2011-09-09 - to Cornwall, ON

It was a great day today. We left Brockville at 7:15am and landed in Cornwall at 4:15. It was a much calmer day, no waves...nice. We also did 3 locks. The first one only dropped us about 4 inches (quite uneventful) but the last two locks dropped us about 40 feet. Connor helped out at the lock wall, fending off the slimy walls of the canal and did a great job. The best part of the day is that we were going about 9-10 knots most of the way. The river, we thought, added about 2-3 knots. The only time that the current did not help us was heading into Cornwall and going up river. At this point we could only do 4 knots....but, we made it. We jumped on our bikes with trailer in tow and headed for the local mall. We were told of the wifi available in the food court (how I am able to post this). As I am writing this, I am hearing Dylan squealing in delight as Kerry is taking him up and down the escalator (who needs Disneyworld?). When we got back Connor took no time to introduce himself to the two little boys in the boat next to us. They were having a blast playing with each other as they offered up a piece of pizza in exchange for some glow bracelets.

2011-09-08 - to Brockville, ON

It was quite a bumpy ride today. We left just after 7am...heading towards Brockville. We ended up checking into Brockville Yacht Club a little earlier than expected. The scenery along the way was wonderful. Lots of nice homes and a few castles. The folks at the BYC were so friendly and willing to let us know where all the local amenities were. We ended up jumping on our bikes and having a tour of the town. We hit the local market, grocery store and then....the laundry mat...oh, and the dollar store in town for some fake blood and vampire teeth. (see pic of Connor).

2011-09-07 - to Ivy Lea, ON

It was a short day on the water. We left Kingston at8am and landed in Ivy Lea (just outside of Gananoque) by 12:30pm. Now, we are in the 1000 islands...so, it is crucial that we watch the charts at all times for markers to guide us through the islands. We needed to get more chart information on this 'part of the world' so Kerry went out to West Marine last night to purchase a new chip for our new chart plotter. We are meeting the brokers, Pat and Grant Bowlby, from Harris and Ellis Yacht sales that sold us this boat. We had contacted them to see if they knew of a place that we could store our dinghy. To our wonderful surprise, they had offered to take our dingy and we would have theirs for the trip. We are so grateful. The reason we had made this decision is that our dingy is a bit oversized for our boat. It was good 95% of the time, but if we got rougher seas than we had already experienced, then we may be in trouble with it. So, we lifted it on our dingy davits and it fit perfectly. This will be perfect for the rest of our trip!

2011-09-06 - in Kingston, ON

Well, pull back out the Canadian money....we are back. Last week, I gathered all the little coins etc and tucked them away. Afterall, we weren't going to be needing them right?

Today, Dana is going home. :( It's been great to have him with us and we will miss him! Sorry, we didn't make it on time to New York!! So, after we said our goodbyes, we jumped in a taxi and headed out to Fort Henry. Connor has been pumped since yesterday when we said that we would be going. He knew a lot of the answers as well as we looked up the Fort on the Internet. When it was time to leave, he didn't want to go and we had to repeat the first half of the tour and watch the rifle firing demonstration for the second time. He had a blast.

2011-09-05 - to Kingston, ON

Great news today! At 10:04am, an alert from the Canal Corportation was posted on their website. This is what it said:

UPDATE: CHAMPLAIN CANAL HAS REOPENED TO ALL VESSELS. THE ERIE CANAL LOCK E2 TO E19 WILL REMAIN CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Mariners are advised that the Champlain Canal has reopened to all vessels, and the Erie Canal between Locks E-19(Frankfort) and E-2 (Waterford),will remain closed to all vessels until further notice. Hurricane Irene caused record flooding in the Mohawk River and the Canal Corporation is currently assessing damage to several structures. Updates will be provided once the full extent of damage and what efforts are necessary to reopen are determined; next week at the earliest. Updated Monday 09/05 at 10:04 AM

You don’t know how relieved we were. We had so many other alternative plans on the go. Now, we are basically on plan. The detour of the Erie Canal to the Champlain canal adds another two weeks, but, that’s ok. It sure beats any alternative that we were being faced with. With that great news we had a bit of time to enjoy Sackets Harbour. I walked to the Battlefield area to check out the historic houses and Canons! Connor just loves this stuff. We pulled away from the dock at 11am on route to Kingston. There we will head up the St. Lawrence to Montreal and then the Champlain Canal. yeah!!

2001-09-04 - to Sackets Harbor, NY

We left Oswego this morning to Sackets Harbor after sending a few emails to potential crew that could assist on the St. Lawrence route. One of the more favourable options was an couple from Vancouver. They have logged over 50,000nm delivering various boats (even Catamarans) all over the world. They have even battled hurricanes (Noel 2009). I sent them a note to see if they were interested and they were. We are still hopeful that the Champlain Canal system will open to allow us to reach the Hudson River.

2011-09-03 - to Oswego, NY

Well, we are heading out to Oswego today to find out the final status of the closure of the Erie Canal Systems. It doesn't look good....but, we'll figure out a way! More later....we are just about to push off. ...later on in the day.... We had another calm day on the water. This was good as it gave us time to think about what we will need to do to get down south. We pulled into Oswego Marina to check in as we had a part delivered there and the woman who runs the show was not optimistic. There is, indeed, extensive damage to the whole system. We have a few options at this point. We will probably head out towards the Champlain system and we will learn about the likelihood of it opening on route. If that is unlikely, we are considering taking it out the St. Lawrence. We will need crew for that so we have already contacted some potential folks to do that.

2011-09-02 - to Sodus Bay, NY

We left Oak Orchard at 6:30 am and travelled for about 10.5 hours to Sodus Bay. It was another calm day. We grabbed our bikes and trailer and headed into town and explored the beach. It was a really nice break from all of the planning. No new updates on the Erie Canal. Here's a great link to see the damage that has been done to the canals. It looks like there is a lot of damage and we are certain that this part of the canal will not be open this year - www.tug44.org/flood/hurricane-irene-2011/

2011-09-01 - to Oak Orchard, NY

Today, was a much calmer day. We left Wilson at 7:30am and had a great sail. Just after 12:00pm, we had decided to duck into Oak Orchard as there seemed to be weather in the distance and, after yesterday, we wanted to stay extra dry! We pulled into Oak Orchard which is built on a small river system: Oak Orchard Yacht Club was our destination. As we pulled in, the dock master (who lives with his wife on his boat) just stood there with his arms folded. He said, 'We have 'one of them' in our club (meaning a catamaran) and there is only one spot that he fits and he's in it." Well, nothing gets me going then saying, we can't. We did spot another few spots as we came in and after talking him into it - he allowed us to try. There was a very large submerged log in the way, that we wiggled and set free. It was perfect.

But, unfortunately, we have a roadblock to overcome. Here is an update on the Erie Canal Systems: Mariners are advised that the entire Champlain Canal, and
theErie Canal between Locks E-19 (Frankfort) and E-2 (Waterford), are closed to all navigation. Hurricane Irene caused record flooding in the Mohawk River and the Canal Corporation is currently assessing damage to several structures. Updates will be provided once the full extent of damage and what efforts are necessary to reopen are determined. Updates regarding the reopening status of the Erie Canal will not be available until next week at the earliest. Updates for the Champlain Canal should be available sooner.

This is the only reasonable way south. The Champlain Canal system is located up by Montreal. We would have to head north on the lake to the St. Lawrence and up to Sorel. If the Champlain system does not open....we may have to consider going out the St. Lawrence. This option would create a lot of extra planning. We would need to hire a crew to assist and the kids would not go. We are now in a 'wait and see' situation.

2011-08-31 - to Wilson, NY

Well, we have completed the first day of our trip. Let's start at the very end...we are all dry and happy and glad to have the first day under us. It started out very calm and we had a light sail for the first third of the trip. Connor and I were sitting on the trampoline at the bow eating a few skittles enjoying the relaxing day. He said (and I chuckled)..."this is the best day of our trip so far!" Soon, the water picked up in waves and swells and we were in a choppy situation for the rest of the trip. I stayed inside for most of it and kept the kids happy and relaxed while the 'boys' brought us in. We did take a few waves over the bow which, unfortunately, did 'pour' into our two cabins out front. Connor was sat in his cabin playing when the downpour came in. Very wet indeed. We closed them after that and we continued to get waves over the bow. Dana is with us for a couple of weeks as he is really excited about seeing the canals and New York city. He'll probably head out after that. It's great to have him here though as we can all ease into the trip with extra hands on deck! We landed in Wilson and checked in with no issues at the video terminal at the Tuscarora State Park. They gave us a clearance number and we were all set to go. We spent the first hour on American soil emptying out our cabins (mattresses and all) and draped it all over to dry. We raised out US courtesy flag, had a lovely warm meal and called it a night!