Running errands, finishing a few more projects, rebedding a leaky windlass, installing our new bowsprit for the Code Zero sail. We treated ourselves to brunch at Pan Chancho. I had amazing leek and potato soup and a Barcelona Burger. It was made with fish, spinach and garlic mayo. Mostly we were waiting for a weather window. It was windy out of the south west most of the week. Unfortunately that was the direction we wanted to go. First the wind was to change on Thursday, then Friday. On Wednesday the day was 31C and felt like 40C or more. Today the day was cloudy and grey, off and on showers with a high of about 10C and felt freezing with the wind. the wind blowing straight into our slip made departure interesting but it turned out the be uneventful. I looked out at the lake and saw lots of whitecaps so I circled the big protected harbour as Alan put away lines and bumpers. Soon we were ready to head out. We found that motor sailing was the most comfortable ride and would get us to our destination before the marina closed at 5. As we adjusted our course to avoid shoals and islands the wind had many variations of right behind us. Unfortunately it was too windy to try one of our downwind sails for the first time. It was registering 15-28 kts apparent wind and we were charging along at 7 kts – so somewhere in the 25-30 range.
We could certainly tell we hadn’t sailed in big water for a while. We definitely underestimated this passage. Not dressed warm enough, not enough pre prepared food and drinks, no seasick meds for me, no research on our destination harbour. Lake Ontario is a big body of water that can kick up wind a waves with the best of them. The passage today was just short of the distance we do when crossing to the Bahamas and much colder. The one thing we managed to do right was to prepare the inside of the boat. There was some annoying rattling but nothing went flying.
At one point today, Alan said “for me, the voyage is beginning” We were headed for a place we had never been before – at least until we get to the Hudson.
As we looked south to the grey smudge of coastline that was NY there a a greyer smudge just where we wanted to go. It was raining in that one spot. New harbours are always a little nerve wracking, but just before we left one of the fellow boaters told horror stories of holing his boat on submerged breakwaters. Good thing we had accurate charts to aid our decisions in the wind (still blowing over 20) and rain and a cruising guide to tell us which marina allowed us to check in and demast our boat. We were tied up about 16:00, after 3 tries at the slip. 1st one Alan discovered the bumpers we too low, second one I misjudged the wind in a very narrow fairway. I need to work on being brave and keeping the speed up. The third time was the charm.
The next chore was checking into the USA. In this part of the border, where tourists go back and forth on an almost daily basis, the use a video phone.
You use it to call customs, talk to an agent, present your passport and answer questions. In our case we also arranged for them to fax a cruising permit to the marina. All done with little fuss.
Oswego Marina is small but has all the necessary facilities. Tomorrow we will see if the wind drops enough to take down the mast and if the decide they will work on weekends. However long we stay we will have lots of ducks for company.
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