Boating Adventures

I’m tied up at the town dock in Waterford.  It was a relaxed trip up the river, and fun to travel almost all the way with a tail current by timing the tides.

The NY canal system is scheduled to open on Friday, and I’m here until then.  My original plan was to go through Lake Champlain, but I’ve decided to take the more direct route through the Erie Canal to Oswego.  It’ll put me in Ontario faster and saves having to round up crew for the Seaway and Chambly locks.

It’s nice to stop for a few days.  As usual I have things to do aboard.  My bow thruster stopped working in the Bahamas, and I could use it for the next couple of weeks of locking.  And the outside needs a good wash down.  Get all that salt off.

I realize it’s been a week since I last posted.  I haven’t had much to say. 

I spent five days roaming the CT coast and rivers.  Went up the Connecticut River to Hartford, then followed the shoreline back towards NYC.

Yesterday I had a fun day exploring around Mamaroneck and City Island.  I was planning to stay there, but the tides were right in the afternoon for a passage through NYC so I pressed on.  Turned right at the Harlem River and went through that way to the Hudson.  I stayed just below the Tappan Zee bridge last night.

Today I traveled with the inbound current up to Poughkeepsie.  I’m here until noon tomorrow when I catch the next inbound tide.

It’s quite beautiful through here.  I’m looking forward to heading north from Albany through the Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain.  That’ll be new territory for me.

I’m tied up for the night on the town dock in Norwich, at the head of the Thames River.  Nice spot.  People fishing and hanging out in the park.  Had some good Indian takeout for dinner.

A lot of the lower section of the river is devoted to submarines.  There’s a big base as well as a builder.  I knew it was around here somewhere.

Tomorrow I leave with the tide, heading down to the shore and hopping south to the Connecticut River. 

I’m anchored here for a bit.  Nice trip across from Long Island.  I was ashore this afternoon wandering around town and tomorrow will visit the Seaport Museum.  I was here over 40 years ago in the winter time.  Looking forward to visiting again.

I love poking around this time of year.  The best anchorages are open, and most local boats are still under wraps.

I’m anchored here, sheltered from the east wind.  Tomorrow I’ll head over to the Connecticut side.  I’d like to stop in Mystic for a day or two.

Yesterday I stopped in Shinnecook Bay, and this morning came through the Shinnecook Canal, and around the north side of Shelter Island.

I’m sure things will look quite different around here in a month.  Right now it’s pretty quiet. 

After my last post I decided to go into Jamaica Bay, and I anchored near JFK for the night.  Had planes taking off over the boat, which is always entertaining.

Yesterday I went out around Rockaway and in at the East Rockaway Inlet.  Last night I anchored next to the Fire Island lighthouse and hiked around a bit.  Neat area.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting  through here.  I didn’t realize the barrier Islands run 2/3 the length of the island.  Today I’m noodling east.  At Shinnecook Bay there’s a fork in the route.  My inclination is to head into Great Peconic Bay from there.

This is mostly new territory for me, so lots of pics.  If recent posts seem light on details and pics it’s because I’ve done most of it before.  Go back six years and you’ll see my first trip on Mazurka.

Also my tracker is on, and you can see my recent route here for those following along in near-real time.

To catch up – I’m anchored here.  Nice spot, lots of birds, and golfers on the left.  Manhatten skyline astern.

Yesterday I set out to explore three rivers in NJ – Raritan, Hackensack and Passaic.  I had high hopes for going some distance up each.  In all cases I was blocked by closed train bridges that were too low. 

By the end of the day I had covered the NJ side and and stopped in Newark immediately adjacent to Red Bull Marina.  There’s a park and dinghy dock there.  Had a burger out at a local bar.  Nice.

Today I headed out the harbour and over to Coney Island and in here.  Neat area.  I’ve never been to Long Island.  I like the seaside view so far. 

I haven’t moved Escapade since arriving.  It’s quiet here, a few boats fishing in the bay and people fishing and hanging out along the shore.  It’s all part of the national park where I am.  Dinghy access to shore is decent, and I’ve managed to get stores and do laundry and enjoy some meals out.

I tore apart my cooling system end to end.  Discovered a somewhat suspect connection on the suction side of the pump, and replaced a hose.  But there was no smoking gun.  Transmission oil cooler is clean and unobstructed.  I’ve run the engine a couple of times, and still seem to have a problem at startup, where water won’t start flowing unless I increase engine speed.  Will be keeping a close eye on it as I get back underway. 

My other mission was to get a replacement fuel filter for the generator, which I did after discovering that it’s a common automotive part. 

Tomorrow I’m going to fuel up and get underway.  Not sure where, but there’s lots of this area I haven’t seen.

I had a smooth trip, and am anchored here. 

NY Harbor was eerily quiet.  I didn’t encounter any boats.  Then shortly after anchoring the CG called on the radio and got all my deets.  Better than boarding, I guess.

I’ve got a few tasks to attend to before I start my local cruise.  This is a good stopping spot.

I just passed Barnegat Bay heading north along the New Jersey coastline.  Not much of a view.

It is however a nice day for the trip.  Calm.

I got underway Friday about 0930 from Norfolk and arrived in Atlantic City about 1000 on Saturday.  I had allowed 24-30 hours for the trip, with an estimated distance of 220 miles.i  I was very tired on arrival and slept almost continuously from 1100 until 0630 today.

The trip wasn’t entirely uneventful.  I started having cooling issues shortly after passing the causeway coming out of the Chesapeake.  The raw water flow was stopping suddenly, and engine coolant temperature would start to climb. 

My response to this was to put the engine in neutral and go to about 2000 rpm until the pumping started again, and all would be good, but I had it happen a few times in the space of an hour.

It was pretty choppy at that point with the current running out of the Chesapeake.  I stopped and checked the raw water strainer and did a quick inspection elsewhere, and all seemed to be in order.  Got tossed around enough while drifting to decide to carry on to calmer conditions to replace the impeller.

At about 1600 I stopped at an inlet along the Delaware shore.  It was a little nerve wracking heading in across the unmarked inlet bar, but I found shelter to drop anchor and enact repairs.  Pulled the water pump and replaced the impeller.  One vane had torn off, but the rest were largely intact.

The issue hasn’t been fully resolved.  I had it reoccur several times after getting underway again, but I pressed on keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge, and had to reprime the pump several times by going to high rpms in neutral briefly.

This morning I had full flow on startup, and after puzzling over it and looking at it running decided to get underway to hit the weather/daylight window.  Have had to reprime it twice today in 5 hours of travel.

My current diagnosis is that there is a restriction in the transmission cooler, which is on the supply side of the water pump.  I’ll disassemble and inspect when I get to NY.

My destination today in Great Kills Harbor.  I remember that as a good stopping point from my trip north five years ago.  I’m ready to stop for a bit.  Need to fix this issue and do some shore-based tasks like laundry. 

The only picture I took was of a sub and escorts inbound near the causeway.  I kept my distance as instructed.