Leaving Winter Harbor, May 15-25, 2019

We rented a car in Towson, MD from Enterprise on Tuesday, May 14.  We packed it full even though we had made two earlier trips taking items to the boat.  On Wednesday, May 15 we drove to Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY.  Aisling Gheal had been launched on Monday, May 13. We slept aboard Wednesday night.  It was nice to be on the boat again.  We returned the rental car on Thursday and got a smaller rental car.  We still needed a car to travel to get groceries and other items we needed.

The Erie Canal was scheduled to open for the season on Friday, May 17.  We were planning to start our voyage west on the Canal on Saturday, May 18.  However, this part of New York had been experiencing a lot of rain and it was unclear if the canal would open on Saturday.  Jeff had many projects to keep him busy and Barbie was organizing and storing items.  Jeff finished the installation of more lights in the galley and the head (bathroom on a boat).  He also finished the installation of the underwater lights. 

Underwater lights on the stern

Another project was replacing  the 19 inch TV with a new 24 inch TV.   We use the TV to show the chart plotter display inside the cabin which is handy for checking the data at night. We also use the TV to watch YouTube episodes of various sailboat adventures.

We kept checking the email notices concerning the canal but most of the locks remained closed.  The canal did not open on Friday, May 17 as was scheduled.  We were hoping it would be open before Memorial Day Weekend (May 24-26). 

We enjoyed going to Empire Farm Brewing and other breweries around Syracuse.  The food at breweries is usually good, interesting and creative.  We especially enjoyed a "sellout" pizza at Empire Farm Brewery.  It had three kinds of cheese, chicken chunks and thin slices of spinach.  We enjoy sitting at the bar and talking with the bartenders.

"Sellout" Pizza and Beet Salad

The dogs have enjoyed walking in the grass in the pet area and just sitting and smelling the air.  Greta often walks the dock to the boat.  Hans has also done it a few times if it is either night or cloudy.  His cataracts make it so he doesn't see well.  When the sun is bright he does not want to walk on the bright dock. Hans turned 16 years old on Monday, May 20.

Hans and Greta enjoying the grass and air

Wednesday, May 22, we noticed that after Greta used the pee pad there was blood on the pad.  This was not good.  The marina called a local animal hospital and got us an emergency appointment with Dr. Smith for that afternoon.  Greta did still eat her breakfast so she didn't seem to be too distressed.  The urine sample that was taken at the vet was  inconclusive as to her problem.  It could be a urinary tract infection, bladder stones, or a tumor.  Since we were not going to have her undergo surgery we did not pursue further testing for either the stones or a tumor.  We were given an antibiotic for the urinary tract infection.  She seemed to feel better after one dose of the antibiotic and we have not seen any more blood.  Barbie has become creative in getting Greta to take her pills.  She takes a tiny bit of canned food and hides a pill in it.  Then tells Greta that she gets an appetizer.  So far Greta eats the little ball of canned food and doesn't realize there is anything else in it.

While we waited for the locks to open on the canal we kept making lists and shopping at Walmart, Price Choppers (grocery store) and Wegman's.

We did ride our bikes one afternoon when it wasn't raining.  We went for about 7 miles on the towpath of the old original Erie Canal.  The old canal towpath between Syracuse and Rome is not used anymore since the canal was relocated.   This 35 mile towpath is a great trail for biking.

Biking the towpath at Dewitt, NY

We continued to have rain and the lock continued to be closed.  One lock was open and Jeff wanted to go through that lock and tie up on the wall.  Barbie didn't want to leave the marina where we had access to water, sewage pump out, electricity and car.

Winter Harbor told us they were expecting two large (75+ foot) boats.  Eventually on Friday the large boats did arrive.  Finally on Friday, May 25 all the locks we needed for the next several days were finally open.

Saturday, the forecast was for rain and thunderstorms starting around 1:00.  We planned to go about 20 miles to Baldwinsville.  Our cruising speed is  about 8 - 9 miles an hour so that would take us about 2 hours.  We left at  9:30 AM on Saturday, May 26 and after two locks and 20 miles arrived at Baldwinsville at 1:00 PM.

At the Baldwinsville NY town dock

We are finally cruising! 

Spring outfitting continued May 5-7 and 10-13, 2019

After getting the batteries installed we went back home to Towson to do things at the house in preparation for leaving for a year.  

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In April, Hans (who will be 16 on May 20), started stumbling.  Barbie took him to our Vet hospital.  Hans received X-rays and a Laser treatment and some liquid pain meds.  He also had two skin tags removed.  Both dogs, Hans and Greta, had a normal visit to our regular vet on Friday, May 3.  Hans is doing better but is getting old and slowing down.

Hans and Greta

We returned to Aisling Gheal on Sunday, May 5.  Jeff did some work to install a mount for our new iPad Pro in the cockpit near the chartplotter.   This is going to be a backup navigation system. 

iPad Pro installed

Removing old and putting in new entertainment system

To make room for that, the VHF radio was removed.   A new VHF radio was installed in a different location.
The old VHF radio was moved into the main cabin.  A new stereo entertainment system with bluetooth was installed in the cabin replacing the old one

We drove home on Tuesday, May 7.  Both Jeff and Barbie had appointments.   We decided it was best to sell our 2016 Chevrolet Volt. We spent several days taking care of that.  On Friday, May 10, after completing all of the appointments, and selling our beautiful blue Volt, we started to drive to Brewerton at 5:30 pm.  We stopped at Troegs, a brewery with good food, near Hershey, PA. We spent the night in Troegs' parking lot in the RV with the dogs.  It was in the low 70's and very comfortable. 

On Saturday morning we drove the rest of the way to Aisling Gheal.  The sun was shining "Bright As Day". We had several projects below the water line and outside projects to do.  The temperature was in the low 60's and beautiful.  Barbie painted the two props with a protecting antifouling coat and Jeff made a hole in the boat to install an underwater light. This should be interesting to watch the fish at night and entertain our grandchildren when they visit in June.

Barbie protecting the prop

Drilling holes under the waterline for light

Saturday night was not as as warm in Brewerton, NY compared to the night before near Hershey, PA. The temperature was in the low 40's and it started to rain around 3:00 am.  Jeff still had some work to do on the underwater light installation and was concerned that the epoxy would not set up correctly in the cold temperature.  We slept in our RV at the nearby Walmart under two fleece blankets, a quilt, and the two puppies.  We stayed warm. 

Around 7:00 am the rain stopped for a few hours. We bypassed breakfast and drove from the Walmart to the boat.  Jeff worked on the underwater light installation and Barbie made breakfast and fed the puppies. Jeff was able to finish the light installation before the rain returned.  The epoxy had been warm for a long enough time to set.  We were very glad that we had pushed ourselves to leave on Friday afternoon and were able to work Saturday in the warm and sunny weather.

Finished underwater light installation

Jeff finished his underwater and outside projects on Sunday and we started the drive back to Towson.  After enjoying a nice Italian meal and, in honor of Mother's day, a "freakin noli" (free cannoli) at Marzoni's  Brick Oven and Brewing near Scranton, PA we spent the night in their parking.  Again, the temperature was in the low 40's.

Marzoni's near Scranton, PA

The next morning we drove to Gifford Pinchot State Park near York, PA.  Barbie, Hans and Greta had a consultation over the phone with our Animal Communicator, Kelly.  Barbie had concerns about Greta not eating and shaking constantly when the RV motor is running.  We also wanted to let the dogs know they would be traveling on Aisling Gheal and be having new experiences.  This time Kelly talked a lot with Greta. Greta let Kelly know that she was getting tired and that it took a lot of energy to eat and just live.  Kelly let Greta know that it was OK to be getting old and tired and that when it is time for her to let go we will miss her but know that is part of life.  

We got back to Towson Monday around noon.   We are going to pack the rest of the items that we will need and plan to rent a car Wednesday to make the last trip from Towson to Brewerton.

Spring Outfitting April-May 2019

Last October we took Aisling Gheal to Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY to spend the winter in their large indoor and warm (55 degree) storage. 

The boat was very snug with probably about 150 other boats.  The indoor storage protected her from the NY winter storms, ice, and snow.

In December we decided to charter a sailboat in Thailand.  We asked the marina to mail us our passports which we had left on the boat, since we had no plans to leave the country. However, when they opened the boat to get the passports, they found the boat had a mildew problem -- there was a cloud of mildew.  We had the marina do service work to wipe down all of the surfaces with a cleaner.  Beginning the first week in January we wanted to take a trip to NY to see what the situation was.  Barbie was afraid that the boat would smell like mildew and feared the worst.  The marina was only open during the week.  We kept trying for a good three day weather window but one never came.

Finally, the end of March we got a favorable weather window and we were able to drive to Brewerton -- although we did get  a snow storm that put down two or three inches of snow. 

Aisling Gheal was in much better condition than Barbie had feared.  This was a great relief.  We had taken off all of the bedding and food so the boat was nearly empty.  There was NO smell of mildew.  Just to be sure, Barbie wiped down all of the surfaces herself.

Jeff had decided to replace our six flooded lead acid batteries (like car batteries but deep cycle marine batteries) and replace them with five Lithium LiFePO4  batteries. These are state of the art batteries better for boats since they are longer lasting and deliver more power.  He took off 3 of the batteries and left 3 batteries hooked up.  Now Jeff ordered the Lithium batteries from Battleborn Battery of Reno, NV.

Our next trip to Brewerton was on April 28 - May 3.  We decided to take the RV and the car.  None of the camping parks were opened yet in the area, so we stayed at Walmart each night and drove the RV and car to the marina each day.  We had frost on the windshield the morning after our first night. The outside temperature was 28.  We slept warm because Barbie had looked at the weather and came prepared. The inside temperature in the RV was in the low 40's.  Since we were not hooked up to power, we did not use the RV's heater but had many blankets on us and the two puppy dogs, Hans and Greta.

Waiting for spring, just inside the door to the outside

On Monday, April 29 Jeff started doing work.  From past experiences we've learned that everything on the boat takes at least three times as much time as you think it's going take -- and at least 3 trips to Loews and/or Home Depot for new tools and hardware. This was no exception. Jeff took out the last 3 flooded lead acid batteries. We got the 5 new batteries on the boat and Jeff started charging them.  Four of the batteries charged quickly and kept their charge.  The fifth battery had problems.  It would charge but lose its charge quickly.  This caused some stress and concern.  Jeff called the battery company and they advised to charge for several hours and the battery should be OK. We did that long charge and the battery kept its charge.

Difficult access to battery shelf

When we got to the boat on Tuesday morning, Aisling Gheal had been taken out of the shed and put on blocks on the land.  Now we could work on the boat even if the office was closed.  This was a sign that spring was coming!

April 30 -- Outside at last!

Now that the six old 80 lb. batteries have been replaced with the five new 31 lb. batteries, Jeff engineered and installed a battery box to keep the batteries from shifting and crashing around the boat when underway. Of course, because this is a boat and "nothing is easy on a boat",  the area the batteries go in required Jeff to lie flat on his stomach reaching over a bulkhead, crushing his ribs, reaching down thirty inches to place the batteries in the proper location.  After hurting his left ribs and several hours he had installed the batteries.  He was exhausted.  

New Lithium Batteries

The predicted rain started sometime during the night on Tuesday/Wednesday.  The temperature was in the low 40's so there was no danger of snow or ice.  On Wednesday, May 1, Jeff wired the batteries together tightening bolts with steel wrenches. One slip of the wrench or anything else that came in contact with the wrong terminal post could cause a spark bad enough to damage the tool, the battery, Jeff or the boat.  Jeff successfully wired the batteries and all 5 are working.  It did stop raining but the wind started blowing and it was COLD.  

We plan to return and do more projects in the next two weeks.  We have a launch date of Thursday, May 16.  The canal is scheduled to open on Friday, May 17 and we hope to leave the marina on Saturday, May 18 (Barbie's birthday).  

The plan for the summer of 2019 is to stay in the NY area until June 22.  Neither Jeff or Barbie have seen Niagara Falls, so we plan to go west on the Eire Canal to the Niagara River at Tonawanda, NY.   We will entertain our three grandchildren, Alex (15), Cindy (10) and Caitlin (8 almost 9), on the boat during this time.

Then we will retrace our route East on the Erie Canal to the Finger Lakes area.  On June 22 our long time friends, Delight and Jim Scouten, will celebrate their 50 wedding anniversary in Ithaca, NY.

Beginning the end of June we will be continuing our Great American Loop trip adventure north through more Great Lakes and getting to Chicago by mid September.  The locks on the Illinois River are going to be closed the summer of 2020 for repair work.  NO pleasure boats will be able to travel the river until the repair work is completed.  Therefore, we will get past the Illinois River in the fall of 2019 and continue going on the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers.   Our plan is to arrive in the Knoxville, Tennessee area before winter.