update 9/27/2011 - Sandy Hook to Chesapeake City

The last week has been a whirlwind. We stayed a day at Atlantic Highlands, walking around town a bit. It wasn’t as interesting as we had remembered.

The next day we left at 0635. This is way early for us but we had a long (80 mile) day and unsettled weather ahead of us. We headed to Atlantic City where we arrived at 1600.  We were going to anchor but the weather was threatening so we went into the marina. The marina had changed hands in late May and it seemed like everything we wanted to do there was under construction/renovation.

Leaving Atlantic Highlands at dawn

The next morning we were off again slightly later at 0640. The fog was thick (like traveling in Maine) and it was still dark so we made our way out following the track of the previous day on the GPS and the radar. Of course we me two fishing boats coming in. The inlet was rough but I decided it was because the current was running out against the swells and that did in fact be the case as it smoothed out fairly well once we were clear of the inlet. The sky cleared a bit, then we had a rain shower and then it cleared for most of the day. We reached Cape May before 11AM and took a walk in the afternoon, admiring the old Victorian Houses on the way.

A late departure at 1030 the following morning put us out on Delaware Bay trying to catch the rising tide. As it turned out we were a bit early but the wind was light so we still had a good trip up the bay. However, we arrived at the Delaware City marina after it closed and it was raining with the current running. Jean did a great job playing cowboy and lassoing one of the cleats and we were able to get the boat secure. We got soaked finishing the job and plugging in the power in the rain.

With more rain predicted, we decided to take a lay day the following morning and attend to some boat maintenance projects and do the laundry. We also took several walks but there was little going on.

Sun Cat at dock in Chesapeake City

Today we took a leisurely trip down the
 C and D canal with the current and pulled into the free dock at Chesapeake City.  This is a neat little town with many of the houses built in the 1840’s and 1850’s.  We found the ice cream, watched a little football at the tiki hut and toured the town a bit. Tomorrow its on to the Chesapeake.

1840's houses

Having a good trip south.

Steve and Jean

Update 9/20/2011 Lock 7 to Sandy Hook

Greetings from NJ!

We did in fact get moving and its been a quick trip down the Hudson! Our trip down the remainder of the Champalin canal was quick, relaxing at times and a nail biter a couple of times!

The dam at lock 2

The river was still 2-3 feet high and running at a good clip. This made it interesting leaving some of the locks below the dams and one had to be careful of debris and making sure we were in the right channel as we did not want to be swept over the dams.

 I had mounted a “bridge tickler” on the front of the boat. This is a (sacrificial if necessary) pvc pipe which if my measurements are correct the top is 2 inches higher than the boat. The idea is to ease up to a low bridge, make sure the tickler will clear and then proceed under it, being prepared to give he boat full reverse if the tickler hits. What I was wasn’t sure of was whether the props in reverse would overcome the current in time! As it turned out, there were only two real low bridges, both of which were 2-3 inches above the tickler! One was a railroad bridge that had a train passing over as we went under.

The bridge tickler as seen from the helm

We had planned to proceed to the Albany Yacht Club but the weather forecast for the next day was bad so we decided to stop at the Canal Visitors Center dock at Waterford which had just gotten back to being useable the previous day.

The evidence of the water damage there was everywhere. There was no power or water on the docks and there were broken wires lying in several places. They were cleaning the mud off the walkway with fire hoses and the next day they were power washing the mud off all of the furniture and equipment in the building. We saw houses with flooded basements and were told that several had been knocked off of their foundations and were no longer habitable. We also were shown where the waster had come up over 5 feet on the side of the visitors center building.  We stayed there 2 days, waiting out the rain on the second day.

Example of debris piled on bridge abutment

The next day we traveled in beautiful weather to Kingston where we stayed at the Kingston City Marina. There was quite a bit of evidence of the flooding there also and when we left the next morning we saw a boat pushing a section of docks back up the creek. The weather was nice again the next day and we passed through the Hudson Highlands, anchoring at Croton Point (just above the Tappan Zee) for the night. It was a beautiful, quiet night at anchor with an almost full moon playing on the water.

Sunset at Croton Point

Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island was the next stop. It was another gorgeous day as we passed down the Hudson along the NJ Palisades and the west side of Manhatten. However, as we started through the harbor, the wind and clouds came and it got cooler and a little rough as we made our way across the lower bay to the entrance to Great Kills Harbor. The picture below is the George Washington Bridge with Manhattan in the background.

 

We stayed 2 nights at the yacht club. The club was friendly and we were able to catch the last quarter of the Patriots game at the bar, kibitzing with some of the members. The second day, Larry and Sue drove up and we had an interesting afternoon touring Staten Island. Unfortunately many of the museums, etc were closed on Monday. We ended the day with a meal at an neat old German restaurant Larry remembered.

Today, we  traveled in a light rain to Atlantic Highlands where we took on fuel ($.75 a gallon less than we saw in New York state) and toured the town a bit. 

Update 9/12/2011 - Hopefully on the move again tomorrow!

Lock 7 Yacht Club meeting in Glens Falls

The Lock 7 Yacht Club

The canal opens again tomorrow and we hope to get as far as Albany. Over the weekend we walked around Fort Edward and worked on the boat including the reinstallation of the “bridge tickler” to hopefully warn us if a bridge is too low. On Sunday,  the lock 7 yacht club did a field trip to Glens Falls. This is a picture of our meeting there. In addition, I’ve included a picture of our location above Lock 7 where we have spent the last few weeks.

Update 9/7/2011 - Still at Lock 7

Stranded in Fort Edward by Irene!

This is an update to my last post. We are still at lock 7 of the Champlain Canal. The canal reopened on Monday and then closed again on Tuesday because of debris. However, another issue is the Federal Lock at Troy that was flooded by Irene. We’ve heard there were boats and other debris sunk in the lock. These boats etc, had gone over the top of the lock during the flooding last weekend. In addition, the electrical system that controls the doors and valves was under water at one point.

After we leave the Champlain Canal, we need to pass through this lock in order to proceed down the Hudson. We are now being told we may be able to proceed down the canal on Friday and the federal lock may open on Monday. We will see what happens.

We have used the time mostly to do some visiting. We took a few days to visit my mother and then took another few days to visit our friends George and Jane on Long Island. We also toured Fort Ticonderoga with Lucy, one of Jean’s friends from high school.

We are right next to a canal maintenance facility so I’ve found it to be a good time to change the engine oil since they have a disposal facility for the used oil. We’ve been doing other boat projects as well as socializing with other members of the “Lock 7 Yacht Club”.

All in all, this has not been a bad place to be stuck. Most of the stores etc we need are available and the lock personnel and canal management deserve high marks for making sure we are protected, keeping us informed and generally helping us any way they can.

We were fortunate we were not on the Erie Canal as the damage there is pretty extensive and the word is that the eastern portion (lock 13 to Waterford) may not open again this year due to damages at the locks and the dams. In some places the dams are so damaged that there is not enough water in the system for navigation.

We hope all is well with everyone!

Steve & Jean