Fall 2017 Heading South (Well Not Really)

After dithering most of the summer, a couple of weeks ago we decided we'd join the flocks of Canadian geese heading south.  We'd had our fuel injectors rebuilt and compression tests done in September and learned our heretofor faithful Yanmar diesel had an average life expectancy of 7000 hours - we have just under 7500 hours, and while the compression was down on all 3 cylinders, it was equal.  Since it has been starting and running fine, we scheduled an engine rebuild at Tiger Point Marina, the place we've stored the boat on the recent trips.  They'd given us a quote for the work that would be done at the Yanmar Service place in Tampa while we were back home for our version of winter.

The mast was stepped on Friday, Oct 6, and we planned to start down the lake Saturday, weather permitting.  Friday was a great day, warm with little wind, however that would be short lived as a warm front would push north over the 

weekend, bringing increasing southerly winds ahead of it.  After looking at the Windfinder app, Leonard figured the strong winds would lighten around 1400 Sunday, making it possible to head out, this gave us time to take care of house chores like mowing the lawn and getting the fall veggies out of the garden to take with us.

Sunday morning, while discussing out departure schedule, Leonard called lock 12 to get the hours of operation - they've varied over the years and have been cutback recently.  The clincher was they would close for the season on Wednesday - at least a month sooner than in the past.  Yikes!  It takes a day to get to Benson's Landing, a reasonable place to anchor before the lake becomes more canal than lake, and 2 days to transit the locks since their hours are from 0700 - 1700.  We could make it IF we really pushed. 

It was a mad dash to finish packing and loading the food and last of the gear into the car.  There went my best laid plans for a more thorough list of frozen foods - I just grabbed and stuffed, ditto for the refrigerated food.  The car was packed and the house shuttered in record time.  It would be a very long day, but we've done it before, and knew we  could make it to our designated anchorage by running well after dark.

Some signs of the Fall Foliage on Camel Hump in the distance

Dave Main and Chris Hathaway grabbed our dock lines as we brought the boat into the dock to pack.  One small hiccup, Leonard realized he'd left his wallet at home - can't leave without that!  I filled the water tanks and hauled stuff on board while he ran home.  We departed at 1400 with the wind and seas dropping as predicted - a relief since it had been blowing well into the 20's since the wee hours, producing good sized seas.  I finished stowing things as we headed down the lake.  It wasn't a bad trip, and with a few more RPMs than usual to counter the wind and waves, the chart plotter indicted we'd arrive around 2300.  We made it!

As we approached, we were surprised when we realized what looked like a cabin on shore was actually a large powerboat anchored in 'our spot'.  We hadn't expected any company.  It was a blissfully quiet night, after a frantic day and an early start would see us well on our way. 

In the morning we saw the boat anchored by us was Paradise Found, owned by well known Burlingtonian Tony Pomerleau, headed to Florida for the winter. Doing an oil check before we departed (we hadn't done one before we left the dock) brought some alarming results.  There was no oil visible in the stick.  Not even after a second try, really not good news.  A check found no obvious oil leak in the engine compartment, we must have been burning oil.  We tend to carry at least enough oil to do an oil change and had more than enough, which turned out to be almost 2 1/2 quarts, to get the level back where it belonged. 

After discussing our options - continue on and not have a way back once the locks closed, or return to base.  Even with the oil supply on board, we wouldn't make Catskill much less Florida,  and the thought of major problems offshore made the decision for us.  After watching Paradise Found head slowly south and breakfast, we fired up.  The engine started with the turn of the key and we headed back the way we'd come using fewer RPMs than yesterday - yes, we could see the blue haze indicating we were indeed burning oil.

Mist over Crown Pt Bridge as we head north in light rain

 We spent the day with rain left over from Hurricane Nate as it worked it's way north and east, not a pleasant day, but easier than going through the locks in a pouring rain.  While it drizzled off and on, the heavy rain arrived during the early afternoon.  It was an easy trip until we approached Diamond Island when a north wind gradually increased as did the seas we passed Split Rock.  By now there was at least 3" of water in the dinghy, and I suggested it would be easier and drier to spend the night on the boat - we had plenty of food.  Leonard agreed, and although we were a bit further north than necessary, we opted to pick up a cruising mooring in Converse.  It was unpleasant with the wind and waves on the beam even for a short run, so we ran a bit further north to be able to run with the wind on the stern quarter until we could tuck in behind  the island and head for the moorings.

Once on the mooring we found water had worked it's way up under the plastic at the mast, and one of the ports hadn't been dogged tight - it wasn't just the tarp we'd put up that had leaked in the pouring rain!  It was a good decision to stop - we didn't have to fight a headwind, we could mop things up and the conditions were calmer than it would have been at our mooring in a north wind. 

Spider web coated by the fog

Rainbow ends as the sun shines on the fog bank

Tuesday, we awoke to a foggy morning, but no wind.  It would be an easy run back up the lake.  It was interesting to see the fog shift in the light wind and the Essex ferry appear out of the fog bank.  We called ahead to the shipyard to have the mast picked up for storage on shore, get some info from them about rebuilding our motor and schedule a haul date.  

By noon we were approaching the LCYC dock and tossed our lines to the Lewises as Bob Schumacher walked down to see why we were back. Always good to have friends to greet you at both ends of a trip!

It was a shorter trip than planned, but at least we're home and didn't get stranded at some inconvenient place like off the Jersey shore!