Trojan Boat Forum

Well.....

whoever said that taking a longer voyage home was a great way to get to know your boat certainly had it right - the good and the bad.

The good was that the boat was ok for the most part, the greatest was the people we met along the way, the bad was a factor of older engines.

There are two groups of photo's. The first is departing Chrisholm Marina in Chester....great marina.. 2. is going out to Long Island Sound,3 and 4 are from Liberty Landing Marina NJ, 5 is departing West Point, 6 is Colemans's Landing Albany and 7. is Lock 9 on the Champlain Canal.

We were doing great up until Albany, averaging 15 kts, upping to 20 kts on the Hudson, but blew a head gasket just after refueling in Albany. It was sheer serendipity to have the mechanic of the yacht club at the bar when our gasket blew and he had the right parts and replaced both port head gaskets between 1700h and 2300h that same night. Notwithstanding that repair, the port engine continued to give us problems. (more on that on a separate post - something wrong with the closed cooling system)

Arriving on Lake Champlain, made it to a few miles north of the Champlain Bridge only to be confronted with weather advisories of 70km/h winds and severe thunderstorms. We backtracked to Champlain Bridge Marina and were impressed with the reception, - we asked where we could get some beer, and a member offered to go get some for us - returning with 12 beer, chips, ice, and absolutely refused to take any money from us for having done so. There are some great people around.

Left Champlain Bridge Marina, headed for Burlington VT for a short stop and finally ended up at Mooney Bay NY.

Overall, the boat was great except for the port engine problem and a minor issue on the starboard engine where I had to replace a fuel filter - I suspect bad gas at Whitehall (or ethanol) Also found it sad that the owner of the Marina at Whitehall may be forced to sell in two weeks as traffic has declined precipitously of late and commensurately his ability to make the marina work. Promised to send some ideas. Certainly the closure of the Eire Canal until this week has not helped - but one thing I discerned this trip was that many are not venturing on the water much this year.

Sounds like a great trip.

We did the same thing when we bought our F32.

320 miles at 100 miles/day up the ICW from St. Augustine, FL to Charleston, SC - lots of fun with my wife and sister, and met a lot of great people along the way.

2nd night aboard, we stopped at Jeckyll Island and the dock owners let us use their car to go to the store to get some food (and beer, like you).

Whenever we cruise, we meet great people, and typically have others come out and help us dock whenever we arrive at a new place - usually leading to invitations to happy hours, etc. ... great people on the water!

Congrats on the new boat!'

Great story sounds like an adventurous trip.We are getting ready for our maiden voyage with our new to us 1989 10 meter express although not 380nm our trip is from Toms River NJ(where I purchased the boat) to New London Connecticut about 160nm,I've been planning this trip since the day I put my deposit on her,I'll be traveling up to NY harbor thru hells gate on up the sound I know it's probably quicker to go around long Island then around to New London but we're not in any hurry if it takes 2-3 or even 4 days I'm sure the journey will full of memory's.As of today the start date is July 29th,we plan on staying somewhere off Manhattan the first day then(sea condition's permitting) heading up the sound and depending on what we see or feel like doing either tying up somewhere for the night or just finishing up the trip that 2nd day ,I will post pictures,cant wait

Thanks for the travel log. Very interesting reading and good pics.

We did the same with our Tri-cabin five years ago. Our maiden voyage was 768nm from Lake St. Clair up through Lake Huron; under the Mighty Mac bridge, and then completely down the full length of Lake Michigan to her current slip. We had a water pump go out on the starboard side and had it replaced about half way through the trip. That route is part of the Great Loop and we intend to complete the Great Loop trip someday soon, so we already have a start on it. It was a great way to get to know our new boat and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, but glad to hear of the good people encountered and congrats on the purchase! You grabbed that boat just down river from me! Looks like she's in good cosmetic shape, and now hopefully the mechanicals are good to go.