Where is Sayonara II?

June 21. Au revoir Chicago City.

2007-06-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

June 14th. Entering Chicago at sunset

2007-06-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

June 14th. Mackinack I, MI to Chicago, Il

2007-06-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

June 13th. Alpena, MI to Mackinac I,MI

2007-06-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

June 12th. St. Claire Shores, MI to Alpine, MI

2007-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

June 12. St. Claires Shores, MI to Alpena, MI

Today was going to be about a 12 hour day navigating to the next desired port: Mackenac Island. Mark wanted to leave early so we could make it, but while the rental car got returned, the dragon flies dealed with, the honorable salutations done … we departure at 9:00.

We cruised the St Claire River North for three and a half hours from where we could see Canada on the starboard side and the US on the portside.

At 12:30 we passed under the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, MI which dropped us into Lake Huron, the current was very strong there.

We went across Lake Huron in five and a half hours averaging 23 knots. We couldn’t go any faster because we had the wind on the nose.

Mark didn't want to have a crazy day and pull up at Mackinac Island, MI at night so he made the executive decision of stopping in Thunder Bay. At 18:00 we pulled up at Alpina Yacht Club.

Stephanie was our dock attendant for the evening. No Internet signal… that was an issue!.

We separated: the guys went provisioning, the crew washed the boat. The town kept “Jon Lau” restaurant open for us –every thing closes at 21:00. We all went to dinner, had the cutest waitress, had drinks and Mark became “the potato man”.

June 11th. Ashtabula, OH to St, Claire Shores, MI

2007-06-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

At 6:35 we were checking the oil, unplugged the cord, turn the engines on, cast off and left Ashtabula, OH. We wanted to make the 7 am opening. And we did.

At 7:00 we went under Ashtabula Bridge into Lake Erie. Around 10:31 we were going through “Rellee Passage”.

The weather today couldn’t been better: "0" knots, Calm, Winds light and variable and the height of the waves at the lake were under a foot.

At 11:41 we enter Detroit River.

We went by the Detroit River Light House.

http://www.photography-plus.com/image_pages/Detroit/DetroitRLight.htm

At 12:32 we went by metro Detroit (Wyandotte).

At 12:45 we passed the Ambassador Bridge which brings together Detroit and Winsor.

At 13:37 we pulled up at Jefferson Beach in St. Claire Shores, MI.

Then we put 456.42 gallons at 3.35 a gallon.

When the crew was getting ready to take a break and take a nap Mark called and said that he really, "reeeally" wanted his boat washed because he didn’t want to leave this particular port with a dirty boat. (The sunseeker dealer for the areas lives here!)...So while Mark drove five hours in a rental car from Chicago with two friends: Steve and Gary the boat was washed, most of the bugs scrubbed and almost ready to go.

Everybody was hungry, so we all went to have dinner at “the beach Grill” in the harbor, we met Steve's sister also.

When we got back to the boat it was covered with cute dragon flies, all over the place. So Mark is going to leave Jefferson Beach with a clean and shiny boat but covered with bugs, unless somebody rinses it in the morning.

June 10th. Port Delhousie , CA to Ashtabula, OH.

2007-06-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

June 10^th. Port Delhousie, CA to Ashtabula, OH.

We left Port Delhousie, CA at 6:00 a little bit right after sunset.

. The St. Lawrence Seaway has three sections:

· Montreal/Lake Ontario (Origin of Seaway to Cape Vincent)

· Lake Ontario (Cape Vincent to Breakwater, Port Weller)

· Welland Canal (Breakwater. Port Weller to Long Point).

In the Welland Canal, because of the higher incidence of water turbulence, “all upbound pleasure craft transiting from Locks 1 to 7 must have a minimum of three persons on board”.

In Port Weller in St. Catharine, at 6:48, we were picking up our pilot Roger, ex lock crew. Roger played the “third person” also.

Transit may exceed 12 hours and the crew should be prepared to man the craft continuously for that time, but the fact that Roger knew every one in the canal, helped to expedite the openings.

There is a ferry crossing at Port Robinson near Nautical Mile 12.5. The wakes can wash over the ferry boarding docks and splash waiting passengers. So No Wake is strictly reinforced.

There is a $200 toll for the canal.

http://www.wellandcanal.com/

http://www.mtbr.com/trails/canada-ontario/wellandcanaltrail.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Welland_Canal

We waited at the entrance of the Welland Canal that was going to raise us about 300 ft from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie on the St. Lawrece Seaway, a total of 26.1 nautical miles. (Info to be updated) The assigned VHF channels are 68 and 8.

Lock #1 was thriller! It was Ximena’s first monster lock. She thought she was going to fall overboard holding on to the bow line. The experience was pretty close to a rollercoaster fall. This lock is the tamer and waking up. After this lock she graduated! The locks filled up 25 millions gallons of water in 12 minutes (info to be updated), that created a very strong movement of water.

Lock #3 to #6 are like one huge one with three chambers. At 8:20 we were going through the third lock into the chambers.

The rest of the monster locks were a piece of cake with the exception of lock #7 that sounds like a train is going to break through the walls. It was the last one with Roger he jumped off the boat and kept his way. So did us.

ise us in to the Erie Lake. This was

We were passing lock #7 at 9:38. At (9:50 we were out of lock # 7 and Roger jumped off the boat).

From Lock #7 to #8 there are 13 miles and is only a 2’ lift.

At 11:30 we were approaching lock #8 that will raise us in to the Erie Lake. This was our last lock of the trip of a total 38 locks that we did on Sayonara II.

At 12:17 we pulled up at Port Colbonrne, CA to fill up and get ready to go back to US waters. We put in around 1700 litters or 447 gallons of diesel.

At 13:14 we were back out into the Erie Lake. We cruised across Erie Lake at about 23 knots for about five hours and fifteen minutes until we got to Ashtabula, OH bridge in Ashtabula, OH.

Nancy, the queen of the town is interested in buying a 64 ft boat was waiting at the dock for us.

At 17:35 we pulled up at Sutherland marine. She owes half of the marinas in the town and the Oil business in the area. She provided us with 310 gallons of diesel that will get us ready to get to Detroit, MI tomorrow.

We had an early dinner at “Bridge Street Bistro”.

After that she gave us a ride to one of her marinas, showed us her house and her boat, and the new canal that she is dredging in order to fit bigger boats in the next couple of years.

June 9th. Sylvan Bch, NY to Port Delhousie, CA

2007-06-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

June 9^th. Sylvan Beach to Port Delhousie, CANADA

We bled the fuel system at 6:35 and at 6:55 we were casting off the pier at Sylvan Beach, NY.

Went across Oneida Lake to Brewerton on the other side to fuel up and provision sodas, waters and some cleaners. It still looked very cloudy but not as scary as the night before.

In Brewerton we stopped at “Ess-Kay Yards”, George, a very sweet old man, took care of us, let the crew use his car to go to the store and gave us candies. Definitely a place to go back to, he has a great ship store with even parts for MAN’s, got a replacement for hour ripped off American flag, some boat shampoo and engine oil. The yard has the only lift around and provide propeller and shaft work.

We put in 376 gallons of diesel and continued heading west towards lock #23.

At 9:52 we cleared lock #23 with a 7.1 drop into the “Three Rivers” . At 10:46 we turned North and away from the Erie Canal into the Oswego Canal.

We passed Lock #1 in Phoenix, with a 10.2’ drop.

Lock #2 with a 17.8’ drop and Lock # 3 with a 27’ drop in Fulton. There is no Lock #4.

Lock #5 with a 18’ drop, Lock #6 with a 20’ drop, Lock #7 with a 14.5’ drop. These three locks are in MInetto,NY.

At 15:00 we went through Lock #8 with a 10.4’ drop in Oswego. This one was very interesting because we appreciated how the canal and the river run beside each other a different levels.

We did a 117’ drop in the Oswego Canal plus the 7.1’ drop on Lock #23 in the Erie Canal, a total of 125 drop into Ontario Lake.

At 15:08 we were heading out to Ontario Lake. We cruised the lake for five hours and twenty minutes at over 22 Knots average. At 20:36 we were heading in the inlet.

Around 18:12 the lake had flatten out for us, great conditions for this type of boat.

At 21:00 we were docked at Port Dalhousie, in CANADA!!

We cleared customs and INS and we walked over to a seafood place.

This is a little college party town especially on a Saturday night. Hundreds of young and hot people having lots of fun. There are maybe 30 bars in two blocks. We were tired …and just walked through and left the party behind. Tomorrow we have another early start: 6 am.

June 8th. Schenectady,NY to Sylvan Beach, Oneida Lake, NY

2007-06-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

June 8^th. Schenectady, NY to Sylvan Beach, NY.

At 6:45 we left Shenectady, NY and continued heading west on the Erie Canal.

www.nysparks.state.ny.us

The locks open at 7:00 so we were right on time. They close at 22:00 (the schedule changes according to the season www.canals.state.ny.us).

At 7:30 we went through lock # 8 in the Schenectady, NY on a 14 feet lift and 15 minutes later we were out of it.

Locks #9 thru #16 looked very much like #8.

At 13:48 we went by the City of the Little Falls and Lock #17 with the higher lift of the locks we went through. A 40.5’ lift.

We passed through #18, #19.

Lock #20 in Utica, NY had a cute park around, a great spot for people to watch the boats go through the lock. A little girl chased us until we disappeared in the horizon.

Then Lock #21 in Rome, NY and at 19:21 we where out of Lock#22 in Sylvan Beach, NY; the last one of the day…We went down this time 25.3’ … We smelled rain!

Today we were raised 220 feet and lowered 25.3, so we got lifted a total of 194.7 feet. We went through 15 locks today.

We had to come to a “No Wake” speed when passing docks or other vessels in the Canal. On dug sections of the canal (no buoys), speed must never exceed 10 MPH. On river sections of the canal, speed must never exceed 45 MPH. That is why it took us 12 and a half hours to go through these 15 locks even though is only 131 miles.

At 20:05 we were “safely” docked at Sylvan Beach. Sylvan Beach, NY is home of the only amusement park adjacent to the Erie Canal. This resort community comes alive during the summer. The pier is an excellent place to tie up for the night and walk to the local restaurants and shops. No power or water but is free…we didn’t have to pay for dockage…we couldn’t bit that.

After a long and dirty day working the locks a cold front went thru and tornado sirens went off in the city. The wind was blowing Sayonara II six to eight feet off the wall. We had to start engines, take the heavy weather gear out to double up all the lines in order to spend a safe night… It was a severe thunderstorm warning…

June 7th. Troy, NY to Shechenectady, NY

2007-06-07T20:56:00.001-07:00

June 7^th. Troy, NY to Schenectady, NY

In the morning we re-provision the boat and tidy up. So people didn’t think we were pirates. We put in 379.2 gallons of diesel at 3.14 a gallon. A little after noon Tony, the boat driver with local knowledge and experience arrived, while we were in the engine room servicing batteries, changing fuel filters, checking the oil etc.

Around 14:30 Mark was getting off the boat to catch a flight to Chicago. He helped us cast off. He just didn’t want to leave his big toy in foreign hands.

Ten minutes later we were leaving the “Troy docks” and headed to the New York State Canal System.

Today the Erie Canal is 338 miles in length, averages 125 ft. in width, with a depth of at least 12 feet and has 34 locks. It has been renamed: New York State Canal System; which is historically significant for the many contributors it has establish New York State as an international center of commerce and finance, a leading port, a national identity that continues to be reflected in songs, legends and artwork.

The Erie Canal begins in Waterford, where the Hudson River meets the Mohawk River. The total lift is 572.4 Feet, twice as much as the total lift from sea level to the summit of the Panama Canal.

The New York State Canal System operates from May 1^st to November 15^th It has 4 Canals: Erie Canal (338 miles), Champlain Canal (60 miles), Oswego Canal (24 miles), Cayuga-Seneca Canal (12 miles). -Then to Ithaca (45 miles) and to Watkins Glen/Montour Falls (45 miles)-. NOAA # 14786

When approaching the lock we had to stop at a safe distance and call the lock operator on channel 13 or give three blasts of the horn. Lock operators reply with lights. It took an average of 20 minutes to go through each of them once they gave us the green light. Obviously the wait is longer when the lift is higher or when there is traffic. Upon entering the Lock chamber we must proceed under control at a safe reduced speed. We were equipped with adequate mooring lines and fenders.

During the lockage we kept the bow and stern close to the wall by looping a line to holding apparatus like ladders, cables, pipes or lines. They strongly recommend no to tie lines. So we had to hold them during the process with gets a little tedious after a bunch of locks, but being careful because serious injuries can result from using hands and feet to fend a moving boat off a wall. The walls hold all the bacteria from the river so is good to use thick gloves.

As soon as the water reaches the proper level, the gates open. After the gates are fully opened we shall cast off and proceed at a reduced speed to exit the chamber in order of entry.

www.nycanals.com

http://www.nyscanals.gov/maps/index.html

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/bj043.html

http://www.nyscanals.gov/faq/index.html

We could see the first lock in front of us:

At 15:07 we were going through the first lock called “Troy Lock” the only one with a name, the others are just numbered. After 12 minutes we were getting out.

After “Troy –US Lock” We turned west heading into Erie Canal.

We were passing the 2^nd lock at 15:37 and 9 minutes later we were out.

Lock # 3. At 16:00. Ten minutes later we were out of a 34.5 lift.

Lock # 4. At 16:43. Fifteen minutes later we were getting out of another 34.5 lift.

Lock #5. At 16:46. Fifteen minutes later we were out of a 33.25 lift.

At 17:02 we went passed Lock #6, at Crescent, NY and took us another 15 minutes to get through a 33 ft lift.

We went under a couple of guard gates. And after passing “Brunswack Ferry Bridge” we run for a little while to get to the next lock. At 18:30 we went through lock #7, at Viscer Ferry, NY.

Today we went through 7 of the 23 locks that we are doing on the Erie Canal area and got lifted a total of 209.9 feet in just 22 miles and 4 hours approximately.

The Erie Canal was both the primary trade route from Albany to Buffalo, and was the gateway to the great western frontier. Many of New York's major cities, such as Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Albany grew long this route as a result.

The original Erie Canal took seven years to build and when completed in 1825 was considered the engineering marvel of its day. The original canal cut through 363 miles of wilderness with 83 locks and included a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Technology with no “engineering”. In the early 19th century the Erie Canal was so busy that there were traffic jams and fistfights at the locks as waiting boats jockeyed for position.

www.eriecanalway.org

www.canals.state.ny.us

The canal was enlarged to three times to accommodate more traffic and larger barges.

There is also a 348 mile rehabilitated Erie Canalway Trail that when finished will be the longest continuous trail in the United States.

The long term goal is to link the Erie Canal Greenway with the existing Niagara River Greenway and the Hudson River Valley Greenway. The Empire State Greenway would stretch from the Niagara Falls to Albany, north to Lake Champlain and south to NYC!

We pulled up, safe, at “Schenectady, Yacht club” at 19:20.

Just before 22:00 Rick, Tony’s friend picked us up and took us to the only open place in town called the “Mansion”. The steak was delicious and the place was incredible.

Tomorrow we are expecting some weather rain and winds in the afternoon...

June 6th. NYC to Troy, NY

2007-06-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

Bursu flew back to Chicago in the first flight, she is finishing up her residence and studying for her board examination. Happy Graduation!!

Today we left salt waters and cruised to fresh waters.

We left "North Cove" in NYC at 10:05. At 10:22 we pulled up at "Liberty Marina" to put 225 gallons of diesel at 2.95 a gallon. At 10:52 we were heading north on the Hudson River.

At 11:20 we went under George Washington Bridge. This separated two different worlds: the city and nature...

We took pictures of 3 of the 7 remaining light houses on the Hudson river.

http://hometown.aol.com/thelightkeeper/HudsonRiverLightkeepers.html
http://www.hudsonlights.com/tarrytown.htm

Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse:

At 12:47 we were approaching Tapaan Zee Bridge.

http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/tappan-zee/
http://www.tzbsite.com/
http://www.tzbsite.com/

Meadows lighthouse:

http://www.esopusmeadowslighthouse.org/

Saugerties lighthouse is a bed and breafast.
http://www.saugertieslighthouse.com/

Rondout lighthouse:

http://www.hudsonlights.com/rondout.htm

At 13:40 we were going under Newburgh - Beacon Bridges.

Beacon and Chelsea look like little cute towns from the distance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon,_New_York

At 18:25 we were sightseeing Albany, NY. This was intended to be stop port but Mark decided to keep going a little further north.

Dunn Memorial Bridge:

At 17:09 we looked at "Troy Town Dock and Marina" where we were to spend the night and wait for Capt Tony who is going to take over the docking while Mark goes back to Chicago to take care of Business.

19:28. The marina is located under the "Green Island Bridge".

At 20:00 Sayonara II was rinsed off and we headed out to downtown to look for food.

We cruised for nine and a half hours today and we were starving. We had dinner at the "Irish and Mexican Pub" on the River St. Dinner was delicious and Mark discovered his new favorite tequila: Bravo!

June 5th. Sag Harbor, NY to NYC

2007-06-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

June 5^th. Sag Harbor, NY to NYC.

We left Waterfront Marina in Sag Harbor, NY at 9 am.

At 9:30 we were going in between Orient point and plum Island.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=743

It was flat like a mirror, we did 25 knots in the sound which made the ride a little cold.

We moved the station to downstairs.

At 11: 56 We passed Loyd Neck Point.http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/longisland/lloydharbor/default.htm

At 11:30 we saw the execution rocks, which is a beautiful sight.

http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=749 http://www.longislandlighthouses.com/exrock.htm

At 12:36 We went by the prison of Hart Island.

http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/hartour1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Island,_New_York

At 14:08 We went under the Manhattan bridge.

At 14:09 We went under the Brooklyn bridge.

At 14: 27 Mark showed Bursu the statue of Liberty from his boat.

And at 15:34 we were docked at the “North Cove” at the tip of Manhattan. A little wavy but worth!

Mark and Bursu jumped off the boat to go cruise the town the only had a few hours left to go around. They went to central park, Malory square ….

In the meantime Ximena finished the working day at 5:30, adjusted lines and fenders, plugged the power, rinsed the boat off and headed to B&H Photo one of the biggest camera shops in the country. First day with an early end since we started the trip. She wanted to buy new camera gear to take better pics, but surprisingly they didn’t have it.

Walked in to Aveeda and Sephora. Then went to the Apple store on Prince St. and wonder around her favorite Manhattan neighborbood: SOHO!

And finished up the day with a 50 dollar dinner at “Baluchi’s” Indian cuisine …on Mark’s credit card! Well deserved. Other well recommender place with young atmosphere is “Bread” on Spring St. also.

June 4th. Sag Hampton, NY.

2007-06-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

June 4^th. Sag Harbor, NY

Between the locks being broken, having to abandon the tender and this weather, it looks that we are going to stay in Sag Harbor a bit longer.







Mark got a removable cast for his hand last night. He is not wearing it though.

Sayonara II got her official name over a bottle of campaign two minutes before mother and grandmother boarded the ride that was to take them to JFK and back home.

The weather is clearing up. Once again we got ready for cruising.

June 3rd. Sag Harbor, NY

2007-06-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

June 3^rd. Sag Harbor, NY

Today was a rainy, overcast day.. Teresa and Keila helped us provisioning… at no cost of course! Unusual for the Hamptons. Thanks for that Nissan Xterra!!!

Nothing mayor, just normal stuff besides that Mark and Bursu recovered the “little one” from the locks, almost tipped it on the way back and shaved a blade…(details to be expanded). It got detailed and loaded up and properly covered. It wasn’t a mission this time.

Later, Bursu and Mark went to return the “orange convertible”. Besides that, nothing mayor except that they spent a few hours at the hospital.. hopping to fix the hand…

It was also a good night to catch up with the scripts on this blog, so you may want to check on older days…every thing is been updated. We watch titanic…not the best movie to watch on a boat in a stormy day.

There is a Hazardous Weather Outlook and a High Surf advisory for tomorrow that reads as follows:

“Periods of rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Patchy fog. Low around 61. Breezy, with a east wind between 21 and 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

WITH THE APPROACH OF THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM BARRY...SEAS

WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY OVERNIGHT AS STRONG EASTERLY WINDS

PREVAIL AHEAD OF THIS LOW. SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AS HIGH AS 10

TO 14 FEET BY LATE TONIGHT AND THROUGH THE DAY MONDAY. THE

COMBINATION OF THESE HIGH SEAS AND LONG PERIOD SWELLS WILL CREATE

ROUGH SURF. THE EFFECTS WILL BE BEACH EROSION...BEACH WASH-OVERS

AND DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS ON EXPOSED BEACHES ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE

OF LONG ISLAND.

A HIGH SURF ADVISORY MEANS THAT HIGH SURF WILL AFFECT BEACHES IN

THE ADVISORY AREA...PRODUCING DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS AND

LOCALIZED BEACH EROSION”.

We have to take Mark’s family back to the city, there is no way we can make it on the ocean. We have to take the sound…

June 2nd. Sag Harbor, NY

2007-06-02T19:36:00.000-07:00

The sunrise in Sag Harbor was spectacular.

The crew thought this was a good day and port to take a brake from cruising long hours: including all the work that moving a Yacht involves. But, by the time that the “Little One” got set up: anchor hooked up, Navigation gear, safety stuff, cold bears, towels, sunscreen, bug spray… And the “Big” boat was uncovered, shampooed, dried, SS polished and teak decks scrubbed... the day was over! … So, so long for Sag Harbor…Maybe another time!

June 1st. Port Jefferson, Log Island, NY to Sag Harbor, Long Island, NY

2007-06-01T18:50:00.001-07:00

We moved from “Danfords Marina” to “Port Jefferson town Marina”in Port Jefferson, NY to fuel up. Put 253 gallons and cruised Long Island sound north. A little off the channel we were boarded by the Coast Guard which delayed us a bit.

At 14:47 we were passing the “Lookout tower” in “Rocky Point”.

At 14:59 turned by “Orient Point” and the best part of our cruise began.

http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/longisland/orientpoint/default.htm

http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/longisland/longbeachbar/default.htm

http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/longisland.htm

Rode “Shelter Island sound” south. On the East side we had “Deering Harbor”, “Shelter Hights”, “Jennings Point”, “Sunset Beach” and in “West Neck” in Shelter Island.

And on the west side we had “Greenport” and “Southold”.

At 17:00 we were pulling up at “Waterfront at Sag Harbor” and it felt really good. We were in “Sag Harbor”.

We pulled up with ¾ of a tank after running for five hours. (Mileage to be updated!)

Rinsed down and tidy up the boat, went to dinner at “B Smiths” had a delicious meal and cached a beautiful sunset.

Sag Harbor is a National Historic Site. It was a whaling port…

http://www.sagharborny.gov/

http://www.saghorboronline.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sag Harbor,New York

http://search.travel.yahoo.com/bin/search/map?nomaptip=1&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;yid=&ylat=&ylong=&yname=&yphone=&yaddress=&ycity=&ystate=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;yurl=&clat=40.99802&clong=-72.293671&zoom=9&sid=478135&amp;amp;pop=0&id=&pan_x=&pan_y=&.done=&.title=&cat=none&cat=lodging&lodging_price=-1&cat=skiresort&dining_price=-1&cat=sightseeing&cat=airport&yp_search=&cat=city&num_result=20

There is a weather advisory for the next day, it is a tropical storm going by...hurricane season just started…we will play it by ear ….

If the weather is good Cedar Point would be a great tender cruise.

http://www.scroope.net/lighthouses/longisland/cedarisland/default.htm

May 31. Manhattan, NYC to Port Jefferson, Long Island

2007-05-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

While the family went for a walk around “North Cove” the crew tidy up the boat and ready up to continue the journey towards Long Island.

We left around Noon for a sightseeing cruise up the Hudson River all the way to “Washington Bridge”. Then we turned around and cruise south to the statue of liberty.

After an hour we headed north on the East River. Passed under the bridges of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Amazing sightseeing cruise.

1400. Cruised north in between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan under “Queensboro Bridge”.

May 30. Cape May, NJ to Manhattan, NY

2007-05-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

At 8 am we put in 318 gallons of fuel to get us ready for the road, and at 9 am we were leaving “South Jersey Marina”.

Two and a half hours we cruised trough Atlantic City. Mark wanted to see if he missed any thing or not. We heard a may day call. A boat was on fire and coast guard was trying to locate it.

Around 15:17 Mark was driving his boat under the Verrazano Bridge which was pretty exacting. It was like a dream came true in that moment.

We went for a cruise around the statue of liberty, to the east side under the Brooklyn and Manhattan.

We wanted to save a little in fuel because we heard in Manhattan to fill a boat like this its pretty serious money. So we filled up at “Liberty Landing”.

Mark got away with seeing all the marinas and the downsides. Just before sunset, he went for “North Cove” which a little wavy but right on the tip of Manhattan and with the statue right in front, little cozy restaurants around and healthy atmosphere from the people exercising in the Battery Park.

Mark flew his mother and grandmother over and we all went to have dinner right on the harbor. They were as happy as or happier than we were.

Sayonara II in NY City. Killer! A dream came true today.

May 30. NYC

2007-05-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

May 30. Atlantic City, NJ

2007-05-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

We cruised around Atlantic City. We wanted to see if we missed any thing or not. Probably Not. We heard a may day call. A boat was on fire and the coast guard was trying to locate it.

May 29. Annapolis, MD

2007-05-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

Mark wanted to go for a sightseeing walk but we wad to leave around noon otherwise we were going to be charged for another day of docking. So we spent three hours of the morning in Annapolis, one of the sailing capitals of the world.

If you need maritime info go to www.portbook.net

The water taxi of Annapolis Harbor serves anchorage and shore: www.watermarkwatertaxi.com.

There are six tour boats operating from April through October, providing different narrated tours: www.watermarkjourney.com

Frank got off the boat. Hugs and kisses …we will miss you …. He had to rent a car and then catch a flight in Washington DC to get back to work. See you in Chicago.

The town was just beautiful and very friendly.

May 29. Annapolis to Cape May.

2007-05-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Mayo 29. Annapolis, MD to Cape May, NJ

We put in 662 gallons at noon and at 13:00 we were leaving the "Yatch basin" docks and cruised north towards “C&D” channel.

Our initial destination was Atlantic City, NJ. But Mark found out that one of his old friends from Chicago was spending some quality time with his family a little south form as, in Cape May. Around 18:00 Mark decided to meet him.

It got really rough we were entering the Cape May Channel around 19:15 maybe because a change of tides or the junction of currents. We rode over a couple of 8 foot waves. It got a Little scary.

The Cape May-Lewes Ferry system connects Victorian Cape May, NJ with historic Lewes, DE

www.capemaylewesferry.com

We docked at “South Jersey Marina” at 20:23. www.sjmarina.com Docking was hard because of the tiny dock and the strong currents that go into Cape May. We didn’t try a third time and we moved to a side dock. We pulled up with half a tank.

Cape May is been a tourist destinations for two centuries. The main attraction may be the Victorian town. Cape May has become a porpoise and whale watching center. There are big tuna and marling fishing tournaments. As Delaware, it is a natural barrier for birds migrating the East Coast Flyway. 360 species of birds stop and rest here before the long open-water crossing in the fall.

www.thejerseycape.com

www.njaudubon.org

Mark’s friend, Kamel, picked us up and drove us across the street to Cape Town.

We had dinner at “Jackson Mountain Café” on Jackson St off “Carpentier Lane” very cozy street.

This very pretty area that reminded us St. Augustin, Fl. Stockton beach is across the street. Lovely fishing town, “Jaws” could have been filmed here.

Kamel says that the temperature has been great the last couple of weeks. Over 75ºF.

Today we went through 3 states: Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

May 28. Manteo, NC to Annapolis, M.

2007-05-29T04:50:00.000-07:00

annapoliswireless.com - Home