Utica, NY

Word is that several locks are destroyed, so the Erie Canal is out of commission on the eastern end of the canal until probably spring. This morning we made arrangements to have Island Time shipped to Annapolis. We will move the boat back to the west side of Lake Oneida today, and will prepare the boat for shipping.
We'll rent a U-Haul truck to carry all of the items that we have to take off the boat.
Could be worse -- at least we can get the boat home via land!
***End Of Blog***

Erie Canal

We are stranded on the Erie Canal for at least 3 days. Locks #1 through 19 are closed due to damage from Irene. We are going to try to hole up in Utica NY. More later.

Oswego Canal

Our mast was taken down yesterday in Oswego, NY. At first we thought we would have to wait until Monday, but they could take us yesterday. So we were on our way this morning under mostly clear skies, and since then we have entered the outer cloud bands of Irene. We're now on the Erie canal about 150 miles east of Albany, so we won't get into the bad part of Irene, but it is supposed to rain all day tomorrow.

We must say that it is a LOT of work to prepare a boat for mast unstepping -- sails down & packed: stays, wires & lines etc. disconnected & secured, all electrical connections to the mast disconnedted & secured. We fell into bed exhausted last night, but happy to be getting on our way instead of hanging around for 3 days.

Oswego, NY

Today is our last day on the Great Lakes (see picture left of Kathy & Joe with Lake Ontario in the background). This afternoon we will arrive at the marina in Oswego, NY. John & I have been on the Great Lakes for over 5 weeks.

Tomorrow we prepare the boat for the mast to be stepped, and on Saturday the marina crew will step the mast.

Sunday we will head south down the Oswego Canal and will meet up with the Erie Canal. Then we take the Erie Canal east where it meets up with the Hudson River just north of Albany. This will all take several days, of course.

Welland Canal

I havent written for a while, so we will catch up. After Detroit we went to Put-In-Bay and got a mooring and ate dinner on board. The weather has been good - (the only storms we have had the entire trip came after we were tied up and protected at marinas.) --Then on to Cleveland Aug 17, Geneva St. Park, Ohio Aug 18, and Erie, PA on Aug 1 9. On Aug 20 friends Joe & Kathy Burke arrived from Maryland via a one-way rental car from Hertz. Aug 21 Kathy & I shopped for food at Sams Club and Wegmans. --Had dinner on the wharf at a restaurant.

We took off Aug 22 for Port Welburne, Ontario and the lake was fairly rough, but we all weathered it just fine. Had a crock pot dinner on board, and left early Tuesday morning to position ourselves to enter the Welland Canal.

Once again we were lucky with good weather. We entered the locks with two other pleasure boats. I had the bow line & Joe had the stern, and Kathy fended off. We were required to hold on to these lines as we went down each 50-ft lock. Heavy gloves come in handy. We were all wearing PFDs as required through the canal. At one point we had to tie up and wait for a large freighter to come through a lock. (picture above)

We arrived at Youngstown, NY after 5:00, and clearing customs took a while because the video phone wasn't being answered. Seems to be a common problem. Anyway we had a late evening and got up fairly early to head 75 naut. miles to Rochester, NY. Winds are currently 14 knots, and are expected to increase, but the lake is fairly calm because the wind is offshore.

We will have another one of Kathy's yummy crock pot meals tonight, chicken cordon bleu, tonight after we reach our marina.

Port Huron, Michigan

We're spending the week-end in Port Huron reprovisioning, doing laundry and visiting friends. We got a slip at the Port Horon yacht club, and we had an excellent dinner at the nearby Quay St. Pub. College friends from way back, Doug & Mary Kay Baribeau live in a lovely house on Lake Huron just north of Port Huron, and we got together for drinks at the yacht club Saturday. They invited us for dinner at their house Sunday night, and we had a fabulous dinner of beef tenderloin steaks on the grill, fresh corn on the cob, salad & potatoes.
Tomorrow we go down the St. Clair River, through Lake St. Clair and down the Detroit River to Detroit, where we have reservations at the Detroit Yacht Club.

Port Elgin, Ontario

We are two days away from Port Huron, USA. It has been tricky to do the blog while we are out of the U.S. Will write more when we are in the U.S. and have unlimited computer connection. We left Tobormory this morning and headed out into Lake Huron. Because of yesterday's high winds, the lake still had very high waves, and we were really rocking & rolling for 7 hours. Good thing I have gotten used to this and don't seem to get seasick anymore. Still it was not a quite a pleasant ride, but the lake was very blue & pretty (see pictures above). We really liked it when we got into the marina and experienced calm waters inside the breakwater.

We had club sandwiches for lunch, and pasta for dinner with the leftover box from my dinner out last night - veal; and I added all sorts of Mediterranean stuff - flat-leaf parsley from Island Time's herb garden, tomato sauce & the veal plus angel hair pasta, garlic, and on the side we had a Greek salad.

We have enjoyed talking to the Canadians who strike up a conversation with us as they walk by our boat. In Tobormory most of the boast were American, but here it's all Canadian.

South Benjamin Island

South Benjamin Island, North Channel

We have been without Internet for 3 days. I have lots of pictures to post, when we a have quicker connnection. Temporarily I will report that these island in the North Channel are georgeous, and we are enjoying the anchorages. Tomorrow we plan to go to Killinary, and will be in a marina so that we can reconnect with civilization. Maybe do laundry & fill our water tanks. We have plenty of food & libations on board so we have been quite content.
Yesterday we were anchored at "John Island"; so beautiful (pictures above). We swam off the back end of the boat -- it was quite hot -- cooked rosemary chicken on the grill -- put on the generator for AC so we could sleep, but were able to turn it off during the morning. We woke up to rain, which continued through the afternoon, so we stayed put until after lunch. Then 3 - 4 hours to the Benjamin Islands. It started clearing as we anchored. There are several other boats here, as this is a desired spot, and it featured in the boating guides. The islands are made up of granite, many of which are pink; and the islands are quite steep in som e spots. White pines grow out of the granite everywhere (pictures above). It is quite a sight! We cooked marinated flank steak on the grill, along with mashed potatoes & microwave peas.

Pictures to come.

Elk Rapids to Mackinac City

We left Elk Rapids on August 1 under sunny windless skies. We motored 30 miles to beautiful Charlevoix, and stayed two nights because of the prediction of high winds. We set off again Wednesday, Aug. 3 despite a forecast of strong winds and high waves -- we were anxious to get going.

After passing through the Charlevoix draw bridge, we entered Lake Michigan. The waves were immediately big, but we were prepared and Island Time did magnificent. We encountered waves 4 - 8 feet -- the boat was slamming and pitching for many hours. I managed to bring some food into the cockpit so our stomachs would be able to take this punishment - first bananas, then peanut butter & crackers. Then later after the seas calmed down to 4 - 6 knts I prepared some mac & cheese, followed by jello & cookies. We were set for the rest of the day. The 50 mile trip took nearly 8 hours, and as we pulled into the Straights Marina it was raining, windy, and flies were attacking us. We were so glad to tie up, connect the power cord & relax with the A.C. to get rid of the himidity, and alas -- have a chilled beer. After showers, I heated up a leftover meal from 2 nights ago (a chili casserole) and it was scrumptuous.