2005

July 6 - 10
Kingston - Rochester - Oswego - Kingston

180 Nautical Miles / 210 Statute Miles / 330 Kilometers

A little dark at 01:00 in middle of Lake Ontario Nice breezy day, about half way across Lake Ontario.	The Journey Begins, Kingston to Rochester We left Kingston at 10pm on Wednesday July 6th. It was a warm and very calm night. We motored out past the K9 buoy, and made a course straight for the False Ducks Lighthouse which was 16 Nautical Miles on a course of 210 degrees. Once daylight broke, we could tell it was going to be a smooth ride for the next 50 Nautical Miles to Rochester. The previous year we had to change course and head for Sodus Bay when we had some rigging problems due to some strong unexpected gusts. Different story this year... straight to Rochester from the False Ducks on a course of 220.
Parked at Shumway Marine in Rochester	Rochester We arrived at Shumway Marine in the early afternoon, and immediately went for great pub food at Schooners Restaurant right beside the marina. After that, right to the bunk and out cold at 8pm. Almost 12 hours sleep… wow. We gathered up the golf clubs and waited for our friend Barry who took the day off to go golfing with us. We had a great day of golf and then went back to Barry and Beth’s to play the guitars. Jimmy and Lorie were there, as well has half the town… a great time! Barry drove us back to the boat on Saturday morning; we prepped up and headed for Oswego by 10am.
Leaving Rochester for Oswego Your hosts, Kevin and Wayne The Lighthouse of Oswego Entering Oswego	Rochester to Oswego A nice leisurely sail for 50 nautical miles on a course of about 030… all sails up, about 10 knots of breeze from the WSW, which let us run all the way to Oswego. This trip took about 10 hours, and just as we arrived in Oswego, the wind picked up to 20-25 knots and stayed that way all night. We headed down to Coleman’s Pub just like two years ago, and the food was terrific… I recommend the “Guinness Burger”. We also had the chef make us a sandwich to go so that’d we’d have a lunch on our journey back to Kingston the next day. We went back to the boat, and crashed out for the night. While tied up at the dock, the wind didn’t really matter… but… the lake had an entire night of blowing to pick the waves up. And holy crap, did the waves ever pick up.
Beautiful, but very bumpy. The camera seems to smooth out what the waves really look like. The picture below gives a better perspective... look beside Kevin's leg in the picture. f That one didn't splash aboard... but it was close.	Oswego to Kingston – First attempt At 3:30 in the morning, we left the dock, and headed for the breakwater. We could see the waves crashing over the breakwater, and we knew it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight when we got outside. As we entered the lake, we started getting pounded by 16 foot waves from the west, most of which were breaking over the stern and making everything good and wet. Keeping the cost of repairs in mind, and knowing that the most expensive parts break first in that kind of weather, we decided to head back into Oswego and wait for it to calm down a little. We arrived back at the city dock at about 5am. Oswego to Kingston – Second attempt After a little nap, we went into the Ramada beside the city dock, and had a coffee. The wind had obviously calmed down a little, and the waves were only occasionally breaking over the breakwater now. Off we go again… Still bumpy, but a little drier now. With 10 to 11 hours ahead of us, we had to make a course that was a little west of our target, so that we could keep the bow of the vessel into the waves as much as possible so that the deck would stay at least a little dry. The course we desired was about 005 but we were forced to hold about 350. After 7 hours of 6 to 8 foot waves, we finally came within sight of the K-12 buoy, and turned 040 through the False Ducks passage. With just the jib flying, we still made 6.5 knots in what was now a WNW wind at about 15 – 20 knots. We surfed all the way back to Kingston, tied up Trailwind and headed home. Kevy headed for Oshawa, and I headed to Ottawa. Over and out.