.

We went through Locks 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and arrived back in Waterford. On our previous trip through Waterford, dockage was free for 48 hrs and then $10 per day. Well, apparently there had been some problems since we left. Now we heard that boats were being fined $100 for staying past the 48 hr. limit. We had already arranged for our cousin Rebecca and her family to meet us in Waterford on Saturday, 4 days away. They would be driving from Boston, about a 3 hr. trip for them. We were a little nervous about exceeding the 48 hr. limit, but no one approached us about overstaying the limit.

While waiting for Saturday for Rebecca, Mark and little Nathaniel to arrive, Randy had to find a dentist since he was having pain from a back tooth. He was lucky. The visitor's center recommended a dentist who Randy thought was one of the best dentists he had ever been to. Randy needs a root canal. That will wait until we get back to Aquia Harbour. The pain has been taken care of for now.

We had a wonderful visit with Rebecca and her family. We had lunch on the boat and then walked up to the lock so that they could see what locking through is like, but no boats were locking through. They got the idea though. Nathaniel had a good time holding Ollie's lease. They are the right size for each other.

Fairport East Bound to Lock 8, NY

Our original plan had been to cruise on to Pittsford before reversing course. However, upon leaving the dock at Fairport, we neglected to lower our mast thinking that the lift bridge just ahead of us would raise high enough for the mast to clear. Well, it didn't. Our first clue was the terrible sound the mast made striking the bridge and then the crash when the mast fell onto our dinghy, which we carry on the upper deck. We broke off the anchor light, search light, navigation light, VHF and GPS antennas. Luckily, we did no damage to the bridge. The Fairport lift bridge is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for several reasons: one end of the bridge is higher than the other, it is built on a slant and no two angles on the entire bridge are the same.

The damage put a damper on this part of the trip. We felt like we had to get things repaired as soon as possible. So we headed back east with a goal to have the repair work completed at Winter Harbor Marina.

On the way, we stopped overnight in Palmyra. We had previously passed up their nice waterfront dock several times always with the thought of stopping next time we passed. We were glad we finally made the stop. It is at a park, nice and clean, free and has water and electric. A boater's dream. We walked into town to Mark's Pizza and brought a pizza back to the boat for dinner. Very good!

Again we stopped at Baldwinsville for the night and then on to Winter Harbor the next day. We arrived early and they were able to haul us since we also planned to get the bottom painted and have some gelcoat/fiberglass work taken care of in addition to having the mast fixtures replaced/repaired. Parts had to be ordered so we were at Winter Harbor about a week.

We crossed Oneida Lake and pulled into Sylvan Beach, a busy resort area, with a beach, nice restaurants, shops, and its own amusement park. This was another free dock, but no electric or water at this stop. We stayed a few nights and went on to Illion. Illion charges for dockage, $1.00/ft., but we had heard that it was a nice stop and that the Remington Firearms factory tour and museum were worthwhile visits. Remington has been in Illion since the early 1800's. It employs about 900 people and runs 3 shifts a day 5 days/week. No wonder there are so many guns on the street.

General Herkimer, who fought during the Revolutionary War and has a town named after him, had a home along the canal. It is now a State Historic Site with a small dock overlooking the grounds and home, picnic table and grill. Tours of the home and site are Wednesday through Sunday. Unfortunately, we arrived on a Monday. It was a nice stop. We will have to stop again for the tour. Very quiet except for the occasional passing train and excellent scenery.

The following night we docked at the terminal wall at Lock 8. We will go through the lock in the morning. We learned to dock above the lock on the west side since the water falls along the canal cause a lot of turbulence below the lock. We had tried docking on the east side of Lock 8 on the trip up. It didn't work.

Waterford to Fairport

We had delayed departure from Waterford because of heavy rains. But it was finally time to leave. We proceeded through locks 2-6 without a hitch. I dreaded this part of the trip, but dealing with the locks went smoothly. The first 5 locks are in the first 2 miles. In addition to locks, the canal also has guard gates. These help control the flow of water. We stopped for a time at Guard Gate 2 to evaluate the current resulting from the heavy rains we had. It did not seem too bad so we went on through locks 7 and 8. There was a lot of current and debris at lock 8 so we decided to stop for the night. As it turned out, we stayed at the terminal wall at Lock 8 for several days with several other boats. Although the locks were officially open, the lock master at Lock 9 did not recommend passage though his lock until some of the debris could be cleared from the lock. Additionally, the current was quite swift.

In 2007, when we did this trip, I didn't know what to expect at the locks, i.e., how much turbulence there would be in the lock and how to handle our boat against the lock walls. We are now seasoned canal travelers.

The locks will have either ropes hanging down the sides or cables or pipes that are secured at the bottom. Most have ropes and some have a combination of ropes and pipes. For us, the ropes seem to be the easiest. We pull into a lock. At midship, I use my boat hook to grab a rope and walk to the stern (rear) of the boat with it. In the meantime, Randy moves the bow (front) of the boat closer to the wall, stops the boat and with his boat hook grabs another rope and walks to the bow with the rope. By then the lock doors are closed and water either fills the lock to raise us up or water is let out of the lock to lower us.


On this trip we are trying visit some of the sites and towns we missed last time we were on the canal. Most of the docks in towns are free or charge a nominal free if they have water and electric available. When we stopped in the town of Canajoharie previously, it was a Sunday and the town was pretty well shut down. Couldn't even find a restaurant open. Canajoharie is the home of the Beech-Nut Company started by local residents, the Arkells. We visited the Arkell Museum and Gallery located at the Public Libray. Not only did we enjoy the art work which included several Winslow Homer pieces, but we also enjoyed viewing the pictorial history of the Beech Nut Company in Canajoharie.

After Canajoharie, we stopped at the free dock in Herkimer. We shared the dock with two tour boats. I picked up their brochure and was surprised to see a picture of Odyssey, another Great Harbour, like ours, as a example of the types of boats that cruise the canal. This time around we did not walk into the city but instead just visited the very nice gift shop dockside.

Rome, NY, was our next stop. We had also stopped there in 2007. We did not revisit Fort Stanwix, instead took a cab to the "Erie Canal Village." We spent the entire day there. It had a poor canal museum, but a wonderful cheese museum (NY cheese). We also took a ride on a horse pulled packet boat. By chance, while seeking out a Bank of America ATM, we came across the Capitol Theater, an old movie theater that was having a three day filmfest. We were there for the last afternoon of the fest. They showed several silent movies along with live organ music.

We made an overnight stop at Winter Harbour Marina ($0.90/ft. including electric) in Brewerton, our first marina stop since Poughkeepsie. Had a chance to wash clothes and re-provision using their marina car. We made arrangements to return to get the bottom of the boat painted. We had it done there 2 years ago. It was then on to Baldwinsville, Lyons and Fairport. Dockage in Fairport is between 2 bridges, the charge is $9/day and that also includes electric and water. Ollie is enjoying this trip since he is able to walk on grass at least twice a day. We have been through 29 locks and it is now time to turn around.

Waterford, NY

We had a good cruise from Cape May to Atlantic City, NJ. We secured all the cabinets and items that could fall over. We did not know how the seas would be on the Ocean since NOAA has misinformed us in the past on wave and wind information. Since wind would be out of the east, we took a route close to shore. We arrived at our anchorage early and relaxed except for the wave action of passing vessels pulling tubers or waterskiers. It was the weekend afterall.

It was on to Sandy Hook, NJ, the following day. Again we had a nice run up the coast. However, it was a long run. We had left Atlantic City very early in the morning and arrived at our anchorage in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, very late afternoon. We decided to stay a few days after having put in some long cruising days. Put down the dink and went to town for lunch and a walk around town.

The cruise through NY Harbor is impressive no matter how many times we see it. We can never resist taking pictures of the Statute of Liberty. Unfortunately, there was too much haze over the NY skyline to get good pictures.

It was then on to the Hudson River. Most of the scenery through the Hudson River Valley is awsome. This year we stopped at the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club (which is not in Poughkeepsie at all but 7 miles north) so we could visit with cousins Judi and PJ. They were great tour guides. We went to the FDR estate at Hyde Park, climbed a mountain trail to get a beautiful view of the Hudson River Valley and had some great meals out and at Judi and PJ's house.

We have already gone through one lock, the Troy Federal Lock, and are in Waterford, NY. We will be here a few days waiting for our mail to be delivered at the local post office. It is hot and we are lucky to have electricity at this dock to run the AC. The first 48 hours at this dock are free and then it is $10/day. Can't be that. Did some grocery shopping. The store is only about 1/2 mile away. They let customers who are staying at the dock take their purchases back in their grocery carts. As we were walking back to the dock pushing the cart, I wondered if we didn't look like homeless people.

Headed for the Erie Canal

We spent May, June and part of July at our home dock in Aquia Harbour. Part of the time was taken up with doctor and dentist appointment. We also participated in some our our yacht club's events. The only cruising we did was a trip to Washington, D.C. for the 4th of July. We anchored in the Potomac across from the Washington Monument. It was a great place to watch the fireworks. An anchorage area was set aside for the event. There were hundreds of boats anchored. The area still could have held more boats. One of our fellow yacht club members rafted with us for the event. Many of the boats left after the fireworks display, as did our friends. We spent the night just where we were.

All our medical needs have been taken care of for now. On July 9th, we untied our lines and headed for our trip north. It is too late to do the Loop so we will redo part of a trip we did in 07. At that time we cruised the entire Erie Canal, met up with Puffin and then did the Triangle Loop through Canada and the Champlain Canal. This time we will only do parts of the Erie Canal.

The first night we only made it from Aquia Creek a few miles down the Potomac River since we left our dock at about 6:30 pm. The next day we went on to St. Mary's City. The college hosts concerts each Friday night in June and July. We had always missed them. So our goal was to see a concert before leaving the Potomac River. We are glad we did. The concert was outstanding and the food from the vendors was surprising good. We met up with some folks we had previously met at White Stone Marina. They own a Mainship, live in FL but return to the Potomac River each summer.

From St. Mary's we headed for Solomon's Island off the Patuxent River. I have hoping to see a friend while we were there but she was busy with a family visit. It was then on to South River. We spent 2 nights with Great Harbour friends. We had originally planned to only spend one night, but they are such great folks and good friends that we stayed for a second night. We also stopped in the Baltimore area to see other Great Harbour friends.

From Baltimore it was on to Chesapeake City. We were lucky enough to tie up on the city's floating dock. The down side was that it was 91 degrees and the boat was just as hot. Today we are in an anchorage in the Cape May, NJ area. A cold front came through. The temperature now is much more pleasant, although it is cloudy and humid. We will have to check the weather before we venture out tomorrow. Our goal is to get to Atlanta City tomorrow.

May and June - Aquia Harbour, VA

We had an uneventful cruise back to Aquia Harbour. The hightlight of the return trip north was stopping at the North Carolina Visitor's Center and meeting up with Rebecca and little Nathaniel. Rebecca was good enough to drive to the Visitor's Center so we could meet her son Nathaniel. Rebecca, Mark and Nathaniel live in the Boston area. They just happened to be in Virginia Beach on family business.

Aquia Harbour is our home base to do our annual doctor and dental appointments. We expected to be in Aquia Harbour for about a month and continue on the Loop. We had airline tickets to fly out of Syracuse, NY to Ft. Walton Beach FL on June 25 to attend our nephew Jason's wedding. Well, to make a long story short, we have had to cancel our Loop plans for this year and take care of some health issues. We have our charts and guide books so we will be all ready for next year. Randy has a couple of doctor appointments this month. We are hopeful that we can begin cruising again in July. In the meantime, we will probably drive to Ft. Walton Beach for Jason's wedding.

April 5-8, 2009

From Vero Beach, we put in a long day and anchored in the NASA Causeway. Since a cold front was forecast with high winds and thunderstorms for the following 2 days, we raised the anchor early the following morning. By midday winds were gusting to 30 mph. and we were trying to duck a thunderstorm. We called and made reservations to spend two nights at Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach to wait for the front to pass. When we docked winds were 20-25 mph. When we arrived at the marina, they assigned us to a T head slip, as we had requested, and a dock hand was waiting to handle our lines. We congratulated ourselves on a good job docking and rewarded ourselves with a great pizza at a nearby restaurant. We also took the opportunity to change engine oil and use their laundry facilities to wash some rugs while we were there. Not fun, but necessary. Saw a Manatee swimming around the marina.

Although the Bridge of Lions at St. Augustine had limited openings of the waterway, because a new bridge is under construction , we were able to get through the bridge without a delay. We arrived at our anchorage at about 5:30 pm. Eight other boats were already anchored but we squeezed in. Dinners and showers and we are ready for bed after a long day.

Great Loop - Day 1 April 5, 2009

The Great Loop takes the cruiser approximately 6,000 miles through 16 states and Canada. It typically starts in Floriday, although it can start anywhere, and takes 8 months to a year to complete. The objective is to choose a starting point and return to that point of origin. We have chosen Vero Beach, Florida. Starting in Vero Beach, our tentative plan is to travel up the east coast on the intercoastal waterway (ICW). We will stop in Stafford, VA to do routine doctor and dental appointments. We hope to depart VA at the end of May and head up to New York. We will go up the Hudson River to Troy, NY, go west on the Erie Canal to the Trent Severn Canal, take the Great Lakes to Chicago, down the Mississippi to the Ohio River, the Ohio to the Tennessee River, and then the Tennessee Tombigbee Canal, south to Mobile and the Gulf Coast. We will then go down the coast to the Okeechobee Waterway, cross the state to the east coast of FL and north to Vero Beach. The Loop is then complete.

This morning Randy hoised our America's Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) burgee and we left Vero Beach at 10 a.m. We're officially "Looping."