A couple days in Rochester NY

The entrance to Rochester is deep (10-20 ft) and extends 0.5 miles out into the lake. Once inside there are lots of options for slips, incuding 2 yacht clubs and 4 other marinas. The area is full of wonderful people and places. There is a grocery store that delivers to your boat and many local restuarants that provide free transportation as well.

Friends of our reccommended we try an Italian Restuarant named Mr Dominics'. It was excellent ! They even provided us all transportation back to our boats in their delivery van. If you can call ahead to make a reservation. They are always full. The food is fresh and plentiful. The service is wonderful and friendly. This family owned and operated eatery is well worth your time, but come hungry.

Some of the largest shopping malls and in America reside in this town. We did some back to school shopping and snatched up many deals.

Also worthy of a visit is the George Eastman House - International Museum of Photography & Film. Mr. Eastman was the founder of the Kodak Company. The grounds are beautiful to explore and there are lots of hands on displays for both young and old children.





Continuing West down Lake Ontario

From Fairhaven NY we sailed West 46 nm back to the Rochester Yacht Club. We have met friends on other boats sailing in our direction so 4 boats set out together. For 2 days we were"trapped" in the bay with high winds blocking easy and safe access thru the breakwall. But as "luck" would have it now there were no winds. So we fired up the engines and off we went very early in the morning hoping the winds would pick up through the morning.

This is our Catalina 36  with Kyle at the helm. It was not long after this picture was taken that Kyle was down in the engine compartment taking weeds out of the impeller. The few days of high winds had made for quite a bit of weeds floating in the bay. We found these weeds in our impeller :)

These two boats came from Lake Erie for a summer circumnavigation of Lake Ontario. We ran into them many times through out the summer.



A Couple More Days in Fairhaven NY

From Main Duck Island back to Fairhaven NY (Little Sodus Bay) it was a 39 nm trip. The winds and waves were getting higher as we approached. A check of the forecast told us that once we passed thru the breakwall we would be basically "stuck" in the bay for a couple days. The breakwall entrance is narrow, shallow (7-8 ft) and sits in a perfect North-South line. Thus when the strong easterly or westerly takes over the lake the water between these walls is like a washing machine. Once inside the bay however is was extremely calm and smooth sailing.
There happened to be other members of the Royal Hamilton YC vacationing here too. So we tied up next to them and enjoyed a couple days of drinking, swimming, eating and laughing.
FYI - A good way to let the kids go swimming at night is to make them wear a wetsuit so they do not sink and tie some glow sticks around there necks :)

Heading Back

We started to make our journey back home via Georgina Island and then Main Duck Island before heading back to the American side of the lake. Georgina Island is 23 nm from Brockville and part of the National Parks. It has docks that sit directly beneath the Thousands Island Bridge. On the island itself there are camp facilites, trails, pinic shelters and outhouses. We met some nice families whom we joined for a night of campfires and marshmallows.

We sailed a further 43 nm to Main Duck Island the next day. Main Duck is 2 miles long, 0.8 miles wide and unhabitated. For those travelling between Canada and the USA it can provide a safe refuge from storms.
http://www.cruising.ca/guide/docs/gd-main_d.html
When we first arrived in Collins Bay YC near Kingston Ontario we met a man who had a lot of experience going to Main Duck. Since we had never been, he shared with us the GPS coordinates of an old sunken barge in the bay to which we could tie up to and sleep well. When we approached these markers, now 2 weeks later, there was this man whom we had met. So we rafted to his boat and our families had a great day together.

After a great night of drinks, food and new friends we headed 39nm across Lake Ontario to Fairhaven NY again, as we promised ourselves we would.

Brockville Ontario -Turn Around Point

Twenty days on the water brought us to Brockville Ontario. We decided that this would be the spot at which we turned around if we wanted to make it home within the month of holidays we had booked. We were 216 nm from our home port in Hamilton. We tied up at the Brockville YC and met some friends from home who were in the area to dive the wrecks.
When diving and sailing in this area you need to keep in mind that this very narrow river is the main shipping port that leads to the Atlantic Ocean. As such the freighter traffic can be quite steady. It is not for the faint of heart.

The divers from the boat on the right could be very near where the freighters are.

Singer Castle and a Anchor Out

What's a sail without visiting a castle ?
The Singer Castle on Dark Island NY was built in 1903 by the Bourne Family. Mr. Bourne was the Director and President of the Singer Sewing Machine Company and held the position of Commodore of the New York Yacht Club.
http://www.singercastle.com/
The island has a dock out front where you can slip and tour the island.

Before heading back to Canada to meet friends in Brockville for more diving we had quiet night at anchor. With the water temperatures reaching the high 70s F ( which is extremely warm for Canadians :) swimming was the thing to do now.

Taking a Dive into the St Lawrence

Well you knew sooner or later we were going to pick up a buoy and go diving. There are hundreds of wrecks in the St.Lawrence River. Many dive companies charge to take people diving in this area. However since it is a national park anyone with a boat can tie up and go under.Kyle decided to dive a wreck called the Keystorm. It is a 256 foot long steel hull cargo vessel.  She lies in American waters on the south side of Outer Scow Island Shoal near Goose Bay.  There are 2 buoys marking the wreck. The northern one takes you down  25 feet to the pilot house and usually has light to medium current. The southern buoy takes you down to about 45 feet to view her 4 huge open cargo holds and loading booms. Her stern engine room and props lie at 103’.
Summer water temperatures in the St.Lawrence River reach 75 F and the visiblilty is great thanks to the zebra mussels. For those new to this region please note that the zebra mussel shells can be quite sharp cutting thru gloves.
For those interested in diving this region there is a lot of available information online.
http://www.dive1000islands.com/index.html