Frustration fed by lack of communication –

Approximately 2 weeks ago, it started raining in New York.  Approximately 10 days ago, and for the last several days, we have been trapped in the Erie Canal due to flooding.  This scenario apparently continues to replay itself over and over, during the last few years.  It seems to me rather incredible that a canal that was built and has been operating since the 1850’s is incapable of handling rain.  I realize it’s a lot of rain, but rumor has it, there is something deeper going on.  Small bits of evidence have been floating to the surface in support of the proposition that this canal system is broken, and I do not mean the dams.  First, a little background.

By the middle of the 19^th century, westward settlement was only beginning.  There were few reasons for folks to move “out there” to lands where they faced little in the way of comfort, little in the way of promise, and little in the way of hope.  As far as New York State was concerned there was no easy or inexpensive way to move products from the west to a market.  Think about it.  If you’re a farmer in 1850, you cannot work that far from the market less your goods spoil before they even get there.  Moreover, the further west you moved, the more difficult it would be to obtain goods and supplies to build communities.  Long before modern highways, and long before vast webs of railroads were developed in this country, Americans looked to the water to move goods from here to there.  In fact, well before the Revolutionary War, and before he became a military man, George Washington was a surveyor and engineer touted as the “father of American canals.

Former New York Governor Dewitt Clinton was called a “visionary dreamer” when he wrote down his dream about the original Erie Canal.  However, no words can more ably describe what the Erie Canal would do, and has done, for the State of New York, and particularly, New York City:

“As a bond of union between the Atlantic and western states, it may prevent the dismemberment of the American Empire.  As an organ of communication between the Hudson, the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes of the north and west and their tributary rivers, it will create the greatest inland trade ever witnessed.  The most fertile and extensive regions of America will vail themselves of the facilities for a market.  All the surplus productions, whether of the soil, the forest, the mines, or the water, their fabrics of art and their supplies of foreign commodities, will concentrate in the city of New York, for transportation abroad or consumption at home.  Agriculture, manufacturers, commerce, trade, navigation, and the arts will receive a correspondent encouragement.  The city will, in the course of time, become the granary of the world, the emporium of commerce, the seat of manufactures, the focus of great moneyed operations and the concentrating point of vast, disposable , and accumulating capitals, which will stimulate, enliven, extend, and reward the exertions of human labor and ingenuity, in all their processes and exhibitions.  And before the revolution of a century, the whole island of Manhattan, covered with inhabitants and replenished with a dense population , will constitute one vast city.”

It is not surprising that there were doubters among those who dreamed.  As a result, the construction of the Erie Canal was delayed for many years.  The perceived difficulties prevented many a private developer from attempting to get involved.  So, and finally, in 1817, the state of New York actually undertook the canal project and began construction.  Back then, it was referred to as “Clinton’s big ditch.”

The Erie Canal opened in 1825.  It doesn’t look at all like the canal we travel on today.  It was only 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide and could accommodate loads up to 30 tons.  However, over many years, the canal was modified to accommodate larger and larger loads, and incorporated various tributary canals.  Here are a couple of facts describing the current canal profile:

               1.            The barge canal consists of the Erie Canal – 340.7 miles (from Troy on the Hudson River to Tonawanda on the Niagara River); the Champlain Canal – 62.6 miles (from Troy on the Hudson River to Lake Champlain); the Oswego Canal – 23.8 miles (from Three Rivers Point near Syracuse to Lake Ontario); Cayuga and Seneca Canals – 27.1 miles (connecting Cayuga and Seneca Lakes with the Erie Canal); and 347.1 miles of connecting rivers and lakes, for a total of 801.3 miles of waterway.

               2.            There are a total of 57 locks in the system.  These locks are concrete and operate by electricity, their lifts ranging from 6 to 40.5 feet.

               3.            As an economic development project, it certainly succeeded:  the original Erie Canal construction began in 1817 and was completed in 1825.  Tolls were abolished in 1882.  In other words, the canal paid for itself in a relatively short period of time.

               4.            The barge canal system should be considered one of the engineering wonders of the world.  It is ten times longer and has many more structures than the Panama Canal, some of which are noteworthy worldwide. 

Governor Clinton’s dream blossomed.  Settlers flocked west.  Forests turned into saleable lumber, towns were constructed and populations grew steadily along the canal and on the Great Lakes.  Moreover, New York City emerged from the shadows of Philadelphia and Boston and became the nation’s greatest sea port and one of the world’s most dynamic cities.  The success of the Erie Canal has been described as “a veritable frenzy.”  It was so successful, that, over the years, it had to be enlarged on several occasions.  In 1825 when the barge canal opened, a large barge was 30 tons.  At its height, barges capable of carrying 650 tons were in use.  It is noteworthy to understand that the powers that be determined it was more feasible to design and build the canals and their improvements to accommodate barges, rather than ocean capable ships given the vagaries of design and construction.  The barges could be developed with more uniformity.  Barges therefore carried goods to New York City where they delivered the goods to terminals where said goods were then loaded onto ships for transportation to the far reaches of the globe.

Today, the New York Canals are no longer “barge canals.”  The movement of goods and materials has been assumed by trains and trucks.  Now, pleasure boats and tour operators operate on the canal system.  It’s a tourist destination and many of the important commercial installations have been relegated to the status of historic restoration sites.  All along the canals the once booming factories are silent, and economic destitution is a common theme.  The towns that sprung up along the canal are largely, and with few exceptions, economic wastelands.  This notwithstanding, in 1992, New York enacted legislation to change the name of the Barge Canal to the New York State Canal System.  It was operated by the New York Canal Corporation as an independent entity.  Recently, however, and due to economic considerations, “ownership” of the canal system was turned over to the New York State Thruway Authority (the Highway Department).  In my opinion, this was a big mistake.  This is tantamount to turning over control of the national parks to the national highway administration.  It would appear that the canal system became an afterthought. 

Over the last couple years, there have been mass layoffs.  Canal folks complain that the administrators haven’t the slightest idea of what’s important in terms of maintaining the canal system.  I heard one canal worker mock the director of the Throughway Authority who was quoted as proclaiming that all he knew about locks was that the boat goes in, water comes in, and the boat goes out.  Several lock workers complain that they are now vastly understaffed to deal with conditions that come up due to bad weather.  The lock operation hours have been cut, but the user fees remained the same.  The authority has been fragmented into various sections and no section knows necessarily what the section above or below it is doing.  The union workers are pissed off at the management administration and there has been a serious decline in morale and pride.  The canal we transited in 2011 is not the same canal system we are experiencing now.

So, we have had some bad weather over the past few weeks.  There have been tropical storms and hurricanes over the last couple years.  So I have to ask myself, how it is that the New York Canal System has brought so much success to the state for so many years, but only in the last few years has it genuinely began to suffer?  To me, it seems pretty clear.  Whereas the canals were the epitome of a successful government operation,  it was, after all, a state project from the very beginning, it has become the “ugly sister” that the parents are ashamed of.  It is now a prime example of all the bad things about a "government operation."  The New York Throughway Authority doesn’t know what it is doing and guess what happens:  recreational boaters, the only boaters that use the canal system, get stuck because the Authority cannot manage the waterways they do not understand or know anything about.  I feel certain that, if it was up to them, they’d close the canals proclaiming a loss of revenue as the reason.

As far as recreational boats are concerned, the biggest problem is the lack of communication.  News of closures and reopenings has been scarce and generally not up to date.  There are boaters stuck in locks and literally at the mercy of the Authority.  The canal workers have been generally wonderful in that they bring these boaters what they need – electricity, water, and sanitation removal.  In that regard, I do want to recite a recent anecdote.

There were three of us  cruising boats delayed just west of lock 16 for several days due to lock closures above and below us on the system.  The Authority did nothing.  They did nothing about bringing water, and nothing about bringing power.  There is a guy who lives nearby named Marcel, and another guy who came all the way up from Canajoharie named Dave, who pulled things together for all the rest of us.  Marcel gathered up power cords from God knows where, and with splitters galore, managed to get power to almost every boat stuck on that damned wall from a single 50 amp outlet.  Dave drove many miles out of his way to take several of us at a time to the grocery store.  Other local folks let some of us use their cars.  Many other locals stopped by just to say "Hi" and let us know that they would be around if we needed anything at all.  But where was the Throughway Authority?

Yesterday, we boaters started making noise about fresh water.  A day or so prior, the lock operator’s response was that we could go to the store and get some bottles.  Wrong answer.  Really?  Oh yeah, we should all just take a 12 mile stroll to the nearest market and carry back all those bottles of water required to fill our boat tanks?  Dumbass!  Moreover, the water at the lock building was labled non-potable.

We started making noise about needing waste removal (a pump out).  The same operator’s response was that he would leave the door to his personal “shitter” unlocked.  Wrong answer again.  I explained to him yesterday that his proposal was misled insofar as there is one boat with 4 people on it who are in their 70’s who, due to the falling water levels in the land cut, would be expected to climb a ladder out of their boat and then walk 250 yards, at night, in the dark, on a wet sloping grassy hill to use the toilet.  I looked him in the eye and asked him how badly he wanted to get sued?  His glassy eyed, deer-in-the headlights expression said it all – he did not give a rat’s ass.  It wasn’t his problem, or his job to worry about it.  He was just not getting the message about the fact that these boats are our homes for the duration.  He had no respect for this fact and probably resents the fact that there are folks out there who do this and he can't.

So, that’s when all three boats started making phone calls to all those supervisors who showed up to glad-hand and hand out business cards as the water levels were burying docks.  One of us even got the Mayor of nearby St. Johnsville on the phone.  Within an hour, a water tank truck showed up, and rumor had it, either a pump out would be on the way, or they would open the prior lock to let those that needed to, get to the closest marina for pump outs.

Moreover, “the suits” (directors and executive directors) actually showed up and somehow magically got locks 17 and up operational so we could leave, and we got some real information about the status of things up and down the canal.  Of course, then they also updated their website insofar as we complained most about the lack of communication.  We have been assured that we would not have to pay for extra days on our canal passes.  We’ll have to see how that pans out insofar as the operation is about as efficient these days as a one-armed wall paper hanger.

Thus, suffice it to say that I am not real pleased with the NY Canal System this time through.  It’s not so much the incessant delays and the feeling that New York won’t let me leave, as it is the seeming apathy of those responsible for keeping this invaluable resource open and operating.  This whole mess started because some person with very little common sense determined that it would be a good idea to unload the dams upstream before making it possible to drain off the coming flash flood downstream.  So, they blew up their own operation.  This mess has nothing to do with large amounts of rainfall.  It has everything to do with the ineptitude of those horses asses in Albany who might know something about trash removal on the highways, but know nothing of how to manage a multilevel canal system.   I encourage all my cruising friends who are stuck in the locks below us to start making as much noise as you can.  It seems the idea of bad publicity sparks action amongst these otherwise apathetic government beaurocrats.

I’m very concerned that all this talk about a strong commitment to preserve the rich history and heritage of the canal is a lot of window dressing  The first thing they need to do is get it out of the hands of the highway department and put it back where it belongs – with the New York State Canal Corporation.  And, while they’re at it, they should spray for mosquitos.  My feet are getting chewed. 

We plan to make it to Sylvan Beach today at the edge of Lake Oneida, so close to the Oswego Canal and Lake Ontario we can smell it.  We can cross to Brewerton and wait for locks 23-25 and the Oswego Canal to open, but there is more to do in Sylvan Beach.  So, if you have to be stuck....again.....it might as well be in a place that offers a modecum of entertainment opportunities.  I want ice cream.

 

STUCK, STUCK, STUCK

STUCK, STUCK, WE’RE STUCK

So, let me recapture, for a moment, where we’ve been the past three weeks.  I left Oxnard and flew to Camden, North Carolina.  I spent four days there, getting the boat organized and hanging out with my friend Arnold before heading north to Norfolk/Portsmouth for bottom paint.  I was able to leave Camden a day or two earlier than anticipated so I spent a couple days at Waterside Marina in Norfolk just chillin’ before moving the boat across the river to the boat yard at Ocean Marine Yachting Center. 

While Abreojos was in the yard, I had a wonderful visit with my friend Robert who came down from Deltaville to visit.  We drank a hell of a lot of beer and talked for hours.  The following day, I left for points north.  Specifically, I ran all day, all the way up to Sandy Point on the Great Wicomico River and anchored for the night.  The next day, I ran all day and all the way up to Annapolis where I met Brian at the Annapolis Yacht Club. 

The following morning, we left and cruised all day and all the way up to Delaware City near the intersection of the C&D Canal and the Delaware River.  There we stayed for two nights because the weather was beginning to stink.  After two nights in Delaware City, we had a window of opportunity to move on and thus we headed down the Delaware River to the Delaware Bay and into Cape May, New Jersey where we bunkered fuel and anchored for the night. 

 

The next day, the plan was to run about half way up the Jersey shoreline to Barnegat Inlet.  However, as we approached Barnegat Inlet, we decided the weather was too good to miss, so we pushed on to Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, a 115 mile day, and anchored just as it was getting very dark.  The following day, we boogied all the way up the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie, New York.  We wanted to go further, but between the rain and the setting sun, we called it a day at Mariner’s, a restaurant on the Hudson that offers free dockage to diners. 

In the morning, it was still raining, so we made our way up to Kingston and spent a day there doing some provisioning thanks to the generosity of Chelsea, the daughter of the marina owner who happened to have a car and not a whole lot of better things to do than to shuttle a couple tired cruisers to WalMart in search of rain slickers and windshield wipers.  Having accomplished all that, we left the following morning, in the rain, for Waterford, with a stop in Albany to take on more fuel.  While in Waterford, we met Wayne and Rhonda, and rekindled a relationship with friends at a pub called The Angry Penguin.  This is where everything went sort of sideways.

This is Brian doing his best immitation of a bow thruster.

We were moving pretty fast.  The plan was to get to Oswego, NY where I would be meeting Brenda who will be accompanying me through Canada and the Trent-Severn Waterway.  I anticipated it would take about 5 days to get to Oswego from Waterford, so I had Brenda make her plane reservation to fly to Syracuse the following Sunday.  This gave us plenty of time to make the 125 miles up the Erie Canal.  So, this meant we could slow down a little and smell the roses, so to speak.  Unfortunately, our decision to go slowly may have cost us.

 

After a leisurely walk through town, breakfast on the wall at Waterford, a stroll through the farmers market, we left Waterford around noon-ish and headed a short way up the river to the town of Amsterdam.  We tied up at a park called Riverlink.  It was a beautiful little park seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  We made a call to the number posted on the power pedestals and were given instructions by the “dockmaster” as to where to find the key to the “boater’s entrance” which gave us access to showers, laundry, etc.  Also, we made payment for the dock by depositing cash in an envelope and dropping it in a sealed mail slot – It’s all on the honor system, you see.  We then took off in search of ice.

 

Our hike took us into the older part of Amsterdam, not far from what once was a factory of some kind.  Now, the windows are largely broken out and the factory floor is silent.  Most of the downtown area was completely silent and deserted.  However, we found a “Stuarts” in relatively short order and made our way back to the boat, ice in bag.

We had a nice dinner and left the following morning.  I knew there was a nice little village up the line a bit with a free dock and power.  So, we left for Canajoharie, a short, three hour run.  No sooner did we leave than it started to rain.

It rained, and rained, and rained.  It was not really that on and off sort of rain, nor was it that kind of misty wet rain.  This was practically downpour, and it lasted for hours and hours.  It never stopped.  Locking through in the rain sucks!  Getting through a lock requires that both of us get out on deck to manage the lines.  It’s a good thing we got the slickers in Kingston.  Did I mention that the slickers were located in WalMart on the clearance rack and cost only $7.00 a peace?  Brian’s is “genuine South African Vinyl” and looks like it came out of the Eddie Bauer Catalog.  Mine is 100% Polyester and, wearing it, I look like a Cal-Trans worker, it being bright yellow, and all.  Moreover, mine leaks like a sieve at the seams.  (I fixed that yesterday with some waterproofing spray.)   I think I got the shitty end of that deal.  Oh well, it fits.  So, back to the cruise.

The first night in Canajoharie, we walked into town (yes, in the rain) and had Italian food for dinner at a great place on Main Street.  We met the owner, chef, head waitress.  Her name is “Sasha.”  First, let me say that the food was amazing.  Sasha is a very good cook.  However, her story was rather interesting.

Sasha and her family left Montenegro and came to New York around 13 years ago.  Her husband was the chef in the family and they bought a restaurant with a building attached to it.  They worked it together for several years when her husband decided he was done and left.  Yes, he left.  He disappeared.  Sasha became alone and had to fend for herself.  She did a fine job.  However, the years of running a restaurant by herself are coming to an end and she is planning to sell the restaurant and the building and move down to the city where she can be closer to her children.  She is concerned about the expense, but she is a very resilient woman who, no doubt, will be just fine.

The following morning, it continued to rain and rain and rain. We planned to simply move on.  However, after the engine was running, but before leaving the dock, I was completely unable to make contact with lock 14.  Brian was out on the dock getting ready to untie the lines and speaking with a guy named Jeff, the Superintendent of the Canajoharie Water Works.  Based on their conversation, at least what I overheard of it, I shut off the engine.  It became clear that we were not going anywhere; the canal was shutting down. 

Jeff had actually come down to the dock with an electrician to pull the power pedestals and to and inform us of the approaching flood.  They were pulling the pedestals so they wouldn’t be lost.  He even pulled the trash cans out of the park so they would not get washed down river.  Ok.  Then, we met with Dave, a Canal Maintenance Supervisor.  He told us that, in a relatively short period of time, the water level would rise substantially and the ramps to the dock would be flooded and we would be stuck on our boats.  Moreover, he advised that the river flow was going to substantially increase as well as the volume of debris that was slamming down river.  Obviously, when there are trees and chunks of all sorts of this and that flowing in a river that is basically controlled by a system of locks and dams, there is a significant concern that there will be damage to the hardware.  Well, as a precaution, Dave told us the Canal Authority was pulling wickets and would be allowing the river to run its course so as to prevent further damage to villages along the river due to flood.  Finally, we were visited by the Chief of Police.  He came down to make sure we were all fine and had everything we needed.  Everybody was super supportive and friendly.  So, we would spend a second night in Canajoharie.

Here you can see the water rising.  The ramp to the dock was at a 30 degree downslope when we got to Canajoharie.

Now, clearly the ramp is at an almost 30 degree up slope from the park which is underwater.  You can't really see the debris in this photo, but believe me, it was good to be behind that bridge piling.  It offered protection against the trees that were running downstream with a pretty ferocious current.

This was taken the following day, after the Authority pulled several dam wickets and let the water levels recede.  At least we were able to get off the boat.  We had no power.

While stuck in Canajoharie, we met some new friends.  We met a guy named Steve who lives up the river in Rome, New York.  He was travelling alone along the canal in his very small sailboat.  I decided to nickname him “Intrepid.”  We also met Anne and Tim who live and cruise aboard a very nice Ocean Alexander called “Ivanhoe.”  They are younger folks and are a lot of fun to play with.  We also met the guy we all call “Dockmaster Dave.”  Yes, his name is Dave and he is the dockmaster in the Canajoharie area.  He is employed by the Canal Authority and it is his job, no, it is his life’s function to make every boater who comes to Canajoharie feel at home.  Dave has been a rockstar of stellar proportions.  He comes down every few hours to check on us and make sure we are doing ok.  He shuttled several of us to the store for groceries.  He has offered to bring portable generators, water tanks, and mobile pump-outs.  This guy is superb.

Actually, everybody has been superb. The following morning, I needed a little help with my generator, so I called Dockmaster Dave and asked for a referral to a diesel mechanic.  He not only made a referral, but when he called me back, he advised that the mechanic was en route and would be there in about 15 minutes.  On time, a mechanic named Marcel arrived, who got right to work.  Note that throughout all of this, the rain continued to pour.  Now, I’m not sure Marcel is actually a diesel mechanic, but he took a look, made a bunch of calls, and the problem got solved.  He charged a fair price, and everything is good, electrically speaking.

Before Marcel could finish, however, Dave came down to the boat and advised that the Canal Authority was strongly suggesting that we all move our boats up the river to the land cut beyond lock 16.  The reason stated was that the Authority would be pulling the dams and allowing a free flowing river, packed with high speed currents and a lot of debris.  Furthermore, once the dams were pulled, and the water was allowed to flow, there was a grave likelihood that the water levels would drop to “winter levels”, i.e., no water, and that we would be stuck in the mud.  So, with that, and with the assistance of the operators of locks 14, 15, and 16, Ivanhoe and Abreojos made the 10 mile move up into the land cut.  We would be safe here because the land cut is an area of canal that acts as a bypass of the Mohawk River.  There are locks at both ends thereby working to control both the water level and the amount of debris. 

After a couple hours of moving in the pouring rain, we got tied up to the south wall, just west of Lock 16.  There were some interesting sights along the way.  We were running behind Ivanhoe.  Between his prop-wash and the pouring rain, visibility was difficult.  Several times, we had to “zig-zag” around large chunks of tree that were floating down the river.  We spotted a couple deadheads that would do serious damage. 

 

It was interesting to watch the chart plotter as we went along.  The charts are drawn generally based on the low to average water level scenario.  The water level was so high, that even though we were running in what appeared to be the middle of the river, the chart plotter showed the position of the boat over land!

When we got to Lock 15 however, the narrow choke point on the Erie Canal, we saw that it was all choked up with debris.  Behind the dam, there was a canal barge with a crane on the front of it.  While tied up in the lock and waiting for the lift, we saw this mariner inch his barge up to the edge of the dam, literally powering back hard enough to prevent the barge from slamming through the wickets, an event which would have killed him and his crew, sent the barge through and over the dam, and shut down the canal arguably for the rest of the year.  I recall thinking to myself that this guy had the biggest pair of brass nuts of any human I had ever known.  So, he inches the barge up, and an operator sitting in the crane on deck throws the steel clam-shell bucket into the water and it sinks deep.  Followed by a billowing belch of black smoke, the bucket came back to the surface with a tree that had to be 100 feet long.  (Later, Brian measured the diameter of the lower section of that tree at 17 inches.)  With the tree locked in the jaws, the barge slams it into heavy reverse and backs away from the edge of the dam.  That was truly impressive and made the otherwise tedious time in the lock anything but.

So, we are still here at lock 16.  It’s been a couple days and everyone has been great.  The Authority keeps checking up on us and the locals come by and offer us a ride here or there or wherever we might need to go.  We’ve all decided to dub ourselves, the “Lock 16 Yacht Club.”  We have been keeping each other company and enjoying being stuck.  We grilled last night on the grass under the trees.  It was beautiful weather and we decided we could not waste it.  Although the weather seems to be improving, we still have no word, officially, as to when we may be able to start moving again.  However, officially unofficially, it looks like we may be able to get under way Sunday or Monday, and more likely Monday.

The Lock 16 Yacht Club

I don’t really have a lot more to say about it than that.  Nice people, beautiful surroundings, plenty of nothing to do (other than routine boat crap), and being stuck is not so bad.  We have friends down river who are not faring quite as well.  The Authority stuck them inside a lock for their own protection and closed the doors.  Notwithstanding the less than scenic location, it is my understanding that the Authority has made every effort to take good care of them as well.  They have ladders, generators, water, restaurants nearby, courtesy cars, whatever they need.    We all know that the Canal Authority is doing everything it can to protect the boats, the people, the river, and their hardware the best they know how.  So, how’s about a cheer for those guys!

Brenda will be here on Sunday and I’m sure we will be moving again.  So, for the time being, this is M/V Abreojos signing off.

Out.

Atlantic Highlands all the way to Waterford

When you gotta go, you gotta to.  That's how we felt when we left Cape May and that's how we felt when we left Atlantic Highlands.  It was another very long day - over 11 hours behind the wheel to get all the way to Poughkeepsie, NY.  There is a dock there in front of and connected with a restaurant called Mariners.  If you eat there, you can stay on the dock for free. The next night we stopped in Kingston.  We are now in Waterford, NY at the mouth of the Erie Canal

Poughkeepsie is also the location of the "singing bridge."  Here's the story:

The Poughkeepsie Bridge (a.k.a. Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge, High Bridge) is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York on the east bank and Highland, New York on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and went out of service on May 8, 1974. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, updated in 2008.  It was opened as Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park on October 3, 2009, as a pedestrian walkway, making it the longest footbridge in the world.  One of composer Joseph Bertolozzi's most well known undertakings,  the Bridge Music project uses only the sounds of New York's Mid-Hudson Bridge to play the bridge like a musical instrument. The work was completed in time for New York's 400th anniversary observance of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river that now bears his name, but was underway as early as 2004. Originally intended to be a live performance piece (circa 2006), this "audacious plan" (New York Times) to compose music for a suspension bridge using the bridge itself as the instrument brought Bertolozzi wide local and international attention. When funding fell through for a live performance, Bertolozzi took the audio samples he had used to compose his works for the bridge, and used them to put together a studio album. The installation features audio from the album, and allows listeners to hear the project on the bridge itself.

Obviously as boaters we watch the weather likes sports fans watch ESPN. The key difference, however is that, with the weather, knowing what is in the immediate future as well as the long range future, is clearly more important than knowing what happened during last night's game.  We depend on weather forecasts, not "pastcasts."  We don't care whether or not it rained yesterday.  Add to this consideration the fact that the National Hurricane Center is now in the mix with its first named storm of the year conceivably headed in our direction and it is easy to understand just how glued to weather radio and computer screens we can be.  Everything depends on the weather.

All that being said, as it turned out, our decision to jump from Cape May all the way to and around Sandy Hook was a good one.  Had we stopped at Barnegat Inlet, and then come up the coast the rest of the way the next day, we would have likely taken a serious beating.  Moreover, that beating would have lasted 12 + hours.  Once on the Hudson River, however, the wind forecasts are not as critical because the waterway is much narrower and, with less fetch, the effect of the wind is significantly less important.  However, serious forecasts of rain are another story.

Between radar, a chart plotter, a depth sounder and AIS, running in the rain, itself, is not that big a deal.  We can see and move even if the visibility is substantially reduced.  The problem with heavy rain, however, is runoff.  Not so much a problem is the mud, but the debris.  This morning, for example, on the short rum from Poughkeepsie to Kingston, we were constantly dodging logs and large sticks, both of which can do serious damage to running gear.  So, we just have to be more careful, that's all.

Coming to Kingston is always a pleasure.  The folks here are really friendly, and the historic downtown area is very pleasant and interesting.  I wrote a lot about Kingston the last time I stopped here, so I will not belabor it again.  Suffice it to say, however, that it was worth a second stop even if it was only 15 miles from where we stopped last night.  The main goal in stopping here turned into two fold.  First, Kingston is up a well protected creek called Round Out.  Second, one of the windshield wipers decided to take its leave on the way up and, in Kingston, it would be easy to replace.  No, seriously, the wiper blade took off.  It was funny.  It's pouring rain and the wiper blade flies off the arm.  Fortunately, it landed on the roof of the salon and we recovered it before it was too late.

So, we landed at Kingston.  The docks were aluminum and floating and were very rocky and rolly.  But, they served the purpose.  After we got organized, we asked Chelsea, the girl working in the office if there was an auto parts store nearby where I could find a wiper blade.  She said she would take us wherever we needed to go, and to just let her know when we were ready.

Chelsea was a first class gal.  Her father is a retired Kingston Police Officer and decided to take over the municipal dock from the city.  He is a very nice man and takes the time to run out to the tow boats and barges on the river who anchor nearby and need to come in for supplies.  He goes out on his own boat and brings them in or brings them whatever they request.  That's a real class act, if you ask me.  Anyways, Brian and I called Chelsea and asked her if there was a WalMart nearby.  Brian wanted to get a rain slicker and I needed wiper blades.  It occurred to me, after doing the loop the first time, that WalMart is a cruising boater's resource of the first degree.  Not only is it a one stop shop, but they are generally relatively convenient.  Not to mention the fact that the people watching is always interesting.  Anyways, Chelsea, her little dog, Brian and I hopped in her SUV and headed out to the WalMart in Kingston.  First of all, I had no idea Kingston was as big as it is.  My impression was that Kingston consisted of the historic downtown waterfront area.  It turns out the story goes deeper than that.  There is actually quite a crime problem there insofar as it seems to be the place to run and hide if you get in trouble down in Manhattan.  This notwithstanding, I still love the place.  The folks are nothing but friendly and always willing to lend a helping hand.

In fact, after we got back from WalMart, we realized that we did not pick up the vodka and tonic we needed.  We asked Chelsea if there was a liquor/package store in the area.  She simply asked what we wanted and advised that she would have her father pick it up and bring it to us.  Amazing!  About two hours later, there was a knock on the side of the boat.  It was Chelsea's father with the goods we requested.  He had two receipts which demonstrated that he actually went to two different stores to fill the order.  I cannot adequately express how wonderful a stop this was in Kingston.  Chelsea is a wonderful young lady attending college in St. Augustine, FL.  She wants to be a special ed teacher.  I think she will be great at whatever she ultimately does.  Thank you Kingston.

This is a map of the Erie Canal from Albany to Buffalo.  Brenda and I did the entire Erie Canal on the last Loop.  This time, Brian and I will only be taking the can to the intersection where we will merge onto the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario.

 

We left Kingston early yesterday with the town of Waterford in our sights and minds.  Waterford is the gateway to the Erie Canal.  First, however, we stopped for fuel at Albany and then passed through the Federal/Troy Lock.  Most folks are aware that it has been raining quite a bit lately here on the east coast.  Whereas Tropical Storm Andrea turned out to be a fizzle up here, she did bring a lot of rain.  The Hudson River is rather swollen and the currents down river are pretty strong.  It seems like we have been fighting up hill all the time since we got onto the Hudson River.  There was no exception when we arrived at Troy Lock.  The water was churning and turbulent and the current was very strong.  The boat going into the lock in front of us nearly got turned sideways and tossed into the wall.  I figure the Army Corps of Engineers were probably on the brink of closing the lock. There was also a lot of debris in the water in the form of logs, branches, and other flotsam.  Fortunately, we made it through all that without damage to the running gear or my sweet new bottom paint.  Because of the current, however, I did use more fuel than I would have normally.  Oh well.  We have covered many miles this last week, and are now at the Erie Canal.  The cruising should get easy for a while.

Waterford is the gateway to the Erie Canal.  We landed here at around 4:45 this afternoon.  The first thing that happened upon our arrival was meeting Wayne and Rhonda on a boat called "Help Me Rhonda."  Prior to today, we had never met.  We became acquainted through the Roughwater Yahoo Group since, prior to his current boat, Wayne and Rhonda owned a Roughwater 41 similar to Abreojos.  We were first contacted when Wayne and Rhonda on their Roughwater 41 were taking it from the marina they used to manage in Muskogee, Oklahoma to their new home port in Galveston, Texas.  We happened, at the time, to be approaching Morgan City, Louisiana at the intersection of the Gulf ICW and the Achafalaya River.  Wayne and Rhonda were on the Mississippi River approaching the intersection with the Achafalaya, and were only a short distance from Morgan City.  Via email, we attempted to meet at Morgan City.  Everything was set, but the boat friends they were traveling with developed mechanical problems, and our meeting ended up not happening because we could not wait around for as long as it was going to take.  So, we moved forward.  In the interim, however, Wayne and I kept in touch via Facebook and email.  And, we figured that someday our paths might cross.  Well, today it finally happened.  Recently Wayne and Rhonda decided they were going to accomplish the Great Loop.  As usual, we were keeping in touch.  When we decided to bring the boat back to  California, Wayne and Rhonda were on their way.  Fortunately, however, they were not that far ahead of us and today, when we arrived at the Waterford Town Dock, we had the privilege of making the acquaintance of friends we always had, but had not actually met yet.  We spent some time on their back deck just chewing the fat like old friends.  For the next week, we will likely bump into them again as we work our way west on the Erie Canal towards Oswego, New York and the Great Lake, Ontario.

Just when you think things are about as good as they can get, following a fabulous dinner that consisted of stuffed port loin and sauteed vegetables, preceded by Frito's with onion dip and frosty cold V&T's, Brian and I wandered into town to take a look around.  I had been here a couple years ago.  In fact it was just before Hurricane Irene.  Brenda and I did this thing; we would go to the grocery story, load up on groceries and would be walking back to our boat when we would discover we were hungry or thirsty and enter a local establishment on the way back, spend several hours there, and end up eating nothing we just purchased.  Right! And all that stuff we just got at the grocery store really didn't matter.  Well, when we were here in Waterford, we were coming back from the grocery store and came upon a little locals bar called The Angry Penguin.  In the window, there was a signed posted advertising Arrogant Bastard Ale on tap.  The pull was virtually relentless and we ended up going into this bar and taking a seat on the corner ..... like we owned the place.  Well, within short order, we had met several wonderful local folks and ultimately spent the rest of the evening with them.  (Note:  our groceries were in the wheely cart and back pack that we simply positioned in the corner at our feet.)  During the camaraderie, we exchanged email addresses and the address of this blog.  I was aware that, during the next year, some of the folks we met were actually reading this, but I really had no idea the extent of it.

So, Brian and I wandered into the Angry Penguin and sat at the end of the bar.  The waitress came and took our orders and went about her business.  Soon enough, she was back and wanted to know where we were from and what we were doing.  I told her about my and Brenda's previous visit, but before I was done, she asked, "Are you the lawyer with the trawler?"  I was completely blown away!  It turns out that a bunch of folks were passing around the blog and talking about it at the Angry Penguin.  Then, out of nowhere, this lady comes up to me and says, "I'm Margaret, do you remember me?"  Of course.  This was a really astonishing turn of events.  It's hard for me to even come up with words to describe what this was like.  In this tiny little corner of the world, Brenda and I made some sort of dent that the folks remembered even to this day.  It was the warmest welcome I think I have ever felt and I am every so grateful for having had the opportunity, apparently, to make some kind of dent in their lives as well; that they actually remembered me and my blog is astonishing and makes me feel really good. 

Well, we will be on the move again tomorrow, but we are not sure what time we will leave or if we will leave at all.  We'll see.  We have no destination in mind, but we plan to get to Oswego as soon as possible.  Our transit should take us no more than 3-4 days.

I'll write again soon.  For now, however, from the Erie Canal in New York, this is M/V Abreojos..........OUT.

It appeared originally that we would be stuck in Delaware City for more than a day.  As it turned out, however, we were only there two nights. 

We arrived there rather late in the afternoon after hauling all the way from Annapolis.  I had been to Delaware City before and I knew the entrance was sort of tricky.  My timing was off this time as we arrived a dead low tide.  No problem.  We followed instructions on entering the canal and made it with just under a foot of water under the keel clearance.

When we checked in, we were given a packet of “stuff” about Delaware City including coupons for free crab balls at a place called Crabby Dicks.  Yes, we went to Dicks to eat balls.  What can I say? So, we went there and thought to sit outside.  First, the hostess was going to place us way outside, like back behind the building.  I know we didn’t smell that bad.  We requested another table with perhaps some breeze as it was pretty warm and humid out.  So, the waitress moved us.  Then, we were attacked  by flies.  After declaring our surrender, we finally moved inside.  The flies won.

Once seated, we ordered a couple beers and the balls thinking to ourselves that this would tie us over until a proper dinner.  Well, when the balls arrived, I was dismayed.  There lying on the plate were two balls that were rather “smallish” and rather “roundish” and I remember thinking to myself, “Mr. Crab? What happened?”  I thought these were going to be crab balls, not deep fried testicles!  Well, the time had come and I had to do something, so I rolled one in the sauce that was dolloped on a shred of lettuce and ate one.  Not bad, but not what I had in mind.  So, yes, we went to Dicks and ate some small balls.  Believe me, I ordered another beer.

The next day was a do-nothing kind of day.  It rained all day, sometimes very hard, and there was not a lot to do.  We did manage to get a ride to a real grocery store, as opposed to the convenience mart in town.  We loaded up on some fresh food.  Our driver, a kid named Cory, got so lost, even his Iphone couldn’t help him.  Granted, Cory was definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, nevertheless, we got to see some of the countryside.  There is not much going on in Delaware.  It is a tiny state with a lot of power plants and tax benefits, which I guess explains why so many business entities incorporate in Delaware.

So, after getting our groceries, we went to lunch.  It was fine and involved no anatomy.  The rest of the day was for reading and laying around.

We did not leave first thing in the morning like some of the anxious boaters also marooned at Delaware City.  We waited for the tide.  It is well documented that the tide can make or break your day on Delaware Bay.  Fortunately, our time to leave (high tide) was at around 0900.  So, at about 0845, we started the engine and headed out.  Believe me, coming or going through this canal is always easier at high tide.  Then we turned right and headed on down the Delaware River.  There was a lot of commercial traffic, but negotiating them was easy with the AIS.  Within a few minutes, we started feeling the pull of the outbound tide and were easily scooting along at almost 10 knots towards our destination, Cape May, New Jersey.  The sun was shining and the water was pretty flat.  We had a nice ride.

When we pulled into Cape May Harbor we stopped for fuel at some resort marina.  It was easy off and easy on the New Jersey ICW, so we kept things simple and stopped at the fuel dock.  There was another “Cory” working there.  This poor guy not only didn’t know anything about tying up a boat, but he had an even harder time comprehending instructions on how to do so.  We were both pretty tired, but Brian’s patience lasted longer than mine, so I let him deal with this guy. Although I cannot say it was a monumental achievement, we did ultimately get the hose and could start taking on fuel.  Our anchorage was within sight so we didn’t really care how long it took this guy to figure out how to uncoil the fuel hose.  After stopping several times to fix his hair, we finally got to pumping.  I understand that a lot of kids get summer jobs doing all sorts of things that, perhaps, they have never done before, but these are college kids, for crying out loud!  Between this “Cory” and the other Cory in Delaware City, I had to take the I out of IQ because, although we were dealing with some kind of quotient, it had nothing to do with intelligence.  Oh well.  Without too much drama, and because we can handle these things without help, we got off the dock and over to our anchorage out in front of the Coast Guard Station, where we had a quiet night.

 

At 0600, we pulled out of Cape May Harbor and onto the Atlantic Ocean.  It had been quite some time since Abreojos really got to stretch her legs on some open ocean.  I sensed immediately that she enjoyed it.  For the first few hours, it was smooth and easy running.  Our plan for the day was to make Barnegat Inlet and anchor for the night.  We were really looking forward to getting in as the wind had picked up and had made the ride rather snotty.  However, as quickly as it got snotty, it got better and as we approached Barnegat Inlet, it seemed to me that the better way to go was to just dig in and keep moving north and stop for the night at Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  This decision made a 16 hour day out of an 8 hour day, and an easy day time arrival into a slightly more complex night time arrival. Nevertheless, what we accomplished was making some serious distance in one day – 115.5 nm – and we picked up the day we lost due to weather in Delaware City.  So, by around 9:00 p.m. we were anchored behind the break wall at Atlantic Highlands.  The ride in was very cool, we got to see the Manhattan skyline as the sun was setting as well as the Verranzano Bridge all lit up, knowing that we will be there in the morning.

The Manhattan Skyline.  You can see the new World Trade Tower all the way over on the left, and the Empire State Building just off center.

So, after a great day on the water, a great dinner prepared by Brian, and a few minutes simply unwinding in total silence, we crashed.

Today, we will start making our way up the Hudson River.  I’m not sure where we will stop for the night, but we have to get up there as a significant weather event might be heading our way.  Yesterday, the National Hurricane Center announced the formation of Topical Storm Andrea (yes, the NWS had the audacity to name the storm which has all sorts of implications from an insurance point of view) in the Gulf of Mexico.  As of last night, the predicted path would take here into the Florida Panhandle and then east, north east across Georgia and South Carolina before heading north along the eastern seaboard.  A small part of New York is in the “cone of influence” so the farther up the Hudson River we get, the better.  In spite of the storm, there is still some fairly strong rain forecast for Friday late afternoon, so we figure to get tied up someplace we can wait out the weather………and get ice.  Those Vodka-Tonics are lousy without ice.

That’s it for now.  We’ll probably make the Erie Canal by Sunday, if not sooner, or possibly later.  Who knows?  We roll when we can.

Out.

STUCK FOR A COUPLE DAYS IN DELAWARE

 

Wow.  Today was a very long day.  We left Annapolis at around 6:30 headed for Delaware City.  We made it, but the trip was not without its interesting moments.  This trip was one of those, at the beginning of which, you say to yourself, “Gosh, I wish I had left an hour earlier.”  Of Course the National Whatever Service had a small craft advisory posted for the northern Chesapeake Bay, and this time they were a little closer to correct in their forecast.

When we left the dock, the winds were quite light, but, by the time we reached the outer harbor, the water was quilted in whitecaps.  There was a pretty good lump rolling in with the wind, too.  No problem, however.  Although we were having a hell of a time running beam to the conditions, we simply adjusted course to find the best ride until we were at a good angle to turn left and head under the bridge. Finally, we turned left and started heading north.  The course adjustment only took us a mile or two out of our way, but what’s a mile or two compared to the seventy we had planned for the day.  Again, if we had only left an hour earlier….

By the time we got to the bridge, we were feeling the full brunt of the outgoing tide.  The turbulence as we passed through the footings was impressive.  Our speed dropped to just over 5 knots and I had to take it out of autopilot to keep the nose from turning too far that we would spin out.  A sailboat in front of us kept doing just that.  They were rolling and spinning rail to rail.  At that point, I was very glad we have 200 turbocharged ponies down below which gave us all the push we needed to make it through safely.  And we did.  Moreover, once through the bridge, the turbulence was gone and we had relatively comfortable following sea conditions.  That first hour or so was a bit rough, and again, had we only left an hour earlier.

As we headed further north, the Bay narrows and the conditions were fine.  The scenery improved, too.  By the time we got as far up the Bay as Fairlee Creek, a very cool place where we spent 4^th of July in 2011 with our friends Barry and Jodie on “Love Shack”, the wind was basically behind the land and not impacting us at all, and the cruising was easy.  The upper Chesapeake is a very different place from the middle or lower parts.  It is actually quite beautiful.  At some point, you feel more like you are on a river than a huge bay because it gets quite narrow and the banks make for good sight seeing.  There are lots of pretty homes to look at and wonder about.

It’s been a while so I forgot that there are some rude folks out there who happen to own boats.  Several times throughout the day, we got “waked” pretty hard.  With as much space available as there was, why did that numb-nuts find it necessary to pass us within a boat length while pushing a 3-4 foot wake?  I’ll never understand why it is impossible to slow down, make a radio call, and then pass considerately.  But for the fact that I would probably get arrested and go to prison for a long time, it has certainly occurred to me to fit the front of Abreojos with steel plates and a ramming pole.  I’d actually love to find some of these dumb bastards and side punch a good size hole in their boats while their wives and children watch. However, I digress.  Following a year-long cruising break following two years of dealing with “wakeful idiots” on a daily basis, I thought the feelings had gone away.   I guess they haven’t.  Rather, I think they have intensified.  It’s a good thing Brenda was not on the boat yesterday, or some of these courtesy-lacking, floating fools might have had their esophagus hooked and removed with a boat hook……..from the lower end, if you know what I mean.  I know how much she hated getting waked.

The C&D Canal was a total breeze.  The tide was with us as we got in there and we were flying along at between 10 and 11 knots at barely 1000 rpms.  There were no ships passing through until the very end, but one interesting thing did happen.  As we were passing under the Chesapeake City Bridge, we saw a Towboat US boat waiving at us with his flashing lights on.  I looked at him and pointed to the vhf radio with a rather quizzical look on my face, and he looked back like, “oh yeah – the radio.”  So he called over and warned us that the powers that be were pulling power lines across the canal and that we should move to the north side for more vertical clearance.  The warning was a good thing as, when I got to that place, the lines were super thin and almost invisible, AND very close to the water.  They were going up as we were going by, so there was never any danger of hitting the lines (and they were not charged), but they looked like spider webs; the kind that get you right under your nose as you walk unwittingly between two trees.  So, no harm, no foul.

Whenever you arrive at a confluence, the system of markage always seems a bit “wonky.”  For example, when you are coming off the C&D Canal, there are marks that take you up the first river on the left between the shoals, then, there are marks that take you up the larger part of the river to the left en route to Philadelphia, or Camden, NJ., and then there are marks that take you down the Delaware River to Delaware Bay, etc.  The ones I think most boaters find confusing are the marks that are split colored, i.e., top half red and bottom half green and vice versa.  You have to know which channel you intend to follow before these kinds of marks make any sense, as it is the top color you heed onto the “preferred channel” and the bottom color that you heed onto or off of the less than preferred channel.  Again, a preview analysis of your charts helps.  Don’t try to figure it out when you get there or you’ll probably end up aground.  In any event, this is the kind of thing that happens when you leave the C&D Canal and flow onto the Delaware River.  Having been there before, I knew where I was going (I also studied my charts in advance).  Fortunately, for the less initiated, it is plenty deep around there so you’d have to work pretty hard to end up stuck in the mud.

So, as we spit out of the canal, we turned left and headed about two miles up the Delaware River to the turn off for Delaware City.  Now, here, we get into some skinny water.  Abreojos draws 4 feet.  Of course we arrived at low tide, but I radioed the marina and got some helpful advice: “Stay 20 feet to port of the green and aim for the little red boat’s bow, and that will keep you in the deepest water coming in.”  So, I did just that and slid into the creek with .4 feet under the keel to spare.  On the west coast, this kind of thing is not really an issue.  On the east coast, however, you get used to accepting the fact  that, if you draw 4 feet, and the creek is 5 feet deep, there is PLENTY of water……so what you fussin’ about?

Our plan was to get to Delaware City on Sunday and then leave for Cape May on Monday.  Well, you know how plans and cruising go.  You make a plan, God laughs, so you make another plan.  It would appear we will be stopped here for at least a couple days to allow a sizeable storm to pass through before we head down Delaware Bay for the Jersey Shore.  The storm is not producing buckets of rain by any means, but the lightning show last night was quite impressive.  We witnessed bands and sheets of lightning so big they covered the entire state of Maryland.  The radar showed these really thick red and yellow cells moving right over the top of us and all of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.  The radar can see out 150 miles and more, and all of that was completely covered and colored those deep autumn shades.  This went on for quite a few hours and continues as I write this note.  No thunder, just a lot of lightning off in the distant skies, and great cloud formations – true thunderheads.  Weather like this is something I truly missed this last year in California, where there is no weather.

Since we are going nowhere today, it will be a good time to get caught up on rest, reading, laundry, boat cleaning, and other things.  So, for now, that’s it and I will talk at you later.

Stuck in Delaware City, Abreojos is…….

Out.