(Continued…)
"Current" Project
(Continued…)
Day 215…Banana’s
Welcome to day 215 of 365 photos…the answer to yesterdays mystery is – drum roll, please – a banana blossom! I had never seen a banana blossom before and was pretty happy to go into the US Botanic Garden while we were still in DC and see an actual bunch of bananas hanging from a… Continue Reading
The post Day 215…Banana’s appeared first on Moosetique Musing.
Are you Ready for 2015?
Less than a year away the excitement of the Pan American and the ParaPan American Games is building. Toronto will be the host city for these games with 41 Pan American Nations participating from the Americas and the Caribbean with over … Continue reading →
The Toddmund Fitzgerald…
Great Loop II Date: 8/11/2014
Day #12 (Monday): 42 miles (500 total miles)
Locks: 2 (2 total locks)
Port #8: Sault Ste Marie, MI
OB’s day to touch the waters of Lake Superior had come! Todd didn’t sleep well thinking about the short trip we’d planned. The weather forecast made it clear our weather window was coming to a close.
Sunday night, after we returned to the boat from Don and Marilyn’s, our plan was to take OB to Whitefish Point and spend the night. However, two problems stood in the way: the incoming weather and a problem finding an open dock. The docks at Whitefish Bay are free and rumor told us the local fishermen usually have them tied up with fishing boats.
When I got up Monday morning, Todd decided he would put OB on plane so we could be at Whitefish Point in 2 hours (instead of the 5 hrs. it would take us at 8-9 mph). We could walk to the Whitefish Bay Maritime Museum and have OB back at the George Kemp docks by mid to late afternoon ahead of the weather.
After further contemplation and talking to the dockmaster, Todd was concerned we’d arrive at Whitefish Point, the docks would be filled up with fishing boats, we’d have spent a lot of diesel and accomplished nothing other than taking OB farther into Superior’s waters than need be. So the plan was hatched to take OB through the Soo Locks, travel our normal speed to Whitefish Bay, bask in the glory we’d accomplished having OB in the waters of all five Great Lakes, come back to the marina and watch the weather.
We were advised to go through the Canadian Locks. It was a non-event with much the same procedure as going through the Erie and Oswego Locks. I’d forgotten how dirty the cables are in the locks. On the return trip I used our black lines!
 |
| The Canadian Lock doors are open and the green light advises us to come in. |
 |
| The green light is under the green arrow. If the light is red, we have to wait…just like a traffic light. |
Todd plotted a course up the St. Mary River to Whitefish Bay. There were many gorgeous homes all along the Canadian shoreline. We saw a huge windmill farm that ran the full length of the ridge to the north.
 |
| Algoma Steel Corp. Depot on the Canadian side just as we left the lock into the St. Mary River. |
 |
| Huge windmill farm all along the ridge on the north side of the St. Mary River in Canada. Very hard to see here because of the overcast sky. They have over 130 windmills in the farm. |
 |
| Evidence of the Granite Shield. This part of the US and Canada lay on a huge granite formation called the Granite Shield. |
 |
| Beautiful houses along the Canadian side of the St. Mary River. The US side was mostly woodland. |
 |
| This freighter looked like a ghost coming out of the mist…adding to the anxiety of going into the unknown! |
 |
| Alas, not a ghost! |
 |
| A little better picture of the far west end of the windmill farm as we came to the end of the St. Mary River and the beginning of Whitefish Bay. |
The day became overcast and the waters turned steely grey. The water in OB’s prop wash had a dark emerald cast. On a sunny day, Whitefish Bay and Superior are most likely beautiful.
 |
| The last marker in the St. Mary River before entering Whitefish Bay. |
 |
| Our GPS Navionics Charting Program shows us entering Whitefish Bay and meeting the waters of Lake Superior. |
 |
| Charlie’s impression of entering the waters of the last of five Great Lakes for us. |
 |
| Of course, there HAD to be a ghost lighthouse after we left the St. Mary River and continued to venture out into Whitefish Bay. |
 |
| If you didn’t see it in the last picture, here it is! Yes, we kept moving deeper and deeper into Whitefish Bay. |
 |
| A commercial fisherman alone in Whitefish Bay. I told Todd I thought he was brave. |
 |
| That’s Lake Superior on the horizon. The waters were very calm and inviting… |
 |
| …but they were so cold and steel grey looking. Kind of nerve wracking. |
 |
| Our prop wash had a slight emerald green cast to it. I guessed on a sunny, warm day the water color would have been beautiful. |
OB had made her goal. She’s tasted the waters of all five Great Lakes. From this point on, OB is headed south!
 |
| On the way back to the lock, this big girl passed us heading into Lake Superior. |
 |
| More of the Coast Guard presence we’ve seen along the way. He’s headed into Lake Superior too. |
 |
| Coming back to the lock, Todd lined up the Range Lights. Freighters use them more often than we do to keep on course in tight quarters. |
 |
| The arrows point to the Range Lights. They should be lined up such that one looks like it is on top of the other. We’re pretty close to that. |
 |
| Our Raymarine GPS Chart looks like this… |
 |
| …and our Navionics GPS Chart is more detailed. Our little green boat image toward the top left is entering the channel for the Canadian Lock. If we didn’t make that left turn, we’d be in one of the four freighter locks dead ahead of us in the center of the chart. |
 |
| The lock doors are closed but it isn’t easy to see when we’re downbound. The red light on the left tells us to stay put. |
 |
| The red light is under the red arrow on the left. |
 |
| Leaving the lock after our 21 foot descent. We had a large group of folks watching us lock through. As we progress down the rivers later in this trip, you’ll see that a 21 foot drop isn’t really very big. |
By the way, the reason for the title of this blog came from Todd. Before we even started out, he was calling OB ‘The Toddmund Fitzgerald’. It was more unnerving than the experience!
STUNNING CASTELLAMARE DEL GOLFO
Yachts can anchor inside the sheltered harbour at Castellamare del Golfo, but wanting to explore by rental car for a couple of days we moored stern-to a jetty for Euro 60 (NZ$94) per night including power and water. This is a delightful spot with helpful staff, the obligatory ancient castle and the picturesque sea front lined with inviting bars and restaurants.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Castellamare del Golfo marina and village
Envoy initially anchored at Castellamare del Golfo before mooring stern-to a jetty
First stop with our car was Segesta, originally home to Bronze Age Elymians, descended from legendary Trojans, and the stunning and serene site of a never-completed but well preserved Doric temple dating from 430 BC.
Spectacular Doric temple at Segesta
Laurie, Lily and John before temple
What makes this site particularly great is the location of the temple on the edge of a deep rugged gorge surrounded by lush fertile farmland.
Di, Laurie, John and Lily view gorge by temple
The next stop was Palermo to visit the ghoulish Catacombs of the Capuchins where about 8,000 mummified bodies of people who died in the 1600s to 1800s are displayed for all to see in a gloomy labyrinth of corridors. Some are lying down while others are standing against the walls supported by cords. Included are the bodies of men, women, children and even babies, mostly reasonably intact and dressed in clothing of the period. The body of one young girl is said to be so well preserved as to be almost lifelike, but she didn’t look that way to us. It was very macabre and we all agreed the bodies looked like they were props from Michael Jackson’s DVD, Thriller. This was interesting but we wouldn’t want to do it again. If you want to see some macabre pictures Google Palermo catacombs.
We finished the day with a cooling swim at a stony beach, finding a small rock pool ideal for Lily to splash around in.
Next day we visited Scopello, a small and sleepy atmospheric village based around an 18th century baglio (fortified manor house).
Scopello’s main square
The owners of a hotel invited us onto their rear balcony to look below to the coastal site of an old tonnara (tuna processing factory). This is sheltered from the open sea by several small islands and a very popular spot for swimming, despite the fact you have to pay and can only sit on concrete.
View of tonnara from hotel
Sicilians love kids and people wanted to hold Lily – the hotel owner with Lily
View of tonnara from the sea – the hotel we looked down from is upper left
John and Laurie snorkeled around the coast adjacent to the tonnara
Now we had a family conference and a change of plans. John and Alice decided they’d like to spend their remaining week back at the Egadi Islands, rather than exploring mainland Sicily. Fortunately the seven hour return trip was in nice calm conditions unlike our outward trip.
Alice and John on Envoy’s bow with paravanes out
TECHNICAL – nothing to report.
ENVOY LOG As at 22/7/14, we’d spent 105 days aboard and cruised 925 miles for 168 engine hours.
Gin Pole Rigging
Started rigging the Gin Pole this morning.The purpose of the Gin Pole is to transfer the load to the ground. Compressive strength for a 6″ X 6″ PT is approx. 26000 lbs. Buckling pressure is approx. 1285 PSI. It will be plenty strong enough to take the …
Ruse Bulgaria 1
Sulina, Romania
Salut
So we are now at marker 0 on the Danube. Tonight we will be in the Black Sea on our way Port Tomas also in Romania. It will be an overnight passage which thrills me no end but so it goes. In Port Thomas we will put the mast back up, clear out […]
Handrails, Vise for the Engine Room, Bookshelf for the Aft Cabin, and Final Plumbing
Been working on adding handrails in some strategic locations. With a relatively open interior like ours, you need handholds so you don’t get thrown across the cabin when things start rolling. This is a good start, but we have a lot more sea-proofing to…
