Hi,
I'm the (step) son-in-law, Ben. This is the story of the journey home - The Guy's Trip:
When “The Dudes" and I met Uncorked in Toronto she was happy to learn that all of her female passengers had departed. This was the last leg of her voyage and she knew that only the bravest of brave would steer her home across the wilds of the North American Great Lakes. At her helm was Captain Vertin (as usual) with the tiller in one hand and a bottle of Grand Marnier in the other. On her bow was Tommy, a mildly overweight yet capable first mate (note: by birthright). On her stern was Dickey, prematurely balding, but no less knowledgeable by second mate standards. In the galley was the cook/ (step) son-in-law; a bit short in stature but mildly good looking and a whiz with freezer-burned shrimp and granulated garlic.
Day/Night 1: As I noted, the adventure began in Toronto. Labatt 50 was the beer of taste that evening as the crew eagerly devoured their steaks seasoned with only the finest green-colored salts mined from wild Canadian volcanoes (seriously). Bored with taunting waitresses, crashing weddings (don’t ask), and unsuccessful duck hunting from Uncorked’s swim platform (with breadcrumbs and a fish gaff), they decided to hit the rack early. A big day was to follow: Two countries and 320 vertical feet of Wellington Canal Locks were ahead.
Day 2/Night 2: Day two started early, the crew was startled by the rumbling of Uncorked’s diesels at O-seven-hundred. They all knew Captain Vertin was awake……and hung-over. A brisk run across Lake Ontario brought them to the foot of the day’s endeavor. Curiously, myth and legend told that the Wellington Locks could be traversed in no less than 8 to 10 hours. After a warm up bloody mary, Uncorked made quick work of those ramparts in less than 6 hours without a scuff on her rub rail (ok, a little one - stern lines should not be manned by a cook). Erie, PA was the port of call. “Yard Bird” and euchre were on the menu.
Day 3/Night 3: Uncorked was spared overnight as tornadoes tossed the great lakes states, but she sustained 30 knot winds while heavy rains strained her lines. The crew slept somewhat soundly only to wake and realize that the daytime goal of reaching Mecca (Put-In-Bay, OH) was looking unlikely. After a hot breakfast served by twin waitresses and jell-coat scuff by a couple of drunk teens on a wind-strewn 84 Wellcraft, Captain Vertin elected to try his luck on the 6-10 foot seas. Uncorked is a large vessel, no doubt, but she was built for the warm water of the inland FL Keys, not the tempestuous chill of eastern Lake Erie after twelve hours of NW 30 knot winds. The freefalls sheered bolts, split refrigerator racks, and after only 40 minutes the Uncorked crew was disheveled by their predicament…………and then there was vomit…………lots of vomit.
Pulling the rip cord, Captain Vertin plotted a course. Ashtabula, OH was the savior……three hours and forty miles after leaving Erie, PA. Affectionately called “The Armpit of Lake Erie,” ancient, rusted and mostly vacant, Ashtabula proved to be nothing less.
Day 4: The crew awoke again to the rumbling of the Uncorked diesels. Captain Vertin was pumped for the journey home. A brisk 20 knot pace and 2-3 foot seas brought Uncorked to Put-In-Bay by 11:00am where rum runners and pizza entertained their weary souls. After a few cocktails, topless sunbathing, some fuel and a much needed pump-out, the voyagers were on their way. As they passed by Middle Sister Island and up the shoots of the southern Detroit river, the sulfur of the foundries caressed their nostrils (the holding tank was now clean, so by process of elimination……). The home waters of Lake Saint Clair were sweet and a welcomed reward after traversing Lake Ontario, The Wellington Canal and Lake Erie (lengthwise) without a functioning GPS.
The Old Club, Harsens Island, MI – Home Port: The boat well was shallow and the crew half-drunk (mostly drunk), but Uncorked managed to find her way home. As the journey came to and end the captain adopted the second mate into his family as “his new son”, the first mate drove home as he was the closest to sober, and the cook, overjoyed, relished in the fact that for a fleeting five minutes he was allowed to drive (chaperoned) the 50 ft private yacht…Uncorked.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Locked and Loaded
31 locks in 4 days! We are celebrating our accomplishment with Veuve Cliquot that we put on ice the day we left and we may have had just a little too much of the bubbly.
We got back to the boat late Friday (28th) with our friends Dave and Lynn Lozon. Saturday we ran around stocking the boat with all the necessary items like old fenders and lines, boat hooks, work gloves, food, and vodka and although it was mid afternoon when we finished, we still set out for the Troy Lock,the first on the NY Canal System. We headed into the lock with a plan that quickly came unraveled; it really just became "somebody get a line around a cable and hold on" Of course we did all manage to hold the boat steady against the lock wall but we made it much harder on ourselves than we needed to. We decided that 1 lock was enough for today and put in for the night.
Sunday we were blessed with fabulous, sunny weather and knocked off a dozen more locks. After the 4th one we got a little cocky and thought we had a great process but then lock 6 threw us for a loop when nothing was set up as in the previous 5. All hands on deck! New Process! We learned to be flexible any way. It was one really long day but we managed to find an empty spot on a concrete wall in Canajoharie at about 7 p.m.(no shore power) so we tied up, ate shrimp cocktail for dinner and called it a night.
Monday was another beautiful day so we decided to try for Lake Oneida. All of the guidebooks warned that a 10 mph speed limit is strictly enforced through the canals but we met a local who said this was bunk so...techie Lynn said "Google it" We did and found that the local guy was right. The speed limit was 30mph through the part we ran yesterday - today's run is where it drops to 10. CRAP. Unfortunately the locks were father apart and seemed to take a lot longer to get through today even though we had perfected our technique: ) Dave was feeling the work of the previous day in his lower back so he asked Lynn to get him a couple of Aleves. Evidently he combined all of his pills into one bottle and Aleve and his sleeping pills look extremely similar. Our "Ship's Nurse" delivered the wrong meds and it took us the better part of the day to figure out why Dave was so groggy and quiet. We demoted him from "bow line tend-er" to the stern, figuring it was less distance to fall should he doze off midway through a lock.
We did finally make it to Lake Oneida and pulled up to the port just as a downpour broke the heat spell. We got soaked but had shore power, which translates to air conditioning at night without the sound of a generator to keep you awake.
Tuesday we treated ourselves to breakfast at a dive and got a late start on the water. We still managed to get through the rest of the locks and put in by 6 for our celebration. We laughed over the fact that Lynn warned us before agreeing to come, "I'll go but I'm not good crew - I'll watch Scrappy but I don't want to do lines or anything". Lynn ended up having the role of picking up the slack and trust me, there was always slack. Waiting on the Captain, grabbing the center line on the lock wall when the aft or bow line was missed by Dave or I, running up to the bridge to get a line that was too short to reach from the transom, running boat hooks to Dave and I, communicating Captain's commands out the side door to us (and often times softening the message to keep our morale up). The only thing she didn't have to do was watch Scrappy because he basically laid in the sun and wanted no part of our folly.
Tomorrow we head West on Lake Ontario to Rochester then Thursday it's off to Toronto for some culture!!!
We got back to the boat late Friday (28th) with our friends Dave and Lynn Lozon. Saturday we ran around stocking the boat with all the necessary items like old fenders and lines, boat hooks, work gloves, food, and vodka and although it was mid afternoon when we finished, we still set out for the Troy Lock,the first on the NY Canal System. We headed into the lock with a plan that quickly came unraveled; it really just became "somebody get a line around a cable and hold on" Of course we did all manage to hold the boat steady against the lock wall but we made it much harder on ourselves than we needed to. We decided that 1 lock was enough for today and put in for the night.
Sunday we were blessed with fabulous, sunny weather and knocked off a dozen more locks. After the 4th one we got a little cocky and thought we had a great process but then lock 6 threw us for a loop when nothing was set up as in the previous 5. All hands on deck! New Process! We learned to be flexible any way. It was one really long day but we managed to find an empty spot on a concrete wall in Canajoharie at about 7 p.m.(no shore power) so we tied up, ate shrimp cocktail for dinner and called it a night.
Monday was another beautiful day so we decided to try for Lake Oneida. All of the guidebooks warned that a 10 mph speed limit is strictly enforced through the canals but we met a local who said this was bunk so...techie Lynn said "Google it" We did and found that the local guy was right. The speed limit was 30mph through the part we ran yesterday - today's run is where it drops to 10. CRAP. Unfortunately the locks were father apart and seemed to take a lot longer to get through today even though we had perfected our technique: ) Dave was feeling the work of the previous day in his lower back so he asked Lynn to get him a couple of Aleves. Evidently he combined all of his pills into one bottle and Aleve and his sleeping pills look extremely similar. Our "Ship's Nurse" delivered the wrong meds and it took us the better part of the day to figure out why Dave was so groggy and quiet. We demoted him from "bow line tend-er" to the stern, figuring it was less distance to fall should he doze off midway through a lock.
We did finally make it to Lake Oneida and pulled up to the port just as a downpour broke the heat spell. We got soaked but had shore power, which translates to air conditioning at night without the sound of a generator to keep you awake.
Tuesday we treated ourselves to breakfast at a dive and got a late start on the water. We still managed to get through the rest of the locks and put in by 6 for our celebration. We laughed over the fact that Lynn warned us before agreeing to come, "I'll go but I'm not good crew - I'll watch Scrappy but I don't want to do lines or anything". Lynn ended up having the role of picking up the slack and trust me, there was always slack. Waiting on the Captain, grabbing the center line on the lock wall when the aft or bow line was missed by Dave or I, running up to the bridge to get a line that was too short to reach from the transom, running boat hooks to Dave and I, communicating Captain's commands out the side door to us (and often times softening the message to keep our morale up). The only thing she didn't have to do was watch Scrappy because he basically laid in the sun and wanted no part of our folly.
Tomorrow we head West on Lake Ontario to Rochester then Thursday it's off to Toronto for some culture!!!
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