We’re HOME!
It was a long haul from Catskill, NY to Saugatuck, MI. I did it in two segments, allowing for work.
The first challenge was to get the mast down in preparation for crossing the Erie Canal. My old college buddy, Rick, came along for the adventure. We started at the ol’ Hop-O-Nose Marina in Catskill, NY and watched as they used the 100 year old crane to snatch the mast off the boat and put it on the supports we got and reengineered to fit on TBD. We strapped it down and left!
It’s was to be a two day run the rest of the way up the river. We time the tides and made Castleton Yacht Club on the Hudson for a night tied to a dock and got showers after a long hot day working. Up the next morning, we easily made Waterford, NY – the entry to the Erie Canal west bound. We made it in time for lunch and, discovering the Canal is now free to transit (it wasn’t last time I came across), we decided to go ahead and get started.
The first challenge on a west-bound transit from the Hudson is the infamous Waterford Flight of Five. Locks 2 through 6 are all done one-after-the-other. In we went.
We made it through the flight and went until the locks were closed and we couldn’t go any further, clearing Locks 7 & 8 also. We tied up a Lock 9 after a long day, having put a lot of miles under our keel. This was a pretty successful first of eight days we spent on the Canal. We stopped at St. Johnsonville Marina, provisioned in Rome, had a great stop in Newark, NY, had New York pizza in Holly, went through the last double lock at Lockport to finish up with a long weekend in Tonawanda.
The canal under our belts, we headed for Buffalo to restep the mast before heading out across Lake Erie. From Tonawanda, we motored up the Niagara river and took a slip in Buffalo until the yard could get us in to the crane. We spent a couple extra days eating Buffalo wings and touring Buffalo. Then, it was time to get the work done and get the mast back up and the sails on.
Work done, we were hot, sweaty, and exhausted. However, neither of us wanted to stay in Buffalo for another night, so we did what sailors do: We left. Leaving Buffalo to our stern, we had planned to head off to Canada. We sailed a long day in not-so-great conditions. We were tired. We made across Lake Erie, anchoring in the protection of Long Point and hit the sack. Protection didn’t last long, as the wind came around from the northwest, making our anchorage rather untenable. We had wanted to go ashore, eventually checking in to Canada, but the weather just wasn’t working for us. So, we weighed anchor and used the weather we had to sail across Lake Erie to Conneaut, OH, where the Yacht Club received us with open arms. Big thanks to Conneaut YC for the hospitality and the nice showers! Nice BBQ place next door fed a couple of hungry sailors, too!
By this time, we have been traveling almost every day for two weeks straight. Rick had joined me from a vacation with his wife, so he hadn’t been home in almost a month. Sailing is hard work and we weren’t having the best weather. He decided he would jump ship at Cleveland and head home for rest and relaxation. Me left Conneaut and made the run to Cleveland in a day. We had dinner and Rick headed for an air-conditioned hotel with shower that doesn’t move before his flight the next morning. I stay and continued on… alone.
I had wanted to spend some time in Cleveland, but time was something I didn’t have enough of. I set off at sunrise the next morning and continued on. While the lake was still a little choppy, the winds were favorable and I had a great sail to Put-In-Bay. I had also always wanted to stop at Put-In-Bay and I’m glad I did. It’s a fun place, similar to Mackinac Island, but with golf carts instead. I took a morning ball in the harbor and went ashore to have dinner and explore. It was a great time.
The next day would be the end of this leg of the journey. Up and out again, I motored in calm conditions across Lake Erie and up the Detroit River. I found a spot to leave the boat for a few days in Detroit while I returned to work for a couple weeks. This was a long run: 616.5 nautical miles in 17 days. We are back in the home state. Special thanks to Rick for helping me come across the Erie Canal. No way I could’ve done that alone.
