Welcome To Canada

Our 48 mile trip across Lake Ontario was smooth, and uneventful.  We tucked into Prinyer’s Cove in the afternoon, and dropped the anchor.  Now for the check in process…because of Covid the check in process for boaters had changed many times, and luckily for us, changed again the day before we arrived.  On June 20 an announcement was made that the Telephone Reporting System (TRS) would reopen for 246 marinas in Ontario.  This meant that all we had to do was place a call, answer a few questions, and place an 11 digit number (our entry approval number) in a visible location on the starboard side of the boat.  WOW!  That was sooo easy.  If the TRS had not reopened, we would have had to appear at an ‘official’ entry site in Kingston or Trenton.

Another boat that crossed with us had to dock at the marina and wait for a Customs agent to arrive from Trenton to board their boat, because they declared a shotgun.  They were allowed to bring the gun into Canada, but the Customs official had to see the gun to approve it.

Oswego has a impressive breakwater system for Lake Ontario.

This breakwater is made to take a beating!

A beautiful evening in Prinyer’s cove.  We planned to head directly to the Trent Severn waterway to start working our way through the 45 locks required to get to Georgian Bay.  However, we received word that the locks were closed…

Time to slow our roll!  That’s alright, we still had some business to take care of before entering the waterway.  

We relocated to Belleville, which looked like a fairly large town.  Our ‘business’ list included:

1) buy a Canadian courtesy flag (how could I have forgotten to order one…ugh!)

2) buy fresh fruits and veggies (since we were not supposed to bring any with us)

3) exchange currency - we need some cash in our pockets

A lot of people enjoy the waterfront in this town.  From rowing clubs…

To sailboat races😁. These were remote controlled sailboats, but the race was still exciting!

We launched our bikes and tooled around Belleville all day, and successfully completed all of our ‘business’ task list.  Canada has very colorful money, and the exchange rate sounds like a deal!  I handed over $400 US dollars, and received $497 Canadian dollars👍

Once again…I will confess my ignorance as it pertains to global geography and politics.  #1) I was surprised to see Queen Elizabeth on the $20 bill. #2) I was even more surprised to read the line, “Whereas the undersigned will be navigating the waters of the Trent-Severn Waterway and WHEREAS these waters are owned by Her majesty the Queen…”😳 (this was on my lock pass paperwork). Clearly, I need to read up on Canadian history!

Awww…aren’t they cute?  It is peaceful to watch momma and poppa swim around with the babies.  However, these are Mute swans, which are invasive.  Originally from Europe and Asia, they were introduced as ornamental novelties in lakes and ponds in parks and estates in the 1870s. Of course, they didn’t stay put, and are now wild throughout North America.  In Ontario, the population was just over 500 in 1985, but over 3,000 in 2010. They are large and aggressive birds that harass other water fowl, and take over territories previously used by migratory indigenous swans.  They also destroy underwater vegetation by ripping out the root systems of most grasses.  Still, when it is just one little family they are kinda cute.

This week’s project…get screens on the salon windows!  (Sorry Dave, guess I should have done this sooner) 

As we crossed Lake Ontario, the boat filled with bugs, and our first night at anchor in Canada, introduced us to the Canadian mosquito.  If you have ever seen the original Jumanji movie, you probably thought the scene where the giant mosquitos drill through the roof of a car, or break the windshield with their proboscis, was introduced by a very creative thinker.  I believe the person responsible for that scene was either from, or had recently visited, Canada!

Being from the Chesapeake Bay, I have never seen this type of machine.  On the Chesapeake, it is our mission to save the SAV (submerged aquatic vegetation). We search for and nurture each tiny strand of grass we find.  We use the presence or absence of these grasses as a major indicator of ecosystem health, and a constant reminder of our failure to protect our waterway. 

So, it was hard for me to wrap my head around anyone wanting to mow it down with a contraption like this, but that is exactly what happens. The basket like structure on the right gets lowered into the water and the blades cut the grass. A conveyor belt then carries the cut grass past the operator and dumps it off the back.  This marina mowed daily to keep there fairways open.

This felt like an optical allusion…what do you see? 

We then moved to Indian Island to be close to the Canada Day celebration on July 1.

My next clue about grass problems came when Vicki, No Fixed Address, (you might remember we met Vicki and Aren in the Bahamas March 2020 -they happen to be from Ontario and have been sharing valuable pointers), told me that if we planned to anchor at Indian Island I needed to keep a sharp knife on the bow, as the area was “very weedy.”  Again, I had trouble visualizing what that might look like…

Ohhhh, this is very weedy!  We are anchored in 10 feet of water.  Where are the Mute Swans when you need them?

After one night at anchor, Keith suggested we move the boat for fear all of this grass might wrap around our props and get into our raw water intakes.

A sharp knife didn’t actually do the trick, but our handy machete has earned its place onboard!

Happy Canada Day!  We enjoyed the festivities at Centennial Park in Trenton, and had a front row seat to the fireworks.

As of the time of this posting we are in the Trent Severn Waterway, and have 19 locks down and only 26 to go before reaching Georgian Bay. I will include all of the lock adventures in my next post.  I am having trouble posting, because we are suffering from connectivity issues, again!  We are limited to .5 GB data usage per day with our Verizon plan.  We were hoping to purchase a Canadian SIM card to put in our hot spot, but to our shock and dismay…we can not purchase a SIM card unless we are Canadian citizens and/or have a Canadian credit card🤷🏼‍♀️

Sooo…we are going into Peterborough tomorrow to look for WiFi so I can post this blog, and we will figure out the next one in a week or two.

Joy in Troy

As promised in the last post, we want to share our experience in Troy, NY.  This is certainly one of the most beautiful cities we have ever visited!  The architecture is amazing, and the city was clean, bright, vibrant, and friendly.  I would consider this to be a must stop location when transiting the Hudson River!

The pictures can speak for themselves…

If you are a fan of the new HBO series, ‘The Gilded Age’, you probably recognize some of these buildings, filming for the first season began May 2021.  Additionally, Troy has been the filming location for the following movies:

• 
  
• The Gilded Age (2022– ) TV-MA | 81 min | Drama. ... 
• Scent of a Woman (1992) R | 156 min | Drama. ... 
• The Age of Innocence (1993) ... 
• Motherless Brooklyn (2019) ... 
• The Time Machine (2002) ... 
• Life Like (2019) ... 
• Ironweed (1987) ... 
• The Emperor's Club (2002)

We had the pleasure of meeting the mayor, Patrick Madden, and his entourage.  We just happened to be the only boat at the marina at the time of the dedication/ribbon cutting ceremony for the new marina.  Hurricane Irene caused considerable destruction to downtown Troy in 2011.  This might seem strange when the city is 130 miles from the ocean, but we were shocked to find this area still has a 4-5 foot tidal range despite the distance from the ocean. Over the past 10 years the city has taken on a riverfront revitalization project, which included a new sea wall, a riverfront park, and the new marina.  They enjoyed hearing a few ‘Right Hand Life’ stories!

Troy is where we left the boat so we could fly to Atlanta to celebrate Gage’s high school graduation, and farewell to the Navy

Weekend trips for family celebrations are an essential part of making this lifestyle sustainable.  We love spending time with our grandchildren!

But…we are always happy to get back onboard, and continue the journey…

Central New York is beautiful.

As soon as we left the dock at Troy, we entered the canal/lock system.  The first lock (E1) is actually on the Hudson River, and once we were through we had to turn left at Waterford to enter the Erie Canal where we passed through 22 more locks before turning onto the Oswego River.

We were traveling west bound, so most of these locks were raising us up.  It was quite a surprise when we reached lock E21, and it took us down 25 feet.  I guess we made it over a ridge, and didn’t even notice.

Some of the locks were very close together.  This picture was taken from either E4 or E5.  Once the water level reaches the brown stain line on the yellow gate, those doors will open, and we will proceed directly into the next lock where the gates are already open.  However, we will not actually enter the next lock until that red light turns green.

When the lock is designed to lift 25+ feet, the water inside become quite turbulent when they open the valves.

Night time view of a dam spillway while tied to the lock wall on the downriver side.

This was a type of lock we had never seen before.  The gate was like a guillotine, which simultaneously offered a level of terror, and a dose of OCD shivers of disgust, as the dirty lock water rained down on our heads as we passed underneath…yuck! I am giving negative points to the designers here.

And…many of the locks only have rope lines to hold on to during the rise/lower process.  This is Keith’s view from the top deck at the stern of the boat.  I am holding onto a line at the bow.  Let me just say that this method of holding a 60,000 lb boat still while turbulent water boils in from below is another example of very poor design!

At the end of a long day of locking, we are looking for a peaceful place to tie up for the evening.  Option #1 is not looking very peaceful.

We continued 2.3 miles to option #2…yippeeee!  We have the whole wall to ourselves.  Most locks along this canal close at 5:00, so anyone can tie to the wall for free overnight.  I don’t want to sound antisocial, but we have no desire to raft up three boats deep and climb across the boats of strangers to get on shore when this is so easy.

Not only was this spot peaceful and beautiful, but…

And…There was an amazing walking trail running right along the canal, only a few feet from the boat.

We have had to lower our mast (which holds our radar), as well as our antennas to make it under the low bridges.  Our charts say the lowest bridge clearance, in this area, is 20 feet.  Keith has measured from our solar panels to the water, and determined our highest point is 18’ 8” above the water.  That doesn’t leave a lot of clearance, so I am frequently holding my breath until we are clear.

The canal tugs are adorable! These guys might not agree with my choice of descriptor.

Many towns along the way offer free docks for 48 hours.  It has been incredibly convenient to simply tie up for the night, and not worry about anchoring.  The free dock walls also allow easy access to town amenities.  

Date night at the dirt track in Brewerton, NY…when in Rome (there is a Rome, NY 30 miles away)…

Luckily, they gave out free ear plugs!  The cars were so loud you could feel the rumble in your chest as they went past.  I loved the way they all came up on three wheels (and sometimes two) as they slid around this curve.

No Schedule…Impossible

One of the best parts of this lifestyle is supposed to be living with ‘no schedule’, but the reality of no schedule isn’t always realistic.  If you have plans, you have schedules!  Our goal of exploring Georgian Bay and Lake Michigan this summer requires us to backmap our trip to make sure we are out of Chicago by the first week in September.  No one wants to be trapped in Chicago, on a boat, for winter! However, due to the short summer season the Erie Canal/ Lock system didn’t open until May 23…so clearly an earliest ‘in’ date + a latest ‘out’ date = a schedule! Additionally, Keith and I had a marina reservation and airline tickets to fly out of Albany, NY to Atlanta, GA on May 10 to attend our grandson’s graduation/ Navy send off party.  That definitely constitutes a schedule!

Sooo, everything was progressing just fine until a doctor threw a wrench in the system by ‘strongly advising’ additional testing before we left Maryland.  Since MD is our home state, we schedule all of our annual medical appointments for one week.  During that week we try to squeeze in numerous appointments while attempting to visit all of our family and friends in the area.  Our intention was to take care of all appointments and visits the week of May 16, and continue north on May 23.  Long story short…we stayed an extra 10 days for heart monitoring and an echocardiogram, to ultimately be told that my heart looks great!  Of course it was wonderful to get the all clear on health issues, and to get a few extra visits with my Dad, but now we are seriously behind schedule. 

The #1 question being…can we make it to Albany, NY in 8 days?  We could actually cover that number of miles in 6 travel days, but two of those days need to be in the ocean along the coast of New Jersey…so, if the weather was not going to cooperate it would be a ‘no go’!

Finally, we got a break, and the two days we transited the coast of New Jersey were the calmest ocean days we have seen in a long time!

We anchored with the backlight of a beautiful sunset along the skyline of Atlantic City, NJ

And bright and early the next morning we left with the sunrise.

By the time we got to New York the wind and seas were building, but we were able to slip behind Coney Island for another calm night at anchor. The remainder of our trip, to Albany, was up the (relatively protected) Hudson River so the wind can blow all it wants now!

Cruising through NY offers plenty of sights to see.  At first glance, I thought NY might be trying some new homeless encampment project, or possibly the jails were overflowing. I have seen similar setups in New Orleans during Mardi Gras (not from the inside)!  To my surprise, I was wrong on both counts.  This is actually a ‘glamping’ (the term is supposed to mean glamorous camping😳) retreat.  Sorry, but I visualized something very different!

“Collective Retreat at Governors Island - Enjoy luxury camping at a peaceful oasis near the hills of historic Governors Island. Enjoy luxury accommodations, gourmet culinary experiences and signature activities. Wake Up Inspired.”

That quote comes directly from their website, where you too can book a retreat for a measly $1300 for three nights, or you could splurge for the $2500 upgraded version.

It’s always wonderful to cruise past Lady Liberty!

Usually, when we reach Manhattan we take a right and follow East River out to Long Island Sound, but this time we are going left up the Hudson. It’s all new from this point on!

The Shushing Girl.  I gave her that name, the real name is ‘Water’s Soul’, but when I Googled ‘Shushing Girl’ she popped right up, so clearly I am not alone.  She is on the Jersey City side of the Hudson, so do you think she is shushing New York?

We are always interested in the architecture.  This ‘floating’ balcony caught my eye.

Oh no…I’ll pass!

This next discovery was quite impressive…

Little Island at Pier 55.  This is a 2.5 acre island park built entirely in/on giant concrete planters coming out of the water.  The construction costs are reported to have topped $250 million, yes, that’s a lot of zeros, but it’s pretty darn cool!

We did not take this picture, but here’s a birds eye view…

Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

And quickly, the city was left behind, and the landscape turned into rolling green hills with a LOT of trains running along the bank, and disappearing into tunnels.

It was a surprise to see how quickly the topography changed.  This was my view while preparing lunch.

The Catskill Mountains are beautiful.

Sorry for the poor quality of this picture, but it was a very hazy day and the sun never seems to be where we want it to be for optimum lighting!  Anyway, this is West Point.  The buildings are impressive, but the fact that we watched a two mile long train disappear under the campus was a bit disconcerting!  

Again, we didn’t take this next picture, but it gives you a much better view…

Unbelievable!   (The Tunnel under West Point Military Academy is a photograph by William E Rogers)

We dropped the anchor, at Cornwall, just in time to enjoy the end of a riverfront festival. Dinner from a Vietnamese food truck was phenomenal followed by a relaxing evening on the bow.

A perfect evening for a little drone flying.

At this point, we are two days ahead of ‘schedule’.  Finally, we can slow down and enjoy the views of the northeast portion of the Appalachian Mountains.

Spoiler alert…we did make it to Troy/Albany in time for our flight. In fact, I am writing this post from a hotel in Atlanta.  Our next post will include the AMAZING city of Troy…what a delightful surprise!