July 19- August 2, 2013
Day 1, 2 & 3
Troy & I along with Taylor & Olivia set off on first leg of our journey from Sandusky, Ohio Friday June 19th @2:10pm for Buffalo, New York. this is where we'll have the mast taken down to b able to travel the Erie Canal. Got into a pretty good storm on way up that began around 10:30pm & lasted all night. It finally let up @6:30am Saturday morning.

Olivia & I both got sea sick & did a little praying to the porcelain gods. Put a patch on Taylor to make sure she didn't do the same. Been sea sick before but never to the point of heaving off back of boat. Thank heaven Troy was there to hold my hair back & keep me from falling off back of boat... I'd do the same for him! 😉

We arrived in Buffalo, NY, Saturday night @11. We docked along a wall at a small marina that was across the channel from the General Mills factory; could smell them making honey nut cheerios...smelled so good! Next to us was a WWII submarine & 2 battle ships, Little Rock & the Sullivan. If you know your history, the Sullivan was the ship named after the 5 Sullivan brothers. At the beginning of WWII they were all in the same unit & on the same ship when it was attacked & went down, taking all 5 brothers with it. From this the military no longer allows siblings to serve in the same unit. The sub & 2 ships are now on display as museums for the public to tour... Pretty cool! Buffalo seems to b an industrial grave yard. Troy would have to give the history on why that is... He's a history buff. He's like having our own tour guide! 😊

Sunday morning didn't start off very well. Troy was PMSing, Tay was PMSing & I believe Liv is just in permanent PMS! Troy went exploring on his own so girls & I walked around for a while. Nice little grassy area next to us with lots of lawn seating. Diana's corner was a little "concession" stand right by us. We stopped there for lunch then went back later in day for ice cream. Troy found his way back later in the day after he'd had found a brewery & did some beer "tasting" so he was in better spirits when he got back... If he ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!!! 😉

Day 4:
Monday morning we were suppose to have the masts taken down & a cradle built for it so we can carry it on the boat. The bridges in the canal are too low for the mast to go under. We had an "appointment" @9am to have this done. Obviously the workers in Buffalo are a lot like the workers in the keys. They show up when they want & only "work" a few hours. "It's 5 o' clock somewhere!" They finally showed up around 11am. It was disorganized chaos at its best!! Took them half the day to do a 2 hr job! They were very proud ($$$) of the thing they built that's suppose to be a cradle... I could've built it w my eyes closed! 😉 We finally headed out around 4:45pm.

We went through our first set of locks at 5:45. We weren't sure how the locks really worked. It was pretty cool. We sat idled to wait for the lock to open. Once it opens you go in; then while the gates are closing you sidle up to starboard (right) side of wall, hook a line attached to the wall, put a line from bow (front) & line from stern (rear) through the one attached to the wall or just hold onto line on the wall. Once doors are closed, the lock master begins either letting the water out or in. Most of ours were letting water out to lower us to the height of canal on other side. Once down to proper level, gate on opposite end we came in opens out into the canal. As gates open the lines we hooked, or holding, are let go & we motor out & continue our journey. There are 35 locks & many lift bridges. We've come to the conclusion the lift bridges are revenue for the little towns they're at. They all want the boaters to stop & stay a spell.

We stopped in Tonawanda, NY, for supper & the night. There were showers at dock master station. Our showers are nice but it's also nice to use a regular shower once in a while. We ate at a little restaurant/bar along the canal... Food was pretty good.

Day 5:
Up early & off again. Troy was going to put the dink, "One Man Wolf Pack," back up on the deck before taking off again but forgot so we slowed to an idle, reeled her in & he hopped in to take motor off. Mission accomplished...well, almost! 😳 Supported part of motor on dink to get momentum to put up on swim platform. Then, "PSSSSSSS"!! Yep, he put a 2" gash in dink. 💩😤 Is what I believe I heard from him! Not a good way to start your morning off! 😒 Got motor put up on mount on back of boat, pulled dink around to side & lifted her up on deck. The up side, it's easier to see with her deflated! 😉 Fortunately, we have a repair kit so I repaired it along the way... hopefully it holds!

The dink.... How did she get her name? Well, Troy's daughters, Krista & Kari wanted him to name the boat "One Man Wolf Pack." ... After him, of course! 😉 He really wasn't to kean on that name for the boat but decided it'd be a good name for the dink... And it is! Boat names are usually recommended to be only one word. We made a list of names but none of them jumped out at us. Then he told me boats are usually named after women cause they're referred to as "she." Well, to me that was a no brainer, "Cantankerous". Not that women are cantankerous but boats are! 😜 He liked it so that's what we named her. She's a beautiful '01 Benetau 411. We never received compliments on the Hunter Vision, Mucho Gusto, but we do all the time on Cantankerous!

Active Captain recommended stopping in Lockport. We needed a few provisions & it was a pretty little town. We walked around found the little market then set off to find the museum. It was a really nice small museum that gave the history of the canal... Very intriguing! We left Lockport & went as far as Albion.

Day 6:
Left Albion early. Only went through couple locks today. Stopped in Fairport for night. Did laundry, & walked around the cute little village. girls walked around & went to a little ice cream shop. Believe they flustered the poor teenage guy behind the counter, according to the stories they told us. 😉 We drank to much at Irish pub then went next door for supper at Mexican restaurant & drank to many margaritas. Ugh!... We overdid it! Girls only wanted quaso & chips then they ditched us again. We're boring to them! 😉

Day 7:
Next morning we headed out not knowing how many locks we would make it through. Stopped at "B'ville" (Baldwinville) for night. Went through 9 locks today. Had a REALLY nice dinner at the lock 24 restaurant. Met nice gentlemen, Eric, joined us for dinner. Enjoy listening to other's adventures w their boats. Great time to swap advice, especially if going in opposite directions.

Day 8:
B'ville was nice place to dock for night but time to push on down the canal. We crossed over the Oneida lake today, a 3 hr jaunt. Ate lunch & supper on boat. Grilled burgers off back crossing Oneida lake, They were really good, & made lasagna for supper. Spent night at Lock 20, Macy, NY. This lock was at a park. Many fishing. Had live entertainment at little shelter pavilion across way. Walked across the lock to check out other side of park where pavilion was & see if anything near that can get few provisions at. Didn't stay out long... Mosquitos were feasting on us. Tay was already a mosquito chew toy!😁

Day 9:
Finally sleeping decent. Our bed leaves little to be desired. Had a mattress topper custom made to fit it but believe the cushions under it need replaced. May end up ordering a custom mattress instead. Headed out of Macy, NY & through our first lock of the day, Lock 20. We stopped & did a pump out & got more ice. Our fridge went out weekend before we left so we put 2 blocks of dry ice in bottom of freezer then bagged ice over it. Fridge is cooled w a fan pulling cold air from freezer. Keeps everything cold enough. Put meats & dairy products in freezer to be safe.

Went through 6 locks today. At 40', Lock 17 is the highest vertical lift lock on the Canal System. Lock 17 is in Little Falls, NY. Took many pics as we were lowered the 40' in lock 17. It was really neat.

What a beautiful day we had today! It was sunny & 88?☀ We stopped in Canajoharie, NY for the evening. Nice little village just on east side of Lock 14. Got boat tied up & checked out our surroundings. Walked to Dollar General to pick up few provisions then checked out the down town. Girls & I went to Gino's Italian restaurant & Pizzaria for supper while Troy checked out Jo's Irish Pub. Wasn't too long before he joined us for pizza. No ice cream shop anywhere w/i walking distance, well, not in walking distance we wanted to walk, so we walked up the hill to McD's for imitation ice cream. 😊

Day 10:
Up early to empty out our water tanks & filled them w the water from Village of Canajoharie. We were told its "the best water in New York." We had it w supper & it was very good... Was like water from my dad's natural flowing well😉 The "spring water" we'd bought along the way wasn't spring water! Got tanks filled & headed for Lock 13, an hour away.

Got some rain last night. First rain we'd had since leaving Sandusky last Friday. Really a crappy day! Rainy & cool all day. Would've been a nice day to stay in bed but no, the slave driver had me up early... need coffee, too bad i don't drink it!😳 The seam sealer & silicone I used on the dodger & Bimini while hanging out in Buffalo worked... No more leaks! Before putting sealer on it, it was like sitting under an umbrella made of cheese cloth. ☔

Made it through Locks 13-2. Locks 6-2 in Waterford, are known as "The Flight of Five." They're stair stepped heading down to the Hudson River. Didn't think we were gonna make it through all of The Flight of Five. Locks close @6pm. The lock master at lock 7 said if we can make it to Lock 6 by 6pm, they would put us all the way through. We hit lock 6 @5:45. Our guide book said it takes approximately two hours to get through The Flight of Five. This must be true if there's a lot of traffic. They put us right through. It took us an hour. We stayed in Waterford for the night.

Day 11:
Had a calm night in Waterford. Up early & off to our last lock. Lock 1 lets us out into the Hudson River. Great fell of accomplishment after Lock 1. 🎉⛵🎈Mark that off our Bucket List! 😃

We arrived at our destination, Catskill, NY, @2pm. Nice marina where we'll have the mast restepped... Put back up. Got laundry done & boat straightened back up...a little 😳 kind of didn't know where to start... Such a disaster that may have been easier to blow up! 😉 Went for dink ride... My patch held btw! 😃 girls & I walked to the nice park across from marina to get ice cream. After they ate a hot dog(liv), cheeseburger (Tay) & ice cream, we walked the trail going into woods. Nice little trail. After we got back, troy & I walked down town. Gal at marina said, "it's less than half mile." WRONG!! It was at least a mile then we walked around the little town. It was closed! The few shops that were still in business were closed & it was only 5:30. Most of the eateries are only open for breakfast & lunch. Very strange! After seeing nothing downtown we hiked back to the boat.

Had a very nice supper at Port of Call restaurant just down from marina.

Day 12:
Troy worked on mast ALL day getting it ready to go back up. I did my taping job on the spreaders & helped him where needed. The girls did their usual nothing but play on their electronics... Teenagers!! They did go to the park for about an hour for more food... Bottomless pits!!

Ran a few supply errands. Tay went around boat in dink trying to clean off the stains the nasty lake water left. We got outside of boat standing tall again. Had to flip boat around for next morning to re-step the mast. Troy decided he could turn it with the dink. Tay & I untied lines from dock. Liv moved lines to port side of boat while Troy motored the dink. It worked perfect! Liv threw Tay the bow line but she had it over the stantion life line & needed to be under it. The bow was close to the dock where Tay was standing so she leaned over to fix it. She hadn't secured the bow thinking she could quickly fix the line then secure it to the dock. The bow slowly moved out from dock as she did so making her have to reach further & further. She wasn't about to let go of the line or she'd gone for a swim in the Hudson lake. I ran & grabbed her line so she could maybe get her feet on it to keep her from falling in. She was hanging completely horizontal to the water at this point hanging by her toes... Good thing she was born with ape capabilities! 🙈We were laughing so hard I bout had tears running down my leg... she was laughing too! 😄 She kept a tight grip on that line but finally lost her footing & fell partially into the water. Troy ran over grabbed her or the boat... It happened so fast I really don't recall much other than how funny it was! 😄 Never a camera around when you need it... It was a Kodak moment!!! 📷

Tay's debacle was definitely the highlight of the day!😜 We got boat & Tay secured then went to supper at Pomodoro's, an Italian restaurant, that from outside looked like a pizza joint but inside was very nice & the food was great! The portions were very large! Girls both ate a "small" pizza each. Their small was at least 12". Still can't believe they each ate a whole one🐷😉 Could've split my pasta premavera with Troy but he had veal Parmesan with side of spaghetti... We had enough food to feed a small country!

Day 13:
Mast is suppose to be stepped @8am, so when did Troy wake up!?!? Yep, Butt crack of dawn... As usual! 😳 sometimes I wish I were a coffee drinker... I needed something to get me moving. 😴 Mike & the gentleman helping him were ready to go @8am. The 2 of them & Troy made it look like a breeze. One of the lines was hooked on the crane & needed moved. The gentleman helping Mike, climbed the rope holding the mast in place to release the line. He climbed to the first set of spreaders in 30 seconds! He's 62yrs old!!! I couldn't do that to save my life & I'm only 29! 😏

Mast went up w/o a hitch. Troy then proceeded to rerun all the lines & stays. It took a good part of the day. He finally got it all back together so we took a break & went for ice cream. The girls tooled around on dink for a while then we all went to supper

Day 14:
We left around 6:45 for home in our "fabulous" rental car... A Kia Soul! Wouldn't recommend purchasing one!! Wasn't thinking when we left! Troy started out driving, which under normal circumstances would've been fine but he hadn't had his coffee yet... Oh my!! He CANNOT function w/o it!!! 😳 After 2 wrong turns we finally made it to McD's... Thank you Jesus for getting us there safely! 😉 He drove for couple hours then I took over & drove rest of way to Sandusky where we had to pick up the Benz, drop off rental box on wheels & Troy got his plane & flew home while I drove ANOTHER 3 hours. I was spent by time I got home! We all made it home safely. We had a great trip! Wasn't all happy go lucky like I had prayed it be but all in all, it was great!