New Trip Blog

The trip - In May 2017, I will depart Fair Haven, New York; the mast down. Under power, Distant Horizon and I will follow the south shore of The Great Lake Ontario for Oswego Harbour. Weather is important. If there is wind, it needs to have a southerly component for minimal waves.

From Oswego, we will traverse the New York State Canal System to Catskill, NY where the mast will be raised.

After I have tuned the rigging and bent all the sails on, we head south to New York Harbour.

I will wait in the New York Harbour area for a good three-day weather window, at which time I will depart for a transatlantic voyage to the Azores.

Those familiar with the islands will notice that I am sailing directly to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel rather than Horta the typical stopping off point.

Ponta Delgada is the capital city. I am familiar with the port entry procedures, which is a minor detail. However, There is so much to see on Sao Miguel, I want to stay there for several days: hiking the volcano calderas; enjoying the natural hot spring baths; taking in the beautifully decorated streets and much more.

This choice of destination will extend the Atlantic crossing by about one day. However, as I back-track to Horta, I will actually be heading north towards Ireland. I plan to stop and tour several of the islands during my stay. This will take about a week to 10 days, but I'm not on a schedule.

During this stay, I will notify Grace of my intended departure date. It will take about 12 days to reach Ireland. It should take less. In fact, it could take as little as 7 days. However, I am crossing the stormy path of the North Atlantic where every storm crossing North America (Mexico to Canada) makes its way across the ocean. This will be the roughest and toughest part of the journey. So, I am leaving extra time to allow for a conservative approach to the storms. After all, this is not a race.

Grace will meet me in Ireland. For the the remainder of the summer, we will tour the southern coast of Ireland. My daughter, Brynn, and her husband are planning to visit Ireland at that same time so we can all tour inland together.

Depending on our progress, I can either end the season in Limerick, or continue on to Dumbarton, Scotland. The remainder of the trip is quite open and unplanned. I wanted to leave enough time to truly "see" Ireland and re-visit Scotland.

This will be the last post to this blog for quite some time. I have started a new blog that is specific to this trip. So, please go to HTTP://SailingOnTheDistantHorizon.blogspot.com where I tell the story from the beginning.

2017 - A late start

As I performed an overhaul on the boat's portlights this winter, New York State performed an overhaul of the New York State Canal System.

Previously, the canal system fell under the Thruway Authority. That made sense because the Thruway Authority was charged with maintaining and controlling transportation systems throughout the state.

As of January, the canal system is under the New York State Power Authority (NYPA). The most common expression people have when they find this out is... What!? It does make sense, though. The water levels in the canal system are controlled by the NYPA. They regulate the canal system's water by releasing water from Delta Lake, Hinkley Reservoir, Sacandaga Lake and others.

According to the Oswego News, "When the New York Power Authority took over operation of the canal system in January, its officials did a thorough inspection and found a number of large maintenance projects that need to be done."

The canal system's season will be 6 weeks shorter this year. So how does this effect me?  Instead of opening May 1st, the canal system will open May 19th. Grace graduates from Ithaca College on May 21st. This means a three week delay for the start of the trip. I was hoping to be out of the canal system before Grace's graduation, and then sail down the Hudson River afterwards. Now, I will try to get started May 24th.

As a side note, Syracuse will host the World Canals Conference  in September.