It is officially our one month anniversary as cruisers, what a perfect time to finally get this posted. We have been very busy and have not had much time to focus on this blog - actually none. Now we will give a quick catch - up and hopefully, keep up to date in the future.
Late Spring early summer was spent finishing up projects on the boat and installing new gear we had purchased over the winter. This includes a new radar system which operates off bluetooth to iPad and iPhone, an important safety feature since a ship travelling at 22 knots on a converging course can be invisible over the horizon and make contact with you in less than twenty minutes. With this device, instead of a radar screen fixed at the helm station, we can have dinner together below while monitoring shipping.
On July 6, 2016 Estrella del Sur was finally launched after three years on the hard.
Unfortunately, the travel lift and launching slip at Loyalist Cove were a bit too narrow for our boat and therefore a crane was hired to put us in the water. Please understand most marinas in Ontario do not have travel lifts large enough to launch catamarans. We continued working on projects once afloat, including new non-skid (grippy surface on deck that ensures stable footing while underway). The instructions for application of the product we used, Kiwi-grip, were obviously written by a contract litigation lawyer: the paint was supposed to be applied in temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees F, not direct sunlight, and with no rain or dew for 24 hours. How many days are completely overcast with no chance of rain? In the result we still have a few areas that still need to be done.
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| Launch day compliments of our friend Gordon with his drone |
In August and early September we had a few test sails and a couple of memorable nights out under anchor with Spencer and Rosario, Christoper and Raiden. We also had an opportunity to test our new dinghy and with a 20 h.p. motor on a 10 ft R.I.B. (rigid inflatable boat).. We found that the two of us were unwilling to go beyond half throttle as we were already flying along on a plane. Chris and Raiden however, pushed that to the max and returned to tell about it.
While not going out for an overnight anchorage we were also pleased to have Victoria, Ashley, Olivia, Shane and Tyler also out for a visit. In addition, just prior to departure, Dave and Jane (Julie’s parents) came for an overnight stay on the boat at Loyalist Cove.
READY OR NOT! - September 12, 2016
Although much was still required to be done on the boat, at 6:10 am on Monday September 12, 2016 we departed from Loyalist Cove Marina. Accompanying us were Matthew and Kathleen on Kinship, a Saga 43 from Ottawa.
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| Loyalist Cove Marina |
Once underway again we transited the first lock (Lock 8) of the Oswego Canal and at 4:20 pm tied off on the East wall of the canal for the night. We then went to get some provisions at the Big M supermarket where we found great deals, such as $6.99 a pound for some terrific striploin steaks.
September 13, 2016
We left Oswego at 9:00 am and headed through locks 7 to to 1 (for some reason, there is no lock 4), arriving at Phoenix at 3:20 pm. Brad noted that in spite of motoring all day, when we plugged into shore power the batteries were charging. He suspected that the brand new Balmar high out-put alternators and smart regulators had been installed incorrectly, as the batteries should have been fully charged. Free docking, some good ice cream at a nearby store and a pretty waterfront setting soon alleviated the concerns.
September 14, 2016
Due to inclement weather we did not depart Phoenix until 11:18 am. After a quick stop to refuel, we entered Lake Oneida at 1:49 pm. Gusty conditions created a bad chop in the
September 15, 2016
We departed Sylvan Beach in the mist and fog at 8:02 am on a very chilly morning (7 degrees C.) and had to turn on our propane heater. We arrived at Ilion, our next stop at 2:40 pm. We were inundated with flies as the numerous ones we brought from Canada have now been joined by American ones. In total, we travelled 6 hours and 38 min today and after tying up, we made a quick call home to wish my Dad a very happy birthday!
September 16, 2016
We departed Ilion at 7:32 am on another very chilly morning. We had a very long wait to get into Lock 17, very slimy and wet and the largest lock of the canal system. Our new friends, the two Pierre’s from Montreal on La Caboteur, joined us in that lock (as many before). The skipper of this 31 foot Beneteau, Pierre Desrosier, is a very experienced sailor (four transatlantic crossings) and is a terrific source of advice, as well as gourmet cheese and porto! We arrived in Amsterdam at 5:20 pm after 9 hours and 50 minutes of motoring.
September 17, 2016
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| Lock 17 The two Pierre's coming out behind us. |
We should give kudos to the Americans for the facilities along the Oswego and Erie canals. Free docking, generally with water and sometimes free electrical hookup. However, a couple of words are required about transmitting the locks themselves: disgustingly slimy! You enter the locks as slowly as you can while paying attention to currents and cross winds (especially in downward locks). After coming to a stop precisely beside the vertical ropes or pipes, you either hold the slippery ropes or wrap your own lines around the pipes and HOLD ON during the ascent or descent. The boat's fenders become covered in slime and rust
which transfers itself to the boat's hull - and our new topsides paint job! In spite of the dirt and the strength required in some of the locks, Julie never complained and became an incredibly proficient line handler. As you will see, as time passed she would also become our navigator.
September 19, 2016
We departed Waterford at 8:45 and had a long wait to get through lock 1 in Troy - the last lock in the New York State canal system. After 7 hours and 15 min of motoring we arrived at Hop-O-Nose marina on the Catskill creek to get our mast up. For some reason, just before Hop-O-Nose our Inavx chart ended and we were missing the next chart required for navigation from the Hudson River into the marina. Fortunately we also had our Garmin chart plotter, with its own digital charts.
We really enjoyed our time here. We did laundry, grocery (and wine) shopping and of course, worked on the boat. There was a bit of a delay for us to get the mast up as we were waiting for a bulb for the tricolour, masthead light from Defender. After receiving two faulty bulbs from Marine Beam we decided to go with another company. There were also some difficulties getting the mast up…somehow the shrouds were reversed on the spreaders, but Brad and the staff were able to get it straightened out. One night we had a terrific dinner at the marina’s restaurant, and Pierre Lachance made Julie a wonderful rope bracelet (Simple Cobra stitch ending in a monkey's fist), As well as being a master guitarist’ he is also a master at tying knots.
September 22, 2016
We departed Hop-O-Nose at 8:15 am and headed out for another long day of motoring. We were heading south towards Haverstraw Bay to meet up with Matthew and Kathleen at an anchorage in the Bay. It was quite a pleasant motor with beautiful scenery. On route down we passed “World’s End” and the BEAT airforce base where we were surrounded by paratroopers and helicopters.. After ten and a half hours we dropped the anchor by Matthew and Kathleen in Haverstraw Bay.
September 23, 2016
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| NYC Time Square Compliments of Pierre L. |
Before we departed Brad had again noticed that in spite of so many hours of motoring, our batteries were not charging. At 7:58 we got the anchor up and headed down the bay. Shortly after Matthew called us to tell us that the Tappan Zee Bridge was closed to boaters until 4:30. We quickly decided to find a marina to assist us with the charging issue. At 9:30 in the morning we arrived at Westerly Marina in Ossining. Our quick little stop ended up costing us $1450 US and four days. We took advance of the layover and ordered another Yanmar started motor as the second one newly installed before left was already starting to fail. The mechanic had a quick look and the news wasn't good, but unfortunately they couldn’t do any work till Monday. We spent a few days working on projects, cleaning up and then decided on Sunday to do a trip into New York city by train…and what a small world, if we didn’t run into the two Pierre’s in Time Square! We also had brunch (fabulous lemon and ricotta pancakes) at a restaurant fronting Central Park and did a pedal cart tour of the park. 
While at the marina in Ossining we also enjoyed a very good restaurant right beside us called the Beach House - amazing baked lemon haddock and risotto. So yes, the location did have some perks although we were neighbours with the famous Sing Sing prison and a set of railroad tracks behind us that were busier that the Don Valley parking lot in rush hour.
On Monday, after endless calls to Balmar and working through (or so they thought) the problem, the marina had us up and running again to leave on Tuesday. Bottom line was that the voltage sensor from the batteries was not connected to the voltage regulators, so they were not charging at all. This in spite of a little tag on the regulator connection that cautioned: the included fuse and wire must be connected in order to operate.
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| Ossining Station |
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| Central Park |
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| Grand Central Station |
September 27, 2016
We departed Westerly Marina at 6:08 am before sunrise so as to get a jump start on the day. It was a cold, damp morning with light rain but we were headed to to NYC and feeling excited. Just before 10:00 am we were passing the 79th Street Basin when I checked the battery voltage. Holy crap we were at 16.5v and the smell coming off the batteries was a clear sign of trouble. We quickly called the 79th Street Marina and headed in to dock. Brad unplugged the regulators and soon realized that the mechanic in Ossining had run the sensor wires and fuse to our starter batteries, not the house bank. The starter batteries are not charged directly by the alternators, but rather through ‘echo chargers’ which are apparently set to start charging at a different voltage than the Balmar regulators. .The regulators sense that the starter batteries were at 12.4 volts and continued charging the house bank trying to get the voltage up. The house bank (now massively overcharged) would not send anything to the starter batteries as the echo chargers said they didn’t need charging. As a result, the alternators just kept charging the house bank trying to get the voltage up in the starter batteries (which they sensed) until we fried our new $2500.00 house bank!
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| View from 79th Street Basin |
So there were sat again feeling defeated over all the money we had spent having new equipment installed by professionals in order to avoid problems!. However, we were in NYC and we decided to pull up our pants and enjoy. After dinner we headed to a great wine bar that had some live music (our favourite). Another nice little surprise was when this woman came into the bar and asked to sing with the band…she was amazing! Afterwards we found out that she was currently singing in a Broadway play. We love NYC!.
September 28, 2016
After a very rolly night on the Hudson (judging by the wakes, New York truly is ‘the city that never sleeps), we departed 79th Street Basin at 8:56 am with unplugged voltage regulators and no charging batteries. We also noticed our only remaining water tank was still sucking in air. This was the day I had been fearing since the trip started…the traffic going through NYC to get us to the channel to head to Sandy Hook. To my surprise it wasn’t as bad as I thought, lots of traffic but Brad handled her like a pro. Once we headed into the Chapel Hill
North Channel the weather started to worsen and the seas were making the journey a little uncomfortable. The winds were 30 knots on the nose with 2 meter seas on the beam (the side of the boat). Brad had a few salt water facials along the way. Little did we know what would lay ahead for the next few days. We arrived at the Highlands marina in Sandy Hook, New Jersey at 12:20 pm.
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| Estrella del Sur at Highlands, Sandy Hook, New Jersey |
North Channel the weather started to worsen and the seas were making the journey a little uncomfortable. The winds were 30 knots on the nose with 2 meter seas on the beam (the side of the boat). Brad had a few salt water facials along the way. Little did we know what would lay ahead for the next few days. We arrived at the Highlands marina in Sandy Hook, New Jersey at 12:20 pm.
Sept 29- Oct.1, 2016
The initial plan was to stay at the marina for a night or two as the bad weather passed. The couple of nights turned into four. Seas were now 4 meters with winds gusting to 50 knots (about 90 kph). It was so bad the marina crew were wearing their PFD’s on the dock and a 27 foot sport fishing boat sunk at dock from waves breaking over its transom!. A nice marina but not protected with a blow from the east and that is what we had. Brad was up every few hours during the nights to re-tie or add some fenders in creative ways to keep us off the pilings. This was our first time docking with pilings - definitely not a fan in rough weather.
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| Atlantic City |
October 2, 2016
We departed the Highlands marina at 7:34 am headed for Atlantic City. It was a cold foggy morning with some pretty high seas. At 8:03 am Brad noticed the port diesel throttle seemed to be malfunctioning. We took advantage of the winds unfurled the Yankee and eventually the staysail. After twelve long hours and in the dark (something we never wanted to do) we arrived at Kammerman’s marina Atlantic City. The owner Chris was great and had kept the marina open late to accommodate us. Just before we entered the entrance to the marina our navigation chart on Inavx didn’t change over to the next chart (again) so Chris guided us in on the phone. Chris stayed and had a drink with us once we were all tied up and settled for the night. He is a police captain in Atlantic City and had lots of stories to share. He also gave us a discount as Brad was formerly involved in ‘law enforcement’. We were docked directly across from the casinos with a sensational view of the Atlantic City skyline. At 10:00 we barbecued a couple of great steaks and enjoyed those with a spinach salad and a bottle of decent pinot noir. Fortunately it was very calm night and the first in many where we both were able to sleep uninterrupted through the night.
October 3, 2016
We departed Atlantic City at 9:35 am. A little later start but we were tired from the long passage to Atlantic City and had planned to stop in Cape May, which left us lots of time. Around 11:00 am I spotted a dolphin jumping off to our port side. As we approached Cape May we decided that due to the deteriorating forecast for the following day we should plow on and traverse Delaware Bay that night. Tide was going to be with us and give us a nice push up the bay. It was a slow start but a couple of hours into the run we started to pick up speed, averaging about 8 knots. Again we saw dolphins, this time four of them playing off our bow and then our stern. The sun was setting and it was positively serene. Sadly it turned out to be the calm before the storm.
Firstly, I had no idea that Delaware Bay was so large, there are many shoals and the cruising guides suggest - especially at night - remaining in the marked shipping channel. I also didn't realize the number and sheer size of the ships that would be travelling up and down the narrow shipping channel with us. Now that was a whole new - and terrifying - experience for us both. It seemed as soon as the dark fell upon us, so did the non- stop ship traffic. At one point we were confronted by two ships passing in opposite directions
and were forced out of the narrow channel in an area which rapidly shoaled. When ships approached we tried to stay just outside the channel in order to give them a clear berth. A number of ships captains were also good enough to contact us on the VHF and advise us, for example, of their course and to request that we remain on our present course and we would pass safely starboard to starboard. Some however just barrelled through, making unannounced course changes at the last minute. Disconcerting to say the least!
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| Pic from Chesapeake City example of size of ships |
We were also forced to deal with a few pleasure boats with improper or malfunctioning running lights, making it difficult to determine their course. At 12:30 am we finally arrived at the top of the bay suffering through 15 long and stressful hours, exhausted and for Julie, still a little shaken. We dropped anchor in Delaware City and planned to do the C&D canal in the morning. Sadly, sleep was again fitful due to strong wind, waves and the wake from ships entering or exiting the adjoining C&D (Chesapeake and Delaware) canal.
Why did we decide to make a passage of Delaware Bay and anchor in an unfamiliar location at night - something we had vowed to avoid if possible? Simple. As we had mentioned earlier, the forecast for the next few days had deteriorated and Delaware Bay is known to be very rough in high winds as the waves accelerate and climb as the bay narrows towards the top. We also had an eye on Hurricane Mathew and wanted to be clear of the Atlantic coast before it passed the Atlantic coast. While difficult, that night was our only decent weather window in the foreseeable future.
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