Jack and Pat's Adventures

 July 21 st , On July 12 th , we headed for Kingston, ON and our entry into Canada. It was a nice cruise across the northern end of Lake Ontario and our interaction with Customs was via a phone call and was efficient and pleasant. Kingston is a great little city with many restaurants right outside the marina. On our second day there, we took a water taxi across the river and toured the Military Academy and Fort Henry which is a War of 1812 era fort that was built to protect the naval dock yards and the Rideau Canal which connects Kingston to Ottawa. On July 14 th , we headed towards the Trent Severn Waterway with a stop in a small marina in Picton to break up the distance. After one night in Picton, we headed to Trent Port Marina which sits right at the entry to the Trent Severn Waterway. It is by far the nicest marina we have stayed in. It was a beautiful facility with shower rooms that you would find at the nicest hotels and a laundry room with all new machines that were clea...

  July 10 th We are currently in the Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence River. (Full disclosure: There are over 1800 islands in the Thousand Island area) Lore has it, when the islands were more accurately counted, it was decided not to change the name to 1800 Islands because they would have to change the name of the salad dressing that was developed at an Inn in the Thousand Islands. In order for a piece of land to be designated as an island here, it must have at least one tree and one shrub growing on it and be above the water 365 days a year. We saw “islands’ that were no more than 20 feet long. To get to the Thousand Islands, we had to cruise northwest up Lake Ontario. The original marine forecast was calling for a pleasant cruise, however, when we left the shelter of Oswego Marina and entered the lake it was quite clear that it was not going to be that smooth. While the waves were not that high, the swells quickly sent me to the cabin for Dramamine.   Our first stop...

 July 6th On June 29th we headed to Little Falls, NY in the rain. While we were underway we discovered that we had a fuel leak in our port engine so we had to shut that engine off and limped our way through the remaining locks and to our next marina. Backing into a spot on a dock between 2 other boats with one engine can be quite challenging but with the assistance of Loopers who had already arrived at the marina and Jack's skill we were able to tie up. Jack was able to repair the issue in time for us to have docktails with our Looper friends. On June 30th we headed to Ilion Marina to catch up with Evan and Michael our good friends on "Strummin' Along" and another couple whom they have been buddy boating with for several weeks (Suzy and Don, "Tranquility" We had dinner together and then the next day (July 1st) we all continued on the Erie Canal to Sylvan Beach which is on the east end of Oneida Lake, We tied up to a wall for the night along with 4 other Loop...

 June 28th Hi We are back! It has been a while since I posted last because we took a break from the Loop to visit grandkids and great grandkids. We arrived at Albany Yacht Club on June 10th.  On Wednesday, June 12th my brother John and sister-in-law, Laura drove down from Essex, NY to spend the day with us. It was great to see them and catch up. They also drove us to a huge liquor store so we could stock up for the next leg of our trip. A definite priority. On June 13th we left the boat at Albany Yacht Club and flew to Tampa. I spent 4 days getting refurbished with hair appointment, facial, nails and seeing a hand surgeon and dermatologist. On Sunday we had brunch with my grandson Ben, his wife Serena and my great grand kids Hugo (2) and Josie (7 mos). That afternoon we visited with my nephew Derek and great nephew Michael. It was so great to see them all. Little ones change so quickly.  Tuesday we were off to Dallas to visit with Jack's oldest daughter, Kelly, and her fa...

  June 10 th We arrived at Donavan’s Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore, NY on Friday, June 7 th . Kathy and Brian Donavan own the marina and host an annual weekend that includes a “Pig Roast” on Sunday afternoon. This year, the guest of honor weighed in at 225 lbs. There were 39 Looper boats staying in the marina for the weekend.   We already knew many of the Loopers, having met them previously, but also made some new “Looper Friends” over the weekend. Friday evening we joined our friends Donna and Gary (L’Attitude Adjustment) and a couple we had not met before, Richard and Melaney ( Jewel) for dinner. The food was very good and the company better! Saturday night we ate at the restaurant at the marina again, this time with Richard, Melaney and their daughter, Lindsey who just graduated from USF and another couple Donna and John (Paradise Bound).   After dinner there was a bonfire to cap off the day. Sunday started with a women’s group where we shared mimosas an...

   June 5th On June 1st, we left Manasquan, NJ and crossed the section of the Atlantic Ocean that would bring us into the Hudson River. The night before we made plans with other Loopers to buddy boat across so we could enter the Hudson River together and take pictures of each other's boats in front of the Statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful day to make the crossing and we were amazed when we were still 30 miles out that we could see the skyline of New York. Jack said that normally you can't see that far but because the earth is round (yes, the earth is round and not flat) and because the buildings are so tall we were able to see the skyscraper of the lower and mid-town Manhattan.  So finally we passed under the Verrazano Bridge and as we turned into the Hudson River, we had our first glimpse of Lady Liberty. It was amazing. After we dodged ferries, tankers and crazy boaters we managed to get close enough to take each other's pictures in front of the Statue of L...

 May 31 On May 25th our plan was to leave Cape May around 7 AM and cruise to Atlantic City. We awoke to a dense fog that had encapsulated the whole marina. We decided to wait until the fog lifted before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean.  By 8:15 the fog had thinned in the marina so we figured it was going to continue to lift. As we got out into the Atlantic we realized it was not going anywhere fast. Thank goodness for radar! We could barely see beyond the bow of the boat, fortunately radar shows us where any boats are around us to include their wakes and ours After about 2 hours the fog lifted enough to reduce my anxiety level and by the time we were nearing Atlantic City we could see the outlines of the casinos and hotels along the beach. We arrived safely at the Farley State Marina which is also the site of the Golden Nugget casino. The marina was not near the Board Walk or the big casinos and hotels so the next day we walked 2,5 miles to the Board Walk and then another ...