Blog

Stories, Musings, And The Occasional Rant​

Charming Champlain

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…

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Croisière au Québec (Cruising Quebec)

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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Rideau Repeat

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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.

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Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands: American Version

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.

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Locking Through History

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.

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Big Water Heading North by Northeast

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.

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Re-engaging With The ICW

It’s been an intense two months.  The first was a fast run up the coast from Florida to Virginia with nearly daily travel, made fun by traveling with friends.  Next was a busy month of appointments, projects, and happenings.  Throughout it all, we find ourselves reflecting more and moe on Life After Boat.

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