Home Port - Shelburne VT

Here we are back at old mooring in Shelburne, thanks Craig from "Wild Sea" for snapping the photo.

Well folks I guess this it, we completed what we set out to do and it was definitely a most spectacular trip.  Our last few days before arriving here at our home port we spent several days in Westport, NY enjoying the special hospitality of Rose, Bernard and Brian from "The Bistro".  Had a short but fun visit with Mark and Connie Youngstrum on their (new to them) 37" Tartan along with choc. labs Phoebe and Sedge.  We spent one evening in Button Bay and one in Converse Bay before a last beautiful sail concluding our trip that began October 25, 2011.

Stan came up with a way of putting the miles we traveled into a different perspective: We traveled approx. 11,000 nautical miles which is the equivalent of traveling back and forth from the east/west coast of the US 6 times at about the speed of a riding mower.

The most asked question so far is what was the best place you visited and we have found it to difficult to answer as there were so many spectacular places.  The other best aspect was the people we met on the way and the long lasting relationships that developed.  All we can say is we hope we are in a position to do this again in the future.  In the mean time we are both busy trying to re-acclimating ourselves to a world we had taken a break from.  Not the least of which is scouting around for employment, I am actually looking forward to jumping back into the workforce. 

Stan and I will remain living aboard "Dream Walker" until Sept. 1st when our tenants Richard, Kay and Murray (fearsome guard dog) move out of our house and into their sailboat to do just as we have done.  We wish the best of times on their trip on board "Atalanta".

Special thanks to everyone who helped make this trip of a lifetime come true for us from the time we purchased "Dream Walker" until now and beyond.  Stay tuned for our next adventure, be patient as it may be few years.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or inquiries at elizabethwalker_56@hotmail.com

Take care all.
Elizabeth

Pictures of our mooring area in Shelburne Bay

Mast Up at Chipman Point

Sunset ust north of Chipman Point

Saturday afternoon the 27th we were getting ready to go through the last lock in Whitehall, I was down below Stan was off taking a shower and I heard a voice call, "hey Dream Walker anyone there".  Chan Weller came for a visit after motoring his powerboat 3 hours  to welcome us home, he was not more than 15 minutes and said gotta get back as he had a 3 hour return trip, thanks Chan you are such a "wild and crazy guy"  :-)   Ten minutes later we were headed north ourselves, we ended up anchoring in a nice little bay about a mile or so south of Chipman Point.  We stayed put on Sunday disappointed we did not have our fishing licenses, lots of fishing going on around us but did not observe any lunkers being taken.  Busy doing some last minute chores in anticipation for putting the mast up.

Monday morning we motored over early to receive our instructions on their method for putting our mast up called "stepping the mast".  Chip and Bill did a fantastic and professional job stepping our mast, all went well.  Stan and I took over the process of getting all the stays secured before we moved back to the dock to finish up with wiring and tuning the stays.  The folks at the marina were kind enough to let us use their loaner car so we could go to Orwell and get our fishing licenses and a few other supplies.  Late afternoon we moved off the dock and anchored just north of the marina. Tuesday morning we got busy putting the sails up and reorganizing the boat from the past days of chaos.  By mid-day we motored north due to lack of wind to just south of the Champlain Bridge on the VT side.  Stan started drowning worms as soon as the anchor was set.  This used to be a great spot for catching bass but Stan could only catch alewife of which were plentiful and only 1 perch.  Not sure whats going on but the alewife must have taken over since we left but they are supposed to be good eating so Stan cleaned close to a dozen.

Fort Ticonderoga

Dream Walker sailing the VT state flag

 Wed. we moved over to the NY side yet still south of the bridge. Cal, Nancy, dogs Lilly and Raven came to meet us their boat Inidawind 2.  The group of us took a tour of the Chimney Point museum, Cal's aunt and uncle were featured in the museum. We also had our dear friends Stan and Cyndee Button pay us a visit which made of a fun evening catching up, it was really great to see them again.

The Buttons and the Walkers

Nancy, Cal, Stan and Cyndee enjoying one of Stanley's tales of our trip.

Today is supposed to bring us high winds and rain from the south so we decided to stay anchored here for another day.  Before the rain came in we climbed the monument built by the French commemorating Samuel de Champlain with Cal and Nancy (Lilly and Raven in tow) also toured the visitor center on the NY side and got some photos from the bridge.  It was perfect timing as the rain did not start until we returned to the boat.  There is a special event this evening at Chimney Point Museum and we are hoping to go if it doesn't rain to hard, only time will tell. 

View of Dream Walker from the monument

View of Raven and Lilly from the monument

The monument

Dream Walker and Inidawind2

View from the bridge

The tentative plan is to go north to Westport, NY tomorrow weather permitting so as always stay tuned.  When we get to our homeport at the Shelburne municipal moorings we will put the blog to rest until such a time as we start our next adventure.
Take care
Elizabeth

Transiting the Champlain Canal System

Destroyer on display in Albany

Big boat traffic passing us while moored in Castleton, just south of Albany

Replica of something we passed on the way to Castleton

We made it to the Castleton Boat Club, spent a few days doing some projects before dropping the mast and several loads of laundry.  Dropped the mast early morning on Tuesday the 23rd with help from Ken Bushee and faithful Brittany Spaniel "Skipper". Ken also brought us 2 of the 3 stands we needed and Stan made the 3rd from pieces found at the yard.  We secured mast to boat and headed out mid-day for the Federal Lock giving us a lift of about 14 feet, from there we went to the Waterford municipal dock.  The main floating dock was full with only one spot left for "Dream Walker".  This is a free dock with showers and water available, the last time we were here 2 years ago this Nov. it snowed and everything was closed up because of hurricane Irene.   The volunteer staff at the welcome center are great and most helpful with giving you the lay of the land. We enjoyed a nice walk around town, met several cruisers headed south on their adventures.

Leaving the federal lock in Troy

We left mid-morning on Wed. to start up the Champlain Canal and transited through the 1st 2 locks with a Canadian boat we met at Castleton (total lift of about 33').  We stopped just before lock 3 at Mechanicville another free municipal lock with water, power and pump-out.  My sister Michelle drove down to visit us for dinner on board. Very pleasant evening and watched the fireman practice pumping water through to their ladder truck, fortunately they were downwind.

Stan working the line as we get lifted in a lock, this is a 2 person job Stan on the stern and I'm at the bow.

Stan and Michelle relaxing on the stern, the chairs we had left at Castleton 2 years ago when we realized they did not fit with the split backstays when the mast is up.

Mechanicville Fire Dept. practice

Locks open at 8:00 am so we were knocking at lock 3 door at 8:01 on Thurs. morning and made our way through lock 9 at about 5:30pm. Had several delays today due to a dredging project between locks 5 and 8, lots of barge and work boat traffic.

The Hudson River Dredging Project is a massive environmental cleanup effort to remove polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Hudson River deposited by a former General Electric (GE) plant located upstream. This superfund project is intended to remove years of built-up PCB-laden sediment. GE is handling the cleanup under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversight and the effort is expected to last through 2016. This is the reason you do not eat fish from the Hudson.

Locks 3 through 8 are lift locks for us northbound traffic, total lift of about 92 feet  Entering lock 9 at the highest level in the lock system at about 140 feet above sea level.  We stopped and tied up on the north wall of lock 9 after being lowered 16 feet. Nice place to spend the night, very quiet at least when the bull frogs went to sleep that is.  It has been much cooler and Stan has been putting on several layers of clothing and when I mentioned his nose being red from sun today he said it was "frostbite" I said you are just acclimating and he said no I am just traumatized :-)

Got under way early this morning and entered lock 11 (there is no lock 10) that dropped us 12 feet and made it to the free municipal wall at around 10:30am.  We spent most of the day having a detailed tour of Skene Manor that was built in the early 1870's during the hay-days of Whitehall, here is more info http://www.skenemanor.org/.  Then went and found a place to fill our propane tank before the end of the business day near the marina. This evening we enjoyed live music in the park a nice unexpected treat.

Skene Manor

View of Dream Walker on the wall in Whitehall

Our tour guide.

View from the bell tower at Skene Manor

Tourists view of lock 12, we will be going through tomorrow afternoon(Saturday).

Well to tomorrow we will officially be in Lake Champlain when we get lowered 15' down lock 12. The overall length of the Champlain canal is 60 miles.  From there we will probably find an anchorage for a night or 2 before getting Chipman Point Marina to have the mast put back up.  Then we will be making our way north visiting some of our old favorite spots and this will be the first time "Dream Walker" will be sailed in the lake since the only time she had been in these waters her mast was always down.
As always stay tuned and take care
Elizabeth

Castleton Boat Club

Leaving NYC and George Washington Bridge behind.

Palisades along the NJ side, a bit of a landslide slide.

We left 79th St. Boat Basin as planned mid-day with a favorable current, nice day but still very hot. We dropped anchor in Haverstraw Bay and enjoyed an evening watching the Wed. night sailboat races and a beautiful sunset.

Sunset in Haverstraw Bay

 Thusday morning anchor was hauled about 5:15 am Stan wanted to take advantage of a favorable current.  Wind was on the nose and it was a day of motoring and the heat wave continues. We have seen several bald eagles during our transit along the Hudson but none close enough to photograph

Pollepel Island also known as Bannerman's Island has remnants of an old Scottish castle (hard to make out but is on the left side of the island).

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse

Esopus Lighthouse at entrance of Esopus Creek.

We motored up Esopus Creek in search of an anchorage there by the town of Saugerties but no room so we came back out and anchored in the shallower water in the middle of the river.  Next morning we left and was able to motor sail for awhile until the wind died, we stopped at the municipal dock in Athens for a while and decide to continue north to Castleton Boat Club and pick-up one of their $5/per night moorings.  So now we are getting prepared for dropping the mast, Stan made one of the supports today and hopefully Ken Bushee will be by on Tuesday to assist with dropping the mast.

Well my camera finally decided to give up the ghost so I will need to rely on Stan's fancy camera. Not as quick and easy but will provide for better pictures.  The plan is to begin heading up to Troy to the federal lock and then on to lock #1 of the Champlain Canal, it will take 2-3 days to get through lock 12 to Lake Champlain. 
Stay tuned.
Elizabeth

The Big Apple

Passing the Statue of Liberty

Working our way up the Hudson looking at Manhattan

View of the Intrepid from the Hudson

Sunday morning we pulled anchor and motor sailed north to West 79th St. Boat Basin, lots of boat traffic everywhere.  We arrived to late in the afternoon to do much other than walk around Broadway checking out a couple of grocery stores and doing a little people watching.  That evening we were treated to a spectacular fireworks show, do not know the occasion for it but we had no complaints.

The following are photos of sculptures done by art students placed in the park along the Hudson:

 

 

Monday we trekked 1.5 miles down to the Intrepid Sea, Space and Air Museum which we enjoyed very much except for the heat on the flight deck, I thought the soles of my shoes were melting.   They had on display the 1st space shuttle the "Enterprize" and walked through an old growler submarine used in the early 60's.  It was all very cool if you like that sort of thing and enjoy military history. 

Retired growler submarine

Today we walked around some more, did a big provisioning stop and some chores on board.  The plan I believe is to leave mid-day tomorrow when the tide is in our favor.  Tide runs pretty strong here (2-3 kts) so it pays to go when the flow is in your favor.  Not sure of what our next destination is but we will be plugging along north on the Hudson until we get to Castleton Boat Club where we plan on taking down our mast.

That's all for now, below are a few photos of the boat basin.
Take care
Elizabeth

W. 79th St. Boat Basin

Boat Basin and Cafe above it.

Mooring field to the north of the Boat Basin where Dream Walker is.

Sandy Hook, NJ

Canal Museum at Chesapeake City on the C&D

On Monday the 8th we left the Sassafras for a short motor to the Bohemia River with the intention of heading out the C&D canal on Tues.  We ended up getting stuck in the mud on the Bohemia with big thunderstorms passing by and Dream Walker not budging, the charts were in error can you imagine that?! Sometimes I think charts and weather have something in common.  This was ok no harm done, when the tide came up enough around 8:00pm we moved to deeper water.

Chesapeake City on the C&D canal, this made for an excellent stop when we were heading south.

Got a good start on the day and had an uneventful trip through the C&D canal stopping enroute for fuel, water and pump-out.  I was surprised at the lack of traffic in the canal which is a good thing as the wakes can be very uncomfortable through the canal. Just south of the C&D in the Delaware is Reedy Island where we anchored for the night.  The current can be rather strong through here and we felt like we were anchored well for the night.

View of Salem Nuclear Power beyond Reedy Island where we anchored.

 We planned to leave early on  Wed. morning with a 4:00am alarm set.  Well at 3:00 am we woke to sounds not welcome to us. The tide changed and the current brought Dream Walker with it and the anchor rode was caught on the keel. Dream Walker was now sideways to a strong current and the anchor was dragging.  We were not successful in getting the anchor rode un wrapped and deployed a second anchor which slowed us down some and gave us some slack on the wrapped anchor line.  We were still dragging and headed for a large navigational light with 3 large steel piles for its support base, fortunately we just barely missed it and Dream Walker slowed its drag as we caught up in an eddy near Reedy Island just before we would have grounded. This allowed us to get the wrapped anchor line free and then we began pulling in the anchors each slowly.  This whole episode took almost 3 hours before we got anchors on board and underway and Stan used the "JESUS" more times than I could count.  After close to 2 years out this was the scariest situation we encountered, luckily it was not life threatening and there were no other boats in the anchorage that could have been in our path but just the same it was not a pleasant way to wake up.

After this incident once the anchors were up we put up the sails and had a great sail on a single tack down the Delaware to Cape May.  We anchored in front of the coast guard station a little on the tired side but relieved that we had a good day.

Entering Cape May Canal from the Delaware

Headed towards coast guard station at Cape May where we anchored

Pulled anchor around 8:00 am then next morning (had a good nights rest)  and left Cape May for our last overnighter headed for Sandy Hook, NJ.  It turned out the predicted winds were not available this day or evening and we ended up motoring all the way just about 24 hours.  Other than our chartplotter deciding to act up we had a good trip, saw a huge pod of dolphin and caught no fish very disappointing.  There was a lot of big boat traffic, commercial fishing vessels and a few thunderstorms.  We went directly to Atlantic Heights Marina to fuel up and then moved over to a nice little anchorage Horseshoe Cove in Sandy Hook.  Decided to spend 2 days here doing some needed boat chores and resting up some before we head to the West 79th St. Boat Basin plan to spend 2 nights there to do a little touring in the big city.   We plan to go to the Air and Space Museum and possibly the Museum of Natural History as well.

View from our anchorage at Horseshoe Cove

Another view from our anchorage

So stay tuned as always and take care.
Elizabeth