(Return to The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique)
My sister, Carol, joined us in early May. She took Amtrak from Elyria, Ohio to Albany, New York. We had an easy walk from the Albany train station to the Albany Yacht Club where Haven waited for us. One other advantage of the Albany Yacht Club is that Aldi's grocery store, our favorite, was only two blocks away. We had our grocery cart filled to the top with top quality food at bargain prices.
From the Albany Yacht Club our next stop was at the town of Waterford at the entrance to the Erie Canal. Waterford had a number of marked biking/hiking trails. One trail that we hiked led us along side the Erie Canal of a hundred years ago. We saw the remains of old locks and canal walls. Water just tricked through the old canal. Spring flowers were blooming and the trees showed tender baby leaves. We thought what beauty, until we came to a huge green grass hill. The hill had evenly spaced white plastic stacks sticking up out of the ground. We had taken a scenic walk to a toxic waste dump. I found that the old canal was often used as a dump. After all, for people with unwanted stuff, it was a big unused hole. Some of the unmentioned scenes along the Erie Canal are the frequent stacks from grass covered waste dumps and abandoned smokestack factories. With the factories gone, the air and water seem clean. But the small towns are nearly empty with many of the stores, like the factories, abandoned.
The next day Carol and I had a nice bike ride and visited the newly upgraded Erie Canal. We rode by four of the locks on the ride and got great hill climbing exercise with the bikes.
After a few days of enjoying Waterford, New York we began our cruise through the Erie Canal. The weather was cooler and rainier than normal for most of our trip.
On May 15th we were in Baldwinsville, New York, about half way through our trip.
Carol's comments:
We left Baldwinsville this morning around 7:00 AM and a tug boat wanted to pass us so Pete slowed down and let him go by. Pete deceived to get something to eat for breakfast so I was following the tug boat. In this portion of the Erie Canal we were on the Seneca River. The river curved one way and then the other. There were many channel markers to guide us toward the deeper parts of the river. The tug boat started to go off to the right and I thought it was going to work along the shoreline. Next thing I saw it start to lean over and I said to Pete, "it looks like the tug boat is going to tip over." We were looking at a very strange site; the tug boat was tipped way over and now nearly laying on its side. Pete said that they are in trouble. The tug boat had run aground. We watched as the tug got itself back upright but it could not power itself out of the shallow water. The tug had to call another tug for help. I motored along being extra careful to make sure I stayed in the channel.
Susan continues:
Twice during our trip along the Erie Canal, Carol and I rode the bike trail while Pete motored along beside us aboard Haven. The first day we did an easy eight miles and the second day we rode a more strenuous 18 miles. We took pictures of Pete and Haven while he took pictures of us. Because we rode beside the Erie Canal, our ride was level. We awed at cliff walls and the Adirondack Mountains. We often stopped at historic markers along the ride. We rode through small towns and beside apple orchards on rolling hills.
We especially enjoyed Media, New York, where the Erie Canal travels though an aqueduct that carried Haven over a road. Another aqueduct a few miles later on then later carried Haven over the Oak Orchard Creek and a dramatic waterfall.
We could easily keep up with Pete as long as we did not stop for long. A few times we had to ride hard and fast to try to catch up with him.
I cannot praise the Erie Canal enough. It is a wonderful cruising destination. The air is clean, the land looks pure with no trash in site, and the water is clear and cool. There are mountains, waterfalls, lakes, forests, marshes, cities, and small towns. Because of the numerous toxic waste dumps, we did not catch any fish or go swimming. Some areas are safe for swimming, but I would recommend checking with locals before heading into the water. One caution, our favorite portion of the canal, the western part, can only handle boats under 15 ½ feet in height because of low bridges.
By the end of May we were across Lake Erie and back in Vermilion, Ohio.
I think Eriesistible is a great name for a Lake Erie boat. Eriesistible is a Tartan 10 racing boat skippered by Nan Gregory. On Monday mornings I raced on either Eriesistible or a J-24 named Wind Dancer, depending on who needed crew more. Susan Winiasz skippered Wind Dancer. The Wet Hens are a group of lady sailboat racers. The skippers and all their crew are active athletic women.
On Wednesdays I raced on Wind Dancer or a Tartan 10 named Pearl, skippered by Mark Van Fassen. There were a few others like me who switched from boat to boat depending on who needed crew. The Wednesday evening races were co-ed and nearly always included a spectacular sunset. Pete often motored Haven out into the lake on Wednesdays to observe the races. Twice he took Rick Tobias, a professional photographer along. The photographer snapped some remarkable photos which will be turned into postcards and posters. His work is available for sale at Huggy's in Vermilion.
This summer Lake Erie has been irresistible. The sandy beaches have been soft and warm. The sunsets have been stunning. The breezes have been nearly perfect for sailing. The fresh water has been clean and comfortable for swimming. Maybe my idea of rough conditions has changed since crossing the Pacific, but rarely this summer has the lake been rough. We have had more than our usual share of tremendous thunderstorms with storm force winds gusting over 70 knots, but the storms are thrilling and pass quickly. I am just glad I have not been caught out in the lake in one of them.
Surviving the Storms
Pete and I began our long voyage south from Vermilion, Ohio aboard Haven in early August. But all was not well. We got divorced during the summer.
Our agreed upon split would take place in Baltimore in September.
We made the best of our cruise through Lake Erie, the Erie Canal, the Hudson River, the Atlantic Ocean, the New Jersey ICW, Delaware Bay, and the northern portion of Chesapeake Bay. We dawdled along and really enjoyed ourselves. Friends Jay and Sandy Wright and Irene and Lenny Baker visited with us aboard Haven. None of them suspected that we were divorced.
But eventually the sad day arrived in September when I packed my bags and rode off in the dinghy to find a new temporary home.
Life Aboard as Isabel Threatens
I had been cruising the Great Lakes, Atlantic, Caribbean and South Pacific for years with my husband aboard the ketch, La Boatique. I was not sure how I was going to deal with life without my husband and a new life ashore. I was not sure I even wanted a life ashore. Sailing friends from Ohio had invited me to join them for a relaxing fall cruise on the Chesapeake. I thought that the cruise would help me get over the emotional pain of divorce. Little did I know that I would soon have much more to worry about than my hurt feelings.
I had read over and over that one of the most dangerous places to be during a hurricane was aboard a boat. I had been able to avoid tropical storms and hurricanes during my cruising years aboard La Boatique.
Imagine my surprise when, a day after I joined Don and Dierdre (better known as D) Wogaman aboard their 41 foot Dickerson ketch, we discovered that a category 5 hurricane named Isabel was heading directly toward us. Here we were dealing with heavy rain from the tropical storm Henri. How could it be possible that we would have to deal with another storm so soon?
Don and D's boat, the Southern Cross, was comfortably moored in the area of Baltimore known as Fells Point. Don and D were on their way south from a summer cruise in Maine. For two days I checked the latest NOAA weather conditions on the Internet at the marina. The storm was not diminishing but the predicted course was altered a little to the west. Even so, Baltimore was no place to weather this storm. We needed to find a hurricane hole for the boat. Because the hurricane's predicted path would be west of us, we decided to head east toward the ocean.
Don and D offered to help their friend, Bill, prepare his sister ship to the Southern Cross, Plover, for the hurricane. So before we headed east, we headed just south of Annapolis to Lake Ogleton where Plover floated quietly above her mooring in a lake that was partially exposed to the open waters of Chesapeake Bay. We helped Bill remove his sails and set an anchor to supplement his mooring. The following morning we departed for the Choptank River and Cambridge, Maryland on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake.
We had many reasons for choosing the Choptank River area as our hurricane hole. For one, there would be far fewer boats than along the western side of the Chesapeake. There was a good chance that Don and D would be able to find a secluded hurricane hole to them selves. Also, Don and D had wintered in Cambridge and had friends ashore. They certainly felt more comfortable here than at an unknown place. Furthermore, Isabel's forecasted track had shifted west of the Chesapeake, so storm conditions should have been less severe the further east we could travel.
Soon after we arrived in Cambridge, Jim and Nancy Harvey offered their home as a place for us to weather the storm. Don and D decided that they would ride out the storm aboard their boat. But I decided to take up Jim and Nancy's offer and stay with them. Jim and Nancy had sailed home from their annual summer cruise in upstate New York. They did not know me at all, so I felt that their offer was very generous.
I helped Don and D strip the Southern Cross and then helped Jim and Nancy strip their S2 sloop, Mystery. The wind began to build from the northwest. The sky was bright blue, but far to the southeast already the hurricane was sucking our air into its ominous circle of death. The following day the wind continued to build from the northwest as the hurricane drew near.
The next day the hurricane was upon us. The rain pelted the house. From the safety of a window view I looked out at what seemed to be a severe thunderstorm with the intense wind and rain, but no thunder or lightning. The storm continued all day and all night. The trees and tall shrubs shed their small delicate branches. When the trees could take no more and the wind continued to build, whole sections of many trees gave way. Other trees held on to their limbs only to have the fierce winds pull them out by their roots. I pulled away from the window as debris flew by. The lights flickered but the power never went off. When I wasn't watching the weather out the window, I was watching the weather forecasters on TV.
That night we decided the check on the boats at the Cambridge Municipal Yacht Basin. We thought that the wind was down a little from earlier in the day. However, at the marina, the wind blowing through the rigging on the sailboats made a terrible screaming sound. When a strong gust would blow through, the screaming would dramatically increase in volume and pitch. It sounded as if the boats were crying out in pain. Salt spray filled the air as waves crashed to the top of the bulkhead protecting the boats. In the protected marina black water washed to the top of the docks. The first time Nancy and I attempted to walk out on one dock we hesitated as an intense wind gust nearly blew us into the black churning marina water. We kept our backs to the wind and often had to lean against it. Other boat owners were also at the marina trying to save their boats as the rocking boats gnawed away at the wooden docks. When I felt more comfortable with balancing my body against the wind I ventured out onto a dock to assist the boat owners. I pushed against the boats as others adjusted the mooring lines.
As the night wore on and I slept, the hurricane began a new phase. Isabel was pulling a huge surge of ocean water into the Chesapeake Bay. By dawn the wind had lightened and switched to the south. Jim, Nancy and I decided to head out to survey the damages. Their lawn was covered with leaves and tree branches. A huge tree limb was lying against the house. A shingle or two had blown off the roof. Nancy and I climbed into her van for a ride to the marina. We were soon nearly surrounded by flood water. We found a place to park and began walking toward the yachts. During our first attempt at getting near the boat, the only things moving down the street were kayaks. We decided to walk back to high ground and try a different street. The second street we tried got us closer to the boat, but we still had to enter the flood water to get even a glimpse of Mystery.
Now I had heard the warnings against walking in flood water, which could carry a person out to sea, but this water did not seem to me to be moving that fast. I thought I was safe. After all, I thought it was only ocean water mixed with a lot of mud.
When we were about knee deep in the water a lady called out from her flooded home. "Do you know you are walking through raw sewage?"
I looked down in the muddy water to see oily residue on the surface. Something slimy slithered across my leg. It was a white jellyfish brought up the Chesapeake Bay from the ocean by Isabel and it stung me as its tentacles slid on by.
That was enough flood water walking for me. Nancy and I agreed that visiting the boat would have to wait. It is a good thing that we left when we did because soon after we stepped on the dry pavement, the electricity at the docks shorted out into the flood waters.
Over a third of Dorchester County was under flood water from Isabel. Jim and Nancy's sump pump ran hard but their home stayed above the flood water. Their boat survived with not even a scratch.
Don and D weathered the storm far away from other boats in a protected creek.
Baltimore and Fells Point were very hard hit by the storm with boats sunk and businesses and homes ruined. On hind site we were glad we had decided to leave Baltimore harbor.
The flood waters slowly retreated leaving the Chesapeake loaded with debris including partially submerged docks and sunken boats. Aids to navigation had been damaged, missing, and moved making travel on the bay waters treacherous.
The sailboat, Plover, in Lake Ogleton broke free of her mooring ball. Plover would have been lost to the hurricane if we had not added the extra anchor during the hurricane preparations.
We were lucky that Isabel decreased from a level 5 hurricane to a level 2 hurricane by the time she made landfall. The southern portion of the Chesapeake dealt with level 1 hurricane force winds. These winds sent the flood waters north toward us. The storm force winds we felt on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake were not even at hurricane strength. Yet, even so, this was the worst storm to hit the Chesapeake in 70 years.
Beginning a new life
I survived Hurricane Isabel in September without Pete and then I did not write a web page update for months.
Why?
Was it that I was not having adventures? Wrong.
I cruised much of the month of October aboard Southern Cross with Don and D. Once the hurricane was over; Don, D and I had some great sailing in the Chesapeake. Back in Ohio on Lake Erie I cruised to Put-in-Bay for a long weekend with Gary and Lori from Tessa. I thought back to the beginning of my sailing adventures aboard La Boatique. Back then in 1998 Don, D, Gary, and Lori were all there in Port Clinton, Ohio, my friends then as they are now.
Was I upset over the divorce? No.
I was meeting new people and beginning to have fun once again.
What was it then?
I think I needed some private time and still do.
I am writing this from New Zealand where I am visiting with Julie Dobbs from Cherokee. December in New Zealand is the beginning of summer - warm sunshine and long days.
I am far from my home waters of Ohio, yet I have felt like I am back in my old neighborhood, the neighborhood of cruising sailors. Many old friends who survived triumphs and tragedies crossing the South Pacific along with La Boatique are here.
Of course, there was Julie's tragic loss of her husband.
Then there was the triumph of Mike Fritz who sailed the Pacific alone aboard Renaitre.
John and Colleen aboard Bow Bells along with Joan and Andy aboard Silver Heals successfully sailed from South Africa to New Zealand. Both couples now own homes here and have received their residency papers. They are triumphant.
While walking the dock in Opua I had a quick chat with Hardy from Calypso. During my day in Opua I reserved extra time to reminisce with Dave Mair, my crew for the difficult passage to Auckland.
Life goes on for most of us. Julie has been picking up the pieces of her life without Barry. She has started a nautical clothing company called Sea View Designs. Julie's fashions are inspired by the sea. They are the unique and distinctive one-of-a-kind nautical expressions of a woman who loves the sea and enjoys wearing clothes that set her apart from the rest of the crowd.
Catheral Cove on the Coramandal Penninsula in New Zealand is an inspirational place. Julie and I visited the Croamandal Pennisula on our way south to Tauranga. In Tauranga I "jumped ship" and spent the remainder of Decmember aboard Maritime Express with Henry and Gail.
Hot Water Beach was an interesting stop along our trip throught the Coramandal Penninsula. At Hot Water Beach people come to dig their own hot tub in the sand. The trick is to get the temperature of the tub to be just right. Often the water in some places was boiling hot while in others was quite cold. The sandy hot tub Julie and I used had one spring of hot water and one spring of cold water. Depending on where we dug, we could make our tub water hotter or colder. People seemed to be always digging since the sandy walls ofen colapsed just when they had the perfect pool.
While traveling I enjoy getting to know local people and having them show me their country. While staying aboard Maritime Express at Tauranga Bridge Marina with Henry and Gail I got to know a number of local New Zealanders. Graham, a local New Zealander, showed me how to find pippies. Pippies are a tasty colorful-shelled mussel found in shallow water at low tide. Graham and I walked out from the beach to nearly knee deep water. There we searched for maroon colored seaweed. When we dug up the seaweed, usually attached to it were the pippies. It didn't take us long to get our pail nearly full. We found many other interesting things in the clear shallow water - small crabs, a sand dollar, small round clams, and seaweed in colors from green to maroon.
Back at Tauranga Bridge Marina, Graham washed the pippies in fresh water. Then he put a little bit of water in a large pot. He added the pippies and steamed them over a hot stove in his boat until the pippy shells opened. For lunch we had pippy sandwiches. On a piece of multigrain bread we slathered butter. Then while the pippies were still very hot we pulled them from their shells and placed a pile of them on the bread. We folded the bread over and there we had it, a pippy sandwich.
All too soon my month in New Zealand had come to an end. On New Years Eve I headed back to Ohio. It was probably a bad choice of flying days because of all the extra security. My bags were checked over and over and the lines were very long and slow moving. Often I was in one line for more than an hour only to go into another line for another hour. On New Years Day I felt like I had a bad hangover, but I had drunk only one glass of wine. I needed about three days to recover from the lack of sleep caused by all the long lines, very long flights, and the jet lag.
I have not been in Ohio in January for the five previous years. Oh! Brrrr! It sure is cold here! Lake Erie is covered in a jumple of pancake ice piles.