Jubilee on the Triangle Loop

[AnsleyS]

Now that we are fully transitioned from sail to power, I have planned our next trip. We will call it the Triangle Loop but you may have a difficult time seeing a triangle in our proposed route.


The trip will start in Maine in late May and will be about two thousand miles at about 6 knots or 7 MPH which is a fine speed for a jogger. The pace will be leisurely with a daily run time of about six hours and an estimate of the trip travel time to be fifty days. Side trips will be possible along the way including the Thousand Island area of the St Lawrence river and Lake Champlain. The route will be flexible along a predetermined path. We will start in Rockland and go down the New England coast to Long Island New York, thru the East River and around the tip of Manhattan. From there we will go up the Hudson past Albany to Waterford where we start the Erie Canal. We will continue west on the canal thru Oneida Lake and then turn north on the Oswego River and across the eastern end of Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence. We will need to check into Canada and get to Kingston Ontario to enter the Rideau Canal to Ottawa. We will then head down the Ottawa River to The St. Lawrence near Montreal and continue to the Richelieu River that will take us to Lake Champlain. We will cover the whole length of the lake and head south on the Champlain Canal back to the Hudson River near Glen Falls N.Y. From there we will head back to Maine down the Hudson, around New York and up New England. This whole route includes ninety-four locks and about three hundred hours under way.

I would like to finish this trip by the end of September which is about 120 days from the end of May. Fifty, approximately 6 hour days underway will complete the trip but with weather delays, site seeing and side trips I expect that the whole summer season will be involved. Cruising every other day or cruising for a week and taking a week to sight see will complete the trip with an additional 20 days as extras for unforeseen circumstances.

The trip is planned with our time underway, on each day that we travel, of about six hours which gives us a range of about forty miles a day. The plan calls for being underway about half the days aboard. This down time can be used for exploring local areas, frequenting cultural attractions and bars or comradery with the crews nearby. We have two kayaks, two bikes and a super dinghy aboard.

I will make periodic updates as we progress along the trip.

 

[rslifkin]

Looks like a fun trip! If you've got time for a small detour west of Oswego, Fair Haven is a cute little town and with a couple of good anchorage options in the bay it sits in.

 

[AnsleyS]

Thanks. I have looked at Fair Haven and it will come down to the weather and a crew change deadline at Sackets Harbor.

 

[Jeff F]

Sounds like you're set up for a great cruise.

I've been hanging out in the Thousand Islands and Bay of Quinte area the past couple of weeks. This is still one of my favourite areas on the route, but it's all great. A Parks Canada pass gives free docking along pretty much the entire Canadian part of your trip.

Keep us in the loop

ETA: a good cart is handy as well for getting groceries a walk away. Lots of good folding ones are available. Canadian stores are all bring your own bag these days.

 

[AnsleyS]

I am getting ready to start from Maine and a crew member has been timed out by a delay in our launch. I will be doing the cruise down the New England shore to New York City by my self unless there is any one who would like to do a relaxing one way cruise to NYC.

 

[Bacchus]

Ansley
Your route is right on target and one I recommend often.
My Bacchus website has a cruising notes section with some info, highlights, stops including a section on NY canals that might be helpful.

 

[twistedtree]

What's the draft on your Krogen 42? The Rideau is pretty skinny with 5' controlling depth. It was 10+ years ago, but I got scolded at one spot because I told them I was 4' draft, and was apparently supposed to call ahead if over 4'. I was actually 3' 10", but rounded up to 4'.

 

[Jeff F]

Just passed you guys in Oswego. Hope the cruise is going well.

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using Trawler Forum mobile app

 

[rslifkin]

Just passed you guys in Oswego. Hope the cruise is going well.

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using Trawler Forum mobile app

What direction are you heading from Oswego? Up towards the Thousand Islands or west?

 

[Jeff F]

What direction are you heading from Oswego? Up towards the Thousand Islands or west?

North to Prince Edward County then up the Trent-Severn. Was in the TI 6 weeks ago before doing the loop to Buffalo.

I should have checked the weather more carefully before heading out. Flat calm on the lake but some nasty thunderstorms possible. So far nothing on my radar.

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using Trawler Forum mobile app

 

[rslifkin]

North to Prince Edward County then up the Trent-Severn. Was in the TI 6 weeks ago before doing the loop to Buffalo.

I should have checked the weather more carefully before heading out. Flat calm on the lake but some nasty thunderstorms possible. So far nothing on my radar.

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using Trawler Forum mobile app

We made our trip on the lake early today to dodge the afternoon storms. We're in the tail end of one now (sitting in Pultneyville) that looks to be heading your way. Didn't bring too much wind, mostly rain. So keep an eye to the west just in case!

 

[Bacchus]

Here is a related thread with my recommendations
https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s36/triangle-loop-68648.html

 

[AnsleyS]

Jubilee’s launch was delayed by the boatyard for two weeks. I had allowed for a one-week delay in my schedule but my brother could not reschedule so he went back to Idaho and Dan and Steve joined Jubilee for the first section of the trip.


The passage from Rockland, Maine to New York City was planned as an eleven-day leisurely cruise down the New England coast. When we finally got aboard and ready, we went down Mussel Ridge Channel and out the Allen and Benner Islands for our first night. The weather looked absolutely perfect for a straight run to the Cape Code Canal. The run that I had allotted six days took us just twenty-two hours. The sea was flat and there was almost no wind. Our course across the Gulf of Maine could not have been straighter. We motored into Onset, Massachusetts at two thirty in the morning and were in bed by three.


After a couple of Uber rides to West Marine for a new voltage regulator, an old college friend, Savery, picked us up and took us for a nice visit and lunch at his place on a lake in Carver.



The next day we had a short run to Cuttyhunk Island where we had a nice walk to the top of the island and where the Cuttyhunk Island Shellfish Company has a boat that delivers shellfish to our boat just about cocktail time. Two dozen oysters and bluefish pate made a short appearance on the boat.


The next few days saw beautiful passages to Block Island, Rhode Island, Orient Bay on the northeastern end of Long Island, New York and into Setauket, NY. We went into a small creek in Setauket and anchored among the moored boats in a slightly too shallow spot. We touched down on the mud bottom at very low tide. No problem but we do try not to touch the land. Later that afternoon as we relaxed on the foredeck, a woman came by in a kayak and thanked us for anchoring such a fine looking boat right in front of her house. Joanne is the fifth generation of her family to live in Setauket and she brought us a quart of fresh strawberries and a toasted almond sponge cake as a thank you for the improved view from her front porch.


The next day we went down to Oyster Bay and the forecast had a frontal passage with thunderstorms for the afternoon so we went through the partially functioning draw bridge at Bayville and anchored in the protected Bayville Harbor. There we found the Clam Bar was open so we went in for lunch and got a fillet of bluefish for our dinner.


Next was Port Washington where we picked up a city mooring and watched the parade of boats pass us during the blessing of the fleet. Underway the next afternoon to ride the tide down the East River through New York City and past Ryker’s Island prison, LaGuardia airport, the United Nations complex, the tip of Manhattan Island and out to the Statue of Liberty. We reached twelve and a half knots going through Hell’s Gate.

We ended up at the Liberty Landings Marina in Jersey City, New Jersey for a crew change directly across from the tip of Manhattan. Dan and Steve hopped a bus back to Maine and I expect our next crew tomorrow.

 

[twistedtree]

Love it. Please keep the story rolling.

 

[AnsleyS]

Friends from Denver joined Jubilee in New York for the trip up the Hudson, through the Erie Canal to the Oswego River canal and across the tip of Lake Ontario to Clayton, NY. We left the morning after they arrived and motored up the west shore of Manhattan around a number of anchored ships, tugs and barges. We were overwhelmed by the towering buildings and the density of humanity which was all going much faster than our seven and a half miles per hour.

The scenery changed from Manhattan to more rural settings including the palisades on the east shore of New Jersey and lower New York state and into the hills of the lower Catskill mountains. We stopped for our first night and anchored (twice, the first was a bit too shallow) in a bend of the river at West Point. We were across for the U.S. Military Academy and were twice passed over by to large twin rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

The following day we continued by Newburg, Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park and turned into the Rondout Creek where we had reservations for a slip for the night at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. We visited the museum and were impressed by the quality and depth of the exhibits. We had dinner at a local restaurant and had a peaceful night at the dock in downtown Kingston, New York.

We next continued up the river with the Catskills over our left shoulder, passed through the commercial downtown of Albany and up to our first lock in Troy. We had no problems with the fourteen-foot lift of the Federal Dam lock and we proceeded up to Waterford where the Erie canal branches off of the Hudson. Starting west on the Erie Canal involves five locks in quick succession lifting a total of one hundred sixty-nine feet to the Mohawk River. One more lock along the way got us to Schenectady with the Village of Scotia across the river. We found a small municipal marina at Scotia that is run by their parks department and is next to a large park that had three athletic events occurring when we got there. A little league baseball game, a volleyball tournament and an ultimate Frisbee game were all going at the same time. A short walk to Jumpin’ Jack’s for ice cream and back to the boat for a delivered pizza and an orchestra concert at the nearby amphitheater. I was so impressed with this village’s park facility that I sent a note to the village Trustees thanking them from the cruising community.

We continued along the canal through locks number 8 through 14 where we stopped for the night alongside of the wall above the lock. We were by ourselves except for Interstate 90 across the valley and the freight train tracks about fifty yards from our side. The next day we went through locks 14 to 20 and stayed next to a New York Canal Authority maintenance yard. We walked through the yard after the day’s work stopped and we tried to guess the use of some of the large steel mechanical devices that we found.

We arrived at Sylvan Beach which is on the east shore of Oneida Lake by lunch the next day and planned for a rest stop there. During the afternoon and the next day, we went out to meals, did laundry, walked around town and visited the park for a car show. Proceeding across the lake and through the rest of the canal to the Oswego river we went through seven more locks and stopped along a wall under a bridge in downtown Oswego. We joked about being the trolls under the bridge but we were protected from the rain and the road noise seemed to be directed outward from the surface so we were comfortable. There is a park next to the canal and we were very near to a picnic area and a very active skateboard and bike park.

The next day we found a great tea room for breakfast, did some grocery shopping and toured town. We left early the following morning as soon as the last lock opened. We had a nice day to cross the eastern tip of Lake Ontario and we spent a quiet night at anchor in White’s Bay surround by summer houses and folks out on the water for the fourth of July weekend. Jubilee was quite an attraction to a lot of folks who came by in boats and jet skis. The next day we went to nearby Sacket’s Harbor where we had a reservation for a slip. Janet flew into Watertown and got a ride to the boat. It was great to have the Admiral aboard.

We headed out the next morning for the Saint Lawrence river and anchored in a cove on the south side of Carleton Island where a local summer resident swam out to the boat to talk and admire Jubilee. Warm weather with swims for all before we headed down the river for Clayton. We spent a couple of nights at the Clayton Municipal Marina walked around town, had a few meals out and visited the antique motorboat museum. Our friends left for the flight back to Denver after a great trip that included twenty-eight locks and we got ready for the next section of the trip.

 

[AnsleyS]

After our friends had left from Clayton to fly back to Denver, Janet and I took a short cruise through the Thousand Islands area of the Saint Laurence River with an overnight at Waterson Point State Park. A short walk through the park and a swim off the pier before dinner and bed. Underway the next morning for a beautiful cruise up stream through the island on the Canadian side headed for Kingston where we got a slip for the night and cleared into Canada. We happened upon a local festival of buskers and we joined the crowds to watch a number of street performers do their varied acts.

We lowered our mast to start up the Rideau river and canal toward Ottawa which starts as a narrow shallow canal and later goes through a series of beautiful lakes before continuing to Ottawa in another canal. The canal was opened in 1832 and contains 46 locks which are tended by the very efficient and friendly folks of Parks Canada. Each lock has an older experienced lock keeper and a number of high school or college aged young people who provide the muscle power for the lock. While the locks in the States are hydraulically operated, many of the locks run by Parks Canada are human muscle powered. The crews also maintain the beautiful grounds which surround each lock.

The next few days were a collection of slow moving through lakes and locks. A quote from Janet’s entry to our logbook: “The lockmaster suggested Morton Cove for and anchorage. Making it through the skinny entrance we anchored in the south part of the bay at about 1430. Absolutely gorgeous! Warm, sunny, nice wind. Water temp 79.5. We ended up going for a dip.”

As one goes along on a trip like this, one can only go as fast as the locks allow and we tended to go at about the same speed as certain other boats. Consequently, we saw and talked to folks who were moving along with us. There is a lot of camaraderie locking together, stopping locations are suggested and everyone lends a helping hand.

Folks had told us that we should stop at Westport so after some very narrow and shallow passages we entered Upper Richardson Lake and headed (do you want to guess?) west for Westport. We tied up at the Westport Municipal Marina in a spot which was right in front of the office and right next to the foot bridge to town. We became the center of attention for all who came down to the marina. We spent two days in Westport sampling the restaurants and the bake shop. Projects on the boat, laundry and a haircut were included with walks around a nice little town which seems to swell and shrink in population depending on the summer lake resident population.

We left Westport and continued through to Big Rideau Lake, stopping at Colonel By Island for a walk in the park and lunch. Colonel By was the British soldier who was tasked to build the locks and waterway in the early eighteen hundreds to enable the transport of commerce and military goods away from those pesky militant Americans who they had fought against in 1812.

We continued through lakes and locks with mostly good weather. Another quote from Janet’s entry into the logbook about Burritts Rapids: “Fairly remote, peaceful, with the Tip to Tip Trail at our door step. After lunch, we walked the trail which went right beside the narrow channel we navigated to arrive here. Nice 2.8 mile walk among cedars, white sweet clover, burdocks, Queen Anne’s lace. A quiet afternoon with more wandering, watching the lock action, small paint touch up, cigar, reading, visiting, a dip – quite enjoyable. The sun is out, the horses are trotting across the channel, birds are singing – nice.”

We continued through a narrow part of the canal toward Ottawa. We tied along a wall at the head of the step locks and right downtown in the city. We were next to the Parliament complex and the Department of Defense; close by the National Gallery and the entertaining Byward Market area. We took a day to walk around the city and go to the very excellent National Gallery. The next day we were ready at oh eight thirty for the locks but sixteen boats were coming up the locks so we had to wait. It took longer than expected because one of the boaters coming up through the locks did not seem to know what he was doing. His performance seemed to decrease in ability the more times that he tried.

The step locks are eight locks that are built together so that the boats go directly from one lock to the next. Usually all the locks are operated in sequence from the top to the bottom or the bottom to the top so when sixteen boats are coming up through eight locks, one just has to wait. About four hours later we started down and made it to the bottom of the locks where the wind took a cushion from the pilothouse into the river. We did not figure out that it was missing for quite a while even though we saw folks from a French speaking boat pointing and gesturing at us. We had finished the Rideau Canal waterway and it’s 49 locks and we started down the Ottawa River.

We stayed in a little stream off the river for the first night and then stopped at the municipal marina of Montebello and we walked through the resort there. The marina had figured out a good way to keep the seagulls and the geese off of their floats. The had steel two dimensional black wolves with moving fluffy tails attached to the floats. The birds would not come near. We continued down the Ottawa for a few calm and beautiful days including just two locks; one of sixty-five feet and the next of one foot! That brought us to the Saint Laurence river. The St. Lawrence is the shipping highway to the Midwest and the commercial traffic is scheduled and has priority over pleasure boats. We needed to register, pay the fees and schedule a passage. Pleasure boat are sent through the canal and locks two time a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Besides these times the large ships pass by each other and transverse the locks on a regulated schedule.

We anchored near the first lock and got reservations for the next morning passage and then we sat and watched the steady stream of ships go by our stern. At one point we had two seven hundred foot vessels pass by each other with in two hundred feet of our stern. Wow.

We went by Montreal and spent a night in the islands in the middle of a National park before we came to the confluence of the Richelieu River where we turned south headed for Lake Champlain. We spent a few days on the Richelieu, which was swollen by the heavy rains in Vermont, and had some very nice stops at locks run by our friends from Parks Canada. We crossed Lake Chambly on a hot weekend day with hundreds of boats out having fun and numerous people watched us go up the step locks before we found a rural Parks Canada wall where we stayed for a couple of days. We continued up the fast flowing Richelieu though more locks to the border crossing and Lake Champlain. We got a slip at a marina on Malletts Bay in Colchester Vermont where we were joined by Steve and Sheila who brought a lobster dinner for their first night on the boat. Janet left for home the next day and the trip continued.

 

[AnsleyS]

The next day was cloudy and windy with thunderstorms predicted in the afternoon and evening. We cruised close by downtown Burlington just to see it and went south along the east shore of Lake Champlain. We quit early and anchored behind the hook of the shore at Cedar Beach to be protected from the wind. By early afternoon a dozen boats had followed us in and were anchored behind us.

We got underway early the next morning and motored down the lake with the early morning sun shining on the Adirondack mountains to the west. We went under the Champlain Bridge at Crown Point and past Fort Ticonderoga before we quit for the day and dropped the hook in a small bay in the narrow southern portion of the lake. The next day we started into the narrow river and canal to the Hudson that includes twelve locks which we did with alacrity except for a couple that we did in the pouring rain. I was in the pilothouse and quite comfortable, Steve was in the stern, under cover of the boat deck and poor Sheila was soaked on the foredeck. They did a total of thirteen locks including the federal lock at Troy and they left the boat at the Albany Yacht Club for an Uber and busses home.

I continued down the Hudson by myself and stayed in the same anchorages that I had picked on the way up the river. I had quiet time for a couple of days anchored in Schodack Creek and at the museum in Kingston, one day to West Point and then I made a dash for The City. I motored for a long day against the current with the population growing as I went south past such attractions as Sing Sing Correctional Facility at Ossining and into the near chaos of New York Harbor. I got into a reserved slip at the Liberty Landing Marina to wait for my crew for the next leg. Going home.

 

[AnsleyS]

Brad joined Jubilee in New York for the run to Maine. We started with the tide for the run up the East River, through Hell’s Gate and into Long Island Sound. Cruising through the City is always interesting with people, movement and activity going on all around you. Passing Rikers Island, LaGuardia airport and the merchant mariners schools at Throgs Neck and Kings Point, one always has something to observe. It was an overcast day with occasional showers and we continued to Oyster Bay where we anchored by four o’clock. The next day we cruised to Port Jefferson on calm seas and light wind. A cruisers perfect day. We anchored behind the sandbar early in the day and about four in the afternoon we up anchored and took a harbor tour and a trip into the strawberry shortcake stream. Then we went back and anchored in the same spot for the night.

We were up early for the next day’s cruise of six hours to Orient Bay with an underway sighting of a large sea turtle. It had a five-foot-long shell and may have been a Hawksbill Turtle. We anchored behind the bar in Orient Bay in the afternoon and had numerous boats anchored around. Music and parties all around but by dinner all except four were gone. That night we had a “severe thunderstorm” happen right around us. We closed the boat up tight and watched the noisy light show and monitored the anchor position for a couple of hours and we were back in bed by 0500.

We had a smooth cruise to Block Island but had to anchor in tight between boats in a very crowded harbor. The next day we went on to Cuttyhunk Island where we went ashore for an extended excursion that included the observation deck on the top of the island, local shopping, ice cream and take out for dinner. We made it back to the boat before the seafood boat came around.

Buzzards Bay was a bit rough the next day but we were only going to Onset so we went early and got a mooring for two nights from the harbormaster. A lay day! We went out for a fabulous breakfast at a local diner. Just imagine eggs benedict with hash instead of Canadian bacon and you are almost to heaven. We did the necessary grocery shopping and went for a visit and lunch with Savery at his place.

We were underway early the next morning to ride the tide through the Cape Cod Canal. Our speed over the ground topped at 11.5 knots and we popped out the other side for a straight shot to Provincetown where we were planning to take a bike ride. We anchored and talked to the harbormaster who told us that it was Carnival week and there was a big parade planned for four o’clock this afternoon. Brad and I fit right in with the other guys parading around Main street, as we, in our bike shorts and helmets and they in thousands of different colorful and outlandish costumes. We had a great ride in the dunes of the National Seashore and made it back to the boat before the parade shut the town down.

We anchored for the night behind the hook of Cape Cod. There were four boats and dozens of seals resting nearby. They were standing in the water with just their heads out. We got up for an early start on a cloudy and windy day with thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. We had a full day’s run of forty-five miles with the wind on our stern. It was blowing out of the south east and we would be protected from the waves until we got past the end of the point. It was a straight course to Gloucester but when we were a couple of hours away, a series of large thunderstorms went through. The seas were four to six feet on our stern but grew to eight to ten during the storm passage. We got thrown sidewise by a wave and all of a sudden we had no steering. The wheel moved fine but the rudder position indicator showed that the rudder was flapping back and forth to its stops with no control. We were rolling quite severely and there was water streaming across the stern deck. The steering gear was under that deck in the lazerette. Upon opening the deck, the problem was evident. The end fitting on the hydraulic ram shaft had fractured so that it was not attached to the rudder. We were still rolling heavily with furniture flying across the salon. Brad was securing things while I got out the emergency tiller.

When we had bought Jubilee and I was looking at every space, I found the emergency tiller in a mass of rust so I took it home, cleaned it, painted it, and put it aboard carefully where it would be easily accessible. I thought that all boaters have an emergency tiller but we never use them. Now we would.

We both put on our communication headsets and Brad went into the pilothouse and I went to the stern to control the tiller. I was facing aft holding the tiller and keeping the stern into the waves. Brad was watching for lobster trap buoys and keeping us close to the route to Gloucester harbor. For about two hours we alternated positions as I arranged for a tow, a mooring and kept the Coast Guard informed. We rounded the breakwater and dropped the hook. A tow vessel was on its way to take us to a mooring in Gloucester harbor and I was on the phone trying to find this very specific part. I figured that we may be delayed here for up to a week waiting for shipping from some far off vendor.

I had the literature for the hydraulic ram so I had a part number and found one at a marine parts place in Gloucester. As soon as the tow boat got us on the mooring we launched the dinghy and ran into town for the part. We had it installed and we were ready to go by four thirty in the afternoon. My fear of a week delay was over in just hours.

The next morning, we waited for the tide to change for the run up the Annisquam Canal and out along the coast to York Harbor for the night. Then we had a very calm day for the run up to Portland where we made it in to the harbor in time to witness the lobster boat and tug boat races. The lobster boats are fast and loud but four big tugs racing along at seven knots is something to behold. Watch out for the wake waves.

[FONT=&quot]A few more nights at Harpswell Harbor, Ebenecook Harbor, the Damariscotta River and we were heading into Rockland Harbor to finish the Trip. Jubilee and I had cruised twenty-four hundred statute miles and transited ninety-three locks; only one of those that we did twice. We had five different crews and I had a great time with them all. My thanks for their help and entertainment.[/FONT]