Brunch with a side of Practical Joke

As my good friend Dan Morlang would say, “We had another Fun Filled Action Packed” day on the water.

We pulled off the lock wall just a few minutes after 7:00 this morning. It was cold. I mean really cold. Like frost on the pumpkin cold. Touching the stainless steel steering wheel this morning was like putting your hand in a buck of ice. It was really chilly until about 10:00 when the sun was finally up and in full force and giving us that “green house” effect on the flybridge.

The cold was mitigated by a really nice surprise from Denise. Denise did a sensational breakfast/brunch. This girl can cook with the best of them. After 7 days of coffee and breakfast bars, Denise made us the nicest breakfast you can imagine. It was breakfast in bowl. She had home-fried potatoes, eggs, sausage, onion and spices all put together. It was amazing. It was just what we needed on such a cold day. It was truly brunch in a bowl. Thank you Denise for kick’n this day off on a very high note.

We continued to trudge through the locks and the hurtful 10 mph speed limit on the canal. After we cleared lock 16, the speed limit finally increased to 30 mph. It was nice to finally get the boat up and moving again. However, no trip can be complete without a practical joke. Poor Mack was the target and they got him pretty good.

This boat has an aft control station to drive the boat when you are fishing. After we got through one of the locks, we asked Mack to take the helm. However, we had switched the controls to the aft station. Mack started to drive and then Keith Skipper started to increase the speed from the aft station. Mack didn’t know what the heck was going on. We all played it up as if he had broken something and the boat was now out of control. He got a bit scared for a few seconds before he finally figured out we were putting him on. We all had a good laugh over it. Mack was a good sport about it. The things you do to pass the time on a long trip.

As most of you know, the boating Gods have their own ideas of how things should go sometimes. It never fails, Randy asked me how far we would get tonight as we pulled into lock 12. I told him I was pretty confident that we would get through Lock 8 if everything went right and make it to a marina with a restaurant before the locks closed at 5:00pm. We had just pulled into lock 12 and I had calculated the time to make the rest of the trip for today. I figured the miles and locks and our average time to get through. I told him it was going to be tight, but we should make it. Not less than 5 minutes later, the lock master came over the radio and said he was having a problem with the lock. About 30 minutes later, he was able to fix the lock and we got back on our way. However, it was too late. There was no way we were going to make it lock 8.

We started to backtrack and figured out the best place to stay for the night. Fortunately, it was just down the waterway. There is a nice park and dock in Amsterdam, NY after lock 11. So we finished a bit early today around 3:30. We were all pretty tired and we all wanted to get settled in to see the Presidential Debate tonight.

Now it is off to dinner, a cold beer, some Italian food and then the debate. Every day is a little different on the water. Today is a day I will remember for long time.

 Lock 19

 Lock 18

 Looking east at lock 18

 Waiting on a 30-foot Chris Craft in lock 18

 He is coming.

 Looking out at Little Falls, NY

 A church in Little Falls

 The big lock 17

 That is one big lock

 Exiting lock 17.  A big counter weight on the top lowers to raise the gate.

 The "Greater Amsterdam Riverlink Park

 Kristiania tied up in Amsterdam

 A cold beer tastes good after a long day

 Our good friend Mack who was a good sport with the joke today.

 Randy and Denise enjoying a beer in the cockpit.

Five's Company

Five's Company

The owners, Randy & Denise along with their good friend Mack Bryan stayed in a hotel last night. Keith Skipper and I stayed on the boat. We had a very restful night, but we had to put the heat on last night. The low temperature last night was 41. A bit chilly by anyone's standards.

We started the day as usual. Keith and I did our standard engine room check, got things aboard squared away and then headed over to the fuel dock at 6:45 this morning. We were tied and up and waiting on the dockmaster to open up at 7:00. She was right on time if not a bit early. We put another 400 gallons of diesel on board and pumped out the head. We topped off the water tank last night and by 7:30, we got off the fuel dock and headed down the canal to pick up Randy, Denise and Mack at their waterfront hotel.

We got everyone on board and by 8:15 after the luggage was stowed, we were underway on the Oswego Canal. What a beautiful day. It was crisp and clear with perfect sunshine. We ran down the canal and did another 80 miles today over 9.5 hours. There were 5 and 10 mph speed limits on the entire canal today, so we did the best we could. Overall, it was a great day and Randy spent the day feeling out the boat and familiarizing himself with all the electronics and nuances of the boat.

We crossed Lake Oneida mid-day. The lake was flat calm and we had a great run across the lake. The boat continues to run great. Everyone seemed to have a good day on board. The isenglass on the flybridge went up and down about 10 times throughout the day as we were hot and then cold and then hot again. The bottom line, we told stories and had a really fun day and enjoyed each others company.

We got stuck between locks and are now tied up on the wall at lock #20. Randy cooked his own version of jambalaya. It is fantastic. Along with a few cold beers, everyone on board is living the dream. Reel'n in the Years is in her glory as are the new owners and crew.

 Lock #7 on the Oswego Canal.

 A beautiful start to the day.

 Randy is driving while his wife Denise and first mate Keith Skipper are at the stern helm station.

 Randy, Keith and Denise as we cross Lake Oneida.  Randy and Denise were in their Carolina Panthers attire.

 Randy and Keith at the helm.

 Randy and Keith again with the "GO-Pro".

 Looking off the stern of "Reel'n in the Years".

 A long straight section of the Erie Canal.

A little more relaxing today than the past five days.

Onto Oswego, NY

Day 5 - We woke around 9:00 am after a much needed rest from out overnight canal passage. Sun was shining, but it was very cool. Temps in the low 60's this morning. Several boats were in the "Que" to transit the canal from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. They had themselves a long wait. We finally pulled off the dock this morning at 11:15 and they were waiting for a freighter to enter the canal before they could start. Sounds like our situation yesterday. We passed the freighter on the way out onto Lake Ontario. We summized that by the time the freighter got into the first lock and they would get to go, it would easily be 1:00 pm. Which means they won't finish until around 1:00 am tomorrow. Oh well, the joys of boating...

Back to our trip. As I mentioned, we finally got ourselves up and moving around 9:00. It took a lot of coffee before Keith and I decided we really wanted to get moving. We did the usual engine room check and got the boat ready to head out after checking the weather. By 11:15 we finally got the boat off the dock and out onto Lake Ontario. The waves were exactly as projected; 2 to 4 feet with winds out of the northeast at 15kts. The first two hours were a bit bumpy, but not too bad. By about 2:00pm, the lake started to lay down and we settled into waves that were 2 to 3 feet.

We had a nice ride over to Oswego. We covered another 141 miles in 6 hours. We got a "water in fuel" alarm around 4:00pm. We were able to quickly go down into the engine room and remove about a cup of water from the starboard Racor. The whole thing only took us 5 minutes and we were back up and running. This engine room has great access and it was an easy fix.

Keith and I got the boat tied up in Oswego about 5:15 tonight and gave the boat a good cleaning before the owners arrived. Randy and his wife Denise arrived just after 6:00pm. They seemed very happy with their new boat. They stopped at WalMart and picked up all kinds of new things and goodies for the boat. They also brought a good friend, Mac, to join us for the trip as well, so we now have 5 people on board for the trip to NC.

We finished off the day with a few beers and some stories on the back of the boat before we headed out to dinner. We had a great meal along with some good fellowship before the sand ran out of the hour glass for me and my first mate. We are now back on board and the long day from the Welland Canal has finally caught up with us. It is off to bed. We will start the next chapter of our journey tomorrow. We will need to top off the fuel tanks when the marina opens at 7:00am. Then we will see what the boating Gods offer up to us tomorrow on the Erie Canal. Until then...

The Dreaded Wellend Canal

The day started off great.  We topped off the fuel tanks at 7:00am in Ashtabula, OH and got onto Lake Erie to finish the last 100 miles by 8:00.  The dockmaster at Surtherlands Marina told us that the wind was to pick up by noon and he was spot on.  We started with pretty calm seas, maybe a foot.  By 10:00 the seas started to build and we could feel the weather changing.  Temperature dropped 10 degrees in 10 minutes and the wind changed out of the north.  By noon as we were coming into Port Colburne, Ontario the waves were building and we were glad to be getting off the lake.

We stopped at the Welland Canal check-in station and called customs and then checked in with the Seaway Lock System by 12:30pm.  Then we waited and waited and waited.  Finally at 4:00pm they called us to start the transit behind a 500-foot freighter "Kaminisiqua".  We sucked on his fumes all night long.  Not to bore you with the gory details, but we didn't finish the transit until 4:00am.  That is how it goes sometimes.  It was cold and damp with the front that came through so it was not an enjoyable passage.

We hit the rack hard at 4:00am and did not even set an alarm.  We knew we would have plenty of time to cross Lake Ontario since we only had to transit 150 on Saturday to meet up with the new owners in Oswego, NY.

 The entrance to Port Colborne, Ontario

 Reel'n in the Years tied up waiting for entrance to the Welland Canal

 A gloomy and overcast day.  We got off Lake Erie just as the weather tuned.

 A big freighter coming out of the Welland

 The rest of the ship coming out of the Welland

Our night time view of the Welland.  I took this picture at 2:00am as we waited to enter the lock.

I hate Fog!

No "real" drama today! 

What a day.  We had near perfect weather today.  We departed Port Sanilac before sunrise.  Winds were light and variable and hardly a ripple on the water.  We had the most enjoyable ride down to the St Clair River.  We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and sipped coffee on the flybridge on the final leg of Lake Huron.

We entered the St Clair River around 8:20.  It was really beautiful.  It was almost too nice.  The cool morning temperature and lack of wind has a tendency to create fog.  And that is exactly what we got about 9:10.  We hit some fog.  I mean some really heavy fog.  Like couldn't see 10 yards ahead of you fog.  We slowed down, had the navigation lights on, the radar going and the hailer set to the fog signal.  All was well until we heard another boats fog signal.  It wasn't just any boat.  It was a freek'n 600 foot freighter.  If you have ever heard a freighter's fog signal, you will never forget it.  It will rattle the windows out of your boat.  Well, we heard the signal, picked him up on radar and got as far out of the channel as we could.  Then we heard the signal again.  We still couldn't see him.  But the horn was so loud he had to be right in front of us.  Thank God he wasn't.  I think I need to change my shorts.  He passed us about 50 yards to our port.  We never saw him until he was next to us.  Trust me, it is the most unnerving feeling you will ever have.  About 30 minutes later the fog lifted and we were on our way, but for those 30 minutes, I was questioning my career choice.

As tough as those 30 minutes were, the next 8 hours were about as good as it gets.  After the fog lifted, we had the most beautiful run across Lake St Clair and down the Detroit River to Lake Erie.  The run across Lake Erie was epic.  Waves were less than a 1 foot and just a sunny, gorgeous day with temps around 75 and no humidity.  The kind of fall boating day you dream about.

We finished tonight around 5:30pm after another 244 miles in Ashtabula, OH.  We stumbled upon a great restaurant tonight to cap off a near perfect day.  Tomorrow we will run about 100 miles to Port Colbourn and try to get through the Welland Canal.  My best guess is if we are lucky enough to get into the canal, we won't finish onto Lake Ontario until well after dark.  We will tied up on the wall at the end of the canal overnight and then make the run across Lake Ontario in the morning to meet the owner Randy and his wife Denise on Saturday night.  We still have a lot of things that need to go in our favor, but we are hopeful that all the stars align.

 A beautiful flat, calm Lake Huron this morning at 7:15 this morning.

 A small freighter we passed just coming off of Lake Huron

 My view for 30 minutes.  We couldn't see anything.  The fog so thick my mate was dripping wet when he came back to the flybridge.

 Downtown Detroit in the background.

 Detroit.

 The GM Building in Detroit.

The entrance to Ashtabula coming off of Lake Erie.

Vanessa

We had another strong day on the water, but it started very early.  I was rudely awakened this morning by the Charlevoix ducks.  That is right; I said ducks.  The SOB's were quacking up a storm on the finger pier next to the boat and in the water.  At about 4:30 this morning there was a chorus of ducks quacking their freaking heads off.  Finally at 5:30 I couldn't take it any more and just got up.  I needed to get down in the engine room anyway and see if I could stop the leak from the starboard water pump.

So down in the bilge I went with socket set and crescent wrench in hand.  I was able to get to most of the bolts and get a few turns on them, but there was one I could not tighten without a small, properly sized wrench.  I checked the water pump after the first hour underway and it was down to a very small and slow drip.  I feel my efforts were well worth it and the leak was significantly less than the previous day.  It was much easier to work on the engine when it was cool and not being bounced around by the waves.

We got off the dock this morning right at sunrise.  We had the Charlevoix bridge open and we were out onto Lake Michigan once again.  I have had some real luck with the wind and waves.  It was like glass out on the lake again today.  Barely a ripple.

We ran up to the Mackinaw Bridge and then started down Lake Huron around 9:45am.  We were trying to put as many miles as we could under the keel with the good weather.  The weather and seas cooperated with us until about 2:00pm when we got close to some thunderstorms.  The seas picked up and we had some good 3 to 5 foot seas with occasional 6+ thrown in.  Fortunately, that only lasted about 2 hours.  The boat took the waves very well and provided us a very dry ride given the conditions.  We were able run all the way down to Port Sanilac.  We did 266 miles today in 11 hours. 

But the real hero of the day was Vanessa.  Vanessa is the dockmaster at Port Sanilac Harbor Marina.  She was kind enough to wait for us to arrive at just after 6:00pm tonight.  The marina normally closes at 5:00pm, but Vanessa was very kind to stay open for us and help us put 500 gallons of diesel on board before she finished for the day.  Thank you Vanessa!  So she is my hero for today.

Allowing us to get fueled up tonight will help us again in the morning as we run down through Detroit and onto Lake Erie.  The boat is running great and all systems are good.  We continue to keep our fingers crossed for more good weather.

 This is Skillagalee Light or Ile Aux Galets Light

 Grey's Reef Light

 Mackinaw Bridge from Lake Michigan

 Mackinaw Bridge from Lake Huron

 Presque Isle Light

 My Hero Vanessa at Port Sanilac Harbor

 Reel'n in the Years tied up in Port Sanilac

Port Sanilac Harbor

Love Affair with Lake Michigan

Day 1 for Reeling in the Years could not have started any better.  We pulled out of the marina in Kenosha, WI at 6:45am Central Time.  It was a picture post card morning.  Absolutely flat calm seas, with light and variable winds and a gorgeous sunrise to cap things off. We set our waypoint toward Leland, MI some 180 miles away and didn't touch the wheel for 8 hours.

We had a great ride.  The boat performed almost flawlessly the entire day.  We ran the boat at about a 75% load and she cruised nicely at 25mph while burning about 38 gph.  We had originally planned on stopping in Leland for the night, but we arrived early enough that we could continue on.  We did stop in Leland to take on about 326 gallons of diesel since the marina in Charlevoix, MI would be closed by the time we arrived.  So the stop in Leland worked well to top off the tanks before the final 40 mile push onto to Charlevoix. 

We pulled into Charlevoix at around 6:15pm on Eastern Time and covered 238 miles today.  After we got the boat all set up in the slip, we made a short walk over to the Tap Room for a cold beer.  We had a beautiful view of Round Lake and the boats in the harbor where Reeling in the Years looked as good as ever.

We then walked across the Hwy 31 bridge and had dinner at Stafford's Weathervane Restaurant.  Both of us had the White Fish and Perch for dinner.  It was very good and not something we can get in the North Carolina, so it was a treat.  A great meal after a good, solid day on the water.

Now it is back to the boat for some paperwork before hitting the sack.  Sunrise is at 7:30 tomorrow so we hope to be on the water by then.

 Pulling out of the slip this morning.

 A flat calm Lake Michigan.  I have had great luck with weather on this lake.

 My first mate, Keith Skipper, at the helm.

 The entrance to Charlevoix.

 Our ride for the past 11 hours.  Kristiania is 43 Mikelson soon to be renamed:"Reeling in the Years".

While not a great picture, this was the sunset as we walked home from dinner tonight.