Winter Harbor, Brewerton, NY

One of the interesting parts of cruising are the people you meet along the way. This time of year the Loopers, or folks doing the Great Loop (Google for more information) are traveling through the northeast and Canada. They have to be through Chicago and headed down the Mississippi by Labor Day to stay ahead of the weather.

We met a 75 year old, whose home is Illinois.  One Christmas his wife bought him the classic book "Honey Let's Buy A Boat".  He read it, and decided he wanted to do the Great Loop. He took two Coast Guard courses, joined the AGLA, and bought a 30 year old Prairie trawler in Mobile, Alabama.  The prior owner gave them 3 days of hands on training, and they headed out.  Across the Gulf of Mexico. They've been on the boat for 9 months now, and don't want it to end.

Another couple was on their second Loop trip.  They finished and enjoyed it so much they decided to go around again. Two years on a boat circling the eastern half of the U.S.  Hmmm.

In the small world department, we ran into the owner of the company I worked for back in the 90's. He bought his Nordic Tug from our friends Jim & Barb, who had used it for the Great Loop in 2008.  We know them because Barbara is an organist like me. 

Our friends Clark & Evelyn from our 2012 cruise told us to watch out for Andy and Julie on a Mainship named "Fruitcakes".  With over 100 people per year on the Great Loop at any given time, I didn't think there was much chance of running into them.  And there they were, parked on the wall at Waterford, NY, and marooned with us for the 5 days at Amsterdam. 

Everyone on these long cruises is pretty much in the same age category, usually 60 to early 70's, retired.  The number of artificial knees in this group is astounding!  They are all still looking for new challenges, and are determined to keep it going as long as they physically can. On a boat, something is always broken.  Men who never got their hands dirty are now repairing diesel engines.  Men who worked blue collar jobs are mastering sophisticated electronics. Women are making do with temperamental stoves and tiny refrigerators, all the while learning to drive the boat and communicate where they are at any given point. Nice people from all over the country, and we all help each other.
 

Brewerton, NY

Leaving Little Falls yesterday, we slogged our way along the straight part of the Erie Canal, picking up new boat buddies while going through another 5 locks and dodging the ever present dredging operations. 

 

 

 

After a very long day we spent the night at Sylvan Beach, on a wall, with no electric, water or Wi-Fi, but ... they had pizza and ice cream

 

Today, we are at Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY where they are always welcoming.  The staff plants an herb garden, pepper garden, and tomato garden on the dock for the use of their guest ... nice touch.

 While we washed the lock mud off the boat, Ellie took time off to do some sunbathing on the dock.

\

Amsterdam, NY to Little Falls, NY

After four days and five nights stranded in Amsterdam, we woke to fog.  Today the locks reopened at 8 am, and we were anxious to get on our way.

One thing about cruising is that you meet a lot of interesting folks doing, more or less, what you are. We been traveling the past few days with Ken and Terry on "Roundabout", a 42ft Grand Banks trawler home ported on Block Island. They are "loopers" on the first leg of a year long adventure. They lead the way today.

The Mohawk River is full of logs and debris and new sand shoals have appeared over night making cruising slow and exhausting.

 

 

Ken and Terry "locking-Thru" on MV Roundabout

 

We locked through seven locks today including Lock 17, the only lock with an over-head door. It is cavernous, with a lift of around 40 feet. As the great chamber door lowers, the booming sounds reminds us of the "Temple of Doom"

One bitter sweet moment came when we arrived at Little Falls where we spent two day on the 2012 Mini-loop.

At the approach to the main building, there is a fountain where two years ago we snapped a picture of us with River and Ellie. Today it seemed empty.

Our thoughts immediately went to River, who is no longer with us, and while saddened, we remembered his smile and missed him.



Little Falls, NY 2012

The day ended with a line of thunderstorms labeled "dangerous" by the weather service.  The show was spectacular. 
 

Amsterdam, NY

Day 3 marooned on the Mohawk River.  The latest is that the locks are scheduled to reopen on Tuesday.  The rain has finally stopped, and today we are being treated to an absolutely perfect, 10, day.  There are 8 boats here, and we've formed a little community.  Spent the day walking through town and reading the Times on the back porch (cockpit).

Riverlink Park "Redux"

 

 

This morning the heavens opened and the rain poured down. Definitely not a good day to be on the Mohawk River.

 

We hunkered down and stayed at Riverlink Park Marina for a day of rest and reading.

 

 

 

As rains came down so did an enormous amount of logs and debris floating down the river. Extremely dangerous.

 

 

Sleeping is challenging at many points along the river and canal due to the trains that parallel the route. To give you some idea, here's a short video, shot near the dock, as an example of what we hear when a train going by ... sometimes there are two at once, one in each direction. Double the sounds!

 



 

 

So, while our lives went on hold for the day, unfortunately for Eleanor and therefor Maryann, life went on. 

 

 

 

Captain's Supplement:

 

 

With the rains yesterday, today came flash flooding. By early evening the river had risen 30" placing the floating docks at the top of the concrete wall.

 

Several of the larger yachts, tied up on the fixed wall had to move to an even higher wall as the water reached the top and their fenders no longer provided any protection.

 By 8:30 pm the river had placed the floating docks within a couple of feet of disconnecting from their pilings and I started having real concern for the safety of MV Dunworkin.

Checking our depth gauge frequently, by 10:30 the river crested at 15.7 ft. The NY Canal Authority opened the down stream locks to lower the levels and by 11:30 the depth was trending down and so was my anxiety.

 

This morning the dock is nearly level with the fixed wall but the river is still high at 14.3 ft., the current is swift and there is a lot of debris. May have to stay yet another day.