Month: June 2019

We arrived at Ess-Kay Boatyard in the pouring rain on Thursday morning. We have now been traveling with a leaky seal for two weeks. The mechanics looked at the problem and spoke with the mechanic who attempted the repair in Waterford. They talked about a shut-off valve to control pressure if necessary. The work was done but the test run was scheduled for Friday morning.

We all went out for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant – Mariachi’s. Friday morning, our buddy boats were leaving to go through the Oswego locks to Lake Ontario. Our plan was to follow them once our repairs were done. The restaurant had a good variety of dinners, even to satisfy our non-Mexican food boaters. There were 20 loopers in attendance from three different marinas. A great time was had by all.

On Friday we had our first trial run – boat still leaked so more adjustments were needed. The mechanics could not understand why the problem continued but with some additional tightening of the seal, the boat appeared to be fixed during our second trial run. We scheduled our departure for Saturday.

Saturday morning arrived and we left the marina. By this time, the Oswego locks were closed because of high water and turbulence. Our buddy boats were in various locations along the Oswego. Projected opening of the locks was questionable.

The next lock was only 2 miles and by the time we reached the lock, the leak started again. We went through the lock, frustrated, not knowing what to do. With the Oswego closed, we thought about option #2 and continue through the Erie Canal into Lake Erie and not going to Lake Ontario. Peter really wanted to visit all the Great Lakes but we were concerned by the time we lost and the indefinite opening of Oswego.

The seal continued to leak and Peter called Ess-Kay who first said that it was fixed when we left (all of 1/2 hour) and I looked for other marinas who could handle the repair. Ess-Kay called back asking us to return to another marina on the Seneca River and they would meet us and try to fix the leak. We decided to do this and the leak could not be repaired there so we returned to Ess-Kay. By this time, the westbound locks on the Erie Canal were closed and we were lucky to be returning via Lock 23 eastbound which had remained open.

This time, Ess-Kay spoke with the mechanic who installed our new engine last year. They discussed various options and decided that it would be a good idea to check the prop. A diver was arranged for Sunday morning. The diver found a black plastic bag wrapped around the prop and found that one of the blades was out of balance. In the meantime we needed to scramble to rent a car to take the prop to their prop guy who had his workshop in Canandaugia – 80 miles a way. We needed to do this on Monday morning early – his shop opens at 5:30am and he only works in the shop in the morning. Our plan was to leave the marina right after 4:ooam since he would be able to check the prop and repair if we were early.

Sunday evening, Ess-Kay held a BBQ for the stranded loopers and invited those from Winter Harbor. There were 34 of us in attendance, each bringing a side dish/docktail, etc. while Ess-Kay provided hamburgers, hot dogs, corn and potatoes. It was a good break from thinking about how long we all would be stuck.

We drove to Canandaigua and met Mike at Propeller Works. He explained that he would need an hour to fix the prop so we made use of the time by washing our laundry. As it turned out, two blades on the prop were out-of-balance but it is now fixed and we returned to Ess-Kay. The diver was scheduled for Tuesday morning to install the prop.

On Tuesday, the diver installed the prop and they took another trial run. At cruising speed, the shaft seal still leaked. Frustration level was unbelievable. Ess-Kay once again spoke with PYI the manufacturer of the shaft/seal and they advised to tighten it more than the original instructions. Another trial run was needed and Kodey and I stayed at the marina. They were gone a bit longer than anticipated and when they returned, there were smiles all around – no leaking at cruising speed or beyond! All is fixed, no leaks finally!

While this was excellent news, the locks remained closed. We continued to have more rain which was not helping the situation. On Wednesday there was heavy rain during the night. The weather cleared but with no place to go, Peter took the dink down – started on the second pull – and played around a bit and then washed the dink. While the locks were still closed, we were advised that Lock 23 would let us through so we could travel at wait at Lock 24 with another of our buddy boats who was not doing Oswego. Oswego remained closed. Our plan is to leave on Thursday, beginning of Week Four, to travel to the east side (free wall, no electric) of Lock 24 that still remains closed.

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As planned, we stopped just outside of Lock 14 and tied up at Riverfront Park in Canajahorie. Once again, we met more loopers. Docktails on the Idyll Time III hosted by Dan and Janet brightened spirits in spite of the weather. Once again, too many snacks so dinner seems like overload – we decided to just eat some leftover chicken cutlets from the other night.

With our buddy boats we left early to get through Lock 14 when it opened at 7am. Everything was fine until we got outside of Lock 16. The lock master advised that there were a few tugs and barges using Lock 17 so we would have an hour and a half wait. When offered the choice, we decided to wait on the upper end of the lock and locked through. Until we get the shaft leak fixed in Brewerton, we are running slower than usual and used the “wait” time to get to Lock 17, our last lock for the day. Arrived at Lock 17 and still waited another hour. Tough lock – 40′ rise and needed to use the bow thruster to maintain position.

Registered at Little Falls Canal Harbor – great little place – water/electric/WiFi (if your boat is close enough to the Clubhouse; we weren’t)/ clean restrooms and showers – all for $1 a foot. Rain continued, pounding rain most of the day. Good day to catch up on vacuuming the grass clippings from Riverfront Park, testing recipes in my new Instant Pot – meatloaf and potatoes, and chocolate banana bread. Recipes were a success.

Sue from Lucky Me, ever the organizer, coordinated a looper dinner for Saturday night and a game night (Left, Right, Center)/ birthday celebration for Dan from Done Diggin’. To celebrate his birthday, all boats brought a gift – something from their boat that they either didn’t want or need. Two fun nights!

Everyone but us left on Monday morning, Ali and Jeff (daughter and son-in-law) were able to stop by for a visit. It was easier to stay put than to have them try to find us somewhere along the canal. They flew east into JFK from San Diego to attend two weddings – one in PA and one in VT. They visited with one of Ali’s former college roommates who lived at a midpoint between the weddings. Since I had one of their cars (C-Max) for a loaner last year, they decided to make this into an adventure and drive the car cross country instead of shipping it back. This also enabled them to visit places they wanted to see (Niagara Falls, Grand Tetons, +others), along with visits to long time friends who now live scattered across the U.S.

We enjoyed their visit and the thoughtful things they brought with them: cookies from both weddings (some made by family members), air pods for easier communication on the boat, an ID for Kodey as “first dog” of the Answer, and a customized Shutterfly book of family photos for when we get lonely. Be prepared if stopping in Little Falls, there are practically no places open for lunch on a Monday! We found Bonitas, a sandwich shop that served a wide variety of sandwiches, paninis, and salads.

Once again the next day was cloudy and chilly – no sun until midday but at least it wasn’t raining. We left alone, early as usual, planning to travel to Utica. Lock 18 was probably the easiest lock we went through – only one in the lock. As it turned out, we were alone in all the locks we covered that day.

This was a long travel day. We decided to skip the stop at Utica or Rome and head to Lock 22, Sylvan Beach, to meet up with our buddy boats. This way we only had to cross Oneida Lake to get to Brewerton for repairs. Once we are “fixed,” we will both travel easier. Along the way, we passed a work boat going east pulling long dredge cables and also two loopers heading east (very unusual).

Random Act of Kindness: When passing by Ilion, a sailor, with his two golden retrievers, on Teake, called out and advised he was stuck at the dock. We grabbed some lines and pulled him off. He was very grateful.

Arrived at Sylvan Beach just in time for Docktails with our buddy boats and a few new ones. Another free dock but no electric. Took a walk into town to see their “Bike Night”. Peter counted 213 bikes – wide variety of motorcycles.

Generator cut out when I started coffee so needed to wait until breakfast. Breakfast with TxAu, Lucky Me and Done Diggin’ at the Pancake House. Good food and pleasant staff. Everyone has a reservation for Ess-Kay for Wednesday night but they couldn’t accommodate us. Spent the night at Winter Harbor.

Kodey has been enjoying his daily walks and multiple naps as we travel — no need to use tinkle turf yet.

We left after breakfast and the water on Oneida Lake was like glass. TxAu and Lucky Me had an opportunity to run faster to clean out the gunk that accumulates at much lower speeds than usual. It was nice to see the sun but once again, possible showers are projected for the afternoon. It’s been a real rainy start.

Later that morning Ess-Kay called and explained that there would be no room for us on Thursday as a few boats that were projected to leave, decided to stay. Also decided to make another phone and push the repair since that was primary. Good thing for buddy boats! As we were in Winter Harbor trying to get some action from Ess-Kay, one of our buddy boats was pushing the repair at Ess-Kay for us, even offering to leave and go to the free dock so that we could get it. Finally, Ess-Kay called and told us to come over at 9:30am.

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Note to all: Blog postings seem to be somewhat restricted to availability of WiFi – pairing phone to computer is too slow.

Left Peekskill and had a pleasant ride to Kingston. Peter thought about anchoring at the end of the creek but then we thought we may see other loopers at the city docks. When we passed the docks, we saw a number of looper burgees…and definitely decided to stay at the city docks for our first night. We met people on 4 boats all heading to Shady Harbor in New Baltimore for the looper pig roast – a 209 lb pig. All of these boats started the loop before we did as they hail from Tennessee, Minnesota, Georgia and although the other was from Rhode Island, attended the looper rendezvous and was traveling from Virginia since May. We traveled with a few of these boats at various times during our first week.

Woke up Friday morning with a considerable amount of water in the bilge. Pumped out and traveled with one of the loopers upriver to Shady Harbor and kept watch. At cruising speed there is a leak in what we believe is the shaft seal. Supposedly this is an easy fix. The mechanic at Shady Harbor was off for the weekend so with advice from the mechanic who installed our new engine, shaft and prop, and one of the loopers who is a mechanic, Peter did as instructed. Seems our dripless stuffing box is not dripless!

Left on Monday to head north to Waterford, just west of the Troy Lock. Seal continued to leak but the auto bilge was on so we continued. We met a mobile mechanic in Waterford and he tightened the seal – quick test and all seemed fine.

We stayed in Waterford for two nights – great deal $10 for electric and a free dock! Left on Wednesday to begin the flight . There are lines in the locks to grab and stabilize your boat and also cables, similar to the poles in Champlain. The harbor master in Waterford mentioned using cables and securing the line to your mid-ship cleat. Lock 2 was simple enough using a cable and I held the line as I used to do in Champlain. However, Lock 3 was another story – still cables and lines but Peter mistakenly tied the line on the starboard mid-ship cleat and I couldn’t get it off. Actually needed to get a knife to cut the line (thank you Wusthof!) as the tension was starting to lift the boat. Cleat needs some fiberglass repair but still secure and all is fine minus a few more boat bruises.

The leak seemed fine since speed in canal is slow between locks. Once achieving cruising speed, the leak returned and called the mechanic. He agreed to meet us at Schenectady Yacht Club — they were great and let us tie up and just wait for the mechanic. When he arrived, the stuffing box collar adjustment he made was still tight and with two trial runs, he determined it was the shaft seal. He located a kink in a piece of tubing that was pushing the water out. He was not equipped to fix this and recommended that we travel to Ess-Kay Boatyard in Brewerton – 150 miles west at the end of Oneida Lake. A long way to Lock 22 but advised that if we keep speed down to 1800 rpms, we will be dry and do no damage. He was an experienced mechanic – many decades – and had owned his own marina at one point and wanted to steer us to reputable, reliable, marine mechanics for the repair. He agreed to speak with the boat yard about his diagnosis.

We left Schenectady and planned to continue until we needed to stop. Turns out that after we went through Lock 11 (Scotia) at 4:30 pm we were told that the next 3 locks closed at 5:00 pm and we would only be able to complete one more. On the other side of the lock we saw LuckyMe and TxAu (Texas Gold) tied up for the night and decided to do the same free tie-up, no electric. Better to travel together. Had dinner and a small fire for smores. There is so much wood on the sides of the canal, practically full tree lengths.

Next day was projecting rain so the target was only to Amsterdam with another free tie up with electric. Walked into town to Russos for good Italian food. A good place to stop.

Next morning is the beginning of more projected rain so the three of us left Amsterdam on a chilly morning of 54 degrees. Rain came earlier than expected but new foul weather gear works well. Kodey is cold — may need to crochet him a sweater — breaking Peter’s rule of “no clothes for my dog.”

Traveled to Canajoharie – Riverfront Park for free tie-up and some electric. The only remaining outlet was on the other side of the park and since we have multiple lines (200′) we were able to connect. Nice to be able to make coffee in the morning for the ride. No rush, no schedule, boat is running OK, dry, so we’ll continue even slower than usual until we get to Brewerton.

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