2 - Sunday in Oswego

Sunday in Oswego
Went to the H. Lee White Maritime Museum where we learned that on January 1, 1808, President Thomas Jefferson signed the warrant appointing James Fenimore Cooper as a Midshipman in the infant United States Navy. President Jefferson certainly did not know that in so doing, he was laying the foundations of a new kind of writing - the sea story. In July of 1808 Midshipman Cooper was sent to Oswego, New York, on Lake Ontario, to help supervise the construction of America's first Great Lakes warship, the 16- gun brig Oneida. After his service in the Navy Cooper when on to become one of the most popular 19th century American authors, and his work was admired greatly throughout the world. As for the crew of Wander’n By, we went back to the boat and took a nap! One thing we learned about the marina here in Oswego is the boat rocks night and day. You look out at the water and it seems like nary a ripple, but look at the boats and they are all bobbing and weaving. Brenda will be glad to get this port behind us!

In the evening we took a hike on the river walk then up to Fort Ontario. The fort was closed but we took a walk around the fortifications. It was very hot and we both were pretty dehydrated by the time we got back. Off to Kingston first thing in the morning, so off to bed early to get a good nights rest.

Monday Sailing to Kingston – never a dull moment!

We woke up at 5 and were sailing out of the harbor by 6 am. It was a quiet peaceful morning. It was cool and the waves were pretty lively. The wind was directly out of the South which meant it was directly at our backs so not easy sailing and the wave action made the boat rock uncomfortably. We were motor sailing, rocking and rolling when about 2 hours into our sail we heard “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday this is Captains Quarters (break-up, break-up) in the water”. They gave their location as off 3 mile island heading toward Henderson Harbor.

The coast guard took the call and tried to get GPS coordinates, but they didn’t have a GPS. Captain’s Quarters said they had hit something in the water and were listing. A local marina from Mexico bay responded and told him there was no 3 Mile Island in Lake Ontario, and he was confusing people. The man said he was not from the area but again said their location was off 3 Mile Island. We were thinking 3 mile bay? The Marina guy he asked him to look directly south and tell him what he saw. He said the Nuclear Reactor on 3 Mile Island which was South East of his position. The man told him it was Nine Mile Point! At that point we thought they might be near us. Wayne hailed them on the radio. “Captain’s Quarters, Captain’s Quarters, we are the sailing vessel Wander’n By we are in your vicinity. Can you see my sail on your horizon”? After a minute or two he said “No, we don’t see you”. Wayne responded “If you do see my sail hail me on the radio and we will come to your assistance”. We stayed in the area going off course a bit toward where we suspected they might be, but we never did see them. Last we heard, the marina was searching for them. We think we saw the search boat come out looking for them and saw it make a quick change of direction so believe they had located them. We didn’t hear anything more on the radio, so assume all ended well. Later we heard another radio call and all sounded well.

After our adrenalin levels dropped back to normal, the wind shifted a little and we were able to sail for a while. The waves were very confused and erratic making the boat movement even worse than before. Wayne finally was able to jibe the boat (putting the stern of the boat through the wind) and the boat action improved a lot.

Given the wind conditions we had to alter course a bit and passed just west of Galloo Island rather than East of Main Duck Island as we had planned. Once we got around Galloo we had some blessed breeze for a while. We sailed from Galloo to the East Charity Shoal Light which is a light house in the middle of the lake. Then turned North toward Kingston. At that point the wind was again directly at our backs. We were traveling about the speed of the wind so we had not a lick of a breeze and it was HOT! The only shade we had was directly under the dodger canvas. We bucketed some water from the lake to cool ourselves down.

Our next turn was a channel that runs between Simcoe Island and Wolfe Island. It is hard to see the channel until you are right on top of it. But we had made this trip before so knew where we were going. We were able to put up the Genoa and sailed into Kingston.

When we got to Kingston a little after 5 pm, we had to pass through a sailing race course. They all seemed to be the same type of boat with a single sail. It turns out that there is a Nonsuch Boat Race here this week. http://www.nonsuch.org/ They are a strange looking boat with a single sail and wishbone boom. The race was about over and some boats were heading in to the marina. We radioed the marina to request a slip location, and we circled and we circled waiting for them to tell us where to go. We circle and circled some more… we were hot tired and ready to be at the dock. Finally they gave us a slip location, and Wayne took us to the dock. Once we were landed we cracked open a couple of Mikes hard lemonades. Two fewer alcoholic beverages to declare at customs!

Since only the captain is allowed on shore before clearing customs, Wayne went ashore to clear in and Brenda stayed with the boat. We had some supper of cold chicken, cheese, leftover potato salad, did a quick settling of the boat, Brenda took a nap, and then we hit the showers and headed up for some home made ice cream at White Mountain. Lesson here – quick cold meals after a long hot sail!

We are pretty proud of ourselves. We sailed 57 Nautical Miles and made our way across the lake! We never did completely loose sight of land, but we definitely stretched our comfort zone a bit. Brenda got a little green, but was able to manage so is getting more and more comfortable out there. So we are accomplishing our goals and feeling pretty good!

We love Kingston and have reserved a slip for three days.

Love to All
Wayne and Brenda aboard the sailing vessel Wander’n By
N 44º 13’ 41.5”
W 76º 28’ 42.6”