Photo Gallery of Great Lakes trip on our
previous boat, About Time
Click on the thumbnails below to see an enlargement.
Year 1 (2004)
Leg 1 - Chesapeake Bay to Erie Canal via Hudson
River
Verrazano
Narrows Bridge entering New York harbor. We sailed through the night
from Cape May, NJ, arriving at the entrance of New York Harbor at
dawn. It was a splendid morning in New York.
Lower Manhattan
from the water without World Trade Center towers.
Statue of
Liberty from the stern of About Time. This was the third time
we passed this point in a boat, but the first time we were heading north
and also the first time we were heading up the Hudson River instead of
down the East River.
Sputen Duyvil
("spitting devil") Bridge across the Harlem River in New York
City. The photo is taken from the Hudson River.
View of Lower
Hudson River. The tidal influence affects the river all the way to Albany,
New York. We tried to ride the tides as best we could every day
which made for a much easier passage upriver.
At anchor in
Ossining, New York, near Croton Point. By the time we reached this
point, we were very tired and were treated to a quite night at anchor.
Southbound
freighter in the Hudson River Highlands, a reminder of the commercial
importance of the waterway.
West Point
Military Academy on the Hudson River sits tucked on a hillside.
Replica of the Half
Moon, the ship Henry Hudson used to explore the Hudson River in 1609
during the same year that Samual de Champlain was exploring the water of Lake
Champlain to the north.
Taking down About
Time's mast at Hop-O-Nose marina in Catskill, New York. Luckily,
we had assistance from the marina staff, but we had to provide the cradles
to rest the mast on the deck. We spent the better part of a day
rummaging through the scrap pile from discarded cradles, collecting
supplies at the nearby lumber store and building two frames to support the
mast.
About Time
with mast down in Catskill, New York. The cradle we constructed was
not very elegant, but it did clear the bimini top so that we could use it
through the canal. This proved to be a smart decision to
protect us from the sun and ran as we motored west.
View of Hudson
River from Olana Castle. We took an afternoon for sightseeing and
visiting one of Lisa's "Beaver Cousins" who runs the Copper
Penny Inn in Poughkeepsie, NY, just downriver from Catskill.
Olana Castle,
home of Hudson River School of Painting founder Thomas Cole. David
has had a long interest in the Hudson River School painters, including
Cole, and so this was a fun side trip.
Twig furniture
and fences are on display at grounds of Olana Castle.
Trash barge on
the Hudson River south of Albany, New York.
Sign at the
intersection of the Hudson River, Erie Canal and Champlain canal looks
like a highway sign. We took a left.
Leg 2 - Erie and Oswego Canals to Lake Ontario
Locking through
in About Time on the Erie Canal with the lock chamber empty and
ready to fill.
The chamber is
filling while locking through westbound on the Erie Canal. Note the
heavy black gloves that David is wearing. After learning our lesson
the hard way in the first leg, this became part of our standard lock
attire.
David fends off
the lock wall as the water in the chamber nears the top.
Lock gates open
as we prepare to depart one of the 38 locks during our 2004 trip. It
was sometimes a challenge maneuvering in and out with mast on deck
overhanging on both the bow and stern.
Cleared through
a lock on the Erie Canal as the gates close again to prepare the chamber
for the next vessel. The lock tenders were generally friendly and
helpful.
Remnants of an
aquaduct on the Erie Canal.
View from the
cockpit of About Time with the mast lashed to the sawhorses on the
deck. This reduced visibility, but we had no mishaps.
Farm along
banks of the Erie Canal. Many parts of the canal are very scenic
with a mixture of farmland, small towns, forests and wetlands along the
banks.
Lake Oneida is
part of the Erie Canal and represented the only major open water crossing
on our route. Luckily, we had a calm day to motor across.
An algae bloom
on Lake Oneida, New York.
David uses our
blue boat bucket to take a closer look at the water quality of Lake
Oneida.
A great blue
heron rests on a green channel marker in the Oswego Canal. The
current increased as we approached the final locks and Lake Ontario.
Graveyard for discarded
mast holders at the marina in Oswego, New York. Our mast cradle was
recycled into the scrap pile at the end of canal journey.
Entering Lake
Ontario from the Oswego River in New York, the first of the five Great
Lakes we visited in 2004-2005.
David removes
invasive weeds from the anchor after spending a night in Little Sodus Bay,
Lake Ontario. Lisa had a skin reaction, perhaps due to blue-green algae,
after swimming in the bay the evening before.
Leg 3 - Lake Ontario to Lake Erie via the Welland Canal
The
brownish water of the Genesee River mixes with the dark blue water of Lake
Ontario near Rochester, New York.
A
new high speed ferry began operation in 2004, and traveling at speeds up
to 55 mph, it provides service between Rochester and Toronto.
A
lighthouse along the south shore of Lake Ontario west of Rochester.
Power
plant on the south shore of Lake Ontario.
One
of several dead cormorants we found floating in Lake Ontario.
David
at the helm as we cross Lake Ontario to Toronto.
Lisa
hoists the Canadian courtesy flag at the starboard spreader.
Approaching
Toronto under clearing skies after spotting water spouts during the
crossing.
Cormorants
overrun a peninsula near the eastern entrance of Toronto Harbor.
A
schooner from Thunder Bay sets sail at sunset in Toronto harbor.
About
Time (on left) at dock in downtown Toronto
with the CN Tower in the background. We both love this city.
A
freighter departs a lock on the Welland Canal with what looks like just
inches to spare between the ship and the lock wall.
Looking
towards the 95-foot high gates in one of the lock chambers of the Welland
Canal which passes through Canada from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie (the
total lift in eight locks is 325 feet).
Spar
Ruby enters a lock chamber as we depart.
Ship's pay $30,000 Canadian to pass through the Welland Canal, and so it
was with good reason that the captain was impatient waiting for the lock
to fill for our small boat.
Sunset
at the marina in Port Colborne, Ontario. We treated ourselves to a dinner
of lake perch in a local restaurant after a successful passage through the
Welland Canal.
Leg 4 - Lake Erie to Lake Huron via Detroit and St.
Clair Rivers
A replica of O.H.
Perry's second flagship Niagara at the maritime museum in Erie,
Pennsylvania. The picture was taken from the dock where we stored About
Time for several weeks.
We passed a small
fleet of sport fishers on Lake Ontario who explained that they were
fishing for perch at the end of a deep trench, but the fish were not
biting that day.
Sailing west
wing-on-wing toward Ashtabula, Ohio. Lisa had a lot of fun at the
helm. Although it is challenging to steer the boat directly
downwind, About Time rewards the patient helmsman!
Industrial waterfront
on Lake Erie in Ashtabula, Ohio.
The Bascule Bridge in
Ashtabula, Ohio, opens every half hour "on demand".
Cleveland, Ohio from
the water.
Al studies the charts
on the way to the Erie Islands.
Severe algae blooms on
Lake Erie suggests that water quality is declining once again.
A ship passes us on
the Detroit River. We kept clear outside the channel.
Industrial waterfront
along the Detroit River.
Freighter offloading
at the mouth of the Rouge River, one of the Areas of Concern on the Great
Lakes.
The Ambassador Bridge
over the Detroit River, connects Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.
Technically speaking, the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers are really straits
connecting the lakes.
Sailing across Lake
St. Clair on a windy day with one reef in the main. David really
enjoyed himself on this passage.
Great Lakes Trip, Year 2 (2005) Photos -- click
here.
