I entered the Erie Canal on Tuesday at Tonawanda, and spent a night at Lockport and two at Middleport. Lovely spot, with a few boaters, some cyclists, and locals dog walking.
I’m now at Gasport, waiting for Samantha and Sarah to arrive. We’ re going to go east biking and boating for a couple of days.
I love this type of cruising. My canal speed is about 6 mph, leaving no wake. There are communities with free walls along the way.
I’m on Lake Erie, tied up in Port Colborne at the top of the Welland Canal. Samantha and Sarah joined me for the trip up.
It’s been a while since I posted, but I haven’t moved far. My visit in Toronto was curtailed after I had a run in with local police, who issued me with a $600 fine for anchoring in the outer harbour. I’m planning to fight it, but left immediately after the regatta.
I stayed a week or so in Hamilton and Gavin helped me with interior cleaning and I got a few small projects done, then toured the west end of the lake, with nice stops in Port Dalhousie and Queenston.
From here I’m heading for Buffalo, then east on the Erie Canal through upstate NY to the Finger Lakes, then north to Oswego and Lake Ontario. I really like this trip, and it’s been five years since I’ve gone this way.
Port Dalhousie
On May 26th, Samantha, Sarah, and I drove to Peterborough to meet Jeff and Escapade at one of the locks nearby. Samantha and Sarah left the next morning, and Jeff and I spent the next five days together on Escapade, heading south through the Trent Severn waterway, en route to Toronto.
I don’t know why but I’ve thought locks were cool for a number of years, maybe because my big brother talked about them. A few years ago, on a cruise down the Yangtze River, I was surprised to be the only person on the back deck when my ship entered into the first part of the Three Gorges Dam lock. I’m not sure if that was the first lock I ever went through, but it’s the first one that I remember. Of course, since then I’ve traveled through a few locks on the Tennessee river with Jeff.
There are two things that I particularly cherish on these boat trips with Jeff. The first is seeing parts of North America that I haven’t seen before, at a slow pace. On this trip, it was fascinating to go through a large variety of locks, many of which were manually opened and closed, and some of which involved seemingly high elevation drops. At virtually every lock, the lockmaster remembered Jeff and there was a brief chat about his travels. Occasionally there would be offers to help, which Jeff would kindly decline, with a smile and a comment that he had a system in place.
We had spectacular weather with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, with a memorable stop near a bird sanctuary in Presqu’ile provincial park. Other than some drama involving a pharmacy or two, it was a very enjoyable low-key trip.
The other highlight for me is seeing Jeff completely in his element. The first time I was on his previous boat, Mazurka, I had some anxiety issues as we would approach shallow waters or narrow channels. However, it wasn’t long before I realized that these situations were easy peasy for Jeff. That was again the case on this trip as he moved Escapade from one space to another, skillfully maneuvering in and out of the locks. It was fun to see. Needless to say, I took lots of pictures, as usual. Here is a sampling of some of my favourites.
Susan and I arrived Thursday, and I’m anchored in the outer harbour. Today I was racing Laser. Great day, tricky east winds. More tomorrow. The photo above was taken today, but I’m not in it.
In other news, I took three racing buddies out to see Escapade and we were able to plane cleanly in the dinghy with four. The new motor is a big improvement.
Next week I’m going to noodle over to Hamilton. I’m thinking of going up the Welland Canal to enter the Erie Canal at Buffalo.
These photos show the club from the boat and the boat from the park. Nice spot.
As planned, I made it up to Peterborough on Saturday to meet Samantha, Sarah and Susan. Weather has been calm and sunny, and it’s now quite warm.
Susan stayed aboard Sunday after Samantha and Sarah headed out, and we’re now on a leisurely cruise back to Toronto. Tonight we’re anchored here in Percy Reach. Nice spot, though I’m constantly bothered by the lack of fauna.
The photo above is one of Susan’s from her 120 or so taken today. I quite like it. I’ll have her provide a compilation later. In the meantime here are a few of my pice.
I’ve rejoined Water Rats in Toronto and will be racing Laser there this weekend. The following weekend is Snipe racing with Sarah in Guelph. After that my plan is to head down the lake to Oswego NY and do a return trip on the Erie Canal west to Lockport. Then north to Lake Huron in July.
I arrived back this afternoon. I really like this spot. It’s well off the road, and the gate is locked when the operation is closed. It’s not a popular stopping point, so lots of privacy.
Having the motorcycle aboard has worked well. I brought back an electric winch that should make solo loading and unloading safe and easy.
I have family visiting aboard for most of the next ten days or so, with tentative plans to be back in Toronto June 2. Weather looks lovely through that period.
I arrived at Lock 1 late yesterday, and today got cleaned up and organized while waiting for the waterway to open tomorrow. There are no other boats here.
Tomorrow I’ll go up a couple of locks, then hop on the scooter and leave Escapade for a few days.
The dinghy is fabulous with the new motor. Top speed is over 45 km/hr, and it’s smooth, quiet and fuel efficient. I went up the Salmon River in it, and have zipped into Trenton a couple of times from here to eat out.
Weather has been sunny and cool. Got 4.3 kwh from solar today, a new best I think.
Spotted a Windy 26 in Trenton. Cool boats.
Samantha and Sarah came Friday night, and we had a nice couple of days exploring the Thousand Islands. Stayed Saturday night at Georgina Island.
On Sunday after dropping them off in Collins Bay I came into the Bay of Quinte and anchored here. Today I zipped into town in the dinghy.
This week I’ll noodle down the Bay of Quinte. Napanee tomorrow. I like this area. Weather is lovely, I’m well protected from strong winds today.
After spending two nights in Colbourne I left early Tuesday morning and headed over to Prince Edward County. The Murray Canal isn’t open yet for the season, so it’s out and around.
I’ve explored this area in the past, but hadn’t been into Weller’s Bay Lake before, so poked in. I ended up close to Consecron, so anchored here and tried out the new kayak to go ashore for a late lunch. I have to work on entry and exit…
I would have stayed the night around there, but there was a bit of wind forecast for Wednesday so I headed back out and came around the peninsula, arriving in Collins Bay at about 0300 and anchoring here.
Today I went ashore and had a nice dinner at Bella’s. Last time I was here was three years ago, when many of the local restaurants were closed.
I was out on Saturday for some fun racing. I love the quick windward/leeward format.
That’s me in the foreground. I want to spend more time in my ILCA dinghy. Thanks to RC Andrew for the pic.
Boating Adventures 