What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Our day started out very nice. We had a 0 to 10 knot wind out of the WNW which allowed us to motor sail and make about 5.5 knots. The wind started to pick up as we moved SW along the south coast of Lake Erie and after about 3 hours we were in 10 to 15 knot winds with gusts to 20+ and the wind had switched to SW so we could not use our sails without tacking. The waves were building and we were not going to make our destination (Geneva State Park) before dark. Although we had made over 14 miles I decided to turn around and return to Erie (Presque Isle).

We were monitoring the weather by radio, radar, and visually and could not see any storms but soon we started to hear thunder off to the north. I could see a storm coming into view on the radar and shortly after that we could see the dark clouds off to the NE. Usually thunder storms move pretty fast but this one was very slow and we were closing on it as it moved to the South. I slowed the boat down hoping to let the storm pass in front of us but we were still gaining on it and it was now just 2.5 miles away. Then we saw the first water spout (read TORNADO for you land lubbers) that you can see in the photo. I Turned Summer Snow to run away from the weather and then we saw another water spout form, YIKES! I "put the hammer down" and we were able to move fast enough to let them pass behind us. The wind was really blowing now and we saw multiple funnels hanging out of the clouds as the storm moved over Presque Isle.

We turned again and headed back toward Presque Isle and safe haven. That is when the dinghy broke loose on one side. The violent wave action (and Summer Snow running at max speed) was too much for the towing bridle connections. We managed to pull the dinghy close enough to get another line connected and pulled it up tight so the waves didn't jerk it around and proceeded on. Now we are moving along and should be back in the harbor in a few hours but wait, why is the engine losing RPMs? Well, it seems that the rough conditions has stirred up the fuel tank and we have a restricted fuel filter. The boat looks like the tornado was inside the cabin at this point with everything that wasn't bolted down strewed on the deck. We baby the engine at low speed (the wind was pushing us so we still were hitting 5.5 knots) and make it back to the harbor. It's going to blow for a few days so we are going to STAY PUT and wait for weather.

Rain On Lake Erie

We left Dunkirk, NY this morning at 6:15 in hopes of a NE wind. Instead we have a SW wind with rain chasing us. Maybe this afternoon will be better. Our destination is Erie, PA which is only 40 miles.

Bridges on the Erie Canal

There are many bridges over the Erie Canal . Some are modern like the Interstate 90 bridges but most are old to very old. Sometimes you just see the remains of a bridge that probably was part of the infrastructure of the 1862 canal update. The lowest bridge (second photo) is the E-93 at mile 209.4 (16 feet) which we cleared with a couple of feet to spare.

The canal was updated many times since its initial construction in 1825 (Clinton's Ditch). Major changes happened in 1862 (Enlarged Erie Canal) and in 1918 (Erie Barge Canal). Today it is primarily used for recreation although there is some growing interest in using it commercially again. Moving bulk products by barge is very inexpensive.

The canal follows rivers when it can and other times is a man made ditch and straight as an arrow. Regardless, it is always beautiful as we slide along through small villages and park like rural areas. The small towns cater to the boaters, bikers, and hikers with many cafes and coffee shops and each town has a free dock, often with water and electrical hookups.

There are 15 lift bridges in the western 1/3rd of the canal. The lift bridge in the photo is very unusual because of the odd angle it makes with the river. One side is highter than the other and it crosses the canal at an angle so no two angles in the bridge structure are the same. The lift bridges only lift to about 15 ft so they don't slow you down too much with long waits.

Locking Through

Patrick and I locked through Lock 20 on the Erie Canal.

Erie Canal 1

The Erie Canal is 342 miles long and has 34 locks. We went thru the largest lift today (lock 17) at 40 foot.

The scenery is beautiful and the people are friendly.  We have seen very few boats on this waterway (very few on the Hudson too) and the marina operators have said that very few people have been out on the water due to the high gas prices.

We are in Little Falls, NY tonight tied to their public dock. It is very nice with clean, new bathrooms and showers. They even have a boater's lounge with microwave, coffee maker, and TV. All this for $15/night.

Hudson River to the Erie Canal

We had to say good bye to New York City so we could continue our journey sailing north on the Hudson River toward the Erie Canal. We expected it to take three days to get up to Troy, NY where the Hudson meets the Erie Canal. The Hudson River is very beautiful with high rock cliffs and beautiful homes. We anchored out the first night about a mile north of West Point. Then made very good time all the way to the Catskill River and the town of Catskill. We found a great marina that would un-step our mast so we can get through the Erie Canal (you must be able to get under 15 ft bridges on the Erie).The marina was very helpful and provided free used lumber and a box of screws so we could build racks to put the mast in for traveling. You can see the results in the second picture. We now have a 40 ft motor boat instead of a 30 ft sailboat. It took a half a day to get the mast down and mounted and then we motored north up the Hudson. We made real good time and made it through Lock # 1 north of Troy and spent the night at the Erie Canal Welcome Center in Waterford, NY. Only 342 miles and 35 locks to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes!

A Walk In The Park

Bev, Patrick, and I finished our day with a walk in Liberty State Park which includes our marina. Previously we had spent the day at Ellis Island which is part of the National Park that includes the Statue Of Liberty. Ellis Island is really like a huge museum that tells some of the stories of the millions of immigrants that came to America from 1892 to 1924.
Like most National Parks it is very well done and very well kept which is probability due to it's present Superintendent.  We were standing in the shade waiting for our ferry when a guy came by pushing a big load of garbage.  We chatted with him when he came back and here he was the Superintendent of the whole park. What a great example he was setting for his hundreds of National Park employees!

Manhattan

Our marina is in Jersey City which is directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. There are an endless number of things to do in Manhattan and we have been on the run all day every day to do and see as many things as we can. We have used the subway and the ferry for the last week to get around and it has worked out very well. We have found the subways to be a clean and safe way to get around New York, in fact, there are very few places that we wanted to go that the subway didn't work for us. Times Square, Empire State Building, World Trade Center, Yankee Stadium, Rockefeller Center, and many more were just a short walk from a subway. One of our high lights was getting VIP access to Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series in Central Park staring Miranda Lambert. We got up at 3:30 AM on Friday to go to the regular GMA show and because we were near the front of the audience group, it was a "right time" in the "right place" kind of thing that we got on the VIP list. We were front row and standing with all the GMA stars through most of the concert on Saturday.

Good Morning America

We got up at 3:30 AM to get in line for GMA and it paid off big time. By being there early we got tickets for the studio tour and VIP tickets to tomorrows concert in Central Park.

The Flying Nolands

Patrick and Jessica learned to fly on the high trapeze at the New York Trapeze School which is located on the roof of Pier 40 in Lower Manhattan.