Be Aware

So there I was...laying in bed this morning listening to the wind increasing outside.  I wondered if it had changed direction in the night and if that had swung the boat around putting it dangerously close to the nearby rocks just south of me or the nearby anchored boat just to the north of me.  Either could cause major damage so I needed to force myself from under the covers to check the situation.  As I gathered my wits about me I realized that I was in my house, not my boat, and it really didn't matter which way the wind was blowing.  Relieved and disappointed all at the same time I got up to look out the window for no particular reason.  No rocks.  No boats.  Just squirrels running around the back yard.  Well, that was a waste of adrenaline.  Don't get me wrong, it's nice to feel safe but try as I may I don't remember all the safe times in my life.  On the other hand, the heart pumping, goose bumping, throat lumping, nerve jumping times are etched in my memory.  When living on the boat I anchored almost everywhere I stopped for the night so the winds, bad weather, tides, rocks and other boats were a constant concern.  Vigilance was a necessity.  It may not sound like something you'd wish for but it connected me to my surroundings creating  a sensitivity to the subtle nuances of my environment.  It made me aware.  When you're aware, you not only notice but also appreciate the little things in life that make every day special.  I hope I don't lose that sensitivity now that I'm off the water.  Today, whatever it brings, is too important to miss.

Best Part Of The Trip

So there I was...touching base with several of my friends and family back in Connecticut and Massachusetts making for a very busy few days before I returned to New York.  The one thing that almost everyone asked was what my favorite part of the trip was.  There were so many amazing places and events I got to experience that it was very hard to zero in on one.  Since I've been off the water I've given this more consideration and I think I've come up with an answer.  My favorite thing was waking up in the morning to the easy lapping of waves against the hull of the boat and looking out the windows to calm waters often as the sun was rising in the east.  Making a pot of coffee I would sit and read the Bible for a bit and put myself in God's hands for the day.  Then I would decide what I would like to do that day.  Sometimes I would read for hours.  Sometimes I would dingy into shore and hike to some destination.  Sometimes I would swim multiple times during the day.  Sometimes I would decide it was time to raise anchor and get under way to the next port.  The point is, after so many years of rigid schedules and obligations that I did my best to comply with, I was able to create my own schedule without having to satisfy anyone else's agenda.  There are times when a person can get away with that for a day or two but this summer offered me many weeks of this lifestyle.  I had never ever felt the freedom that was afforded me during this trip.  It had the effect of catching ones breath and hopefully has helped me to see life with more clarity.  Places and events make for great memories and stories but the things that effect your heart and soul are the best part of the trip.

Back Where I Started

So there I was...pulling into Hamburg Cove on the Connecticut River one of the most beautiful coves in the area with high hills all around that creates a feeling of serenity while producing calm waters most of the time.  I went to pirate a mooring(to use someones mooring while they're not using it).  Leaving the helm I quickly moved to the bow with my boat hook as the boat drifted forward in neutral but the mooring pick up ball floated under the boat and snagged itself on the propeller and shaft area.  I hadn't planned on taking a swim that day but when on the water things like this happen all the time and being prepared is what it's all about.  Five minutes later I was drying off and putting snorkle mask and underwater flashlight away with everything hooked up as it should be.  A day later my friends John and Jan brought a very tasty dinner out to the boat and we sat in the cockpit watching the night fall on this harbor as we had done together so many times before in previous years.  It was good to be back with old friends.  Early Monday morning I slipped the mooring and headed up the Connecticut River into a thick fog that didn't lift until I was almost to my destination in Portland, CT so I never saw anything along the way but there was an erie stillness about it all that made the trip eventful nontheless.  Arriving at the boatyard, Eventide was pulled from the water and now sits on dry land.  A sad day.  Got to visit with so many friends since I got in and it's made me realize how much I missed them all since Kim and I left Connecticut.  True friendships are not found, they're built with years of shared experiences, some easy and some hard.  If you build them well, they'll last for a lifetime.  I'm looking forward to seeing my best friend in a couple days.  See you then, Kim.  

New Friends, Old Friends And The Weather

So there I was...anchored at this sweet little harbor in Mattituck on the north shore of Long Island.  I was curious about the make of a small trawler anchored not too far from me so I went over to inquire about it from the owners.  Little did I know that Bob and Liz would invite me aboard their Cape Dory trawler for drinks and dinner and watermelon and great animated conversation for several hours.  What nice people they were and it sure beat the ramen noodles I had planned for dinner that evening.  The next day, on the way to shore, some friends that I met in Mattituck the previous year called me over and we caught up over drinks in the cockpit of Eventide later that evening.  Funny how I can go for days and never talk to a soul while living on the water and all of a sudden the social calendar fills right up.  I found all these people far more interesting to talk to than talking to myself.  
Pulled anchor the next day and headed across Long Island Sound for the Connecticut shore, specifically North Cove in the Connecticut River.  "The marine forecast got it wrong" would be an understatement.  The waves that hit me as I entered the sound wreaked havoc on the interior of my boat where things were thrown everywhere.  For about an hour and a half it did its worst until I got closer to the Connecticut shore and in the lee of the land being that the wind was coming from the northwest.  Another hour and a half and I was in North Cove where I tied to a free three day mooring in quiet waters where I attempted to rinse off some of the salt that covered every inch of the exterior of Eventide from that little adventure.  A dingy dock that gave me access to the wonderful town of Old Saybrook with it's many coffee shops and store fronts to explore improved my outlook.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Boating By The Numbers

So there I was...going ashore in the dingy after anchoring in the east end of Oyster Bay found on the north shore of Long Island.  I loved the picturesque beauty of this bay from the first time I anchored here several years ago and the smell of the saltwater, after a year in it's absence, made it feel like something of a homecoming.  Walking into the quaint town I passed a sailing center, a place that seeks to raise sailors and sailing to a competitive level, where who walks out the door but Dawn Riley.  She is one of the premier women sailors in the world.  I remember watching her years ago when she was the first woman to captain and manage an America's Cup sailing team.  She went on to race on four Amerca's Cup teams in all.  Thinking I must be mistaken, I did a little research and found my sighting to be true.
  As I'm getting close to the end of my journey on the water for this season I began to tally a few things.  Since my retirement, a year ago in August, I have navigated Eventide well over 1,300 miles, through 4 different canal systems and 62 locks the largest of them in the St. Lawrence Seaway that empties 24 million gallons of water in 7-10 minutes to drop my little boat down to the next level.  When I arrived in Waterford a week and a half ago it completed a very large circle that took me up the Erie Canal (lots of locks) into the Oswego Canal (fewer locks) and through Lake Ontario (huge lake that gets nasty in a storm) into the St. Lawrence River (Thousand Islands, beautiful) and eventually by Montreal (practice your French) and then through the Richelieu River (beautiful homes on it's shoreline) to the Chambley Canal (makes you think you're in Europe) again back into the Richelieu River that eventually spits me out on the northern end of Lake Champlain (water is so clean and vistas are stunning) that exits on the southern end into the Champlain Canal (more locks) where at it's end you find yourself again in Waterford.  A few more miles and I get to stop and rest for awhile.  Then Kim puts me to work.   

Blessed

So there I was...coming up to the free docks in Waterford, NY after exiting the Champlain Canal and its 11 locks.  I was looking forward to spending my allotted 48 hours here where activity and stories abound as cruisers stop to reprovision at the confluence of the Champlain Canal, Erie Canal and Hudson River.  What I failed to remember from the last time I was through here was that this particular weekend was the Tugboat Roundup.  Though said to be an exciting time where tugboats from multiple states converge on this little town, they also completely take over the 1000 feet of floating docks and 600 feet of cement pier.  This left yours truly with no place to stay for the night.  After begging a spot to tie up long enough to get some groceries I went up to talk to Chris the Lockmaster at the first of the Erie Canal Locks.  He said, "We're gonna take care of you.  You get your boat and we'll lift you up through the lock and you can tie against the side wall up here by wrapping your lines around the trees on shore.  There's even electricity nearby so we'll hook you up to power and if you need to get to the Walmart 6 miles away here are the keys to my truck."  Talk about falling into cotton candy.  As I took his keys I told him driving his truck should be interesting since I hadn't driven in 3 months getting the reaction I hoped for.  The Tugboat Roundup was a blast and I got on so many boats.  Early Saturday morning I was having my coffee next to my boat when a guy approached me and asked if I could help him move his 85 foot 100 year old Norwegian cargo ship up through Lock 3 on the Erie Canal.  Of course I said yes.  I toured the inside of this behemoth admiring the beautifully redone spacious interior.  Controlling something that big through the lock was quite exciting.   Saturday night there was a big fireworks display and Chris's wife was engineer on the tug designated as the committee boat so he told me to come along with him to get front row seats to the event.  One of the best fireworks displays I've ever witnessed.  I was treated so well thanks to these wonderful people.  On Sunday afternoon I untied Eventide and went back down the lock leaving Waterford and my new friends.  After going through yet another lock almost immediately on the upper Hudson I traveled a couple hours south to a marina where the previous owner of Eventide wanted to buy me a seafood dinner at this very nice restaurant.  Three days later I was rounding Manhattan on 9/11.  As I entered the East River I looked up at the newly built Freedom Tower from the bridge of my boat and then over at the Statue of Liberty.  Indeed, we are blessed.

Sliding Through The Muck

So there I was...attempting to enter a small cove on the very southern end of Lake Champlain before you get to the locks in an area called The Narrows.  It is a very desolate area with no cell phone reception and you rarely see another person.  It was getting toward evening and though none of the cruisers had ever attempted this cove for anchoring, it's 75 ft high rock wall on one side and grassy marsh on the other side toward the main channel drew me in with it's beauty and secluded atmosphere.  The entrance was going to be tight but there was 8 feet of water once you got in.  My 17,000 pound boat requires a bit over 3 ft of water and it concerned me when I read 2 ft on the depth finder.  As I slid through the muck holding my breath the thought was going through my head that even if I got in, would I be able to get back out in the morning?  After succeeding and dropping my anchor I heard an airboat, the kind they use in the everglades, come flying through the marsh and into where I was with a look on the occupants faces that said, "How did you get that boat in here?"  It was a fantastic anchorage and after a narrow escape in the morning I made my way into the Champlain Canal and now sit at a dock in Mechanicville, NY, just south of Lock 3, where tie-up, water, and electricity hook-up are all free.  They like boaters.  Last night the previous owner of Eventide, who lives not too far from here, came to see his old boat at my invitation.  We talked and told boating stories until 11pm and one of the stories was how he had run Eventide onto the rocks at Colchester Shoals in Lake Champlain (see previous post) after leaving Fourth of July fireworks festivities in Burlington after dark.  Fortunately, very little damage was found after the Coast Guard pulled him off but what a coincidence that I just wrote about that shoal.  Checked out a museum in Shelburn, VT, aptly named Shelburn Museum, that has an incredible collection of Americana spread out over many acres.  It's worth a road trip and you can take in nearby Burlington while you're there.  Lots to do in that town and a great waterfront.  I'll finish up the Champlain Canal and locks tomorrow morning, then it's onto the Hudson River heading toward New York City.