Smiths Falls – The Voyages of Nine Lives

July 5 to 18, 2018: Montreal to Jones Falls

Montreal to Jones Falls

Montreal was suffering a heat wave. There were 33 deaths from the heat in the city during the few days we were visiting. Dick managed to do some exploring, and even rode his bike as far as the Lachine Canal on the hottest day. Me, I pretty much stayed on the boat, only venturing out in the evenings for dinner, and once to visit Bonsecours Market. There were several other Looper boats in the marina, but nobody had energy for introductions or docktails.

Montreal’s history began with a fur trading station set up by Samuel de Champlain in 1605. The local Iroquois were not best pleased and were successful in driving the French away. In 1642 the town of Ville Marie was established and a fort was built the following year as a mission to convert the Iroquois to Christianity. Settlers arrived, but the mission went into bankruptcy and the town came under direct control of the French King. After 1763 New France became a British colony. Over time Montreal became the premier city in Canada, a centre for finance, manufacturing, and commerce. Today it is the largest city in the province of Quebec, and the second largest city in Canada. Port operations moved away from the Old City, and today historic Old Montreal is a major tourist destination.

Unfortunately, it is also very much a work in progress. Many of the beautiful old buildings are empty and under reconstruction, and streets that had been paved are now being restored to cobblestones. The main pedestrianized street is not particularly salubrious, too many t-shirt and souvenir shops interspersed with fast food chains. Perhaps as the restoration works continue there will be more space for European style cafes and small shops. I had high hopes for Bonsecours Market, described in fulsome terms in the tourist brochures as a historic indoor market full of boutiques and restaurants. Sadly, the reality is only one of the 3 floors occupied, yet more souvenir shops, and only one café slash ice cream stop.

We did find two nice restaurants in the Old Town, although the first one had an extremely limited and overly avant garde menu. We had an outstanding meal at the second, the enjoyment slightly reduced by a somewhat snooty waiter, who clearly felt we were not quite the right sort of people to frequent his establishment.

It is more than 50 years since I last visited Montreal. That was during the 1967 Worlds Fair, much of the city was under construction, and there was a heat wave. I guess it just is not my city.

We enjoyed an unexpected visit from Dick’s Uncle Hans and his wife Cathy. They volunteer at Ministry to Seafarers, a mission that provides a home away from home and assistance for seamen from all over the world when their ships are in port. They happened to be there when we were, so it was great to welcome them onto the boat for coffee and chat. We may get a chance to see them again later, as they have a boat on the Trent Severn.

We left Montreal before 9am, hoping for a swift passage through the two locks on the St Lawrence Seaway before our route took us north on the Ottawa River. This was not to be. On arrival at the first lock, we were told it would be 11am, as a large freighter was coming through and commercial traffic has priority. As the freighter was being locked through, another Looper boat arrived, we had last met them at Half Moon Bay on the Hudson River. They were told “after lunch”, as we would all have to wait for a “special” boat to come through. After a certain amount of grumbling, Dick got out his laptop and was just settling in for some internet surfing when we were suddenly called to get ready and go into the lock with the just arrived Canada Coast Guard Vessel. The Seaway locks are huge, and it is quite difficult to hold the boat in place with the thin nylon ropes that are dropped down the sides of the locks for pleasure boats. The second lock was easier when we hit on the idea of Dick staying out holding one of the ropes, the second was tied off, and I took the helm and kept the engine running to maneuver the boat back and forth against the inrushing water (much as I do on narrowboats in locks in UK).

The next excitement was created by weather. We were out in 20 knot winds and had to cross shallow Lac St Louis with the high wind and strong current. The course zigzags, and is surprisingly narrow, so at some points the swells were inevitably on our beam and we were rocking and rolling a lot more than is comfortable. It was not a particularly long journey, fortunately, and we found space below the lock at the village of Sainte Anne de Bellevue. This is a historic town, now a suburb of Montreal. We did not see much of the village, only the street along the canal, lined with restaurants. Consulting TripAdvisor, we selected one of the more highly rated establishments, which happened to be an Irish Pub. Go figure. Little of the menu resembled Irish pub fare, but Dick managed to find a lamb shank that he enjoyed very much. I decided to be adventurous and try one of the signature Quebec dishes, poutine. This is French fries, smothered in beef gravy, and topped with cheese curds. I didn’t say it was good for you! Anyway, clearly, I need to try it again, because while the dish was tasty enough, the French fries were seriously soggy, so it was not a success.

After passing through the lock and officially entering the Ottawa River the next morning, we enjoyed a pleasantly calm day crossing Lac des Deux-Montagnes and on to Carillon Lock. The Ottawa River is very wide at its lower end, in many cases more of a series of connected lakes than what one expects of a river. The scenery is pretty, although the shore is often quite a distance away.

Carillon lock is the highest in Canada, with a 66 foot lift. It is controlled by huge guillotine doors that lift and lower instead of the more usual swing gates. It is also the site of a large hydroelectric dam and tours are available, but Dick was disappointed to find that English tours must be booked a few days in advance. He didn’t feel his command of French was quite up to a tour of a hydroelectric facility!

We found a place on the wall below the lock, and enjoyed watching the boats entering and exiting. It is an enormous lock, used almost exclusively by pleasure boats, with as many as 12 locking through at one time. The largest boats go in first, and take the lines dropped down by the lock staff. Then smaller boats are added, including a row down the middle. Those middle boats tie to the boats they are beside. It makes it a bit tricky for the boaters on the wall, because they are not only holding their own boat, but also the one that has tied to them! There is also no restriction on who can use the lock, so lots of wave runners swarm in as well. We were lucky when it was our turn the next morning, just three other smaller boats, and all on the wall with their own lines to hold.

Normally it is quiet and peaceful overnight at this location, but our stop coincided with a huge 3-day festival of electronic music, including 32 hours of non-stop sound. As in all night, thumpa thumpa thumpa.

Our next stop was the beautiful Chateau Montebello. It is one of the Grand Old Ladies built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. (others include the Empress in Victoria, Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City) Now part of the Fairmont Hotel group, it is billed as the largest log structure in the world. It was built in 1930 to be a Sportsmens Club for CPR, and over the years it has hosted a fascinating list of political figures, royalty, and events. We enjoyed looking at the old photographs on the wall! In the 1970’s it was turned into a hotel, and still operates as a destination resort in beautiful surroundings. We stayed one night in the marina and indulged ourselves with dinner in the hotel, as well as their breakfast buffet the next morning.

It was a relatively short run the next day to Ottawa, but on arrival we had the challenge of the staircase flight of 8 locks that connect the Ottawa River with the Rideau Canal. The guides suggested that “thousands” would watch us locking up, and I had been practising my royal wave, but we started with an audience of just one or two! As we moved up the flight, the audience grew, and included several tourists who took video of the entire process. By the last lock we were watched by at least 30 people. A fellow Looper who locked up with us said afterwards he was glad we were there and got all the attention, he felt he had enough stress trying to execute the enter and exit maneuvers without the additional pressure of amateur critics!

Ottawa is at the confluence of 3 major rivers, and was an important trading place for First Nations. It was visited by Europeans as early as 1610, but it was not until 1800 that the first settlement in the area was established across the Ottawa River in Hull. In 1826, land speculators arrived on the south side of the river when the construction of the Rideau Canal was announced. The town of Bytown was founded, and the canal was built to provide a secure route between Montreal and Kingston, bypassing the St Lawrence River and the threat of enemy fire on supply ships as happened during the War of 1812. Bytown was renamed Ottawa and incorporated as a city in 1855, after a turbulent early history that included labour unrest and political dissension that degenerated into rioting and violence on multiple occasions. In 1857 Ottawa was declared the capital of the Province of Canada by Queen Victoria, who was asked to make the choice after local politicians had failed to agree.

We docked on the canal wall in the centre of town. It was an easy walk to ByWard Market, where we were delighted to find a wonderful choice of fresh produce at the stalls, as well as excellent small shops selling international cheeses and pates, a butcher, and a nice Italian food store. Once again it was very hot, so we decided to have lunch in a restaurant and then relax on board for the evenings. We tried another Irish pub, and the next day had a great meal in an Italian Trattoria. On our second day we rode our bikes, stopping to watch the daily Changing of the Guard. Dick had scouted the previous day, so I knew exactly where to stand to get the best pictures and not be at the back of the big crowd. The ceremony was first performed in 1959, by a Ceremonial Guard that is made up of members from all branches of the Canadian military. After the ceremony we rode to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories. This was described in lyrical terms in the tourist brochure, and perhaps it was once beautiful, but it was a sad disappointment due to years of neglect and lack of renewal of the plantings.

The other takeaway from Ottawa was how much construction there was. Roads were torn up everywhere, and the air was full of grit and dust. A major boat cleaning was required both inside and out to get rid of it. We last visited Ottawa a few years ago, and the roads downtown were all torn up with construction then too. I guess nothing changes.

After Ottawa we went west and south on the Rideau Canal. It is in a beautiful part of Southern Ontario, made up of a series of lakes connected by canal cuts and lots of locks. This is “cottage country” and we are starting to get into the Canadian Shield. You can google it for more detail, but basically it is the igneous rock with a thin cover of soil that covers half of Canada, from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean. Much of the scenery is rocks and pine trees, with deep lakes and lots of rivers. At the same time, there are a few very shallow lakes that must be traversed in a zigzag pattern, paying careful attention to the red and green markers to avoid getting out of the channel. Canadian Shield is very unforgiving if you touch bottom. In Ontario we have always referred to electric power as “hydro,” because most of the electricity is provided by hydroelectric dams. I remember having to learn to say “power”, or “electricity” instead of hydro, when we first moved to the US or people did not know what you were talking about!

We stopped for two nights in Smiths Falls. The basin between the Smiths Falls locks was lined with boats of all sizes, and the marina/campground manager told us they had never had so many big boats in all at the same time. The French boat rental company Le Boat has just started operations this year, with a base at Smiths Falls, so a lot of previously available slips are now taken up by their fleet of houseboats. The boats do look very modern and attractive, comparing very favourably with the much older rentals available from long established companies. There seemed to be a fair number of rentals going out, considering it is their first year of operation. We were amused to see the large amount of rubber, in two rows, that completely surrounds each boat. I am sure they are typically going to be referred to as “bumper boats”, given their size and the very minimal instruction (and no previous experience) requirements for renters!

We were not the only Loopers present, and enjoyed a very convivial evening of docktails with new friends from five different boats. A highlight of the stop was a lunchtime visit from Mike and Sylvianne Foley. Mike worked at Ingersoll-Rand and was part of the hiring process when Dick joined the company more than 40 years ago. They live just outside Montreal, but were out of town when we were there, so they decided to make an excursion so we could have a reunion. We had a convivial lunch at a local restaurant, followed by a bottle of wine on the boat, accompanied by lots of reminiscing.

After a surprisingly long wait for the lock to open the next morning we were on our way across Rideau Lakes to the pretty village of Westport. The dockmaster is very efficient, calling boats on the radio when they see them on the lake so they can give good approach and docking instructions. Usually we have to make the call, and we have found that in Canada it is very hit and miss whether a marina even answers the hail! The village is clearly a destination for day-trippers arriving by boat and car, and is full of small boutiques selling everything from jewellery to clothing and souvenirs. We also found a wonderful sandwich shop, beautiful fresh bread and just the right amount of filling so you could eat it without it all falling apart.

We stopped for two nights at Westport, and then headed out towards our destination for the day, Hotel Kenny at Jones Falls. We expected a fairly short day with a 3 lock staircase to finish. Today was our day for a bit of excitement. Shortly after we set off, I noticed a cloud of white smoke coming from the starboard engine. Dick went below and decided the ticky ticky noise meant shutting down immediately. So, we now know that Nine Lives travels very nicely on just one engine! We were able to stop at the next lock so Dick could take a look and see whether he could sort out the problem. It turned out to be weed. Lots and lots of weed! The engines are cooled by water that comes from outside, and there are special baskets to catch any fish or plant life that gets sucked through the hose. Dick took off the strainer and emptied a salad bowl full of weed that had packed into it. Then he took off the hose that leads to the strainer, and pulled out a whole lot more weed! On the assumption that the problem was likely to be the same for the other engine, he took a look, and sure enough, yet more plant life! We were very fortunate that both of the engines did not overheat. I suspect that trying to paddle Nine Lives would have been a pointless exercise.

The lock was very pretty, and while Dick sorted out the engines I watched a group of summer campers prepare and launch their canoes for an overnight outing.

The last exercise of the day was a staircase of 3 locks, preceeded by a single lock, for a total of 4 in quick succession. We gathered quite an audience, some of them very chatty, asking where we had come from and where we were going. Tonight, a well deserved dinner out at the hotel dining room, and then on to Kingston tomorrow.

Hans and Cathy visit – Dick’s Uncle Hans and his wife Cathy were in Montreal

Montreal at night 2 — Montreal at night – video and images of the history of Old Montreal are projected on the side of some of the buildings at night.

Montreal at night 3 — Montreal at night – historic buildings look attractive at night

Montreal at night 4 — Montreal at Night – Bonsecours Market dome is distinctive

waiting for the Seaway lock — Waiting for the Seaway lock – the huge freighter has priority

Ottawa River – a pretty village with a church and a marina

lamb shank — Lamb shank – an Irish Pub in Quebec, go figure

poutine — Poutine – signature Quebec dish of French fries covered in gravy and cheese curds

English narrowboat 2 — English narrowboat – quite an unexpected sight on the Ottawa River

Carillon lock — Carillon Lock – the highest lift in Canada. You can get an idea of how many boats they pack in, three across and four deep. The waverunners are waiting for their turn.

Carillon lock 3 — Carillon lock – we have entered and tied off our lines, looking back, the gate is still open as another boat gets ready to enter the lock. You can see the white lines down the side of the lock that we tie to while the boat is lifted.

Carillon lock 4 — Carillon lock – looking towards the front (upstream) end of the lock. We asked the lock attendant how often she has to climb those steps. She said not often if she can help it!

Carillon lock 5 — Carillon lock – looking back after the gate has come down.

Montebello Ottawa River – shady lawns and views of the wide river at Chateau Montebello.

Montebello 2 — Montebello – the central gathering area with its huge fireplace in the middle.

Montebello 3 — Montebello – one of the upper galleries that overlooks the dining room.

Montebello 4 — Montebello – the upper floors and roof of the central gathering area. The building has 3 floors of accommodation and other rooms, surrounding a large central area with an enormous fireplace.

Montebello 5 — Montebello – closer look at the structure of the log building. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get an overall outside view of the Chateau because of all the trees and surrounding buildings.

Montebello 6 — Montebello – a view of the marina in the grounds of the Chateau.

Rideau Falls 2 — Rideau Falls – the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa River over these falls.

In the lock – taken by a fellow Looper who traversed the 8 Ottawa locks with us. If you look behind Dick you can see the summer students, who work very hard in the heat, manually operating the historic lock mechanisms. Dick is wearing a headset. We have those so we can swear at each other privately instead of yelling… I’m not kidding (much), boaters call them “marriage savers” because they allow clear and calm communication without shouting or gestures.

Ottawa audience – sometimes you’re the audience, and sometimes, you’re the show!

Ottawa 2 — Ottawa – bike and pedestrian trails.

Ottawa 3 — Ottawa – pretty gardens and paths near Chateau Laurier.

Ottawa 4 — Ottawa – part of the lock flight with one small boat coming up. Note the government buildings across the river in Hull.

Ottawa 5 — Ottawa – the view of the entire staircase of locks from the top.

shepherds pie — Shepherds pie – a nice presentation in an Irish pub in Ottawa.

Market produce – wonderful displays of vegetables at ByWard market in Ottawa.

Ottawa courtyard – one of a series of European style courtyards in downtown.

fixing the AC — Fixing the AC – peering into Nine Lives innards in hopes of fixing the air conditioning. As it happened, the flashlight was not needed (nor was the screwdriver), and the fix required a study of the manual and a small adjustment to the fan settings.

Changing of the Guard – a daily event in summer in front of the Parliament Buildings.

Changing of the Guard 2 — Changing of the Guard

Ottawa gardens – the Garden of the Provinces and Territories is supposed to feature native plantings representing the various areas of Canada.

Filling the water tank – depending on whether or not we do laundry, we fill the water tanks roughly every 3-4 days.

Rideau canal — Rideau Canal – a winding section of the canal, passing neat farms and pretty homes.

Loons – it’s not much of a picture, too far away for the camera phone, but these are loons on the Rideau Lakes. I remember listening to their haunting cries on Hay Lake when I was a teenager.

slalom course — Slalom course – we must stay between the greens and the reds, you can see we go to the left and then after that we pass behind the boat on the right hand side of the picture. Straying from the course risks running aground and severe prop damage!

Rideau locks – note the canoeists in the lock, and the hard working lock attendant winding the mechanism.

Westport – a pretty village on Upper Rideau Lake.

signature sauce — Signature sauce – Dick’s turn to cook. He is making his signature spaghetti sauce on the new induction burner. We thought it would be helpful at keeping heat and steam out of the cabin, and can report that it works wonderfully. Naturally the cook requires an adult beverage while undertaking this delicate and demanding task.

Newboro lock – fortunately there was room for us to tie up and check the engine.

checking the engine — Checking the engine.

all that weed 2 — All that weed – pulled out of the hose, plus what was already packed into the strainer!

the engine — The engine – for those of you who are interested in such things, I don’t think I have shown you a picture before! We have two of these. They are Yanmar 6 cylinder 315 HP engines.

canoes — Canoes – a group of campers setting off to paddle the Rideau Lakes and camp overnight.

June 1 to 17, 2018: Norfolk to the Hudson River

After an enjoyable break at home in Hilton Head for a few weeks, on June 1^st we again collected a rental car and drove back to Great Bridge, a town south of Norfolk, Virginia. We had left the boat in a highly regarded repair facility, with a long list of small jobs that required a more specialist approach than Dick could expect to do himself. Most of the work was completed, although one or two small items were forgotten. Dick was pleased that the bill was considerably less than he had mentally braced for, and I am pleased that the forward air conditioning, while still not as effective as the unit aft, is definitely working better. We spent the morning at the grocery store getting in the provisions we would need for the next few weeks, and Dick was able to get our propane bottle refilled. We use propane for the galley stove, and also for the grill, and there is no gauge on the bottle, so we don’t really have a good sense of how much is left at any time! I had done some baking at home for the freezer, so with that and the groceries safely stowed we were ready to depart.

The plan was immediately changed. We had intended to travel north as far as Deltaville, just off the Chesapeake, and anchor for one night. However, a look at the weather suggested it would probably be better to stop for the first night in Hampton, and then make a fast run on the only good weather day through the weekend and get to Solomons. Hampton is at the north end of the huge Norfolk harbour. Dick had in mind that we would stay at the city run town dock, but they were fully booked for a pirate weekend, so we stopped at another marina. Looper gossip the other day suggests this was no bad thing. Someone who was staying at the town dock a few weeks ago had a bullet go through their cockpit and embed itself in their ceiling while they were sleeping! Police were called, but what exactly had happened is a mystery. The boaters slept through the incident, awakening in the morning to broken glass and said bullet in the ceiling!

Our ride up Chesapeake Bay to Solomons was pleasant and uneventful, just the way we like it. We were welcomed on arrival with a fly-past by the Blue Angels. You may recall that they also welcomed us to Norfolk last month! The town sits across the river from the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, and our arrival happened to coincide with their annual air show. Solomons is a pretty little town, settled since colonial times and very boating oriented. We walked around the harbour and enjoyed several nice meals at different restaurants. We also launched the dinghy and did a harbour tour past all the marinas and up a couple of the channels to see interesting houses and nicely kept gardens.

After waiting an extra day in Solomons to avoid some nasty winds on the bay, we set off for Annapolis. Although we stopped there last year we didn’t really explore, this time we stayed long enough to see some sights. We docked at one of the large marinas, and because we are 19 feet wide, they decided we would be best in a slip where they put the mega-yachts. Talk about playing with the big kids! We walked into town and took a boat tour up Spa Creek. Annapolis is a very historic city, with buildings dating back to before the Declaration of Independence. It was briefly the capital city of the newly formed United States in 1783. It is also the home of the United States Naval Academy. We would have liked to visit the naval base, but there wasn’t enough time. We walked to the top of the main street, which is very lively and a nice mix of boutiques and interesting restaurants. There had been a lot of rain, and we were surprised to see one of the parking lots full of water. It didn’t seem to worry the visitors, they just drove right through the puddles and parked regardless!

We enjoyed a visit with Marge and Fred Conroy, Dick’s former boss from his Prague days and his wife. After docktails and a tour of the boat we went for dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants in town. Fred regaled us with stories of his days as a midshipman in the town.

We are very conscious of the weather this year, and far more careful about our planning. After Annapolis we decided to miss Chesapeake City and go straight to Delaware City, as the long range forecast was deteriorating. Delaware City is such an interesting little town. The marina is situated along the original Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The 14 mile ship canal connects Delaware Bay with Chesapeake Bay, and gives cargo ships access to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington without having to travel 500 miles around and all the way up the Chesapeake. The original canal was dug by hand by 2600 men earning an average wage of $.75 a day. In the 1920’s the canal was bought by the Federal Government. The entrance was moved a few miles south, all the locks were removed, and the entire canal was deepened and widened. The remaining piece of the original canal is now used by Delaware City Marina. Tidal currents and a narrow fairway require careful maneuvering, and this is one of the few places that Dick does not make any adjustments to the way the dock hands have tied us! The evening briefing on expected winds and currents is well worth attending, and as a result, we decided again to cut our visit short and leave the next morning for Cape May, rather than be stuck there for several days.

We had planned a 3 or 4 day stop in Cape May, but this time it wasn’t weather that frustrated our plans, it was a shark fishing tournament! Every marina was fully booked through Saturday night. We anchored in the river, not an entirely pleasant solution because although it is a clearly marked no-wake zone, local fishermen ignore the signs until they are much closer to town (and the Coast Guard Station). Last year we took the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway north from Cape May towards Atlantic City, and we had thought about repeating the adventure in spite of having run aground 4 times. However, the tide times would have meant a 6am start, and the weather forecast for the Atlantic the next day was quite benign. If we had any thoughts of changing our minds we discarded them as a fellow Looper who had decided to take advantage of longer daylight and travel with the afternoon tide turned around after running aground several times and returned to Cape May and the anchorage.

It was a very pleasant fast run to Atlantic City. For most of it the water was like glass, with just small and gentle swells. Nine Lives loves to run at her best speed (18 knots, just under 21 miles per hour for the landlubbers) in these conditions, and we arrived well before noon in Atlantic City.

This visit we stayed at the huge marina in front of the Golden Nugget Casino. It is one of the few casinos still operational in Atlantic City, and has a great choice of restaurants with no need to leave the complex. We explored the Boardwalk and the town last year, so we just relaxed and caught up with reading and emails.

Much of the trip so far has been a case of zip between destinations on carefully planned weather windows. We were determined to try the northern part of the New Jersey ICW this year, and Dick was able to get excellent detailed advice from one of the experienced Loopers who lives in the area and travels the route regularly. We got up at 5am (there simply has to be coffee before we start out!) and were underway by 6am. This meant we were travelling on a rising tide for the first part of the trip, and it was happily uneventful. Our depth sounder never showed less than 4 feet below our keels, and the trip was considerably less stressful than our previous experience! The area is very pretty, with peaceful marshes, lots of osprey nesting, and clusters of beachy houses between the ICW and the Atlantic. Travelling during the week means the yahoos in speedboats do not trouble us, and the keen fishermen in their big Viking Trawlers are already out at sea.

The excitement for the day all happened at the end, just as we were breathing sighs of relief that the trip had been so uneventful. There is a canal between Barnegat Bay and Manesquan River and Inlet. It is extremely narrow, and highly affected by the tide. We entered the canal on an outgoing tide, and Dick had the engines at idle speed (the slowest speed that still turns the propellers and allows control for steering). Our idle speed in calm water is about 4 knots (4.6 mph), and yet we shot through that canal at about 9.6 knots (11 mph). It was like whitewater rafting without the fun. We had already been warned that locals seldom give right of way, so it was a nail biting 2 miles until we shot out the other side into the Manesquan River. The excitement was not over. There is a railway bridge just before Manesquan Inlet that we had to pass under to get to our marina. The gap spanned by the bridge is only 31 feet wide. We are 19. The helpful Waterway Guide suggests, “Favor the north side of the channel.” Right. Dick was hard put to keep us in the centre with the swift currents! Arriving at the marina we were instructed to tie up at the fuel dock and await instructions. This is never a favourite practice, but for once there was a very good reason, as maneuvering the boat into a slip in the currents requires highly experienced dock hands to give good instructions and catch lines.

The next day we again took advantage of a single day weather window and headed out into the Atlantic for the passage to Staten Island. The conditions were at the upper limit of what an experienced Looper describes as “marginal”. That is, winds 15 to 20 knots, and seas up to 3 feet. On this occasion, the winds were going to be behind us, and the tides in our favour, so we decided to go. It was quite an experience. The instruments showed the boat travelling at 15 knots as she climbed up a swell, and then up to 18 knots as she slid down the other side. I can’t say it was a pleasant run, but it was short, and we were into Great Kills Yacht Club on Staten Island well before noon. The next two days would have been miserable to travel, as the winds switched to the north. The main lesson learned last year is that opposing winds and currents are always going to be unpleasant.

We enjoyed our visit to Great Kills last summer, and we glad to return to the friendly welcome and quiet harbour. We took out our bikes and rode to the Italian grocery. Last year I wasn’t allowed to buy much because we were in “eating up” mode, but this time I could browse and fill my cart! Imported tins of tomatoes, pasta of every shape and size, useful tubes of concentrated garlic paste and onion paste, and some very nice frozen vegetables that are always good to have on a boat.

Yesterday morning was the first time we did not quite get the forecast right. We left Great Kills shortly after 8am to head towards New York Harbor. The hope was to be there after rush hour, so to avoid some of the water traffic that creates wakes from all directions. We knew we would have the tide giving us a push up the river, unfortunately we did not expect the strong wind from the north. Opposing currents and winds make for heavy chop, and it was a very uncomfortable trip. Dick’s bike on the front of the boat kept jumping up and crashing down, and at one point he had to put on his life jacket and get out and retie the knot before the bike flipped over the lines. He had to hang on with both hands, and it was scary for me to watch, let alone for him to do it! There were no water taxis and only a few ferries, but the heavy waves continued long past the city and only settled down a few miles from our destination at Croton-on-Hudson.

The first day here was a very enjoyable sightseeing break. We collected a rental car, and drove first to the nearby Croton Dam. This dam creates a reservoir that forms part of the New York City water supply. It was built between 1892 and 1906. It is unusual in that it is built of masonry rather than poured concrete. It also incorporates a spillway that is partly man-made and partly a natural cliffside waterfall. We walked around in the park at the base, and then were able to take a road up to the top and walk up and see the construction in more detail as well as the reservoir above.

After the dam, we drove to the interesting town of Mt Kisco. Like much of Westchester County, it is a bedroom community for New York City, and is surrounded by lovely estates and many well kept acreage homes, some obviously built in the 19^th century or earlier. The town is full of tiny restaurants of all different ethnicity. We chose a creperie, and enjoyed a very nice lunch. A nearby Asian food market offered a few more treasures for the pantry.

The highlight of the day was a visit to the Culinary Institute of America in the evening. We had heard that to eat in one of their restaurants you must book months in advance, and being on a boat and subject to weather we couldn’t do that. On Friday I decided to just see whether there might be an opening, and to our great surprise we were able to get a table for 8pm in the Italian restaurant, Ristorante Caterina de Medici. They are trying a new offering, after pressure from the public to be open on weekends. After a glass of Prosecco we were brought a beautiful plate of antipasti and a Caesar salad to share, as well as a basket of bread. Next, they brought round five different pasta dishes, ranging from gnocci, shrimp bucatini, a risotto, and two others that escape me! You could have as much or as little as you liked of each offering, and seconds if you happened to still be hungry. The evening finishes with an interesting dessert. Ours was a polenta cake with strawberry sauce and mascarpone. We weren’t sure we liked the polenta cake, but the sauce was delicious! The wines were very nice choices and moderately priced. It was a highlight of our trip, and any time we happen to find ourselves nearby we will make an effort to return.

We are booked in here at Half Moon Bay for 5 nights. Dick has rented a car, and left this morning to drive to Toronto for a reunion with his friends from his early years with Ingersoll Rand. I will leave tomorrow (another rental car) and visit friends on Long Island. We will reconvene on Tuesday evening and head north again on Wednesday. Meanwhile this is a popular stop for Loopers, at least 7 boats in tonight and likely more expected in the next few days as the weather allows them to travel up from the Chesapeake.