2021 DA reconnaissance mission in western Erie canal

[DesertAlbin736]

That was the Nimble? Those, including the smaller Nomad cruiser & Kodiak motor sailer, are what is generally known as a "Sharpie" hull design. That is mostly shallow draft flat bottom with hard angle chines.

[tribologist]

Here are a few more. 8.6” wide beauty!

[nebulatech]

That looks like a great boat! I have a friend with a Kodiak, 28 feet. Although I have a standing invite to spend the night on it, I've not had the chance. I've only seen pictures, but I don't think his has the enclosed helm. His is powered by a 15hp outboard in a motor well if I recall correctly.

[motthediesel]

Those “Nimble” boats are great, there’s a “Nomad” model currently for sale in our town — an ideal canal cruiser.
Sorry to hear that the DA crew have cut their current adventure short. It has been a long run of hot&muggy weather here in Upstate NY, but it’s over now. The wind went strongly NE overnight, and the temp has dropped almost 20F — feels like Fall is knocking at the door!

[DesertAlbin736]

We're home now, La Dolce Vita is laid up until fall/winter season on our local lake. The long road trip over rough parts of interstates & other highways was hard on our truck. On the last day of the way home the joint between the back end of the muffler & the tail pipe broke, leaving the tailpipe hanging by a single hanger. I tied the ends off & made it home but will need repairs. It's a 15 year old truck & the pipe had some rust. 4,900 miles of bouncing over bumps & pot holes was too much for the aging muffler & exhaust pipe.

This will probably be our last trip back East with the boat. From now on our summer cruising grounds will continue to be the Pacific NW with fall & winter on our local lake for club raft ups. Once you've done the Salish Sea you get pretty much spoiled. WillieC can attest to that. The fact that we stayed in hotels on the road because of the heat rather than boat camp & ate meals in restaurants both on the road & on the water because even making coffee heated up the cabin made this a very expensive trip. Close to 5,000 road miles at 11 MPG & diesel fuel prices ranging from $2.95 to $3.25 meant we spent over $4,000 for one week on the canal all things included. We will not do that again. Boat fuel was the very least of our expenses. We started with 3/4 tank, added 10 gallons along the way from jerry cans which we filled at a gas station and ended with 5/8ths on the fuel gauge. So for 176 statute miles on the canal we burned approximately 12 gallons of diesel for 32.1 engine hours.

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[SalishAire]

Desert Albin:
As we are currently hauling Hyacinth from Michigan to her new home near Olympia WA we are starting to dream a bit more.

Some thoughts: If you (or other Albins) are heading to the Salish Sea and need a stop over we will make the same offer we do to fellow Airstream owners - we have extra room in the driveway and I make pretty good coffee (we are also about 5 miles from the Olympia public marina and boat ramp (Swantown)).

Also curious to know if you have hauled to Mexico - we are familiar with the owner and facilities in Puero Penasco (AKA "Rocky Point") and know the truck and trailer would be safe there but it's a bit of a run across the Sea to get to the best cruising areas. Have you launched further south?

Thanks
Norman and Clarice
Hyacinth 1976 A25DL

[DesertAlbin736]

Norman,

Had our sailing friends not decided to try to sail their Southern Cross 31 cutter from Washburn, WI (Apostle Islands) to the eastern seaboard via Erie Canal this year we would have gone back to the San Juans instead. As it turned out they only made it as far as Bay City, MI near Saginaw before they had to abandon the attempt due to problems with the skipper's vision (wet AMD) that cropped up suddenly plus problems with their engine. They laid their boat up for the winter there in Bay City & drove home to Flagstaff, AZ. Remains to be seen whether he will be able to continue sailing or even drive a car pending treatment options. Was not a fun trip for them. They made close to 600 NM, much of which was motoring & motor sailing. They hate having to use the motor but had no choice but to motor to cover the distances they needed to. They were beset with biting flies and various episodes of inclement weather between heat & rough seas. The first mate (skipper's wife) is a California native & swears she's done with the east & midwest. So the ultimate fate of their boat is up in the air pending long term prognosis for the skipper's eyesight. The two options going forward are either sell the boat where it is or have it transported overland to Anacortes & make that the home port. The skipper has a son who lives in the Seattle area.

Anyway, we went ahead & "DA'd" our way out to Tonawanda with the expectation of going at least as far as NYC then haul out & trailer down to the Chesapeake for a fall cruise later this month & into October. We had done a short stretch of the Erie Canal in 2015 from Seneca Lake to Fairport & back. This time we put in at Tonawanda. But we didn't appreciate how hot & muggy the August weather can be in western NY & we don't have air conditioning on our boat. Frankly the canal ain't all that as far as interesting cruising, not after being spoiled by the Salish Sea, San Juans, Gulf Islands, BC Sunshine Coast, Princess Louisa Inlet, Chatterbox Falls, & Desolation Sound. Then the remnants of TS Fred & Henri started affecting the area. So we decided to cut our losses & end the trip after Baldwinsville & Lock 24. A short way beyond Baldwinsville there is a turnoff & channel linking up with Lake Onondaga, which has a good marina and boat ramp right in the town of Liverpool, NY within walking distance to stores & bus service with transient slips for $33 per night. We docked there for four nights while we rented a car to drive the 150 miles back to Tonawanda to get the truck & trailer out of storage. Then stayed a fourth night while I fixed some issues with the trailer's tail lights (rusted bulb sockets) & waited out a stormy night, the wettest, rainiest night we've ever spent on the boat. Needless to say, now would not be a good time to be anywhere near New York City.

The highlight of the trip was meeting up with Ulf & Elizabeth (tribologist), which that alone made the whole enterprise worthwhile which otherwise would have been an expensive failure.

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Thanks for the offer to park in your driveway. Will keep that in mind.

As far as Mexico, back in October 2007 we trailered the Catalina 22 sailboat I had at the time down to San Carlos (Guaymas). I'm not a big fan of Mexico or the Sea of Cortez. Got all the desert I want right here. Plus all the border crossing hassles & need for special Mexican insurance. That time we sailed up as far as Catch 22 Bay (location for the 1970 film "Catch 22" with Alan Arkin, Jon Voight, Charles Grodin, Orson Welles, & others). But that was enough for us and have never returned. I've lived in AZ for 44 years and have never gone down to Rocky Point. I have sailed sailboats out to Catalina Island twice, once from Marina Del Rey in a Montgomery 15 in 2003 and once from San Pedro in a Catalina 25 in 2012, & lastly motored La Dolce Vita from Huntington Beach to Catalina & circumnavigated the island in 2017.

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