Nearing the end of the Erie Canal...say goodby to train noise!

As we near the end of this wonderful waterway, we reflect on the very neat places that most folks never get to see. Those out-of-the-way stops off the interstate and perhaps without a national "draw". Well, we didn't see them either!!! The frigging interstate AND railroad follow this canal until just short of Lake Oneida (which is where we will take the Oswego canal north on Wednesday). So every night we had considerable road noise and the constant CSX trains...remind me to buy stock in CSX railroads...them boys are busy!

Well, the trip has been gorgeous. The canal does pass through occasional breath-taking scenery which we were grateful for. Lake Oneida was perfectly smooth for our crossing. I enjoyed the trip....Ashton was in a surly mood after being kept up all night since we moored for free across from a biker bar on a Saturday night....thank god for ear plugs. Oh, and this morning as I was fixing eggs and sausage, the generator does a high-temp shutdown...damn, no eggs. Hmmm, sure hope that sausage was done enough, I ate it anyway. Ashton...being surly refused and generally acted like a 2nd or 3rd mate instead of 1st mate for the cruise today. Hopefully we will fix the generator tomorrow.

Mom has enjoyed her trip up the Erie. She commented that her accommodations are first rate....did I mention that Ashton (whose accommodations she is occupying) is a bit surly? Anyway, we do provide first class service with the exception of half-done sausage or having to exit the living room while I provide the necessary TLC down in the "holy place". She leaves on Tuesday back to North Carolina. We will miss her.

Cathy comes back from Alexandria late Tuesday after going back to "work". She has to go back every two weeks to fulfill obligations under the work plan she selected at the Patent office. It sort of breaks up our trip cadence, but she has no choice...She also attends to the mail, picks up boat parts, meds etc...sort of our bi-monthly supply flight! I am hoping for thunderstorms Tuesday night.

That's about it for now....will post some nice pictures later.

Cheers,
The Worley's
Aboard Waveaway
Currently lying Brewerton NY, Winter Harbor Marina

Erie Canal Stops; Lock 8 and Amsterdam

We could not ask for better canal traveling weather. Last night we stopped after going through Lock 8. Two other "loopers" were also tied up to the wall and we quickly formed a nice happy hour party. It was good finding out some of the other perspectives and life stories that led these folks to doing the loop. One thing we have found is that we are usually the youngest of the bunch...hmmm.

Anyway, both days were remarkably uneventful. All systems, with constant TLC, are running as expected. Our highlight today was polishing all the stainless (getting all that New Jersey salt off)...Ashton actually did half of the work. We also finished our "boat cards" which we really should have done before casting off.

It is amazing how is day is broken down into the basics....getting ready to cruise, cruising, and getting ready for the next day cruise....pretty basic but it gives one a satisfying fullness from the day. Yes, we are a long way from our D.C. lives. Have a great day...

The Worleys,
Aboard Waveaway
Currently lying Amsterdam NY, just below Lock 11 Erie Canal

Up the Hudson and through our first lock!

We made very quick time yesterday from Rondout River to Waterford NY, the beginning of the Erie Canal. We had great current and cool weather making the trip very enjoyable. Ashton and I brushed up on "locking procedures" as we had never locked before. Our trip through Albany was uneventful except for getting stopped by the water sheriff who was just warning us about a new no-wake zone ahead....right by the police station on the river. He told us that he was warning every big boat so the local police would not stop them and issue a ticket. Perhaps a little rivalry going on there between forces, who knows.

Our first lock was with bright, sunny skies, and no wind. The lock master thought we were seasoned lockers because Ashton did such a good job with the lines. The lift itself was great...something amazing about watching your boat lifted 50 ft and then you just cruise nice and slow out.

We pulled into Waterford town dock where we tied up to the lock wall (free) and promptly looked for a nice restaurant. What we found was an authentic Irish pub which had great brews...New York Heaven. All of this by the book stuff and sunny skies, calm winds...you know, actually like the guide books said it would be is very much a welcome surprise after traveling through New Jersey ICW. Whew.
Cheers
The Worleys aboard Waveaway
Currently lying Waterford NY

Uneventful non-Jersey related trip up the Hudson

Wow...who would have thunk it. The Worley's could actually go four long legs of the trip without a grounding/major malfunction (except for George trying to fix the dinghy carburetor) or being caught in a thunderstorm...well we kinda did that third one, but it was refreshing!

We made it out of New Jersey yesterday with a absolutely wonderful cruise up the Hudson. We made all of 6 knots fighting a 3 knot current but the scenery was great going by all the NYC landmarks. We started at the South end of Manhattan and sped (not really) all the way up to Yonkers where we entered the Palisades portion of the Hudson. This area has the high cliffs and densely wooded sides rather unexpected so close to NYC. We cruised for 7 hours entering a nice marina in Haverstraw NY. We met other "Loopers" there and shared our minimal experience and tried to listen more than talk...hard to believe, isn't it Mildred?

This morning we left at O-dark-thirty Ashton time (1000 local) and had another uneventful cruise up to Kingston NY. We are currently anchored in the Roudout River just south of Kingston. Cathy is catching up on her work and Ashton and I are doing a whole lot of nothing...again, hard to believe, isn't it Mildred? More later...plan tomorrow is to make it up just South of Albany and dock at one of the restaurants that gives you free dockage with a dinner drop-in....we are low on beer so it is gonna happen.
Cheers,
The Worley's Aboard Waveaway
Currently Lying Rondout River, NY

Oh What an Adventure...or I hate the NJ ICW!

So we cast off on our voyage , making our way up through Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and through to Cape May, NJ with two fairly uneventful cruises (the Delaware Bay was rough but we expected that). As many of you have already seen over at our Website, we've posted a picture of the week showing our night at cape may. The next day we'd planned on cruising just a short way to a more protected anchorage, however upon reaching the entrance to said anchorage, we ran aground on a small shoal. Our port side was hanging on it, and it didn't look good. Luckily enough, between our finagling of the transmission and throttles, and the wind pushing us around, we were able to easily get off the shoal and back out into the channel. Realizing that the entrance to this anchorage would be too shallow for us to pass, we decided to look for another. We found one near Strathmere, NJ between Flat creek and Whale Creek... More like Skinny Creek or you gotta buy another prop after you run aground creek, as upon reaching the branch off to get there, we realized it too would be too shallow. At that point out of frustration, our hitting about 3 more shoals on the way up to that point, and having gone 3 hours longer than we'd originally planned anyways, we decided to make our way up to Ocean City.
Upon reaching Ocean City however, We decided to continue on an hour more to Ventnor, NJ. There just wasn't a very good protected anchorage in Ocean City, and there was tropical depression Barry coming through that night and the following day. In Ventnor we found a very good anchorage. We were basically the only boat in there, and we barely got touched by the storm. All in all it was pretty comfortable. We waited 2 days in Ventnor for the storm to pass and then cruised up to Atlantic city, where we stayed in a transient slip at Krammers. We restocked our fuel, food and water, and also met some fellow loopers who have joined us in the journey.

On June 5th, we took off in tandem with Vickie and Mike (Drifters, a 45' Californian that actually draws 6"s more than us). I volunteered to go first up the waterway and radio any shallow water. Good plan...not. After about an hour on a glorious morning, we neared an inlet. I was in the head and Ashton was staying exactly in the channel when....you guessed it, another shoal...this time we skidded to a halt with 2 ft breakers all around us. To make matters worse, Drifters following behind hit the shoal as well ( things were too chaotic to get off a radio call...so much for plans). After about 10 mins of trying to ruin our transmissions we called Boat Tow US ( yeah baby, I got the unlimited plan before cruising!) and threw out our anchor to wait for the tow to arrive. Ok, so my anchor holds and Drifter's anchor doesn't...appropriate with their name. Our problem is they drifted into us. So when the tow arrived everyone was in various states of panic as we were fending off 40 tons of boat in two foot surf. Insane. Tow US immediate threw us a line and dragged us free. We anchored about 100 yards to the North and watched for the next hour as he wedged Drifters off the sand bar. End result was we both headed for the nearest marina to lick our wounds. Only real harm was some cosmetic scratches to my davit and Drifters hull.

The next day we stayed with our "Waveaway go first plan" but with better spacing and MUCH MORE appreciation for inlet shoaling following storms! The day was glorious and the trip uneventful.

On the 7th of June, we headed outside into the Atlantic for the first time for a wonderful trip up to New York. We are currently at a marina South of New York planning for a very boring weekend...I need it. Two good days following a really tough New Jersey ICW section...next time, we go outside the entire trip.

Plan is to head up the Hudson on Tuesday when Cathy returns from a touch and go at work. Ashton is having his girl friend visit this weekend and dad gets to wax the boat and trouble shoot voltage issues. My kind of weekend...must be getting old.