Rolling with the
Punches, or “If it isn't one thing it's another
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| Cleaning floor covers |
I think it was the famous newscaster Roseann Rosannadana who
said, “Well, if it isn’t one thing it is the other.” And so it goes.
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| Our TO DO lists |
We try so hard to keep our boat home safe, clean and in good
working order. Lately it seems like it is always something. And so it goes on
this first leg of our journey.
After a final, thorough cleaning inside and out, we left Venetian Marina in Sandusky on Thursday Sept 22,
2016 on a bright sunny day.
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| Leaving Venetian Marina |
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| Leaving Sandusky Bay - Cedar Point |
By the look of some of these pictures, you can tell that our wonderful Nikon camera is taking a powder. But it does make the pictures extra colorful!! Put that on Kermit's list of repairs.
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| Great water leaving Sandusky |
Lake Erie was so pretty we kept going all the way
to Erie PA where we met up with Dave and Nancy on Miss NanSea. They had gone
ahead of us when we had to have our fuel polished. We wanted to test out the
condition of the fuel so we pushed the boat a little bit up to speed rather
than our usual butterfly pace. The boat performed well.  |
| Good Karma and Miss NanSea at the marina in Erie PA |
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| Beautiful sunset at Erie PA |
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| KABOOM |
Dinner at a fun restaurant with Dave and Nancy, then early to bed. We are back on Looper time.
On Friday 9/23 we crossed Lake Erie to Port Colburne at the
south end of the Welland Canal with the plan of going through the canal 7am Saturday
morning. Weather was beautiful when we left early in the morning. As we reached
the middle of the lake we noticed the black clouds coming over the western sky.
Sure enough KABOOM. A thunderstorm struck. We were soaked and cold. We turned
up the speed to make it to the marina. We tied up, pulled on rain gear and long
pants in time to tie up Dave and Nancy.
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| The check in spot at South end of Welland Canal |
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| Good Karma leaving Port Colbane going to the canal at dawn |
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| Really amazing cloud formations |
Saturday morning, we got to the check in spot on time at
7am. The tower told us we were scheduled for 10am. Ten am turned into 2pm
before we actually began the locks with three other recreational boats, Miss
NanSea and two other boats also planning to go to Florida.
One of those boats, the 40’ sailboat, was starting a year
long journey through the Panama Canal and up to British Columbia. This Canadian
couple have been living on their boat for over 30 years, putting it in winter
storage and living in a rented cottage during the winter. They have traveled
all around the world with some fascinating tales we had plenty of time to hear.
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| We were waiting for that red light to turn green |
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| Kermit talking to the steel boat |
The other boat was also from Canada, Port Stanley. This
fellow refitted an old 65’ steel fishing boat and turned it into a beautiful
live aboard. Simply amazing. Their kids and grandkids were traveling through
the canal with them and would join them periodically.
Both these two Canadian boats planned to get to Florida via
the St. Laurence Seaway, past Nova Scotia and Maine then down the coast. It seems
awfully late in the season to go that route but neither couple seemed
concerned. Perhaps we can do that next time.
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| Horse trail along the waterway |
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| Bob, helping Miss NanSea - we traveled with Bob last year going south |
As time dragged on and we waited, we turned on the generator
to make some lunch. POOF. With a white puff of smoke the generator died. Of course
it did.
Our trip through the canal system was uneventful. Jack the cat decided to take a little kitty walk about to the bow of the boat while we were locking through. He is an adventure kitty! |
| Jack on his little kitty walkabout! |
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| Locking through at night rafted off of Miss NanSea |
With four
vessels of that size, we were told only three boats could fit on the wall so we
had to raft off of Miss Nansea! In a few of the locks where they are a flight
together, we just left the boats tied together and moved slowly to the next
lock. It was pretty interesting!
We made it through the locks in about six hours finishing at
about 8:30pm. We just tied up to the wall on the north end of the locks and
stayed the night without power. That was ok because we were tired anyway. Who
needs dinner…
Sunday morning on Lake Ontario was a little rough. We
anticipated a storm system with winds out of the east, right on our nose that
was kicking up in a few days so we decided to leave very early in the morning. Our
plan was to leave at 3am and travel all the way to Oswego.
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| Kermit changing fuel filter on Lake Ontario |
At 3am we (Kermit) stuck our (his) noses out, didn't feel up to the challenge so decided to
sleep for a few more hours. We left at 5:30am as the light came up. Dave and Nancy
made it to Oswego by nightfall but we did not. We had fuel filter problems. We
had to keep stopping four times to change the fuel filters in 1 to 3 foot seas.
Of course we did. |
| Good Karma at Rochester Yacht Club |
By late afternoon we had enough of this crap and pulled into
Rochester. We always avoided Rochester because it sounds so industrial when you
read Skipper Bob or the other guidebooks. But it is really beautiful. There are
three marinas on the west side of the Genesse (like the beer!) River near the
entrance to Lake Ontario. We thought one of those marinas might have some
mechanics.
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| Rochester Port from the yacht club |
We started calling. The first marina we called, Rochester
Yacht Club, answered the phone! So we went there!
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| Air view of entrance from Lake Ontario - Rochester YC on the right side |
This club is just beautiful. We tied up on the wall at the
entrance to the marina. This is a sailing marina, hosting many sailing tournaments
around the Great Lakes. There are sailboats everywhere with a few power boats
thrown in for color.
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| Short rib grilled cheese - unbelievable! |
We went to the dining room to meet the manager and sign in.
Everyone was so nice we decided to stay for dinner. Every single person in the
bar and restaurant stopped by to say hello! The all said, “Hi, I don’t think
we’ve met. My name is _____. How are you?” Isn’t that nice?
And the food was wonderful. Probably the best restaurant food
we’ve had in years. Kermit had meatloaf and I had short rib grilled cheese
sandwich. Unbelievable! We both saved half the meal for dinner the next night
because the food was so good. Later we visited again and had a similarly
wonderful experience. And not expensive either! We will definitely stop back on
our way home in the spring.
The next marina is Shumway Marina. They have a good service
department. Kermit walked over and did his thing, smoozing to find a good
mechanic and get attention to our various problems.
So now comes the time Don Donataccio has been waiting for.
The mechanical stuff. Remember that the generator pooped out in the Welland
Canal and we were still dealing with fuel problems.
Kermit made friends with a mechanic named Ray, referred by
Shumway, who helped diagnose all the problems. Kermit started working with Ray
on Monday and the repairs happened on Friday. Here is what happened:
·
Generator – Ray figured out that the
relay switch and “dynamo” (an alternator for the generator) caused the
generator to stop working. The relay switch has been obsolete for 5 years at
least. If we couldn’t find relay switch then we needed to replace generator.
Kermit did not tell me this because he knew I would freak out because a
generator costs $15k to $18k. He was freaked out enough himself.
The dynamo was a little easier to handle.
Shumway found a Dynamo at the local Kubota tractor dealer for $900 plus 18% for
shipping plus $65 for overnight plus a 30% markup for Shumway. Kermit started
Googling and found the same part for $600. He had it shipped in overnight to
arrive on Friday morning.
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| Kermit is very good at changing fuel filters now |
Ray could not find any relay
replacements through Onan/Cummins. The part is completely unavailable. Again Kermit
got on computer. He found someone in CA who told him to look for the relay part
number instead of the Onan number. Kermit sent me down into the engine room to
read that tiny little number. Kermit Googled it and sure enough he found a
replacement part! He bought 4 for $35 each that shipped overnight for arrival
early on Friday morning.
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| See all the chunks in the fuel? |
The generator repairs were completed
on Friday.
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| See how dirty the filter is? This is ONE DAY of use! |
Fuel – Since he had plenty of time
on his hands, Kermit changed the fuel filters again. The Racor gauges are
definitely worth it by making it so much easier to see where fuel problems are
located. This time we could see actual chunks of crud that looked like mulch in
the diesel fuel that drained out of the filters.
Ray thought he could help blow out the fuel line. He sent over his assistant. Kermit said, “Do this in this order. Remove the hose at the Racor. Then go over and take the other end off at the on/off valve on the fuel tank. Then blow through towards the Racor to make sure that hose is clear. If there is nothing in there, then take the valve apart to see what is in there. If there is nothing in there, run a line down into the tank to push the blockage out.” Sounds clear, right?
The assistant promptly removed the hose at
the Racor and blew through the valve towards the fuel tank, blowing the crap in
the line back into the fuel tank. There it sits waiting to cause trouble in the
future. Kermit was MAD. I guess he will get over it.
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| Deer hung around the yacht club |
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| It was very windy most days - we wouldn't want to be out on Lake Ontario in this |
While in Rochester for a week, I traveled to Rhode Island for a speaking engagement, tooks the bikes to the grocery store and to Walmart a few times, and took a long bike ride along Lake Ontario. The yacht club has an active youth sailing program so we watched the kids sail on the river almost every day while we relaxed with a glass of wine.
I even made bread one rainy day. I only have one bread pan so I got creative and created a bread pan out of aluminum foil. It worked perfectly!
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| Mom, hey Mom, MOM!!! |
Repairs completed we left Rochester on Sunday October 2
after a full week at the Rochester Yacht Club. We will be back. These folks are
great! |
| Leaving Rochester |
It was a perfect day to travel on Lake Ontario. The water
was so clear that the clouds reflected on the water. A tiny breeze made slight
ripples just shimmering in the sunshine.
We sped up a little to burn some fuel
and made three locks that day after passing Owsego into the Erie Canal. We stopped in Fulton NY just before it began to
rain.
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| Rochester Light |
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| The Erie Canal on a beautiful day |
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| After the first lock - check out the waterfall |
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| Winter Harbor at Brewerton |
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| Kermit in the lock |
Monday we stopped at Brewerton at Winter Harbor Marina by
about 10am because we had yet another mechanical problem. Kermit noticed a
small leak in the coolant in the turbo after we just had it fixed in Sandusky.
The mechanic, Will, was on our boat within 30 minutes of our arrival. We pumped
out and fueled out while Will diagnosed the problem.
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| Winter Harbor at Brewerton |
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| Good Karma at Winter Harbor |
I took the marina loaner car to visit Wegman’s grocery
store. We didn’t need anything. I just like to go to Wegmans! They have the best
chocolate!!
At the grocery store I took a call from a client who needed
to see me if possible on Tuesday. We decided to stay at Winter Harbor another
night while I rented a car, went to Cleveland on Monday night, did my business
on Tuesday and drove back to Brewerton! A whirlwind trip!!
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| Little Falls NY -the marina |
We left Brewerton on Wednesday October 5. We made it as far
as Little Falls NY. We are going slow until we see what happens with Hurricane
Matthew. Our friends Joe and Edie in Charleston have evacuated. Our friends in
Virginia Beach Michael and Judy put their boat in blocks out of the water and
double checked the sump pumps. Our friends Jim and Joy in Savannah are praying.
Dave and Nancy on Miss NanSea are at Shady Harbor in New Baltimore NY about 30
miles south of Albany on the Hudson.
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| Good Karma on the wall |
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| Leaves are just turning |
And we are waiting here in Little Falls NY on the Erie
Canal. We think we will be safe for a few days in this beautiful town. We are
close to the town, near bike paths and things to do. I have to go back to
Cleveland on Monday October 10 so we might has well wait here, at least one
hour closer to Cleveland than we would be if we went ahead to the Hudson River.
We plan to return from Cleveland on Wednesday October 12,
2016. We are one and one half days to Waterford NY. Then we are another day or
so away from Poughkeepsie / Kingston NY where we want to stop to visit the
Culinary Institute and a few museums. We do not intend to rush this time.
Until next time!!
