Mile 78: Iroquois Lock to Crysler Park

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Iroquois Lock to Crysler Park Current Location: Crysler Park Marina Mile:  78 Locate:  1) Ramble On, 2) Ramble On Locate:  1) Finnish Line 2.0, 2) Finnish Line 2.0

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Thorton Cliff House

Morning inspection revealed that the water level in Brockville had gone down a little, likely because the wind has eased up over night.  That meant that the board walk up to the boat was no longer under water.   Alas, the wind reprieve was short lived.  While not as windy as the day before, the peak gust clocked in at over 30 kts of a cool north wind that had us dressed in toques and foulies to keep us warm.

Ogdensburg Prescott Bridge

Today was a mild mannered day with us following the shipping channel until we arrived at the Iroquois lock at a little after noon.

Approaching Iroquois Lock

While we had read the St. Lawrence Seaway Pleasure Craft Guide, we neglected to note (or interpret) that we should have been monitoring channel 68.

Upon arriving, and after failing to hail us, lock staff drove to where the staging dock should have been (currently underwater, or otherwise not assembled) and called over to us to provide instructions.

He asked us to circle at the entrance until they opened the lock for us.  The drop was only ~40", and took less than a minute to drop that amount!

Exiting the lock

Crysler Park Marina didn't answer their phone or radio so when we arrived we pick a pair of slips in the mostly empty marina. Turns out that the dock we selected was under construction/repair and they came and asked us to moving to a nearby dock.

Tomorrow we head to the U.S. lock (Snell and Eisenhower)  and should end up near Cornwall by afternoon.

Did we mention it was cold?

Spindrift of fthe bulb

Direct pass through (closed)

Mile 42: Through the Islands to Brockville

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Through the Islands to Brockville Current Location: Brockville Mile:  44.3 Locate:  1) Ramble On, 2) Ramble On Locate:  1) Finnish Line 2.0, 2) Finnish Line 2.0

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Started like a lamb and ended a lion! We left Kingston with a light SW wind and overcast skies and as we progressed along the Canadian channel. The winds built until we passed under the Thousand Islands Bridge where the wind distinctly picked up and became a little squirrelly.

From there it continued to build until we arrived in Brockville. We spent the day under jib alone. Max gust on the instruments was 44.9, and max speed through the water was almost 9 knots!

Safe and sound

We tied up at the wall on the municipal side of the harbour.  Both Bob and I performed various spins in the harbour against 30 knots of wind to end up facing into the wind at the wall.   Water is very high here.  A local claims it's 2" higher than 2017.   BYC looks to be much awash, and there are only inches left of the pile wall we are against leaving our fenders to barely having something to fend against.

Tomorrow we look forward to our first of 7 locks.  Iroquois lock is a "leveling" lock and as such there can be as little as a 1 foot level difference.

Mile 0: Departure Day!

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Departure Day Current Location: Kingston Mile:  0 Locate:  1) Ramble On, 2) Ramble On Locate:  1) Finnish Line 2.0, 2) Finnish Line 2.0

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Our lives have been ruled by lists over the past days, weeks and even the past couple of years.   But no more so than this weekend.   For us, the house needs to been move in ready when we walk (sail) away, and the boat needs to be full of everything we "think" we will need for the next 5 months.  In the middle of all that one car has gone to Kimco, the other stored, pets have been farmed out in all directions, both of our workplaces have been re-arranged to accommodate our absence and so much more that I've already forgotten.  Hiding in there was all the planning for the trip, meetings with Bob and crew, collecting and studying charts, cruising guides, tide tables and schedule planning.  Now, as we rocket out way toward Brockville, begins the process of seeing how successful our planning was!

Last look back until October!

Many thanks need to be offered; parents for dogs sitting, Andrew for cat (and dog) sitting, Mackenzie for extended cat sitting.  All our family and friends for being patient and listening to our plans for the summer for the past few years!  and to all those who came to see us off the dock.

Finnish Line 2.0, just beating out the ferry

For anyone keeping track, we knocked off about 35 remaining boat projects, leaving some to do underway, and others to do perhaps never.   With that, the staff and Marine Outfitters need a shout out for being helpful through our many trips to their store.

The forecast for today is strong winds and small craft/wind advisories for Erie and Ontario.  Should be fun.

A week from now we hope to have cleared the seaway locks and should be working our way to Quebec City.   Stay tuned!

Departure Committee ... to make sure we actually leave!

"And now's the time, the time is now"   ... 
"It's time to .... "

Trip Map & Schedule

First, you can track us online as long as there are AIS land stations nearby:  
Ramble On & Finnish Line 2.0

Quick outline of our plan: where we are going and when we hope to be there:

• May
• 20th: Finnish Line 2.0 & Ramble On depart Kingston with Chris, Linda, Bob & John
• 25th: through locks & arrive in Montreal
• 26th: visit from John W
• 29th: arrive in Quebec City, joined by Nanci
• June
• 4th: arrive at Tadoussac to spend week in Saguenay
• 7th: arrive at Chicoutimi, John & Nanci leave & Debbie arrives
• 12th: depart Tadoussac
• 21st: arrive in Gaspe, Debbie departs
• July
• 4th: arrive at Shediac, joined by Andrew & St. Pete's Chris
• 11th: arrive in Summerside PEI, joined by Tarja
• 11th: arrive at Charlottetown, Andrew leaves 
• 18th: arrive in St Peter's N.S.
• 19th: joined by Ben, St. Pete's Chris leaves
• 20th: head to Bras D'or Lakes
• 20th-24th: meet up with Peter & Ze
• 26th: Ben & Tarja leave
• August
• 1st: arrive in Halifax
• 4th: depart Halifax, joined by Debbie
• 18th: arrive at Yarmouth
• 21st: arrive Grand Manan
• 23rd: arrive at Bar Harbour Maine!
• 24th: Debbie leaves, and St Pete's Chris joins
• September
• 6th: arrive in Boston
• 9th: Peter & Wilma join
• 19th: arrive in New York City! and Tarja joins
• 21st: Peter & Wilma leave
• 25th: arrive at Hop-O-Nose to drop mast 
• 27th: Otto & Gertrud join
• October
• 1st: arrive at Little Falls NY, Otto & Gertrud leave
• 5th: arrive at Oswego
• 7th: arrive back home in Kingston!!!! (back in our own bed!)

Here is a map of the expected route.   It is about 2600nm minimum distance.

Getting Ready

We are in full-on prep mode.   Linda is now off work, the house is a staging warehouse full of rubbermaid tubs of boat contents, the boat is a workshop of final projects.  Route planning is underway.  Preparation has been underway for almost 2 years, and here is where we stand:

• 30 boat projects left to do
• 52 completed project including major ones like refrigeration, dodger and bimini
• 3 projects left to do now that mast is up
• plus, bonus project ... repair lifelines and stanchions that were used to lift the boat!!! (doh!)

The boat will get a full cleaning on the inside, and then carefully re-loaded with supplies and provisions.   There is lots of space on board, but it is composed on many compartments, with variable size and accessibility, so planning in important.  Linda is a master as this sort of thing ... but I may need a map!

We have been studying our charts, tide atlases and cruising guides to plan our likely stopping points and to determine where will will be on which dates.   With limited experience in tidal waters, and with the particular quirks of the St Lawrence river, we have found a few cruising guides to be invaluable resources to help us plan.   Quebec City, for example, can have 16' tides and currents up to 7 knots in the surrounding area and it's downtown marina has it's own lock!

A May departure means we will be dealing with cold water, weather and fog for sure.   So keeping warm is a focus.   Warm clothes, boat heaters, and some additional insulation in the our berth are part of the plan to keep us warm. 

Finnish Line 2.0, our partner in this adventure, is also busy with his own list of tasks.  Bob & Tarja's experience with their trip to the Bahamas last year is a great benefit especially because they have covered the New York City back to Kingston portion already and know the in's and out's.