Meandering

Friday 13 June 2014

How to end ?

It's hard to believe the trip is over. We have been living aboard for 14 months now and covered an incredible 6200+ miles. Starting with the beauty of the North Channel, Lake Michigan's miles of beaches,the exciting city of Chicago, the Illinois River, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Pickwick and Kentucky Lakes, Tennessee River, Tom-Bigbee Waterway, Mobile Alabama for a 60th birthday I will never forget, Florida's Gulf Coast, our Cape Coral Christmas, 3 months in the Bahamas, the I.C.W. up the east coast of the U.S., the Jersey Shore, New York, the Erie Canal, the Trent-Severn and back to Georgian Bay. All shared their unique features and challenges. I have tried to give a feeling for each area through this blog and I hope everyone enjoyed following along. It would be impossible to pick a favorite place but everywhere we were was made better by the many new friends we met along the way.To Patti & Emery (Wanderer) Mike & Karen (Irish Wake) Tony & Sharron (Summer Recess) Charlie & E.J. (Frederica Lady) Deb & Jim (Sea Fever) Sharron and Jay (Golden Hawk) Tom & Milessia & Hank (Journey) Gary & Jan (Tie a Knot) Mark & Linda (Devocean) Chuck and Margret (Francesca) Steve & Julie (Urban Renewal) Kim & Kenn (Seamorr) the gang on "T" dock (Treasure Cay) Raurri & Brenda (Araurri Borealis) and the dozens of others, we can't thank you all enough for your friendship and encouragement along the way. Our paths may have only crossed briefly but we will remember all of you and hope to meet again. A special thank you to Bev and Rudi for their generosity and for making Christmas memorable. Can't wait to see you on the Bay.
Last but not least, thank you to everyone who followed along on the blog. We were proud to share our trip with the folks at Lakeland L.T.C. Kathy will be back soon.
While I can't possibly post every picture we took, I hope you got a sense of the trip and encourage everyone to keep adventure in your life.

Thursday 12 June 2014

Meandering crosses her wake

Today we arrived back in Parry Sound on Georgian Bay and completed our loop. It took us 15 days short of 1 full year to finish the trip. We spent a couple of days with Ron & Lynne on "Northern Spirit" in Frying Pan Bay as they welcomed us back. It feels great to be back. Pulled in to our new marina, Sound Boat Works, at 13:20 hrs. Time to relax with a cold one. I will post a full summation later.

Sunday 8 June 2014

The final leg

Well we are nearing Georgian Bay. Today we stopped at Washago at the end of Lake Couchiching. So far we have done 41 of the 45 locks in the system and will be glad to see the last of them. The Trent-Severn has been a disappointment. Not because it hasn't been beautiful but the cutbacks and lack of maintenance has made the trip difficult to say the least. Lock #1 seemed like there was nobody there. We had to go up to the lock gate and yell to get someones attention to let us in. They have no radios so you can't talk to the lock masters. We paid the $178.00 one way fee then sucked debris into our bow thruster and knocked that out. Every one of the first 7 locks was full of branches, 2x4's and weeds. Lock 22 we grounded hard in the middle of the approach channel and damaged our prop and I'm sure did some fiberglass damage. The kids they have operating things told us that we were the 5th or 6th boat to hit bottom there but they have no way to warn people and the previous lock staff said nothing. I would not recommend this route to anyone drawing over 4 feet. Tomorrow we should be in Georgian Bay and back home by Tuesday if the weather holds. We will have to pull the boat out of the water to get a full assessment of the damage but at least we are not taking on water and the vibration from

School kids watching us lock through

the prop damage is not noticeable at low r.p.m.

Fenolon Falls

Peterborough lift lock

Sunday 1 June 2014

Happy Canada Day

Yesterday we crossed Lake Ontario and arrived back home. It always feels so good to be back in Canada. Nothing makes you realize how lucky we are as a trip out of the country. We are in Picton heading for the Trent- Severn and the last leg of our journey. Looking forward to a barbecue later. Wi-fi is slow here so will have to add pics later.

Erie Canal

May 25 2014
Today we departed Albany N.Y. and turned east into the Erie Canal. Water levels were good and the canal was relatively clear of debris. Locks , locks and more locks. Over the next few days we passed through 23 locks on the Erie and 7 more on the Oswego canal before arriving in Oswego N.Y. on the shore of Lake Ontario. Wicked cross currents made things interesting entering some of the chambers but we got through without incident. More photos later.

Albany N.Y.

Friday 23 May 2014

The Big Apple

Lower Manhattan

May 21st we passed under the Verrazano Bridge and entered New York Harbor. This is by far the busiest place we have been as far as shipping traffic goes. To complicate things further, this was the beginning of fleet week and a parade of war ships was making it's way into the harbor. Ships of all kinds criss-crossed our path at every turn. It was every man for himself. Right of size and weight seemed to be the only rule.
Soon the Statue of Liberty came into view and even though it was overcast we got some good photos.

The new Freedom Tower is now complete and dominates the city. Even the Empire State Building looks small.

Empire State building

We don't have the time or the money to spend any time in New York and neither of us are much for big cities but it is impressive.

"Freedom Tower"

Verrazano Bridge

He goes first

Ellis Island

We moved through the Hudson river north of the city and where amazed at how quickly it became rural and green again. Past all the boroughs, Brooklyn, Manhatten, The Battery, New Jersey, Hoboken and Yonkers.

The upper river turns mountainous and beautiful.

Cliffs along the Hudson

Bannerman's Castle

We are now only 2 days to the Erie canal and probably only 10 days from Canada. It will be good to be back home.

The Highlands

West Point Military Academy

The Boardwalk

May 18 we arrived in Atlantic City N.J. We took a walk on the boardwalk past the Trump, Taj Mahal casino and stopped at the Showboat, House of Blues casino and made a donation at the slot machines. Had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville and did some people watching. The Jersey shore was hard hit by hurricane "Sandy" but the area seems to have been quickly rebuilt. The waterway has not received the same attention however. Many areas have shoaled in and markers have moved out of place. We got through on high tide but passed several vessels being towed off the sand bars.