Way back in June, through America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association, we were contacted by MacLean’s magazine. They were interested in Canadians who were doing the Great Loop during the world pandemic.

First, we had a telephone interview with the reporter, and, once we arrived in Canada, a face to face interview. Then, on a very rainy day, a photographer came to the boat at Rideau Ferry Harbour. Now, the story is published – what a thrill to read about our story, and the story of our friends on Red Dog, through someone else’s words!

After over 14 months (two months longer than planned and including two weeks in quarantine) our Great Loop adventure has come to its completion.  We cruised into Rideau Ferry Harbour on Tuesday, August 25 shortly after 8:00 a.m. So good to be home and to hoist the Gold Looper flag!

We celebrated that evening with a small group of family and friends.

It is so great to be together again with family!

We tried to keep busy during our two-week quarantine; one of the things we did was calculate some of our trip statistics. Some people like statistics and some people don’t – I hope you won’t find this too wearisome!

We travelled a total of 10,196 kilometres (6,335 miles) or 843 engine hours.  For comparison, in a normal summer season we do about 100 engine hours.

We visited three countries.

In the United States, we visited a total of 18 states. Each state has its charms but for scenery, we thought the best was in Tennessee.  My log book on October 8, 2019 states: ‘we went through the Nickajack Lock by 8:00 a.m. and then proceeded to have the most scenic cruise since we left the North Channel on Lake Huron in Ontario’.

Since we are located on the Rideau Canal we are well used to locks and we knew we were going to do a lot; our grand total:  146.  Our favourite was actually not a lock at all: Big Chute Marine Railway on Trent Severn Waterway in Ontario.

A close second was also on the Trent Severn Waterway: the Peterborough Lift Lock.

We didn’t calculate how many bridges we went under – but it was a lot!

We anchored 117 times – some remote…

…some not so remote.

We stayed 263 nights in marinas – some we don’t even remember and some we stayed so long we will never forget. Marina stays were our biggest expense. Although we stayed one month at Ocean Reef Marina in Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island and five weeks at Shady Harbor Marina in New York, it was the shorter stays that added up to the greatest cost.

We stopped a total of 32 times for fuel.  Total fuel: 15,479 litres (4,089 gallons). Fuel burn 1 ½ miles per gallon.  Cheapest fuel:  $1.50 per gallon (at two locations:  Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Portsmouth, Virginia).  Most expensive fuel:  Palm Cay Marina near Nassau, Bahamas $3.82 per gallon. Average price $2.74 per gallon.

While laundry was not our biggest expense, it seemed like I inserted hundreds of quarters into washers and dryers (I really missed loonies and twonies!). Most expensive laundry:  $11.50 in Bimini, Bahamas (that included wash and dry thank goodness).  Least expensive:  free – at select marinas. Most common:  $1.50 per wash, $1.00 to dry.

We were expecting restaurants might have been our biggest expense as Looping is a very social activity. The world pandemic effectively curtailed our restaurant spending. We rarely ordered out from March 13 to May 15 – the day that patio dining began to be available in Virginia. Best restaurant meal on the Loop:  Di Salvo’s Bella Cucina, an Italian Restaurant in Parry Sound, Ontario. Best pizza:  Great Harbour Cay Marina in The Berry Islands, Bahamas. Best view:  Boathouse Grille at Shady Harbor Marina.

We had a few new food experiences. In Canada: wild boar (at that restaurant in Parry Sound). In the United States:  hushpuppies (a fried dough concoction), oysters, crab (including soft shell crab), okra, southern boil (a stew comprising of sausage, shrimp, potatoes, corn on the cob all boiled together in one big pot). In the Bahamas: conch (we didn’t like conch salad, but loved conch fritters).

We enjoyed seeing the wildlife. We found the American Pelican not the prettiest bird, but it fascinated us.  It is beautiful when flying and amazing when dive-bombing for fish.

We were delighted with the dolphins which we started to see near Mobile Bay in Alabama.  We would count that as one of the highlights of our trip.

We could have done without the Asian Carp, but that is one of the stories of our Loop (one jumped over four feet and landed on our boat). Sadly no picture.

The most northerly spot we went was Sault Ste Marie in Ontario (right on Lake Superior). Staniel Cay in the Bahamas was our most southerly point.  West was Grafton, Illinois and East was Waterford, New York.

By chance the hottest and coldest temperatures we endured were on the Tennessee River. We had a crazy heat wave from Sept 28 to Oct 3, 2019; even swimming in the river was not refreshing – it was like jumping into a hot bath. On November 1 at Florence Harbor Marina there was enough frost on the boat to make a snowball. We also had very cold temperatures on Nov 14 and 15 on the Tombigbee River in Alabama; luckily we were travelling with our friends on DougOut and they had an extra propane heater which we used on the flybridge while cruising.

The strongest wind was at Staniel Cay in the Bahamas: sustained winds of 72 kilometres an hour. 

Lake Michigan (fondly called Lake Washing Machine by Loopers) had some pretty nasty winds as well.

We didn’t leave the boat often; only nine days in total.  Seven days in late August for my mother’s 90^th birthday; one day in December to visit our friends on DougOut in The Keys; and one night in late February at my brother’s rental condo in Lucaya, Bahamas.

When asked what the best part of our Loop is, we don’t really have to think too hard – it is the people. We have made some lifelong friends – both Canadian and American. 

We also met people who, though we will likely never see again, left a lasting impression due to their generosity and kindness to total strangers. 

The trip wasn’t all smooth. Obviously there were some disappointments:  the devastation of Hurricane Dorian caused us to change our Bahamas plans (original plan was to cruise the Abacos). However, this led us to meet some extraordinary people who we wouldn’t have met otherwise.  And see some sights we weren’t expecting.

A common question we get asked is would we do the Loop again. While we don’t expect to do the Loop in its completion again, we definitely will return to Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. It is so beautiful there and the water is pristine. You could spend several summers there and still not experience it all. We are lucky that it is practically in our backyard (only a two week cruise away).

While we saw a lot of beautiful scenery on the East Coast of the United States, we did miss seeing some interesting places due to the world pandemic. Too soon to tell, but a trip down the East Coast could be in our future plans.

Some things we learned. There are more nice people in the world than not nice people. We know more about boating than we did before the trip including: how to figure out weather, wind, currents and tide and when all four are involved how to maneuver that.  We learned about geography and history. The biggest thing we learned is that we can handle ourselves in messy situations and that we still like each other after over a year of living on a boat! We make a great team!

And so our journey is ended. We will never forget it and we have so many memories.

Signing off: Karen and Jacques.

After three days in the village of Phoenix, we set off up the Oswego Canal on Sunday, August 9. Ultimate destination – Canada!! 

The New York Locks operate from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. so we were ready to go very early.  We entered Lock 1 with two other boats – a Canadian Looper and an American boat heading to Lake Ontario. Things didn’t go quite as smoothly as anticipated. First, the Bridge Operator was late. The Lock Master was very personable and young and kept apologizing for the Bridge Operator. Finally, the lock started its operation – to take us down 10 feet.  About half way down, we started going back up.  We were confused and worried – is the lock not going to work after all this time?  The Lock Master admitted it was his first time doing a lockage solo – he forgot to close the intake valve.  Once he rectified that, we started going down again.  But then…the bridge didn’t open! We saw the Bridge Operator in panic mode! The Lock Master and the Bridge Operator started yelling at each other. We start to go into panic mode! Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, the bridge started to open. Whew!

No issues going through the rest of the locks and we arrived at Lock 6 about 11:30. Two other boats joined us later in the day – both Loopers:  one Canadian, one American. In total we were five boats docked at Lock 6 waiting for the next day’s opening.

The next day (Monday, August 10 – the day we have been waiting what seems like forever for!) we were raring to go.   Everyone was up early. Everything went like clockwork.  We were in Lock 6 at 7:25 and out of Lock 8 at 8:15.

From Lock 8 we could see Lake Ontario – and it looked nice and calm – we were on our way!  We headed to Kingston; the other Canadian boats headed to Trenton.

We maintained radio communications with the other Canadian boats for a couple of hours but then we were too far away and we were alone.  At 11:54 we crossed the border into Canada!

And here is what crossing the border really looked like.

Shortly after crossing into Canadian waters, we picked up a stowaway. 

Although Lake Ontario is very vast, we never lost sight of land; this is Main Duck Island.

You know you are in Kingston when you see a Martello Tower.

After some initial confusion, we had a plan for clearing customs.  As we were leaving Oswego, we called the customs number for small craft reporting and were informed the Kingston customs office was closed.  We found this hard to believe so we called again and talked to a different agent:  she was very helpful, confirming that Kingston was indeed open and she alerted Confederation Basin Marina that we would be arriving in a few hours.  Although there were two customs agents waiting for us on arrival, we first had to call the small craft reporting number where we were again informed that we could not clear in at Kingston as that office was closed.  Of course, that was news to the on-site agents.  Once that was all sorted out, the clearing in process was pretty straightforward.  The agents explained that for our quarantine period we would not be allowed off the boat, except as necessary to secure the lines.  As our plan is to anchor during quarantine this will not present a problem.  They also indicated we could continue travelling while in quarantine, including the Rideau Canal, as locking does not require you to leave the boat.

Our first night in Canada, we anchored not far from Kingston where we enjoyed a peaceful evening.

Although we planned to stay two nights at this anchorage, as sometimes happens, the wind changed the next day and the anchorage became uncomfortable.  Late in the day, we decided to head to the first lock on the Rideau Canal, Kingston Mills, to dock for the night. There were no other boats there; Kingston Mills has a reputation of being one of the noisiest locks on the system as the busiest railway crossing in Canada runs right over the lock. In fact, when you are going through the flight locks, the bridge is right on top of you and we can attest that when a train passes overhead when you are in the lock, it is impossible to hear anything else.

The next morning we got underway at 9:00 a.m. It was a beautiful day and everything went smoothly.  There are 15 locks to get to our home waters; we completed 11 on Wednesday, August 12. We knew we were getting close to home when we saw and heard our first loon.

We headed to one of our favourite anchorages: West Bay on Sand Lake.

Listen here for the Arrogant Worms!

We enjoyed seeing the scenery on the Rideau Canal.

It is quite a different feeling to go to places you have been before.  It feels too easy.  We know the waters and we know what to expect.  After over a year of every day being a new experience, this feels kind of strange.

We went through The Narrows Lock (our last lock of the trip!) on Friday, August 14 and cruised to Nobles Bay, an area very familiar to us as it is located only a half hour cruise from our home marina in Rideau Ferry. 

We have just completed week one of quarantine – one week to go!

After two days in Utica, we set out again on Wednesday, August 5 shortly after 7:00 a.m. We were not the only ones out and about.

After an hour or so of cruising, we came across this dredger right in the middle of the channel. We communicated by radio and he indicated he would move over so we could get by.  This is how much room he gave us.

We are feeling very worldly – we passed by Rome.

As it was still early in the day, we debated whether to cross Lake Oneida once we arrived at Sylvan Beach.  Easy decision: it was made for us. When we arrived at the lake, it was pretty rough, so we docked at Sylvan Beach for the night.

The next day, Lake Oneida was looking much calmer so we set off.

We were very happy to see this sign.

Stowell Island was settled in the mid-1600s by the Jesuits.  According to legend, the French and the Jesuits were fleeing from the Indians and camped on Stowell Island. To lighten their load, they left behind cannon and gold.  Although no gold has ever been found, to this day the locals refer to the island as Treasure Island.

We stayed at the village of Phoenix, location of Lock 1 on the Oswego Canal.  Lock 1 is home to the Bridge House Brats, a volunteer organization made up of kids from ages eight to 18. 

Part of their mandate is to assist boaters.  We found them to be very personable, helpful and delightful. On Friday evenings there is live music at the lock and the ‘brats’ act as servers, picking up food at the local restaurants and delivering it to you on the dock.

On Friday, August 7, we finally got the news we have been waiting for: Lock 7 on the Oswego Canal would be opening on Monday, August 10 at 7:00 a.m. We were (and are) ecstatic! Early Sunday morning (August 9) we set off to see how far we could get.

We actually got a little further than we thought we would and ended up at Lock 6. The Lockmasters are super friendly – they are as happy as we are! We took a walk and investigated Lock 7 – the one that has been closed all this time. It does indeed look ready and the staff at Lock 6 confirm it. So it must be true!

We will do our final weather checks just before leaving, but as of now, it looks like we will continue through Locks 6, 7 and 8 and then cross Lake Ontario on Monday, August 10! Now, if we only knew where to go to check in with Customs. We will keep you posted.

Shady Harbor Marina was our home for five weeks.  While we enjoyed our stay there immensely, it was definitely time to start moving again. At the Looper farewell get-together on Thursday, July 30, the owners joined us as we said our good-byes to all of our new Looper friends.

During our time at Shady Harbor, we met lots of fellow Loopers and formed friendships. 

We finished up a few projects.

On Friday, July 31, we said goodbye to Shady Harbor.

We continued north on the Hudson River.

After Albany, we went through the first of 30 locks we will encounter on our way to Lake Ontario.

This sign is pointing us in the right direction.

We docked at Waterford for one night.

The Erie Canal Locks open at 7:00 a.m., so no sleeping in for us on Saturday, August 1.  We were up bright and early, and with three other boats, made our way to the Waterford flight locks. The Waterford Flight locks have the highest combined lift on the Erie Canal raising you a total of 169 feet over a distance of about 1½ miles.

The original Erie Canal was very different from today’s Erie Canal. It was designed as a ditch filled with water so mules or horses could walk beside the ditch on a towpath and pull the boats through.  When the canal opened in 1825, it was four feet deep and 40 feet wide. Here is a link to a song about the Erie Canal.

Guard gates help to isolate sections of the canal in case of emergency, such as a break in the canal wall, accident, or extreme high water. They are also used when a section of the canal needs to be drained for maintenance or winter freeze protection.

As you know, locks and dams go hand in hand. The dam below looked beautiful.

It is so nice to be back on inland waters.

Way back in November, we were so happy to leave the locks on the rivers. Now, we are so happy to be back in locks! It means we are getting ever so closer to home!

We keep seeing this tall ship and even went through a few locks with it. It is from Russia and is a replica of an 18th century belomorian boat that was built in 2007. The boat is 43 feet long and 13 feet wide with a displacement of 15 tons. To put this in perspective our boat is 43 feet long and 15 feet wide and displaces 14 tons. This boat has been all over the world, crossing oceans. The captain is Sergey Sinelnik and although different crews join him on board, at times he has his family on board as well. The trip to get here from Russia took three years.

We ran across another wooden boat; not quite the same size.

It is wonderful to be back on the water and actually go somewhere. We are travelling with fellow Loopers on Seabatical, Christine and Joe.

On Sunday, August 2, the afternoon weather was looking a little iffy (forecasts for wind and thunderstorms), so we got up extra early to get a very early start.  Up at 5:30 – on the move by 6:00.

We have noted a lot of debris on the canal: logs, branches. This is something we typically see in the spring after the canal is open for the first time. We are seeing it now because some of the locks were just opened a few days ago, so it is simulating spring conditions.

As sometimes happens, the weather was not exactly as forecast; it stabilized and we were able to keep moving.  We are discovering that docking options on the Erie Canal are extremely limited this year. Of course, partly due to COVID, but also due to a major flood in November of last year where many docks were totally destroyed.  After cruising for eight hours (about four hours longer than planned), we finally found a spot at St Johnsville.

Shortly after our arrival, the mayor of this small village arrived at the marina and personally welcomed us. The village depends on the boating traffic for economic benefits and this year has been terrible for them. Dockage is free; you are encouraged to patronize local businesses. The mayor recommended an Italian restaurant and advised us to call them for a reservation (and also a ride!).  Sure enough, the owner of the restaurant came to pick us up! The food was great; the service was awesome; the ambiance was homey. At the end of our meal our server drove us back to the marina. Now that’s service!!

On Monday, August 3 we cruised to Utica. Since we arrived shortly after lunch we had the afternoon to do some exploring.

Utica has a great outdoor wall display explaining all of their history. We found the picture below interesting.

We are tracking Tropical Storm Isaias and so are staying put in Utica for another day. We are far enough inland that we expect to miss the brunt of the storm. We plan to continue making our way to the Oswego Canal in the hopes that it opens on schedule. To say we are anxious is an understatement – we just want to get home!

Even though we are still in New Baltimore, New York, we know we are close to home…as we have been invaded. After about eight months with absolutely no spiders to be seen anywhere on board Gyp C, we have been inundated since our arrival at Shady Harbor Marina. Salt is a natural type of spider poison so since we had a lot of salt on the boat while cruising in ocean waters, there were no instances of spiders or spider webs. Boy, are we making up for it now! We are now far enough up the Hudson River, that even though we still have tides and current, the water is almost fresh. My morning routine includes getting rid of all the spider webs and spiders that have accumulated overnight. While this is something that we are well used to in our home waters on Big Rideau Lake, the spiders seem unusually plentiful here. We have tried various methods to deter them but so far they are a resilient bunch and seem to like our boat (I don’t blame them – we like it too!).

We are still waiting on the New York Canals; while the Erie Canal is now open (ahead of schedule), there has been no change to the planned opening of the Oswego Canal; it is slated to open for through traffic on August 10.

Our days have fallen into somewhat of a routine. Chores in the morning, relaxing in the afternoon. Everybody here is in the same boat (pun intended) waiting for the locks to open.

Recently, for one of the morning chores, I had to be very brave. I hadn’t had a haircut since December; it was definitely time. I made an appointment with a very ‘experienced’ stylist more known for his expertise on mechanical and electrical components. He watched a three minute YouTube video and declared himself ready. As he was snipping away, I heard these disconcerting words: ‘This is just like taking apart a transmission.’ I was afraid to ask what he meant. Apparently it translates to ‘this is the first time I have done this.’

The marina comes equipped with horseshoe pits and bocce courts so we have been making use of these to while away the afternoons.

When not playing games, we gather in the late afternoons under the big tent and share experiences and stories.

One fine, calm day, we took our dinghies about two miles up the Hudson River for a dinner out.

One Saturday, we signed out the marina courtesy van and ventured onto the other side of the Hudson River to visit a farmer’s market in the village of Kinderhook.

I have only seen one foggy morning in the month that we have been here.

Weather permitting, every Saturday night there is a campfire. There is a bit of an artist in charge of setting these up.

On Sunday, July 26, the marina held a pig roast which is a fund raiser for the local Boys and Girls Club.

Our plan, as it stands now, is to depart Shady Harbor Marina on August 1 and start making our way through the Erie Canal. We are not the only ones feeling a bit antsy to get going again. We are all hopeful that the Oswego Locks will open as scheduled so we can continue on our individual journeys.

We have been here at Shady Harbor Marina for just over two weeks. On our arrival on Friday, June 26, we noted that they hadn’t any rain for quite a while. Well, we can definitely say that they have had some since we have been here. It either rained or thunder-stormed every day the first week we were here. We were happy to see the first heavy rain – it meant a good cleansing for the boat – removing all that bad salt. And we were happy to see the second heavy rain – another good rinsing.

We borrowed a car and went exploring on July 2 with Renée and Pierre of Shoreline Traveller.

The Northern Catskills area is one of the earliest vacation destinations in America. In the early 1800s, ‘going to the Catskills’ meant going to the Kaaterskill Region.

We also visited the village of Catskill.

Later that same day while having dinner at a restaurant, a micro-burst (or mini tornado) passed through the marina. We heard later that the winds were fierce (for about two minutes). One boat has lost some of its canvas. There is a barbeque area at the marina that is covered by a large tent secured with cement blocks; on our return the tent was totally down and the cement blocks had moved a considerable distance. We didn’t waste any time checking out our boat; luckily, we had no damage – just a lot of water in the fly bridge.

After a week of grey, dismal weather, we were happy to see July 4 dawn bright and clear and sunny with no rain, thunderstorms, or other in the forecast! And to top it off, that evening – a beautiful full moon.

We are in a hilly area; when we go for a walk our legs certainly know it! While out for one of our walks we chanced upon the Hannacroix Creek Preserve.

Shady Harbor Marina is located on the Hudson River which sees considerable commercial traffic.

The USS Slater is the last destroyer left out of 563 from WWII and is located in Albany as part of a museum. The destroyers were used to defend the Navy from Japanese submarines and Kamikaze air attacks. On Sunday, July 5, the USS Slater was escorted by two tows to the Staten Island Shipyard for repairs and passed right in front of the marina.

On Tuesday, July 7, we had Gyp C hauled out of the water for a much needed cleaning.

There is a restaurant on-site at the marina which we have taken advantage of a few times.

We had some good news; the Erie Canal will be open in its entirety on July 31 (up from August 10). The Oswego Canal which takes us to Lake Ontario is still projected to open on August 10 but we are now optimistic it may open earlier! We can’t wait to get home!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day!

We are so close to Canada right now, but we just can’t get there – only 386 kilometres to the US/Canada border on Lake Ontario.

There are two routes from here into Canada – the one we have always planned to take is the Erie Canal to the Oswego Canal which brings us directly to Lake Ontario. That route is slated to open in its entirety on August 10. The second route is to take the Champlain Canal which brings you to Lake Champlain, where you connect to the Richelieu River in Quebec. This route is also slated to open on August 10.

Our preferred route is the Oswego Canal as the Champlain Canal route is longer and has a bridge that we are unable to get under unless we make some modifications to the boat. Jacques was busy measuring our air draft the other day and if by chance the Champlain Canal opens first, we will be able to take that route (we would have to remove the radar and some fixed antennas).

In the meantime, we are quite content here at Shady Harbor Marina.

With just a little bit of trepidation, we departed Cape May, New Jersey and started travelling on the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (NJICW). We had some concerns as many Loopers do not take the New Jersey portion of the ICW as it has been known for having shallow depths. Many of them wait for a weather window and travel outside on the Atlantic Ocean from Cape May to New York City. Other boaters do, however, take the NJICW so we did our research, checked with local resources, and felt confident that as long as we travelled on a rising tide we would be fine. With that in mind, we set out with our fellow Canadian friends on Sunten and Shoreline Traveller on Saturday, June 20.

As it was the weekend, we encountered a lot of local boaters on the water. Many were taking advantage of the gorgeous day and were out fishing.

In some areas of the NJICW, we were very close to people’s backyards.

Some portions of the NJICW were a little narrow…

…and a little shallow.

Although there were a few spots where the water was, indeed, quite shallow, we arrived, without incident, in Ventnor City in the early afternoon. The anchorage we found was pretty awesome.

Our original plan was to stay for one night, but we decided to stay an extra day as the location couldn’t be beat: very quiet, great swimming, access to a grocery store and close access to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

On Monday, June 22, we set out with Shoreline Traveller to continue up the NJICW (Diane and Gaetan on Sunten decided to stay for another week to enjoy the beach). Since we were in a heavily populated area, we had a few bridges to get through.

We cruised past residential areas…

…and big cities.

Our journey on the NJICW was quite uneventful; we found the depths in the channel to be much better than on the segment from Cape May to Ventnor City. We did not have a firm destination in mind and we started scouting out anchorages about mid-afternoon. Barnegat Bay had some good anchorages but because of wind direction, we decided to head to Barnegat Inlet where it appeared to be more sheltered.

The channel to enter the anchorage at Barnegat Inlet was somewhat confusing. Initially, Shoreline Traveller headed the wrong way and had to turn around to enter the anchorage channel. We waited for them to go ahead of us. They called on the radio and verified all depths were fine. We followed them.

Suddenly things started to feel just not right. The depth sounder alarm started going off. We tried to back up but it was too late – we were aground – on a sandbar.

Luckily, way back in October, we bought a membership to Tow Boat US (similar to CAA). We bought it for the assurance that if it was ever needed, it was there. To date, we have only been using it for discounts on fuel and marinas. However, today was the day we really needed them. We swallowed our pride and called. So nice to hear a friendly voice on the other end; help would be on the way in less than half an hour.

Within about 20 minutes Patrick came to our rescue.

And so we were free and floating!

No damage was done except to our pride. It’s been ‘said’ you are not a true boater until you have run aground. Well, we think we have earned that distinction!

Even though Barnegat Inlet is not on the NJICW proper, it was decided (after a planning meeting with Shoreline Traveller) that we would abort further travels on the NJICW. To continue the trip to New York City we would head out to sea and deeper waters.

We departed on Tuesday, June 23 about midday.

It was a bit of a hazy day.

We caught glimpses of ‘The Big Apple’ through the haze.

New York Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world so we were expecting to encounter a fair bit of boat traffic. However, we found it to be surprisingly quiet on our arrival about 7:00 p.m. We did see a few tows with barges and the Staten Island Ferries.

We found a peaceful anchorage near a famous landmark.

Because of the world pandemic it was never our intention to linger in New York City; we were up very early the next morning (Wednesday, June 24).

We found again that New York Harbour was very quiet – we assume because of COVID. We did a lot of sight seeing from the water and I took a lot of pictures of the skyline. As it was such a grey day, most of my pictures are not very exciting. This aircraft carrier caught our attention though.

Once we got past the city proper and further up the Hudson River, the landscape started changing. The Hudson River got its name from Henry Hudson who, in 1609, while looking for the northwest passage to China, travelled the whole length of the tidal portion of the river to what is present-day Albany.

Some people get to work in beautiful locales.

The further we travelled, the more breath taking the scenery became.

West Point Military Academy is located in the Hudson Highlands.

So many lighthouses on the Hudson River…

…of so many different designs.

At one point, away in the distance, we could see orange lights flashing. As we got closer we could see it was a safety vessel protecting two swimmers and a kayaker.

Train tracks line both sides of the Hudson River. One appeared to be dedicated to passenger traffic (Amtrak) and the other to freight traffic.

The natural beauty of the Hudson River and the Hudson Highlands was unbelievable. Mere words are not enough; even the pictures do not do it justice. Every time we turned a corner there was more jaw-dropping scenery.

We arrived at Shady Harbor Marina, in New Baltimore, New York on Friday, June 26. There were a couple of packages waiting for us: Jacques was excited to learn that his new glasses had arrived – no more diving with glasses on!

We expect Shady Harbor to be our home for the next month or so as we wait for the New York Canals and Locks to open.

Exactly one year ago today, on June 20, 2019, we started our long dreamed about adventure.

At the time, we realistically expected to be back in Canada by mid-June of 2020 (in other words, now).  Alas, the world pandemic has changed a lot of things and one of those things is how we are doing this trip. Since re-entering the US from the Bahamas on March 12, we have been travelling very slowly up the eastern coast, anchoring out a lot, avoiding big towns and cities, and practicing social distancing (which is actually quite easily accomplished on a boat).  We are very self-contained and take our home with us wherever we go. We have learned to carry masks and alcohol wipes with us whenever we leave the boat. We have created a small social bubble of like-minded friends who all have the same goal in mind – to return home to Canada.

Everyone is getting anxious to get home.  Our main obstacle, the New York Canal System, is just starting to work on the projects that were put on hold at the start of the stay at home order.  At this point the earliest we expect we can return home is the end of August. We miss our family and friends and can’t wait to see you all! Every day we get a little closer!

Our last stop on Chesapeake Bay was an anchorage at Fairlee Creek, Maryland.  We arrived early on a Friday afternoon; there were two other boats in the anchorage when our small flotilla of three boats arrived.  By late afternoon, the anchorage was packed (with over 50 boats).  Apparently, Fairlee Creek is a very popular anchorage for both Baltimore and Annapolis – it is not too far away for them and it was the start of the weekend. We were having so much fun people watching that I actually didn’t get any pictures of the busy anchorage.

I did get this picture though. 

And here we are leaving Fairlee Creek anchorage.

Our next stop was Chesapeake City.  Don’t let the name fool you – it is a very small town and not a city at all.  It is very picturesque and they have done a great job of keeping all their older homes in good repair.

Connecting Chesapeake Bay to Delaware Bay is the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal.  While the canal was first proposed in 1661, it only opened in 1829.  It reduced the water routes between Philadelphia and Baltimore by nearly 300 miles.   It is 12 miles long and is the busiest commercial canal in the US and the third busiest in the world. 

We did not spend too much time in Delaware – just two days in Delaware City (another small town).

Tim, the Dock Master at the Delaware City Marina, was amazing. He provides a daily ‘Captain’s briefing’ on the Delaware River and Delaware Bay (and because of COVID he now provides these briefings via Zoom).  Delaware River and Delaware Bay are big bodies of water heavily influenced by tide and currents. The briefing was invaluable for us to plan our trip down the Delaware to Cape May, New Jersey.  Due to winds and tidal current, we decided to divide our trip on the Delaware into two segments:  the first part, on June 18, we travelled the Delaware River portion.

In order to have the best cruising conditions on Delaware Bay, we got up at the crack of dawn on June 19 and continued the second part of our journey.

For the first time on our trip, we ran into some fog.

Next up: the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway.