Delivery of Grimalkin aka FisherCat

[zipper]

Not much to show yesterday on the river. We are at Hop O Nose marina in the Catskills. We started the morning off in rain gear, but the cleared an hour later for the rest of the day. The current was against us, so we were only making around 5kts. All was good until Around 3pm, when the starboard 9.9 motor broke a valve or valve spring in the lower cylinder. It sounded like a fouled plug at first, so I changed plugs, saw the lower was wet and tried again, no difference. Fuel was spitting out the intake. Then I could hear the valve. Shut the motor down. Lifted out of water for less drag. We were only at 2.5 kts, too slow. So we pulled off and anchored while we rigged the dinghy along starboard to get us to the marina where we unstepping the mast for the run up the canal. We made it there at 6pm doing 5.5 kts on the way, with the port motor still running.





The Mercury was set just above idle to do this. Not laboring at all. Glad I brought it along.
Note: That is what happens when the hired captain bring bananas on a boat. Lol

 

[VitaminSea]

@zipper, thanks for sharing your journey, enjoying following along! Bummer to hear about the motor, but glad to hear ingenuity is in your favor!

In the last photo, it looks like a window is taped over. Is that the case?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Not much to show yesterday on the river. We are at Hop O Nose marina in the Catskills. We started the morning off in rain gear, but the cleared an hour later for the rest of the day. The current was against us, so we were only making around 5kts. All was good until Around 3pm, when the starboard 9.9 motor broke a valve or valve spring in the lower cylinder. It sounded like a fouled plug at first, so I changed plugs, saw the lower was wet and tried again, no difference. Fuel was spitting out the intake. Then I could hear the valve. Shut the motor down. Lifted out of water for less drag. We were only at 2.5 kts, too slow. So we pulled off and anchored while we rigged the dinghy along starboard to get us to the marina where we unstepping the mast for the run up the canal. We made it there at 6pm doing 5.5 kts on the way, with the port motor still running.

View attachment 220971
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The Mercury was set just above idle to do this. Not laboring at all. Glad I brought it along.
Note: That is what happens when the hired captain bring bananas on a boat. Lol

Sorry to hear about the loss of the starboard engine… glad to see you could make use of the dingy’s power plant and crack on.. way to make it happen! Hopefully the rest of the journey goes smoothly..

 

[zipper]

@zipper, thanks for sharing your journey, enjoying following along! Bummer to hear about the motor, but glad to hear ingenuity is in your favor!

In the last photo, it looks like a window is taped over. Is that the case?

Leaks, needs new deadlites and rebedding.

 

[zipper]

Made it thru lock 1 (Federal lock) tonight and arrived in Waterford at 8:30pm. Docked in front of the welcome center and a 100 yards from the first lock on the Erie Canal. This is where the canal splits, Erie to port and Champlain straight ahead.



Dinghy is working well to keep speed up. We were cruising along at 6.5kts most of today.



A few shots from today.

Port of Albany


The Fedetal lock in Troy.



And then on to Waterford

The canal systems layed out in the brick work.
A good day on the river over all, very little traffic. We were the only boat in the first lock.

We started the day taking the sails off at Hop O Nose marina as well as unstepping the mast. Looked thru their free graveyard of mast supports and scored big time with two perfect supports needing no modifications.



This how they take it down. The captain took this video and shared it with me. You might catch a rare shot of zipper holding and maneuvering the boat under the suspended mast to get it in the right spot.

New video by Erol Bayar

photos.app.goo.gl

Two days in the lock system and hope to be back home Monday.

 

[drewkaree]

Made it thru lock 1 (Federal lock) tonight and arrived in Waterford at 8:30pm. Docked in front of the welcome center and a 100 yards from the first lock on the Erie Canal. This is where the canal splits, Erie to port and Champlain straight ahead.

View attachment 221014

Dinghy is working well to keep speed up. We were cruising along at 6.5kts most of today.

View attachment 221015

A few shots from today.

Port of Albany
View attachment 221017

The Fedetal lock in Troy.
View attachment 221018View attachment 221020
View attachment 221019

And then on to Waterford
View attachment 221021View attachment 221022
The canal systems layed out in the brick work.
A good day on the river over all, very little traffic. We were the only boat in the first lock.

We started the day taking the sails off at Hop O Nose marina as well as unstepping the mast. Looked thru their free graveyard of mast supports and scored big time with two perfect supports needing no modifications.

View attachment 221024View attachment 221023

This how they take it down. The captain took this video and shared it with me. You might catch a rare shot of zipper holding and maneuvering the boat under the suspended mast to get it in the right spot.

New video by Erol Bayar

photos.app.goo.gl

Two days in the lock system and hope to be back home Monday.

What the heck! Cliffhanger videos?!? When will we find out the answer to the question "how do you like it, from bow to stern?" This is worse than the "Who Shot JR" crap from Dallas!

So, is the mast broken down due to clearances for the rest of the trip (or at least certain parts upcoming)? What's the ticket for unstepping the mast, or is that done with thanks to the kindness of strangers?

 

[zipper]

What the heck! Cliffhanger videos?!? When will we find out the answer to the question "how do you like it, from bow to stern?" This is worse than the "Who Shot JR" crap from Dallas!

So, is the mast broken down due to clearances for the rest of the trip (or at least certain parts upcoming)? What's the ticket for unstepping the mast, or is that done with thanks to the kindness of strangers?

Yes, our air draft is 47’. There are bridges on the canal where the clearance is 15’. With mast down we draw 14’ due to to post that the radar is mounted on.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Made it thru lock 1 (Federal lock) tonight and arrived in Waterford at 8:30pm. Docked in front of the welcome center and a 100 yards from the first lock on the Erie Canal. This is where the canal splits, Erie to port and Champlain straight ahead.

View attachment 221014

Dinghy is working well to keep speed up. We were cruising along at 6.5kts most of today.

View attachment 221015

A few shots from today.

Port of Albany
View attachment 221017

The Fedetal lock in Troy.
View attachment 221018View attachment 221020
View attachment 221019

And then on to Waterford
View attachment 221021View attachment 221022
The canal systems layed out in the brick work.
A good day on the river over all, very little traffic. We were the only boat in the first lock.

We started the day taking the sails off at Hop O Nose marina as well as unstepping the mast. Looked thru their free graveyard of mast supports and scored big time with two perfect supports needing no modifications.

View attachment 221024View attachment 221023

This how they take it down. The captain took this video and shared it with me. You might catch a rare shot of zipper holding and maneuvering the boat under the suspended mast to get it in the right spot.

New video by Erol Bayar

photos.app.goo.gl

Two days in the lock system and hope to be back home Monday.

Really enjoyed the video of the unstepping of your mast. Bet that crane has stepped and unstepped a lot of masts in its lifetime!

For most monohulls, the deck can get pretty cluttered with the mast on the deck. Certainly not an issue with your cat.

Jim

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Not much to show yesterday on the river. We are at Hop O Nose marina in the Catskills. We started the morning off in rain gear, but the cleared an hour later for the rest of the day. The current was against us, so we were only making around 5kts. All was good until Around 3pm, when the starboard 9.9 motor broke a valve or valve spring in the lower cylinder. It sounded like a fouled plug at first, so I changed plugs, saw the lower was wet and tried again, no difference. Fuel was spitting out the intake. Then I could hear the valve. Shut the motor down. Lifted out of water for less drag. We were only at 2.5 kts, too slow. So we pulled off and anchored while we rigged the dinghy along starboard to get us to the marina where we unstepping the mast for the run up the canal. We made it there at 6pm doing 5.5 kts on the way, with the port motor still running.

View attachment 220971
View attachment 220973
View attachment 220972

The Mercury was set just above idle to do this. Not laboring at all. Glad I brought it along.
Note: That is what happens when the hired captain bring bananas on a boat. Lol

That was clever to run the dinghy on the starboard side of the cat! One would really need to have faith in their knots to do so. What size outboard is on the dinghy?

Jim

 

[zipper]

A 15hp Mercury. I lock the tiller and throttle at desired rpm’s.

 

[zipper]

Made the run up the Champlain canal yesterday from Waterford to Comstock, lock 11. Locks close at 6pm. We will pass thru lock 12 in Whitehall shortly after lock 11 opens at 8am. Lock 12 is the start of the Lake and about 60+nm to Burlington. We may make Burlington tonight, it is all dependent on conditions on Champlain. Made good time yesterday at 6+kts. Almost locked thru in a day, which is pretty good good for a sailboat. We tied up overnight South of lock 11.



We tied up port side in the locks, due to the dinghy rigged on starboard, except for C3 which had a crack in the portside wall. We had to back her in so we could hold her to the starboard wall.



Nighttime. I know shitty pic, from shitty phone cam.

 

[zipper]

Cleared locks 11 and 12 this morning by 9am and started the run up the lake from Whitehall NY. It was a beautiful day with warm sun and low South winds, ideal conditions for using the dinghy with the 15HP Mercury as the starboard motor. We cruised the nearly 70 nm run to Burlington at a steady 7+kts the whole day and arrived at the marina at 7pm tonight. I know I said it before, but glad I brought the dinghy. It saved the trip from calling Seatow, they won't tow at 7 kts, and I was trying to keep the captain from adding days to his pay.. I must say…I kissed that motor at the end of the trip. Now to rebuild the Yamaha head. Decompressing with a couple of beers now. To finally answer @drewkaree ‘s question, about liking her stem to stern…Yes, solid boat that needs some TLC, well basically a refit of most outdated systems, a good cleaning, and a touch up of her cosmetically. She sails nice and is fast under sail and motors. The captain is smitten by her and how she handled the squall on LI Sound. She is an old cat but I just spent 9 days on the water getting to know her and am pleased with her performance. Is she a pretty boat? Well, not yet but that is fixable.

Locking thru the Champlain canal was easier and cleaner than I thought it would be, we almost made it in a day. Would have if the locks did not close at 6pm and we arrived a day ahead of schedule. Once we hit the Lake it was a comfortable unwind from the confines of the upper Hudson and canal system. I am just blabbering on now so, yes she is a keeper. Not many pics today, I focused on getting home.

Thanks to all that followed the journey. Another check off the bucket list.

PS…The name Grimalkin has grown on me, helped by a Canadian couple unstepping their mast at Hop O Nose, for their run to Montreal. They had a cat on board named Grimalkin. What are the chances of that? She loved the catamarans name and I shared the "Grimalkin poem" with her, in my first post of this journey.

 

[Scottintexas]

glad to hear you made it safely, thanks for sharing the experience with us, it was great to follow along,

now back to blue berries !

 

[BigN8]

Do you have to pay a toll or fee to go through the locks? If so what does it cost?

 

[BigN8]

We head out Friday for Nassau and have now upgraded to a 46' Lagoon since we added 1 more to the crew. So there are 6 of us total, 5 of us scuba dive. Attached is a rough itinerary. After reviewing with the other captain and reading a cruisers forum I think we may have a much more aggressive itinerary than we thought. We'll have to see how it goes as we get going. I've saved all of these routes to Navionics. This is going to be some tough sailing with some of the depths we will be cruising in. I went ahead and bought a DJI mini 4 Pro to not only get some ariel shots of our trip but to also potentially use to check out water and cuts in front of us.

 

[zipper]

Do you have to pay a toll or fee to go through the locks? If so what does it cost?

No the Erie and Champlain canal system (NY State Canal system) is free. The first couple of locks they recorded USCG documentation number, overall length and boat name. It was easier and cleaner than we thought. A crew member would lasso a recessed vertical 8" ish diameter pipe or a 1 1/2" cable with a line amidship. I was on bow duty and the captain on stern with boathooks to push off bow and stern. Going up is much more turbulent than going down thru the locks. We also had use of 1" vertical nylon lines to hold position. Most were new and not slimy.

This was the Federal lock in Troy. The first lock we went thru Northbound.. Run by the Army Corp of Engineers.


Yes, need new deadlites and re-bedding.

 

[zipper]

We head out Friday for Nassau and have now upgraded to a 46' Lagoon since we added 1 more to the crew. So there are 6 of us total, 5 of us scuba dive. Attached is a rough itinerary. After reviewing with the other captain and reading a cruisers forum I think we may have a much more aggressive itinerary than we thought. We'll have to see how it goes as we get going. I've saved all of these routes to Navionics. This is going to be some tough sailing with some of the depths we will be cruising in. I went ahead and bought a DJI mini 4 Pro to not only get some ariel shots of our trip but to also potentially use to check out water and cuts in front of us.

Nice, I am sure you already know, but it sucks to dive hungover. But sidewalk rash from the night before heals well in salt water. Lol, I might have experience on that subject.

 

[BigN8]

Nice, I am sure you already know, but it sucks to dive hungover. But sidewalk rash from the night before heals well in salt water. Lol, I might have experience on that subject.

32% Nitrox is a great hangover helper. When I surface I keep the reg in my mouth until I'm seated in the boat. I suck on the Nitrox and use every bit of it while surfaced for that extra hit of O2!!!

 

[zipper]

Out with the old Force10…



…And in with a new Dickinson .

 

[Babin Farms]

Out with the old Force10…

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…And in with a new Dickinson .

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That didn’t take long. You sail it home, get right to changing things out and somewhere in between all of it I’m assuming you still get sleep??