We head south from upper New York, slow enough to let the hurricane season run its course but fast enough to keep temps comfortable for cruising. We have a special guest join us along the Hudson and in NYC, set a personal record for most miles traveled in a day, see friends from our present and past, and get back to the Chesapeake Bay with time to spare before Dave’s Naval Academy Reunion.
We close the loop on our summer travels, cruising down Lake Champlain back to where we started the Erie Canal in Waterford NY. First, though, we take a short pause for a Minnesota visit. Clontinuing south, when the port engine suddenly quits working we learn how much a $25 part can actually cost. Ah, such is boat life…
We travel along the big rivers of Quebec from Ottawa to Montreal and then turn south back toward the US via the smaller Richelieu River and Chambly Canal. Along the way we pass through a wide variety of locks, and enjoy both the big city of Montreal and stops in smaller towns.
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The entire historic Rideau Canal is a Canadian National Park and was a highlight of our Loop in 2022. So we do it again — just in reverse to give us a new perspective. From Lake Ontario we go up through 14 locks, through the three lakes at the highest point, then down another 21 locks to Ottawa, where we have a grand finale of 8 locks taking us to the Ottawa River. That’s 43 locks in 126 miles.
We cross to the other side of the St. Lawrence River, visiting towns and anchoring at several islands in Thousand Islands National Park in Canada. We end up in Kingston on Lake Ontario, where we enjoy a week of city living.
Our summer cruising continues in new territory for us – the freshwater cruising of a Great Lake and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Along the way, we are surrounded by a vintage vibe in the towns and a timeless feel on the water as we hug the NY coast of the Lake and make our way into the American Thousand Islands.
New cruising grounds for us! We exit the Hudson River to travel the historic Erie Canal and all its locks to Syracuse. Then we turn onto the Oswego Canal and head north until we get to Lake Ontario, our gateway to the Thousand Islands. Along the way we see post-industrial towns and are joined by good friends Patty and Gary for a stretch of the Erie.
We head up the Hudson River, familiar territory for us, and are reminded once again of the beauty and history in the Valley. Most stops are repeats of previous and Looper standards, but gives us a chance to revisit some favorite places.
We go back into cruising mode, heading north for the summer. The first leg is all big water — up the Chesapeake, down the Delaware, and up the Jersey Coast to NY Harbor. Retracing the same path we did two years ago almost to the day when we were doing The Great Loop. Which means there will also be lots of current Loopers to mee . But we notice it feels different this time.