WE ARE A SAILBOAT AGAIN!

Monday, September 13 we arrived at the Waterford NY town docks, traveling through(again) locks 3 and 2. They have a do it yourself pump out that you feed quarters into. One has to get an adapter from the office and then you pump and rinse until it’s clear. 3$ is the usual amount. What fun but so handy! We stayed there and caught up on all the usual stuff you always have to do when at port. We me a couple Eric and Patty in a trawler from LA and another couple in a power boat named Jolly Rodger from Galveston. In the evening we all enjoyed happy hour together. It was cool to hear about other people’s adventures on the waters! We all left Tuesday am for different parts. In Troy there is a Government lock that used to be part of the Erie Canal. This was our final lock, and it was a doozy!
Instead of ropes to grab, we had to put one of our lines around a pipe which was much different than all the other locks. Mutual Fun went in and then our trawler friends. The gates did not close for the longest time, and soon we could see why. A huge, and I mean huge tugboat came in. Both boats had to move up to the very front to allow the tug lots of space!!
Randy and I headed down the Hudson and traveled to a creek where we could anchor for the night. The next day we left and as we were getting back to the Hudson, a large barge being pushed by a large tugboat went by us. We followed behind for 15 miles @ 4.5 to 5 knots all the way. We finally reached our destination to Riverview Marina in Catskills NY. This a very nice place and the staff were all very helpful. So the mast went up on Thursday and everything done but the head sail the because the rain came. We will leave in the later am after all the rest is done. While at the marina, we caught up with Bill and Sharon on Simple Pleasures friends from Saginaw Bay who also were getting there mast done. We met a wonderful couple Sylvie and Michael who had their mast taken down, to head home to Quebec. They are both from England and we enjoyed listening to them as they spoke. Loved the accents! So that evening all 6 of us walked to town for pizza and beer. We have met some wonderful people along the way and that really makes our travels even better! So as we leave sometime on Friday am we will travel a short distance and anchor. I told my niece we would be to their town by next Wednesday or Thursday but as we sat here tonight, we realized we are only 60 some miles away. Now I got to break the news to Linda that we will be there a lot sooner! Okay Linda you do not to clean for us!! It is getting cold here and hard to get out from under the comforter in the am!! Oh I should tell you that Randy cut my hair last Saturday. Yes I asked him to! Not a bad job at all for his 1st time. I will probably ask Linda to fine tune it when we get there. She does air. Well that is all the news to report now. I have to add that Andrea and Cody are having a boy in January!! We can’t wait to see all our friends in Annapolis! As always, R and J of S/V Mutual Fun.

In Waterford But!

Well Jeannie and I made it to Waterford but only to find out that they have a tug boat fest this weekend and no one transients are allowed to stay on the docks at the town center. So we are hanging out back up between lock 3 and 4 for 3 to 4 days. Now backing up some here. It has been a wonderful trip thru the locks and what an experience we have had. There is so much to see and yes it is boring at times I will say. One thing we did find out is how lucky we were. Less then 2 weeks prior to us going thru the Mohawk valley.The lock were all shut down in this section of the canal due to heavy rain in the valley. Who ever was in the lock system you were stuck for 5 days and could not go no place. only between what locks you were at. It does show that the water level was up about 4 feet higher then what it usually is. All the lock Masters have been very nice and very helpful. They seem to want to make your trip go well and will give you suggestion where to stay if you ask. Usually we would stay on the down bound side so we could get going by 6 or shortly after as the locks do not start till 7 am. One of the locks we stay below had an Irish fest and we listened to
Irish music all night and then got to see fireworks which were right over the locks, Very cool. Getting into the Mohawk valley one can start seeing how it all flows into the Hudson River, it is very interesting if you read up on it and some of the early settlers that came through here. With the past flooding that had taken place just prior to us being here is that there are logs and trees everywhere and you do need to keep a look out for floating trees and logs, but they were out working as fast as they could to clean as much of it up as they could. One of the mornings that we got an early start we were faced with fog in the valley, something that is totally different on a river then

being on lake that is big and wide. Radar does help some, but the river twist and turns so fast that we were basically at an idle for many miles. But it was breath taking what we were seeing. It only lasted about 2 hours but that was long enough. It is interesting to see the country side change as we progress


thru this section of the country as to me it is different being on the water and looking back at the landscape. As we were setting on the lock wall for the night we had a rather large Hatters pass us and it was from Bay Harbor Mi, the name was Ziggy. We waved and she waved back and smiled. Well knowing me I had to find out who owned it, So google here I come. As it turns out it was Zig Ziegler whom was from Kalamazoo Mi originally. He is a motivational speaker.

Now that we finally, well almost finally got thru the locks we can slow down a bit and start enjoying the sights and what comes along our way. I know it will be different for us now getting into the tide system as never having to deal with it, but hey we all learn right. Life is a life long learning lesson.

Hello All

Today is Saturday, September 04, 2010. We have been out on this leg of our travels, since Monday, the 23rd of August. Our starting point was Jefferson Beach Marina, on to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, Fairport Harbor, Ohio, Presque Isle, in Erie Pennsylvania, Dunkirk, New York, and on to Buffalo. Buffalo was the stop where we had the mast stepped by RCR Marina. They came highly rated, and they delivered! They were very helpful and friendly, helping to make this job as pleasant as it could be.
We stayed in the well Sunday night, August 29th as there were no slips available in the marina. Randy and I worked all afternoon long and into the evening doing all the prep work. It was soooo hot that day we were soaked when we finished. That evening we took showers and relaxed. A couple came by on their dinghy, inquiring if we were from Michigan. To our delight, they were from Saginaw Bay, and they were going down the Erie Canal also! Bill and Sharon stayed and talked and we exchanged our experiences on the water. They were familiar with the North Channel, and even Whitehall, our home port!! After Mutual Fun was all ready to go, Randy said we were going to head out to the canal. Bill and Sharon were next in line to have their mast taken down. We left the well and went on to our next leg of our journey! The little towns and villages along the way are beautiful! We travel every day about 30 to 35 miles. We are now Mutual Fun, the power boat. Bill and Sharon are about 2 days behind us but we are sure we will catch up somewhere along the way or maybe in Annapolis. Since The 29th of August it has been unbearably hot.

I have a hard time dealing with that much heat day after day! I was close to heat stroke one day and that was not fun! Randy has been keeping close tabs on me every day making sure I am okay. What a sweetheart!
Tonight it will cool off and we will probably get rain for a day or two. We plan to be in Waterford, NY on Thursday September 9th to do a mail delivery. Everyone we have encountered along the way, from Lift Bridge tenders, to Lock tenders, to the townspeople have been fantastic! They all really want to make sure our trip on the canal is a good one. As far as Randy and I, we have done well. Randy has really been suffering horribly with his ragweed allergies, and I feel bad for him. He is handling it like a trooper. I continue to deal with my poison ivy, but it is clearing more each day. I took my last steroid today. I am thrilled about being able to text our girls and our friends! I am just a stay connected person! I have been able to get on facebook when we get WiFi. Life is good! We ate out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and that was a real treat. Air conditioning is a real motivator! School starts September 7, and that means our grandson J will be starting 1st grade! I can’t wait to hear how his 1st day went! On Thursday, the 9th, Andrea and Cody will find out what sex their baby is! That day is Cody’s birthday also! Thanks for following along with us. We have very good friends and family! Oh yes, thank goodness we have a portable ice maker! When we are under power we make ice every day!! Due to the weather we are setting a day in Baldwinsville NY to wait out some high winds as we have to cross Oneida lake. As it is shallow and the waves do kick up from locals telling us. So Monday we will cross it which is 29 miles for us. I am sure Randy will want to do the next posting. If I have any info I can pass onto the ladies I will post also. Enjoying our travels, S/V Mutual Fun R and J

Home for a week then back to the boat

August 26th
Fairport Ohio.
We are back on the boat after a week home getting appointment filled . First we need to say thank you to our friends Bill and Kathy and Sue. With out these great friends we would have not made it to and from the boat getting home and then back. It was a busy week at home as we got to see our youngest daughter and our grandson. His birthday was in the first part of August and mom and dad got him a 50 cc Honda dirt bike. It was so funny to watch this lil guy ride this thing as he is growing up so fast. While home we tried to see as much family as we could as each day and cram what we could into each day. One of the things Jeannie wanted to get done was to pull our flowers out for the winter as she loves working outside. Well in the process of doing all the yard work we wanted to get done she got into the poison ivy and has it quite bad. I can see us stopping again to see it looked at. The other thing that we had to do was to return Buster back to the marina but he did not quite get back to his original owner. But we are sure he will make it back to Lenny. While at Jefferson Beach Sunday we met Gary and Jacque on Waterford. They came in to the slip next to us with water coming into the boat and they had no idea where. Well to make a long story short it was a small cap on his water muffler that was causing the issue. We had planned on traveling with them Monday morning but he still had some trouble so we took off as they helped us out of our slip. People like them has made this trip so wonderful so far. When we left Jefferson Beach Marina we headed down the Detroit River which was rather interesting.
We got to see some of the new river front and then some of the old as well. It is kind of nice traveling rather slow as we can see so much.
As we went under the Ambassador Bridge we noticed 2 guys painting way up above us. We got a friendly wave as we went under them. Once into Lake Erie we headed for Put-in-Bay Ohio. We were told there are 3 places to visit. One is Vegas. 2 is New Orleans and then Put-in-Bay. Well being on a weekday there was not a lot going on and rather dead. But we did manage to go to the worlds longest bar.

We were told they can hold 4000 people. Yes 4000. Jeannie and I looked at each other and thought god we would love to see this when it is hoping on a weekend in prime time. So we stayed on a mooring ball for 2 nights and you can calla water taxi which comes right out and picks you up from your boat. They come right up along your side and you step from one boat to the next. Now I could only envision what this would be like after quite a few drinks on shore. Speaking of drinks, we sat and watched this dingy with a few couples in it doing things to get free drinks and beads.
But it was the guys that were doing it. Ah I am sure alcohol was a factor .After leaving Put-in-Bay we headed for Fairport Ohio which was our longest day yet. Just over 71 miles. It was kind of a non event day but as the day grew so did the weather as a small storm went south of us as we watched it build. That night where we anchored the wind picked up and so did the waves as it was quite a rolly during the night as neither of us go much sleep. One thing to note that there are not many places to anchor or get into as a lot of Eastern Lake Erie is mainly commercial ports. So we have decided to lay over a day as it is to ruff to go out.
Aug 27th
While stopped in Erie Pen. for the night we had thought that Alfred Hitchcock movie the birds was being remade and we were part of the movie. While setting out in the cockpit we noticed how many swallows were flying around the anchorage we were in. Not thinking to look up until I went below and noticed a weird sound


coming from the mast. I thought WTF was going on and went out side to look, Wholy batman Jeannie come quick, We were being attacked!!! But after keying the mike on the ssb that got rid of a few and a few bangs on the mast a few times and they finally left.

We are in the US!

Presque Isle was a nice place to shower, do a little bit of laundry, and go to the store that sells a little bit of everything! We enjoyed some ice cream also. Sunday the 8th we left and anchored in the harbor for the night. It was beautiful. The water was the clearest we had ever witnessed! Oh yes on Sunday,the 8th we were able to check in to customs. The very nice man came to our boat that morning and asked a few questions,looked at our pass ports and left! Less than 10 minutes! I have to also mention that our grand son's birthday was8/8/10 also, turning 6 years old! The stops we made along the way were: Harrisville, where we fueled up and anchored in the harbor. We then went on to Harbor Beach, again anchoring in the harbor. We stayed only 1 night as we were right next to a power plant and it was very very LOUD. The next stop was Lexington, which was a very nice, but very shallow harbor! We swam the 1st day and it was so warm! The 2nd day they relayed to us that they did not like us there in the harbor. Randy said we will move, but then the marina employee said the harbormaster said we were fine! After 2 days there we proceeded to St Clair River and went under the Blue Water bridge.
The scenery was great! Homes on the river that were obviously in the millions! It was so good to see real scenery for a change instead of miles of open water. We ended up anchoring in a small little cove, on Lake St Clair. We had 15kts of east wind all night, and I don't think Randy and I slept much at all, as the anchor alarm kept going off.
Okay, now we are here slipped in Jefferson Beach Marina for the next 8 days. This place is huge!! They even have valet parking! Randy and I walked a few miles to a marine store, then on their recommendation we had lunch at Waves and watched the Tigers play. We have close friends, Bill & Cathi who are picking us up on Sunday and taking us home! Randy and I have had a really cool time on this part of our venture. We had a long talk about whether I want to continue on or not. I really do want to do all that we had planned. I am so close to our youngest daughter and her son, that it caught up to me on the trip. I was not always able to get a phone signal, and if we did it was roaming. ($$) Not very many WiFi connections either. So I now know that I must think more positively, and realize they are okay without me always being there to reach out and touch! Our daughter is pregnant and now I hand my job over to her mother in law, also named Jeannie. She is in good, loving hands. When i look back over the last 7 weeks, I do believe I have accomplished some things I never knew I could do! Oh but I did have to color my hair 1 time and Randy helped me. Now the next step when we get home are haircuts!! I don't even think I will wear make up the week we are home! So until we start out again on the 23rd, we will post again. Thanks for following S/V Mutual Fun.

Good Bye North Channel

July 30th
We decided to go back over to Gore Bay and stay for 2 nights there with Inua. While setting setting on the boat sharing a finger with Inua, Right smack over on the finger bow to bow from Inua in comes Dave and Jan on Laurel. The other side of my family I have always heard about but never met.(not really family) We could not believe it as fate must have been. It was nice to finally meet up with them as we had dinner at the Rocky Raccoon Café on the 2nd night we were there. It was a place you did not want to be in a hurry for but all the meals were great.

July 31st
A diamond in the ruff.
I think Jeannie and I found a true deal up in Claperton Island. A little piece of real estate that is a true hideaway. It comes complete


with a main lodge, outdoor seating on a beautiful deck over looking the bay. You can hear the loons calling and watch the beautiful sunrises. Also it comes with 2 beautiful cabins which are furnish to boot. Sorry Girls mom and Dad are spending your inheritance. You can come and get away and truly forget all your troubles here. It is truly amazing what one can find up in this neck of the woods. Buster even liked it so well that he went swimming. Ah but we need a bigger life jacket for him as he has gained weight from just lounging around.

Aug 1st
After a night over at Claperton Island scouting out real estate we moved back over to Croaker Island as it was one of Canada’s holidays. The first time we were here there were only 4 boats in the harbor which is big. But this time roughly 14 were in here. But we had our own little piece of the island. It was the only place that had a sandy beach and a private outhouse. Yea I did use it even. Had to. This was our last night being with Inua and Laurel as we were headed east to start moving on out of the north channel. So to top the night off we had to have a bonfire on the beach with dogs and all the trimmings. It was one of the better nights we have had up here weather wise so it made the night fantastic.


Leaving Croaker we headed over to Little Current just for a short stop to do laundry and top of fuel and water. The public marina is a government run marina and if you do not stay the night you do not pay. So we stayed for 4 hours tied up to the wall right downtown. The swing bridge operates on the hour only so we had planed on catching the 4 pm bridge but as we came back from getting a few items at the laundry and the LCBO store. It was dang close to 3 pm that I had noticed the boats lining up. So we made a made dash to the boat and threw the lines on and shoved off. We were the last boat to cross.Wow! We high fived each other as we headed to Haywood Island for 2 nights. We had planed on going up to Baie Fine but a front came and it rained and was foggy for the next 2 days. So that was home. Looking at the charts the east end of the North Channel has so much to see that it would take a few more weeks. So we decided that next time that is where we will go.

Aug 4th
Listening to the Canada weather (noaa) they were predicting strong winds coming later in the night. Our plan was to get closer to Lake Huron and set it out for a few days as it looked like Saturday we would cross back over to the States. So we took off from Haywood Island at 7 am and headed for Club Island. Which is out in the Georgian Bay all by it self. The anchorage is as we had talked to a coupe that had been there and told us that there is room for only a couple of boats. So might you know as we are headed in that direction off in the distance we could see a few other sailboats headed that same way. So course a change we did. As we looked at the charts and Fitzwilliam Island had a much bigger harbor with a small bend in it so I figured we could tuck in there. Well the name of the harbor is called Rattle Snake harbor. We found out that the island has the highest population of rattle snakes in Canada. So Jeannie wanted to be reassured they would not swim out to the boat. Naturally I told her some story about they could not swim. As we got to it we got looking things over and it was rather roley but long behold we spotted a big barge that was run up to shore. So sure we tucked in behind that and all was well. Till about 4 hours later a 27 Catalina came in and plopped about 100 feet from us and was trying to use the same idea we had. I wanted to say something but I did not as it was rather ruff and they were older then we were and we were all safe at least.

Aug 5th
Ah well the winds had subside some but were to pick back up later in the morning so we hightailed it out of Rattle Snake harbor with no snakes aboard and headed to South Bay in which we plan on leaving from to cross back over to Michigan. Not knowing it but South Bay has a ferry that comes from Tobermory 3 times a day. Heck when we first spotted it we had thought it was a cruise ship.
South Bay is rather large and has a few places to duck into as we did and rode out the wind but not with out seeing 29.7 kts. As we got there we just stayed put and read and slept and some cleaning and of course boat projects. The following day we decided to take the dingy and go back to where the ferry comes in and watch it and see what we could as we noticed there were a few shops. It is also nice to get out and walk around as it was our 4th day with out going a shore. Where we found a place to come ashore there was a couple setting at a picnic table and naturally I struck up a conversation with them. They were waiting to take the ferry back to Tobermory as they had been up here camping for 2 weeks. It was close to their home but have never been here to camp as we all know. It seems like the best thing is close to home instead of traveling 1000 of miles. So we wanted to see the ferry come in and where we had stopped to view it was right by their car and camper you might know. So we got to know more about each other as we waited and then watched as they drove onto the ferry.

Aug7th
We finally arrived back in Michigan. But NOAA was not to accurate once again with their forecast. The night be for we left I went onto their web site and looked up the wind patterns and speed for today and it was showing 5 to 10 kts when we left and as we got closer to Michigan it went down to 5 kts. Wrong~~! We started out OK but as the day went on it did drop to around 10 kts but about 20 miles from Michigan someone turned on the wind and wave machine. The top wind we had was 23.7kts and the waves, All I can say is Jeannie had her nose buried deep in her book the whole time but the good thing is we flew, top speed for us was 9.8 as the waves were abeam (sideways)to us. I know I am one tired puppy as I had to hand steer the last 20 miles so early to bed tonight.

Enjoying it up in North Channel

July 23rd and 24th
We left Little Current and headed out to Hotham Island with Inua. For being first timers up here it is sure nice to have someone that has been in these places. I know we have had many tell us where to go up here and what to see. But having someone first hand has sure been nice. Our anchorage could not have been an better. What a view we had and met some very nice cruisers. Everyone is so friendly as if your out and about on the boat they either wave or stop over for a chat to find out what your doing and where your headed and so on. I guess you can say it is a good thing in a way, but I have not had to clean any fish. But I have been trying to get a few as I will keep up the work, I guess it is a good thing they have tuna in a can.

July25th
We headed out @ 9 am as if we do not have to travel far (20 miles) we try not and leave to early. As the we hate the morning rush hour. You know it is like going to work, everyone is rushing to get there. Oh yea, backing up a bit here. While we were in Little Current I was setting in the cockpit watching a guy a few boat over doing a project, yes a project. I watched as he was doing something with a electric drill in a stern locker. It was not long and here he came and asked me if I had a extra long drill. Dam something I did not have but have many at home and I will add that to my list when we stop in Detroit to go back home for a week. After I told him I did not have one on board his comment was well I just maybe thought you would with how the boat is set up. Ok so when Jeannie came back from doing laundry I proceeded to tell her that maybe we need to rename our boat to ToolCrib. She did get a laugh out of that one. On the way we had to pass through an area what is called Little Detroit which is a small passage in the rocks that maybe 2 boats could pass side by side. But the procedure is to give a security call to alert other boats coming the other way that your approaching and entering the passage. It is interesting up here to look at the rock formation and the whole area. After passing through Little Detroit and going west I noticed how the water color and the rocks changed in appearance. We finally arrived in Bear Drop after passing the famous whales back that the area is named for. One of the books we have shows this pictures from years ago and it has only a few trees on it, well now there are quite a few. Each anchorage has its own beauty to it as you think when you come into it you’re the only one here. When we started to snake back into it wholly smokes. 7 other boat here as more came after we arrived. Then the wind came also. But it is a warm welcome or it would be hot up here. Buster also loved it as he was checking the whole harbor out looking for busterets. But all he could find this time was seagulls. Sorry but no luck this time.

July 28th
Today started listening to NOAA. As we had a front go through in the night and we were thinking of moving to Gore Bay. Rather mind ya I said thinking. After listening to the vhf radio. We confined with our friends over on Inua and we agreed to stay put one more day in Moiles harbor. As the day went on Jeannie said does this remind you of Beaver Island where we sat out 5 days in winds 25kts and above. The skies started clearing and the wind started picking up. So we sat and just read and did various things then about 4 ish I told Jeannie you know I think we are dragging anchor again. Sure enough we were. So we go into our standard fire drill routine. Ya start scrambling. We were fine as it is a small harbor laden with dead heads with 5 other boats. So after reanchoring we got back into our relax mode and started watching the other boats also. Usually when the winds pipe up and your on board w do not leave. Hey but were not all alike. I sat in our cockpit watching a crew-less boat dragging towards a 2nd boat as the women on board the boat soon to be hit was waving her arms for help. So Bill had seen it from his boat just about the time I did as well. So we both come from different boats and jump on board the dragging boat and got it started and moved back out into the harbor away from anyone. About 20 min later out of the woods come the owners as Bill and I were just holding their boat into the wind as I had brought in some anchor chain.
Well once the 2 other guys were on board it is their boat. As we listened to them one was asking the other what do I do. I looked at Bill and he looked at me and I asked the one owner, Would you like us to stay onboard. So we did. What had happened was he got his anchor wrapped around 2 huge logs in the bottom and that came up in the process of reanchoring his boat. All in all we got them off and everything went back to normal for the day.
July 29th
We left Moiles harbor and headed out to Gore Bay. It took us a few different tries as we had to change course as of the depth was in question. We were on the back side of a larger island and had to get around it to go back south. Looking at the charts it looks like a long distance but it is not actually that far. So we back tracked some which is not a problem as that is part of figuring things out up here.