Category: 2018 Chesapeake – Montreal-NY

Amsterdam to Brewerton, Erie Canal 6/24/2018

6/24/2018

We spent 2 nights at Amsterdam, wanting a day off.  This gave us time to explore the town with Bob and Diane, Sea Cottage.  Amsterdam was once a bustling manufacturing center.  Mohawk Carpets and Sandford Carpets were based here along with broom, linseed oil and other industries.  Below are photos taken at the historic Post Office, City Hall which once was the Sanford’s mansion, and the Elwood Museum and Green Hill Cemetery.

The restaurant at the wall in Amsterdam was closed, but the porch was open. We joined Sea Cottage for dinner al fresco.
The Post Office walls are painted with murals by Henry Schnakenberg, who also has works hanging in the Metropolitan, Whitney and other museums.

We crossed the pedestrian bridge over the railroad track to the north side of town. The railroad was the life blood of Amsterdam. It allowed Industry to flourish in this canal town.

 

CityHall was once the home of the owner of Sanford Carpets. Here is the staircase leading to offices upstairs.
The ram representing the local high school mascot.
We found a most unusual museum that housed a mass of strange and unique memorabilia including this piece. Any guesses as to what it is?
Here’s your answer. Yes, it is made of human hair. As a member of the family died, a new flower was added.

 

Amsterdam built a multi million dollar pedestrian bridge over the canal. Maggie liked this beautiful mosaic.
An interesting statue on the bridge.
On our tour of Amsterdam, we came upon the historic Green Hill Cemetery. This is the grave site of Benedict Arnold, the grandson of the traitor.

Hmm, I wonder if these could be some of my Nelson ancestors.
We were told these small unmarked grave stones mark the resting places of children who died during a plague.
The ornate iron fence and stone gate leading the way to the cemetery.

Leaving Amsterdam, we locked through #13 and were told that Lock 14 was closed and efforts were being made to get it opened.  We tied to the wall before the lock with several other boats to wait a couple hours for the blockage to be cleared.  Once through, we continued through Locks 15, 16 and then the big lift, Lock 17.  Little Falls, Lock 17 lifts boats up 40.5 feet, the largest lift on the Erie.  We pulled into Little Falls Harbor and Rotary Park tired from the long day.  It was dinner and bed for us, knowing that we’d have another long day coming.

Sea Cottage following us into a lock. Diane is reaching out with her boat hook to grab a weighted line to hang on to.
Coming into a lock. Sometimes there is a pipe or cable that we can wrap a line around to help hold the boat in place.
A canal barge
Another canal boat.

Sure enough, it was a good thing we got an early start.  Right off the bat we heard that Lock 18 was not working.  We hoped but the time we got there things would be cleared up, but that was not the case.  We opted to tie up on the wall at Herkimer and visited the gift shop there while waiting.  A call to the fellow looper told us that the lock was working manually, slowly, but locking boats through.  So after this 2 hour delay, we had to hustle.  Locks on the Erie close at 5pm and we knew it was going to be tight for us.  Upon completing Lock 20, the lockmaster asked if we planned to continue to Lock 21 and 22.  Upon hearing that we did, he told us to “put the pedal to the metal” .  We had to be at lock 21 by 4:45 if we wanted to continue through.  Tim throttled us up and we slipped into Lock 21 with only a couple of minutes to spare.  Since there are no tie ups in the mile between 21 and 22, Lock 22 had to wait for us.  It was 5:30 when we finally finished locking.  A few miles later we were tied to the free wall at Sylvan Beach, too pooped to care what the town had to offer.  Weather was again a factor for us.  We had 20 miles of open water to cover the next day and the forecast was a bit iffy.  Sea Cottage and we decided to make a call first thing in the morning on if crossing Oneida Lake was on or not.  tim and I were pushing to go because we saw an window to cross Lake Ontario open up for the coming Tuesday.  We needed to go so we could make that window.  Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to cross until Friday.

We woke to calm winds and some drizzle.  The weather forecast held and we cast of our lines at 7:30.  Two hours later we pulled into Winter Harbor.

Heading out onto Oneida Lake.
Waves we’re whitecapping at 2-3’ on our stern as we crossed the lake. The skies did not look friendly, but held back.
Maggie was happy snuggling under a towel to stay warm.
Tim opted for a sweat pants and a warm hoody as we crossed Oneida Lake.

 

2/24/2018

Now on the dock at Winter Harbor:

I began this post several days and many locks ago and am just now getting back to it.  It has been a busy few days and today will be our first “day off” in a while.  We crossed Oneida Lake yesterday and arrived at Winter Harbor Marina around 9:30.  It was an early, but short day.  We knew the weather was coming in and we needed to beat it across the lake.  Winter Harbor will be Subject to Change’s winter home and we moved our truck up here earlier this summer so we were able to do the bulk of our provisioning after getting settled in.  We plan to leave tomorrow morning for Oswego and then cross Lake Ontario on Tuesday.

Continue reading Amsterdam to Brewerton, Erie Canal 6/24/2018

NYC here we come. 6/16/2018

I know I owe you a blog, but I gotta admit there is just too much going on.  This has been such a packed, beautiful, fun, wonderful time that I am being selfish.  I don’t want to take time away from it to sit down and write it all out.  You’ll have to settle for pictures.

A small whale on the way up to Atlantic City.
3 miles off Barnagat Cut, we encountered a dredging operation. Thanks, Maridee for the heads up.
What a beautiful day offshore NJ.
Our anchorage at Atlantic Highlands after running up the coast from Atlantic City.. The peninsula on the right is Sandy Hook
Dawn at Atlantic Highlands. M/V Blue Moon
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with NYC beyond.
The free Staten Island ferry zipping across the harbor.
And there she is. The beautiful Lady Liberty.
A pic of Subject to Change taken by old neighbors and new friends, Maridee and Mark Sandridge.
The World Trade Center on lower Manhattan.
The Empire State Building in the distance still towers above.
Another of the Empire State Building.

Currents and More. 6/6/2018

As we travel down the Delaware River, I’m sitting here thinking about a main topic for this post.  We haven’t really seen much of interest in the last couple days, so I have no history lessons for you.  I didn’t take photos of the great fish sandwiches we had for lunch at Crabby Dick’s, so I don’t have that to share.  What I will tell you about is current.

A brief thunderstorm that rolled in at sunset.

Continue reading Currents and More. 6/6/2018

Baltimore, Billy and the Blue Angels 5/24/2016

Tim and I finally had a rain free day to head out and explore Baltimore.  We took full advantage of the sunshine and got out early.  Everyone else in town had the same idea and the walkways were packed with dog walkers, bike riders, baby strollers and people like us just happy to be out on a beautiful day.   Continue reading Baltimore, Billy and the Blue Angels 5/24/2016

St. Micheal’s, MD. 5/16/2018

After a rainy night in Oxford, we awoke to an overcast, chilly morning.  So here’s where the first decision of the day must be made.  What am I going to wear?  It’s always a gamble.  Will the clouds burn off and leave us with a brilliant blue sky, or are they going to hang around all day leaving a lingering chill.  Tim is usually optimistic and throws all caution to the wind.  He’s a shorts and t- shirt guy and it’s going to take more than grey skies to put pants on his legs.  I, on the other hand, tend to be more cautious.  While I don’t want to have 2 sets of clothes going in one day, I also want to be warm, but not hot.  So here I am weighing my options.  Our day in Oxford had been chilly.  It certainly was a pants and 2 layer shirt day for me.  After the overnight rain, the chill remained.  I opted for the pants and 2 layer effect.  Tim even went for snuggly pants.  Heading out into the bay to jog north around Tilghman Island, we had whooping seas of 4, that’s maybe 4 inches.  Winds may have been blowing 1 mph.  Great for cruising.  And it wasn’t long before the transformation began.  The haze lifted and the blue sky blazed.  And our layers were stripped off; long pants and long sleeves gave way to shorts and t-shirts.  Mother Nature fooled us once again.

The big boat parking lot as we crossed the bay from St. Michaels to Annapolis.

We chose Higgins Boat Yard for our docking.  First, they are much less expensive than the other marina resorts near by, we weren’t going to be wanting access to a pool, and I have come to enjoy watching the activity that comes with a boat yard.  We were not disappointed.  I’d happily choose Higgins again.

 

After getting settled, we leashed Maggie and headed for town.  St. Micheals’ main street is lined with shops and is very dog friendly.  With temps now in the high 80’s, it was time for a stop at a local brew pub.  Maggie was greeted by another thirsty pooch and the bartender’s dog that was visiting for the day.

Maggie and her new buddy enjoy a cold one at Eastern Shore Brewing.

Friends, Rick and Mary, Exhale, a 49 North Pacific, were at a neighboring marina, so we stopped by to visit.  With them were Nancy and Tom also on a 49 North Pacific, Meander.  Since there are only three 49 North Pacifics on the east coast, they declared a Rendezvous.  Nancy and Tom also are the proud owners of a DeFever 44, Terrapin, so a sort of DeFever rendezvous was held as well.  Docktails and dinner were in order.  Have another round!  Callie and Frank aboard their Ranger Tug, Jubilee, joined the celebrants for a finger licking good crab dinner.

Crabs all around!

Crews of Exhale and Meander joined us for a tour of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  The entry fee allows access for two days and you really need at least that to see all they have.  Maddie Sue, crew dog of Exhale, heard about Maggie’s jaunt to Eastern Shore Brewing, and convinced her captain that she too needed to belly up to the bar.  We also found the winery and distillery.  Ah well, it was a busy afternoon.

Maryland law requires that all commercial oyster harvesting be only conducted by sailing vessels. Skipjacks like this were frequently used.
A motorized “push boat” nosed into the stern of the skipjack to assist in docking. It has to be pulled out of the water when harvesting.

An old log skipjack being restored.
5th graders learn about their bay and history aboard a sailing ship.

 

The Cannonball House. History says that during the War of 1812, the residents of St. Michaels tricked the British by hanging lanterns in the trees beyond the town so the British would overshoot the town. One cannonball reportedly struck this house and rolled off the roof.

Our captains enjoy a moment with a well endowed figurehead.

I’m so glad we’re coming back to St.Michael’s.  Our good buddy, Billy, is flying in to see us and we hope to return for more fun with him.