August 2016 - Hudson River to Westbrook, CT

Now that we've completed the Triangle Loop, we are on the home stretch.  We traveled 5 days down the Hudson River stopping in places like Saugerties, Poughkeepsie, Chelsea and Croton-on-Hudson.  We only had one day with wind against current for a pretty unpleasant cruise, otherwise, it was beautiful.  Our stop in Poughkeepsie was to visit friends from RMHYC where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Thank you Brenda & Ted for welcoming us into your home.  While we were out for the evening, we found out the next morning, someone had hit our boat.  Not major damage but enough to scar her with a few scrapes down the starboard side.  The next day RMHYC friends, Harela & Vic, picked us up and we went to Motorcyclopedia in Newburgh.  This museum turned out to be pretty awesome with over 450 bikes on display from 1st half of 20th century.  Special emphasis on Indian motorcycles as well as military & police, choppers, scooters and more.  There were even a few for visitors to sit on for photo ops.  

We docked at One 15 Brooklyn Marina located just south of the Brooklyn Bridge.  We wouldn't want to spend an extended period of time on the boat here because wakes from ferries and water taxi's would be too much to take but for a one night stop, it was perfect.  What a view of Manhattan!  We met up with friends we met earlier in the summer and they took us for a bicycle excursion around the city.  Over the Manhattan Bridge, down the East Side, around the battery and up to 75th St where we stopped for lunch, then south to Warren St and back across via the Brooklyn Bridge.  27.5 miles!  Very fun afternoon.

Greenwich, CT is home to the previous owners of our American Tug so we stopped to visit them.  When they owned our boat, they had it painted at Brewer Pilots Point Marina in Westbrook and suggested we stop there for an estimate on repairing the damage done in Poughkeepsie.  We got a reasonable estimate and also found out they still had the paint on hand.  With Hurricane Matthew wreaking havoc on the East Coast at this time, we weren't going anywhere and since we were nearing the end of boating season in New England, we decided to leave the boat in Westbrook for the winter, have them do the work on the boat and then rent a slip here for the summer of 2017 to explore Long Island Sound.

Kingston waterfront rehab

Motorcyclopedia in Newburgh, NJ

More Motorcyclopedia

The new Tappan Zee Bridge

View of Manhattan from Brooklyn Marina

...and Manhattan at night

Auto in charge while Scott reads

August 2016 - St. Lawrence River to New York

My mudder is dead.  These were the words uttered as we passed a pontoon boat carrying 6 passengers heading east on the St. Lawrence River.  Our first thought was, oh no his mother is dead, what the heck will we do.  But after careful consideration of those 4 words and the fact he was speaking with a French accent, we figured out his motor was dead.  What a relief to us since dealing with a dead motor is so much easier than a dead body.  Doing what boaters do best, we set up a tow line and and towed them into their marina a few miles down river and waved good-bye. 

We began our journey south into Lake Champlain and eventually the Hudson River by way of the Richelieu Canal and the Chambly Canal.  The temperature was well into the 90's for an extended period of time so we took it slow and searched for air conditioning wherever possible.  The villages were very quaint, each with a personality of it's own.  There were family events and music events at most stops and of course we sought out cheese, bread/croissants and ice cream.  It was quite breezy as we entered back into the U.S. at Rouses Pt, NY.  Scott took our passports,documentation and the few fireworks we had on board up to the Custom's trailer to check in.  There was an electronic billboard before we docked flashing the message 'all fireworks must be checked in'.  Fifteen minutes later he was back to the boat with our clearance number and the fireworks.  The custom's people had no idea what to do with the fireworks so they were ours to keep.  Just trying to be law abiding citizens!

Anchoring was plentiful on Lake Champlain.  We anchored in Pelots Bay, St. Albans Bay, Deep Bay and Valcour Island before heading to the Champlain Marina in Mallets Bay.  Exploring, swimming, bird watching, boat watching and kids swimming were just some of the highlights to our days at anchor.  Once in Mallets Bay, we rode our bicycles into Burlington a couple of times for sightseeing and grocery shopping.  While in Burlington, we were also treated to an Air Show.  We logged 44 miles on the bikes at this stop.  After our stay at Mallets Bay, we headed off for more anchoring in Willsboro Bay, Kingsland Bay, Mile Bay, Crown Point and Ft. Ticonderoga.  The only anchorage we had a problem in was Kingsland Bay.  At 0500 the anchor alarm went off , we had 20-25 mph winds with gusts to 32 and to top it all off, we had wind against current with standing waves coming into the anchorage and we began to drag.  Scott started the boat, I put on my life jacket went out to haul anchor but of course it wasn't that easy.  The chain came off the roller and I had a beast of a time getting it back on in gusting winds and rough seas but eventually it was hauled and we set off for quick protection and a regroup.  After the events of the evening we took a mooring in Mile Bay.  Crown Point was a destination for us since a few years ago when crossing the Chimney Point/Crown Point bridge, we saw an American Tug anchored in this very spot.  We really wanted to get ashore at Ft. Ticonderoga and were told we could land our dinghy on the pebbly beach through the weeds and walk up the hill to the welcome center.  After a couple of attempts, we gave up.  Nothing is ever that easy.  The "Fort" is not boater friendly.  In my opinion they are missing the boat!

Whitehall, Ft. Edward, Mechanicsville and Waterford, and we've completed the Triangle Loop.  We saw a poster in Whitehall for Shakespeare in the Park, A Midsummer Night's Dream so we planned our day around this.  Great performance set on the banks of the Champlain Canal.  The Champlain Canal had lots of weeds, so much so that they wrapped around the propeller and caused a vibration when moving the boat.  Scott laid down on the swim platform and reached under the boat to the prop with a knife attached to a boat hook to cut it off.  We were able to continue then stopping at the next lock to cut off more weeds.  Eventually we were back to normal.  Note to self: don't go through the carpet of weeds in the future.  Yeah, Waterford!  The Triangle Loop is complete!

Doing a little shopping

Cruising the Richelieu Canal

Up close and personal in Willsboro Bay

Selfie at Chimney Pt (Mascot in background)

Shakespeare on the Champlain Canal

Inexpensive real estate along the canal

Lock 1 Champlain Canal-Triangle Loop Complete

July 2016 - Ottawa River & Montreal

Leaving Ottawa we descended the flight of 8 locks onto the Ottawa River.  For the most part, the Ottawa River defines the border between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.  Water depths range from 6 ft to 100 ft with plenty of buoys to aid in navigation.  The Gatineau Mountains on the Quebec side were majestic and scenery along the river beautiful.  One of our must stops was Chateau Montebello, a Fairmont hotel, in Quebec,  It was built in just 4 months by 3500 laborers back in 1930, opening on July 1st and is claimed to be the worlds largest log cabin.  In 1981, the G7 Summit was held here with leaders Pierre Trudeau, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Francois Mitterrand.  It also acts as a museum with memorabilia and photo's of balls, international events and more covering the walls.
St Anne-de-Bellevue was one of our more interesting stops for boat watching and quite a tourist attraction with the lock front and center along with the boardwalk, restaurants and cafes along the canal.  The lock lift is only 3.3 ft but takes approximately 30 minutes.  The lock attendants will fit 20+ boats in the lock when busy, it's organized chaos while they load the lock.  The boat captains all know how to maneuver their boats and are courteous to other boaters.  We spent 3 nights here including a visit with RMHYC friends Louis and Tilly who graciously showed us the area between here and Montreal, as well as providing us with a car.  Merci beaucoup!  
Montreal has so much to see and do.  We checked out the Underground Mall, Old Port, Mont Royal, great restaurants, shopping at European & Asian markets, St. John's Oratory, Notre Dame Cathedral, neighborhood festivals and so much more.

Welcome to Chateau Montebello

Aux Chantignoles-main dining room

Marina facility

Hotel Lobby

St Anne-de-Bellevue Lock

St Anne-de-Bellevue at night

This yellow Smart Car was ours for the day to go into Montreal.

The other pictures are St. John's Oratory.

The Montreal Yacht Club

Sightseeing in Montreal

Notre Dame Cathedral - Zoofest & Just for Laughs Festival

    

Rue St. Denis & Rue St. Laurent

THE REED-O (Kingston to Ottawa)

Happy Canada Day from Kingston, ON

From Kingston to Ottawa we pilot MASCOT along 125 miles of waterway collectively known as The Rideau Canal.  If you are a local (i.e. Canadian) it is simply called “The Rideau” and is pronounced “Reed-o”.  We are instantly recognized as “from away” (i.e. American) with our pronunciation of “Re-doo” and corrections are promptly made.  With the naming now firmly established, we begin our travel along this historic waterway.  Constructed in just 4 years and completed in 1832 the original intent was to establish a military supply route to keep troops and supplies out of reach of the pesky Americans.  Apparently we did not learn our lesson in Sacketts Harbor during The War of 1812.  Since this is before the advent of steam power, the labor is provided entirely by man and beast.  Many thousands of French, Scottish and Irish worked and died while constructing the locks and canals.

The system is a collection of rivers and lakes tied together with man-made canals and locks.  Some of the canals are extremely narrow with jagged rocks sticking out from the sides where the cut was blasted from bedrock.  The locks and bridges are still operated by hand just as they were over 175 years ago.  The highest point of the system is Rideau Lake.  During construction this lake was split in two and is now called Big Rideau and Little Rideau with a lock in between.  In some places the lakes are over 300’ deep and the clear water flows down to both Kingston and Ottawa keeping the locks and canals full.  The shores and islands are dotted with cottages with some being modest while others are quite grand.

We will spend 17 days traveling this route and will spend most nights tied along the wall at one of the 49 locks.  Many locks are located at nice towns that also need to be explored, usually for some exotic food such as poutine and always for crème glacée.

Going up!

Elgin, ON - The Opinicon Resort restoration is amazing

Lock tenders hand crank the doors

Cottage for sale on Colonel By Lake

Perth, ON - Mammoth Cheese replica from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

Merrickville Lock - Parks Canada

Long Island Lock - Parks Canada

Parliament West Wing undergoing major renovation

View of Ottawa River from Peace Tower at Parliament

Parliament East Wing and beyond

Changing of the Guard at Parliament

Running club posing for photo while we were locking down

Lock tenders managing the water flow as we lock down

Thousand Islands

WOW!  We lost count at 1129, but according to the guide books there are 1800 islands with 2/3 of them in Canadian waters.  We stayed in US waters until Wellesley Island then cruised north ~5 miles to clear Canadian customs in Rockport, ON.  We pre-purchased a lock and mooring pass for Parks Canada so we wanted to try to stay on their docks when possible.  As you will see, we definitely took advantage of their services.  They had great docks with picnic areas, campsites, toilets, trails and some had trash receptacles and 2 red Adirondack chairs positioned for the best vantage point.

U.S. Ports of Call:

• Henderson Harbor anchorage
• Sackets Harbor - Navy Point Marina
• Clayton - Municipal Dock
• Wellesley Island - Thousand Island Club

Canada Ports of Call:

• Grenadier Island - Parks Canada
• Mulcaster Island - Parks Canada
• Gordon Island - Parks Canada
• Endymion Island - Parks Canada

Sackets Hbr was a base for us to rent a car and drive to Mt Wachuset in western MA for a friend's wedding and at the same time rendezvous with family for a couple of hours since we hadn't seen them since September.  It was really great to attend Jean & Paul's wedding and to see family. The history of Sackets Hbr includes a shipbuilding center for the War of 1812 and Sackets Hbr Battleground.  There are many, many good restaurants to choose from in a beautiful setting.

,

Carol, Natasha, Mary, Tom & Scott in Gardner, MA

Jean & Paul are married!

Everyone got to ride the chairlift at Mt. Wachuset

Friends celebrating!

Clayton, NY is home to the Antique Boat Museum (ABM) and we couldn't wait to see the beauties on display.  We dedicated a whole day because we didn't want to rush through it.  So glad we did, it was awesome!  Clayton is a great stop, whether by car or boat, with many shops and restaurants to visit.  We also went to St. Mary's Catholic Church (Mary couldn't pass it up), a small beautiful church dating back to 1844.

1960's Sears Ted Williams outboard

Sweet Launch

Dr. Seuss created adds before writing books

Beautiful wooden boats on display

The workshop

Racing boats

St. Mary's Catholic Church

Steamboat Willy came up a few times on this adventure so of course we re-enacted the scene whenever possible.  Who is Steamboat Willy you ask?  You'll have to search the Internet to find out.

Steamboat Winnie

Steamboat Mickey

Boldt Castle was amazing.  Another full day to explore the history of the castle on Heart Island.  George Boldt (owner of Waldorf Astoria in NY and Bellevue Stratford in Philadelphia) had Boldt Castle built as a birthday and Valentine's gift for his wife between 1900 and 1904.  She died suddenly at age 34 in 1904 and George requested all work be stopped.  The castle consists of a power house, playhouse, castle, arch and more on Heart Island and a yacht house on Wellesley Island.  There were crates of unused material as well as granite steps for the grand staircase still on site, and I'm sure much more we didn't see.

Boldt Castle grand entrance sans granite stairs

Unused ceramic tile - circa 1900

View from the terrace

Ornate entry arch

Playhouse

Yacht House

Docktails with Brenda & Ken and Kathy & Jim from the Bahamas & RMHYC on Wellesley Island.  Thanks for the hospitality!

Parks Canada in the 1000 Islands provided us with the perfect opportunity to island hop and explore.

Statue of St. Lawrence (Mary's brother always knew there was a statue for him somewhere)

Mascot on Grenadier Island - only boat for the night

1000 Island Bridge

Parks Canada Red Chairs

What a view!

What looks to be a few land masses is actually many islands

Gordon Island trail signage

Mascot with new boating friends from Canada

Scott in the dinghy aiding a rental houseboat get on a mooring at Endymion Island.  That's USA in the background