Another trip up to Ottawa, the weather was just great, and the first signs of fall colours were showing. No wonder that our friends found the national capital delightful!

The next 12 days went by fast! We travelled with them to Toronto where we spent one night (in a Chinatown hotel) which allowed them to do a quick visit to Niagara Falls while we re-explored exciting Toronto. And we got wiser at sorting out Chinese restaurants and their menus, something Gabi and Lutz had introduced us to back in New York City.

On September 2, our friends from SuAn arrived! Great! We met them in Puerto Rico and spent quite a bit of time with them together on our leg north up to New York city. We invited them to visit us in Canada.

We had warned them that our house might not be ready when they come, but that our boat would be anchored in the 1000 Islands …not a bad alternative!!??

While we worked daily in the house, sanding floors, painting walls, decorating and organizing the million of things we had put in storage, we had not yet lived in the house when they arrived! Thousand islands on board La Buena Vida was going to be the site of their first night on Canadian soil (or waters…)

The first night was just perfect! No mosquitoes, no wind, and the scenery reflected nicely what we had told them about our cruising ground here in Kingston. We had a great evening. The sunset was wonderful…as there was a cold front descending upon us on the next night!

Next day, we moved the boat to Kingston – what looks to be our last sail for this season. Upon arrival, Marleyne picked us up, and we moved our stuff over into the house. Our first night on land, and we are starting this one off with friends. What a great start. And they were good sports, not minding the bare walls … as long as the barbeque was working, ….

We travelled with them to prince Edward County, Lake on the Mountain, drove through the Mohawk reservation, and shoed them historic Kingston!

Here we are, almost at the end of August, and the time has been flying…our cruising adventures have receded in the background to let us adapt to the Canadian environment: we are now anchored in the beautiful 1000 Islands and enjoy the scenery...despite the cold weather and water temperatures: yes, what years ago might have felt like a normal summer now feels cold to us…after all, there is a big difference (20F or 10C) in air and water temperatures! But Marleyne does not complain anymore about feeling “sticky” and Heiner rinses the boat with fresh water to his heart content! Swimming feels refreshing: we swim more here than in the islands. Probably because without swimming, one actually risks hypothermia!!!!

We have been welcomed back home by several friends and neighbours (who cautiously ask if, this time, we are staying…) and we are enjoying the Canadian bargain prices of food and “stuff”… (We have not yet been to the Liquor stores to buy rum….).

Our house renovation is now finished: the house was in good shape but we felt like redecorating! The floors were resanded and revarnished…new carpets…new colour schemes. It feels good to enjoy the home comfort with laundry facilities, hot showers, freezer and toaster!!!! And what to say about having the use of a car!!!!



We even have found a yard to sandblast the boat next spring: we think that La Buena Vida has enabled us two marvellous years of travel and “deserves” a Rejuvenescence treatment: sandblasting and new paint job!

We would like to remain in a “cruising frame of mind”…by avoiding to become to set in our ways and by being spontaneous and adventurous !And by reading our cruiser’s friends blogs rather than spending time in front of TV!!!!!!!!!!!

This birthday was really different: I was "on duty" soon after our departure from Oswego USA for Waupoos Canada, 36 miles north. It was windy, rainy and gray...I would have like to spend my birthday morning in bed...However, the forecast was for rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon so it was better to leave early to avoid all that stuff. The waves were certainly not as high as what we experienced on the Atlantic but they were coming from 3 different directions...not smooth at all. Marleyne stayed at the helm...Heiner has still quite a bit shoulder pain! But with 20knots, the crossing went fast and by the time we arrived in Canada, conditions had become milder. We reached our friends Lindsay and Karen by VHF radio..they were waiting at the Waupoos marina to welcome us; we docked for 15 minutes, cheered and welcomed by these wonderful friends and went away to anchor in the bay. The rain came and we could get our rest, at last. Tonight, we had this great Barefoot Bubbly, a Pinot Grigio from California..just great! And with this nice canadian sunset... an unforgettabl;e day!

Mast stepping went well without a flaw..well almost! For a moment there, we thought the mst got longer or the furler shorter but no, it was the toggler at the top of the furler tht was jammed and made it shorter by 2 inches. It took quite a bit of effort and Heiner to climb up the mast to undo the mess. After the mast was up, we crossed the river and moored along the wall. It takes an afternoon to make the boat sail ready again. Tomorrow morning we will sail away towards Prince Edward County (Waupoos) to celebrate our homecoming and the admiral's birthday (39th !!!)!

That's it, we are there: between Lock #7 and Lock #8 in Oswego. The NW-W wind has been blowing hard today 20+ knots: its quite cool, 20C, and makes the tying up in the lock a bit stressful. But the captain has been doing a great job of getting in and out despite the strong breeze without a hitch. And me, with my yellow gloves, I have been mastering ropes and ladder!

The skies are cloudy, the strong breeze making it inhospitable, nothing tropical here...Even at the Oswego Marina, 3 Bassin street, the reception is inhospitable: you know this type of person who keeps doing her work without looking at you even though you are 6 inches from her face! and who then groughly ask:What do you want? So that's Oswego Marina where we have to put the mast on the boat...not much choice in the matter. The "kind" female at the reception desk had us sign on the dotted line that for every hour spent at the dock (to tie things up) we would be charged $30.oo...greedy greedy Oswego marina! Luckily, the important person in this whole story, Bernie, who sets up the mast, is a nice guy: we need to do our share of the work with him, however, as he is the only one doing the job. Hopefully, the wind will be down or else we must stayin Oswego until Monday.






It is quite nice, though, to stay at the wall; it is free (part of the NY Canal system) versus staying at the wall below the locks where it costs $20.00/night (charged by the city of Oswego). We have Internet access here and it is just a nice walk in town. Not much going on this Friday night because it's freezing out there!

The routine of canal cruising has established itself...early morning, around 7am, we put the water kettle on and start the engine. We do about 40 miles a day, depending how many locks there are and how smooth the process goes. Although it is summer time, we are the only one boat to lock EXCEPT in the Little Falls lock, climp of 40 feet, where we are stacked like sardines. The lock master had waited for as many boats as possible to lock together..it makes sense but it was a little tight!
Anyhow, we enjoy looking at the serene landscapes passing by, and look forward to the last lock of the day to tie up to the wall and enjoy the evening.

On August 2, we began traveling the Erie Canal after a nice stay at wWterford. The weather has been quite good with only one very hot and muggy night yesterday at Sylvan Beach, Oneida Lake. Somehow, we have adopted a quick travel tempo although we don't have to rush home.

Today, passing through Lock 23, we had a nice present from the lockmaster: fresh herbs, tomatoes and peppers from his garden! This garden has been set up just for us, cruisers...I told him that this was a very nice pre-birthday present (for Marleyne)and when I came into the office to get his hebs clipper, he also gave me a pack of chocolate cookies! How kind of him!

Saturday August 7th, we will have the mast restepped at the Oswego Marina.

And then, up across the Lake Ontario;it looks like the trip is finishing....

We decided to have to mast unstepped at the Riverview Marina (Catskills): we found the cost very reasonnable, were sure to have quiet waters and did not have to search for an additional man on deck...all included for $125.00! The work was done in 1/2 hour and we went to Coxsachie to anchor for the night. The new "fun factor" is that we have now fresh water and we can swimm, not using fresh water to shower extensively (just a quick rinse in case..). We were in for a surprise, though, when on the morning of July 30th, the temperature dropped to 12C during the night. Our bodies and minds were in a state of shock when sailing the river with a cold north wind on the nose...





By the time we arrived in Waterford, entrance to the Ny Canal system, the temp had risen to 22C...We found a spot at the wall and have been enjoying the commodities as well as the shopping possibilities. After that, little places along the canal, don't offer much choice. We bought a 10 days pass for the canal but our experience suggests that in about 6 days we should be in Oswego where we will have to step the mast before crossing Lake Ontario. Mast stepping and unstepping is not really a job that mariners like but it has advantages: it allows one to inspect faraway places and discover missing nuts, screws, rust etc...So, our homework is done and we'll leave the mast up for the next winter season!:)

Rain is forecasted for tomorrow..we'll see. In a way, we are lucky that the huuricane season has been quiet so far...A look at the National Hurricane Center forecast shows that it may not be long before one of these storms passes our way!!!
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

The trip from New York down the majestic Hudson river is always breathtaking with its wonderful vistas of faraway New York city and The Palisades, the Bear Mountain Bridge and mansions and castles...Unfortunately, we did not have time to stop at Chelsea's wedding in Rhinebeck (surely Bill and Hilary would not have minded us to stop by:)

Time to leave New York...we feel happy with the time spent here but it is always difficult to leave this place. It is as exciting to sail away from it as it is to arrive in its harbour! It takes 4 hours from Great Kill Harbour to 79th street anchorage...From the sunshine on Varrazano bridge to a Concorde parked at a Marine & Aviation pier...still so much to see!

And here we go up the Hudson....with 6 to 7 knots speed!

What a week!

Our last day in NYC...we went back to Times Square and had fun looking at all these huge screens ..."Forever 21"...that's us!!!

After having walked already 4 hours, we still had lots of things to do and to see...a bit slow due to the hot weather! The thermometer was showing 104F that afternoon...so it felt great to enter air conditionned stores! We wanted to show Gabi and Lutz the FAO Schwartz toy store...50,000 sq feet of toys: huge teddy bears, barbies, legos, you name it...we loved to Harry Potter section and could not stop ourselves of trying on "fines robes"...

Gabi wished to see the appartment building where Yoko and John Lennon lived before his assassination..we strolled the park until we got to Strawberry Fields and went to the quite imposing building in front of which John was shot. Just imagine...

More fun in New York!

On Saturday, we went for a stroll and a picnic in Central Park with Gabi and Lutz. First we went to a deli to gather our food: there is so much choice that it is stressful to choose what to have! Lutz Heiner and Marleyne go for the roasted chicken, eggplant dip and sourdough baguette. Gabi gets a big chunky piece of blue cheese, baguette, a piece of cheese cake (she was dreaming about it for a couple of days already!) and fresh fruits! Just the wine was missing...but this is NY and not Paris! We found a little pavillon with a wonderful view of the pond and the Manhattan skyline !

Ellis Island took several hours to visit and explore. This site was important to me as it is there that in 1908 my grand-father arrived from Europe on the SS Touraine...it was very touching to actually be in the room where he had stood with thousand other immigrants before finally being admitted to America!

Our next day in New York was of a very different nature: I always had been interested to visit Ellis Island, the landmark of immigration in the New World. Unfortunately, we could not get there on our personal "watercrafts"..and had to go on a ferry to visit Ellis Island ( and the Statue of Liberty). We first got to the Satue of Liberty monument, together with hundreds of people of all races and nationalities! This was more interesting than we thought and we were actually quite impressed by the engineering needed to create and ship this huge monument from France to here!

We made our way to Times Square and by that time, we all felt pretty thirsty. Our friends lured us in the Hard Rock Cafe...they had already been in the Kuala Lumpur one and some others in Asia. It was our first time in this popular hangout and we enjoyed it!

We have been so often here in the Big Apple and we enjoy it every time! This time, Gabi and Lutz came along and we did a mega tour of the city: first an incursion in China Town...those two have lived in Asia for several years and can speak Chinese! It was very enlighening to pass along the market stands and actually be able to get some info on what we were seeing and smelling! They also helped us along ordering our food in a small very local restaurant ! It was excellent and we had a great time!!! Xie xie

Our last passage on the Atlantic went well but shifting winds necessitated several sail adjustments during the night. We made it to Great Kill harbour in the early evening and were soon in bed, after a shower, a light supper and a couple of cold beers! How I (Marleyne) love "arrivals"...Our friends Gabi and Lutz on s/v SuAn were anchored not to far from us and were totally excited to finally having arrived in NY!

On Tuesday morning, we embarqued the Staten Island ferry and went to Manhattan!

Our plan was to settle in Chesapeake City (in the C&D canal) in order to wait for the right currents, requiring us to get up at 5am so we would be at Reedy Point at slack tide...Surprise: as we approach Chesapeake City, we find the anchorage totally full with dredging machinery! So much for planning! No other choice than going with the flow..at this point we were doing 7 knots..and continuing up to Delaware Bay. We anchored just around the corner of the canal at the bay entrance and the next morning, we did not have to leave at 5am but 7am..a more humane alternative!

The crossing of Delaware Bay went fine although the wind was a bit "skinny" for a couple of hours. As we approached Cape May, we listened to the weather forecast for the Atlantic coastline up to New York and decided to keep going...

We had a bit of excitement ahead of us however! Our mast height is 53.5 feet and it had been possible in our past passages to go inside Cape May harbour passing the 2 bridges which have enough clearance (56 ft). That day, however, the tide seemed pretty high and we slowed down a little to give it time to receed AND also to catch a glimpse of the clearance pannel, usually at the foot of the bridge.

It was Saturday afternoon...zillions of power boats zipping at incredible speed be sides us, not a good scenario to attempt a quiet passage under the bridge PLUS there was no indication whatsoever regarding the clearance of the bridge. Calling the US Coast Guard proved useless as no one was willing (liability?) or able to give us the information (their definition of mean high tide was incorrect !).

OK, after waiting 30 minutes, I stood on deck and signaled to power boats to stop...everybody understood the challenge as they saw the very very slim clearance left for us to pass under the bridge! 6 inches!!!! When you stand on deck, 6 inches looks like 0 and we had barely time to breath again when the power boaters resume their mad speed...

We had never seen power boats speeding so much in a harbour...negotiating the inlet in order to get to the ocean was difficult with waves of 3 feet created by boaters and wind against current. When we finally made it, we were exhausted but had another 120 miles to go before reaching New York!

The stretch lying for us after finally leaving Annapolis is to get through the C&D canal leading to the entrance of Delaware Bay...but WHO likes cruising Delaware Bay????? so we decided to stretch our Chesapeake Bay cruising as much as possible and anchored at Worton Point on one night and then, in the Sassafras River for another night. Our friends Gabi and Lutz had not seen very much of the Bay yet and we were happy to show them pretty anchorages...we also managed to swim in the Sassafras as there were no jelly fishes! What a relief from the heat it was!!!

To our readers: unfortunately we get many comments from spam sites (asian sex sites) and we have made it a bit more difficult to send comments...sorry for the inconvenience to you!
A cause des nombreux commentaires provenant de sites asiatiques a contenu sexuel nous avons change le format des commentaires ,,desoles puisque ca ne sera pas aussi facile qu'auparavant!!

Are we staying???? Can we leave?

Last night we were unable to lift our Danforth anchor - it just would not give - and we had to postpone our departure this morning.

But then you have friends with great ideas and with the right equipment: Gabi of s/v SuAn borrowed the tank of s/v Heimkehr and dived into the very murky waters of Spa creek! She had to plunge both her arms into 1 foot of mud to "feel" the anchor which was lodged under a pipe...Now it is back on board! We all went to ..RamsHead of course to celebrate this success!

Thanks guys!!!!

Meeting other cruisers is one thing, traveling closely with some is another one... We met Pam and Bill on s/v Songbird in Antigua (2009) and sailed with them up to Carriacou before they depart for Grenada and we put the boat in a yard in St Vincent. We had really enjoyed traveling with them and tried to keep in touch by e-mail and blogs. To our surprise, we managed to get in touch with them during their stay in NY and they made it here for a couple of days! What fun we had! It was fun to exchange stories - our respective new adventures - and reminisce about our previsou traveling! What's best is that we'll probably see them again somewhere in the world! Songbird is currently docked in Panama.



We had a fun evening with them and Gabi and Lutz...enjoying hummus, white wine and beer and rum!

The Eastern shore of the US has been "heating up" for the last couple of days and despite the heat warning in effect for our region, we decided to go to Washington DC nevertheless..our last visit had been in October 2009, partly pleasure and partly business as we visited the Canadian Embassy for administrative issues...

We left Annapolis at 7h30 with the "commuter's Dillon's bus" and found ourselves on Constitution avenue just in time for a bagel & coffee breakfast before our tour of the Smithsonian's. With such great museums, days are too short...we chose to go the the Air and Space Museum and took the 90 minutes tour... The guide was entertaining and knowledgeable and we left with a better understanding of the expositions.

We ventured outside despite the amazing heat and toured very rapidly (we had been here on a previous visit) the Sculpture gardens...

In addition to be associated with great shopping - we visited Beacon's, West Marine and Sailrite stores - this town is also synonymous of friendship! Throughout the years that we have come to Chesapeake Bay by boat and by car, we have made good friends here or have been joined by friends as it is an easy place to get to.

Our first visitor this year was John who lives in Havre de Grace (top of the bay) who came to spend a day with us on board La Buena Vida. We met John in 1991 in Charleston and sailed together to Florida ...during a gale that remains memorable to all of us ! We went to Ramshead of course, where we met with the German friends Gabi and Lutz (s/v SuAn) and their friends, other cruisers sailing the fishcutter Heimkehr, Bert and Marlene. John celebrated Spain's victory over Germany (FIFA) while the German drowned their sorrow with Fordham's brew! The next day John offered to take me groceries shopping...Thanks John! only cruisers can truly appreciate that gesture !!!!

Independence Day! We had never managed to enjoy July 4th's fireworks because of heavy thunderstorms which usually occur every afternoon ! This year seems to be different...and so, we geared up for the parade in Annapolis as well as for the fireworks scheduled around 9pm.

Hum...the parade was the most boring parade we have EVER seen! There were a couple of drummers, two associations of pet owners promenading their "costumed" dogs, and the rest consisted of candidates presenting for political offices in different upcoming elections (judgem, governor, sheriff and what else..)..People had been lining up with their kids for hours in the heat to see THAT???? Oh! well..we strolled along the streets and went back on board still in disbelief...the fireworks, however, was fun: we took the dinghy close to the Naval Academy anchorage to get a prime view of the light show!

We settled comfortably in our Spa creek anchorage, setting even 2 anchors as we were coming too close to the residents docking area. We don't like setting 2 anchors as our heavy Danforth is difficult to retrieve but it is worth for the peace of mind, also taking into account that when in Annapolis, we are seldom on board and do not wish to find La Buena Vida on a resident's boat or dock! And our new dinghy is still swimming, not leaking and making us very very happy on a daily basis...it is a bit longer than the older one and we are faster reaching our different destinations such as the downtown core in order to eat our daily ice cream, or the Ramshead tavern to enjoy their great Happy hours and delicious Fordham amber and wheat beers, lager, stouts and ales!

Happy Canada day! Happy new dinghy day! We are feeling great...the plan came together! The night was cool...we felt refreshed upon awakening, had great apple pancakes and then, emptied the water from the dinghy, reinflated the tubes and prayed to the dinghy God to be able to make it to the city dock...just one more time. Every time we travel across Spa creek, we are enchanted by its charm...
We knew that FedEx would be coming around noon and we went for a cup of coffee at the nearby Starbucks, reading the NewYork times and checking for THE FedEx truck. It was another sunny morning and we enjoyed this farniente! At noon, our parcel arrived: we had our heavy duty caddy - gifr from Karen and Lindsay - ready to receive the ca. 100 lbs parcel...Thank God, Annapolis is such a cruiser friendly town that we were able to find a dock large enough to open the huge parcel, and get the new dinghy ready...transfer the outborard engine and then, tear up the old Aquamarine dinghy! We cut up large PVC pieces just in case we need patches...and threw the rest away in nearby dumpsters. It felt good to jus tdig the knife in this Aquamarine piece of ...rubbish. The seams were falling apart, the inflatable keel was not watertight anymore and the water was seeping in madly. This dinghy had not been well assembled...one year after purchase, we had had to re-glue the back to the tubes...and it went downhill from then on...So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the newly acquired Zoom of Zodiac will be a better purchase!