Iroquos to Lake St. Francis.

We got up and motored to Iroquois lock. After the lock, the rain started.

We motored.

We passed Drifter who was heading upwards to Iroqouis.

We motored to Snell / Iroquois. Did the locks. The sun came out and we put up the sail.

DF was undecided about where to go. St. Regis. Ile Pilon. She was concerned about some clouds north of us. Winds were calm but the current was in our favour. It was only 5PM. She mentions that he clouds looked like tornado. (her words)

 I was the Captain, She said so.

I sailed for two more hours and then motored to Somerville, near ile Mouton. Somerville was better sheltered. She calmed down when we anchored about 7. Opened the bar and had supper.

Lots of motoring today.  Lots of mileage.

Brockville onward to Toutsaints

We departed Brockville, sailed along the river in a run,

Watched a tall ship tack across the river

Tall ship tacking across river

We passed on the US side of the river.  Helicopters were circling round us.  Big helicopters !

Galop Canal South West

We toured and tried to anchor at Galop Canal South West near Iroquois Marine Services.  Nice tour of a swam, but it was too narrow for us to swing so we settled for Toutsaint.  Daniele did not like going in there, but in the end she admitted it was nice to explore.




A nice day of sailing.  Always nice sailing down current.

Nice swim at Toutsaints

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Brockville

Our favourite restaurant was closed until 5, so we at a pub - Buds on the Bay.

Bought some beer at the Beer Store

Watched the races at Brockville YC

Watched the races at BYC

Wet day at anchor - Grenidier Island (middle bay)

Monday, the rain came as forecast. Spent the day aboard.  Rain was constant. Cold.  Winds swung to the north as expected.

Napped a lot. Looked for leaks.  Starboard port and a drop came form galley light.

Slept some more.

We read, updated blogs... Cellular service was spotty.  Virginmobile mifi worked well.

bad day, bad night at Endymion island

We left Canoe Point to clear customs and do some provisioning.  We saw Redline and went to say hello and proceeded to Ganaoque.

Ganaoque municipal docks were full, as expected.  We grabbed a free dock and I checked in.  That went fine, but no spot was becoming available at the municipal docks.

We departed to rendezvous with Redline at Camolot Island North, but they were in a precarious anchorage.  We tried to anchor at Camelot, but were unsuccessful.  We went to Endymion Island and took a mooring, but without a dingy, we could not pay at the service dock.  We waited out some winds and took off looking for an anchorage, without success. We visited several places, but they were too rough or too full. 

Met the pearls en route in their dinghy.

We eventually anchored near the mooring we had given up.  12 fee of water and 40 to 50 feet of scope, we were close to other boats, that would be a problem if we swung in different directions.

We re anchored with similar results. 

A thunder and lightening storm started about 2;30 in the morning.We watched the fireworks.  They were spectacular. We were blow out of the bay away from the moored boats so we could "relax".  But then we noticed were were far from the other boats and the shoreline had houses.  I immediately realized something was wrong. Checked the chart plotter, depth gauge and put out more scope.

At first light, we motored and re anchored.

We decided to take off east.  Forget rendez-vous with Alan and Norm.  It was just too crowded.  We sailed to Grenadier Island, middle bay.

Day in Clayton, NY, Picton Island and Canoe Point

We left Cape Vincent to Clayton, NY.

Clayton was a nice easy going nautical town.  There was a serious free municipal dock for visitors.

Municipal Dock at Clayton

We visited the Antique Boat Museum

Antique Boat Museum

We lunched at a nice Bistro called Bella's cafe along the river, but some rye bread.  In town we bought some fudge.

Nice walk.

Afterwards, we replenished the ice and set sail to  Picton Island.  We anchored.  Nice bay.  Immigration officiers came by in Sea-Doos.  Pleasant place.


Spent the night and a good part of the next day.  Late in the day, we motored to Canoe Point, which was just a couple miles north.

It was cold. Waters were not at all as nice as it was two years ago.

 A little problem anchoring.  We drifted and had to re-anchor.

Sackets Harbor and Cape Vincent

In the morning, we left the anchorage and docked at the village of Sackets Harbor, thinking fill water tank, but on the public dock there is only electricity.

We toured the town and the historical sites.

We discovered that both water tank valves were open so we were draining from both tanks.

Nice long sail to Cape Vincent.  Motored for an hour, nice close haul north and then the winds died.

I accidentally hit MOB on GPS and spent 30 minutes trying to cancel the MOB.  Winds by then was very light.

Gased up and refilled both water tanks at Cape Vincent.

Got an unnecessary pump out to keep the GF happy.

Got liquor at the CAPE VINCENT liquor store. The owner liked Canadians.  Gave us a 10 % discount.

Had supper at  Captain Jacks.  We sat on the patio, but the scenery was not so great.  Had a big pizza and had leftovers for breakfast. Love cold pizza in the morning.

Back at the boat, it is the party with disco music and lighting. A gang of Quebec are partying. They are about 8 boats and engines are super organized. Sound system, lighting, chairs, tables, BBQ and so on. At 11:00 p.m. all over, silence settles and everyone starts to snore ...

We spent the next day at Cape Vincent.  Did Groceries, bought a long sleeve shirt.  Getting cold.

We spent the afternoon with scotch and beer at a gazebo near the washrooms charging our i-devices and Daniele's Macbook.

A CS30 came in under strong winds.  I went to help them dock.  He was from PCYC. Another CS 33 came in.  He was a friend of the first one.  A third came in afterwards.  It turned out to be Dominque.  a friend of Andre and the former owner of a CS 30 that I was looking at buying in March.

They went off for supper in town.

We went to bed and the next morning, we got up early and they were all gone.

We set off for a nice sail to Clayton.

Whites Bay to Henderson to Sackets

We had a pleasant night at Whites Bay.  We swam.  Brunched on Grill Cheese. 

We weighed anchor and motored to Henderson Bay YC.  The approach was through a mooring field.  There was a marked channel that I had not seen.  I followed the instructions in the Ports Guide and ended up a the wrong dock.  I went for the correct dock.  The winds were from the south and the north side of the dock was occupied.  I had problems approching the south side and the wind blew me off.  I reversed and the engine stopped.  I though I had hit a rock.  The kayak tether had got caught in the propeller shaft.  I dropped the anchor at the strong suggestion of someone at the dock.

Putneyville to Oswego

Got up at 5 ish, pulled out early san breakfast.  We put up two sails and sailed east in a run.  DF went back to sleep and I helmed for 3-4 hours.

The other night we were wondering why there were not so many boats on the lake. Well this morning, the lake was full of fisherman.  It seems that the lake was mostly used by hobby fisherman early in the morning.

Nice sail to Sodus Bay which was too shallow.  We sailed to Little Sodus Bay which sounded very nice.  But it was going to rain the next day and we decided to bunker down at Oswego.

We got to Oswego at a good hour, docked at an unoccupied dock, tried go get to club house, but the clubhouse was closed.  It turns out we had to go to the municipal office and they set up for two nights. the first was 50$ and the second was free.

We walked the town. Oswego was a booming town until the seaway system turned the town into a tourist town.

Oak Orchard - Very long day - spinnaker

Got up at at 7AM had breakfast.  Got out at 8:15.  Light winds - 6 knots, supposed to get lighter. 

We set up spinnaker, spinnaker was not pulled to the top so it flew very high.  It needed a down haul.  We did not use the cheek blocks so the sheets did not feed well.  Left it long enough to document the event.  Reasonably nice dousing.
 

Set up the sails with main and number 2.  Headed for Rochester. Brian came out of harbour and slowly passed us.

When we got to about 5 miles out of Rochester, there were lots of boats there racing. Called the club and it was the J70 regatta.  no space.  We set for Putney Bay at Putneyville with an ETA of 6:30.  Sodus looked a little shallow for us.  Passed power station and finally put on the motor.

 Anchored in 15 feet of water, with 70 feet of scope.

Total 57 miles, mostly sailing.


Locals were watching us.  Locals were watching us.  Local race, nice sunset.

Supper was left over short ribs, and left over lamb.

Night was rock and roll, mostly miserable rolling.  Did not sleep well

Got up at 5AM next morning and set no 2.

Point Breeze to Rochchester NOT / Putneyville - Yes

We left Orleans Marine Park at 8:15 with the intention to sail to Rochester, NY.  We put up the spinnaker since it was a run and DF let me.  We did not rig a down haul and the pole flew straight up.  But we sailed her for a few minutes and duly documented the milestone.

We got to Rochester and saw a big race there when we were 5 miles out.  We called the club and the harbour master told us that they were hosting the J70 regattas.  No space.

We proceed to Putneyville which was small to carry a boat as big as Bellum, but there was a day anchorage just outside.

Fishing Boat

57 Miles !!!  Mostly sailed

Nice scenery, but the night was rolling.  Not much sleep.

Awesome sunset at Putneyville

Wilson to Point Breeze 28 miles

We got up to Scones and Coffee.  Since we had the Nespresso and AC Power.

Winds were supposed to peak at 10 and decline.  We departed at 11, fueled up with 9.25 gallons diesel and a very friendly Wilson fuel dock.  Once out it was rock and roll. Daniele was very hesitant to continue. I took the boat into Wilson and back out again.  Boat was quite maneuverable.  She finally go the confidence to go.  Once the sails were up, she handed very well.  As forecast, the winds died and when the boat speed fell below two we powered up the motor ... after some consideration for putting spinnaker, but it was getting late.

It rained for about 10 minutes before coming into Point Breeze.

We figured we had 45 foot mast and the 54 foot bridge to get to the reciprocal club.  We approached it and chickened out.  We stayed at Orleans State Park.  Brian from a Fairmont 36 helped us

Supper was  marinated pork southern country ribs on the BBQ with coleslaw and left over Spaghetti Carbonara

Youngstown to Wilson Tuscarora Yacht Club

There was nothing for us at Niagara on the Lake so we left our mooring early, skipping out on our second free day at Niagara Sailing Club.  We went across to Youngstown to clear customs for USA. The docking was a little difficult in windy conditions. People at the club were talking  and there was a cleaning crew cleaning the concrete at the club.  Nobody helped us dock.  We were at a dock exclusively for members, but we were not going to stay long if we had no problems with customs.

Long sail to Wilson. Wind picked up as we came up to Wilson.  Nice sailing. DF gets excited when we reach 8.2 knots.  That is confirmed on boat speed calibrated with GPS,

http://youtu.be/bOprwBX35hE

 

Nick signed us in at Tuscarora Yacht Club and we got dock I85.  We motored in slowly while Daniele moved the fenders from port to starboard and Nick helped us dock in a tiny dock that was about 20 feet long.

Wilson was a nice town. We took a 5 mile walk to buy some groceries at an IGA Mart with particular empathizes on cream for pasta and beer for the crew.  We walked through a cemetery back to the boat. 

We had AC Power so we charged up the toys

Refilled boat water and drinking water. The Wilson club was on an island and had two impeccable buildings. 

Since we had AC Power, we recharged everything from cameras to cellphones to electric toothbrushes and power tools.

Supper was Daniele's Spaghetti alla Carbonara, which was more difficult to do on a boat.

Port Weller to Niagara on the Lake

We left Chicken bay after some difficulties with the anchor

As short trip.  There was no dock but they put us at a mooring.  The Cat Hi-5 wanted to go on a mooring but did not have a dingy so we offered our Kayak.  In the end, an American with a power boat offered to tender them back and forth.  

Hi-5 blog site is http://hi5sailcat.blogspot.ca/

We moored and walked through town ... mostly touristy shops and the home for the Shaw festival.  Fish and chips at noon at cork's.  It was rather cool -  weather wise.  Daniele bought a bracelet with a magnetic clasp that we could use to help the compass.

Not much interesting ... we had high expectations of Niagara on the lake, but it was just a tourist trap.