Fellow cruisers, Tom and Laura on S/V "Cool Hand" were days ahead of us. They told us Rochester, N.Y. was not a great stop. The weather forecast was looking favorable for the next day and a half. If we stopped in Rochester, we would be held up with weather for several days. We decided to do something we rarely do (actually Suzanne never had), an all day and night run. It would be a 22 hour, 115 nm transit of the south shore of Lake Ontario to Fair Haven, N.Y. We are having our mast taken down at Fair Point Marina in Fair Haven, for our Erie Canal trip. From here our mast will be shipped to Catskill, N. Y. where we finish the Canal.
We departed Niagara on the Lake at 1000 hrs after checking in with customs at Youngstown, N.Y. This would put us at the Fair Haven outer channel at 0700 -0800 hours the next morning (Thursday). We decided upon 2 hour watches.
Suzanne popped her head through the companionway at 2230 for her watch. The city lights of Rochester were on our starboard. The stars were vibrantly twinkling, the Big Dipper and Milky Way were prominent, and even a couple of meteors. As we left Rochester in our wake, things became dark, very dark. There were no longer cities sprinkling the coast line. There were no harbors of refuge. The lake was calm and quiet. We were very alone. Terry was able to sleep for one hour while Suzanne was starting to feel apprehensive in the increasing darkness, lions and tigers, and bears, oh my! The depth sounder had over 400 feet registering. Suddenly it went "stupid", flashing 50 feet, then 30, then 20. Terry woke to Suzanne's call. Half asleep and waking up, Terry decided that the depth sounder just could not read the depth of Lake Ontario. The chart plotter said we were in over 600 feet of water. As the night progressed the wind came up a bit and we experienced rollers, creating an uncomfortable sea motion. Terry decided to finish the night at the helm and navigate closer to shore to attempt a calmer ride. It was a restless, uncomfortable, yet beautiful night, never having seen a planet shining on the surface of the water before.
Tom from "Cool Hand" was up early radioing "Chasseur" at 0600 hrs. for her status and position. We were just outside the Fair Haven Channel by 0700 hrs. Suzanne went below to make Terry some coffee. Squish, Squish, Squish under her feet in the galley. This was not good! A look in the bilge and there was lots of water and it was very warm....Hmmmm, a look under the sink and an elbow fitting was leaking and something spraying in the back on the side of the cabinet frame of the sink, the water heater pressure valve. Terry turned off the water. Who forgot to turn off the water pressure and heater for our 22 hour motor run? We won't do that again. 20 + gallons out of the water tank was now in the bilge. Thankfully, the bilge pump was working. Just a little something to do when we got the boat tied up.
Standing on the breakwall was Laura snapping pictures. We were so tired. Tom met us at the dock and helped us tie up. Next thing we knew Laura had breakfast cooking up at the marina clubhouse. We were so grateful. You meet the nicest people on the high seas!!
After breakfast brought the task of the water clean up, no sleep for us. We were lucky to have a handy marina manager, John Libby who pulled a "MacGyver" fix in no time.
John and Arlene Libby are fellow cruisers who have done this same trip, and now live on their boat in the Bahamas in the winter. They were eager to share much information with us and Tom and Laura. We all met at the marina clubhouse in the evening. They were full of so much valuable information. We took copious notes.
Friday afternoon Arlene took us into Oswego for provisioning. We are now well stocked for the Erie Canal. She drove us down to the Oswego Canal to show us where we will be starting "up" as we begin the canal.
We are very busy preparing "Chasseur" for the Erie Canal trip.....stay tuned.
"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently."
Henry Ford
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| Checking in with U. S. Customs in Youngstown |
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| Youngstown US sailing club preparing to battle with the Niagara club CAN |
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| Last of many, many buckets |
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| Putting back the last cabin sole board (post boat flood) |
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| John and Arlene Libby, marina managers and fellow cruisers (first 2 on right), Tom and Laura behind Terry |
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| These are lake effect clouds....sign of season to come...aghhhhhh |
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