The anchor came out of the bottom and was hoisted aboard around 0615 this morning. There were two reasons for the early departure. The first was in deference to an incoming cold front and its associated storms. We wanted to be secure somewhere before they rolled in. The second reason was that we had no idea where that secure place might be. It appears to be the very heart of the boating season in these parts with every support facility working at full capacity. So we headed west along the river while still searching for a place to park for 48 hours or so. We had about 10 hours of cruising time to figure it out. It is a rare day when First Light departs with no real plan in hand.
The first potential option was a spot on the chart about 10 nm from the anchorage at a place called Alexandria Bay. The marinas located there were all full but there was a rumor of a “town dock” that works on a "first come, first served" bases. There was no contact number associated with the rumor so less than two hours into our day we swung out of the channel and into the bay to take a look. We turned the corner to find a modest looking floating dock that was completely empty. (Modest as it may be it still costs $2 per foot per night to tie to a dock.)
We picked a slip like we owned the place and pulled in. It looks like the slips are sized to take two smaller boats side by side as First Light spans more than half the width. She is a bit long as well. Her bow is hanging out over the dock walkway and her stern a couple of feet out past the end of the slip. There is still plenty of room for other boats to get around and we hung brightly colored flags off the anchor to get the attention of anyone out for a stroll on the dock. With no one around to tell me different we spider webbed the boat in place with a total of seven lines run from the starboard and port sides to various cleats. The we hung pretty much every fender we have along the expected downwind (starboard) side. At the moment small boats, tuners, and wave runners are coming and going like it is a holiday, making for some rocking motion. It isn't uncomfortable though the motion up in the flybridge might be a little hard to take.
Two Looper boats are actually in the marina about 100 yards across the water. A short walk away are two other Looper boats secured in a different marina. We walked around for a couple of hours to visit them...and to stop at a little store to refill the ice cream stash. When we got back yet another Looper boat had tied too a little way down the dock from where First Light is resting. All of them are folks we have docked with before, which makes the whole thing seem like it was planned.
We will be here for two days and two nights. On the RADAR the storms inbound for this afternoon looked like they were going to be pretty intense. But they spent most of their energy elsewhere and passed through here as gentle rain. Just enough to force us to close up the boat, making for a hot and sticky evening. Not sure what tomorrow will bring but it does't make much difference. After a series of phone conversations we have a reservation at a marina in Canada for Wednesday to clear customs. Pretty good for starting out this morning without a plan.
That has become the theme of this trip so far. In spite of the challenges things seem to work out pretty well. On the dock we needed to be on to take care of all the mechanical problems. Through our first locks with little wind and no traffic. Meeting a whole slew of fellow Loopers has been a treat. And we have seen some truly spectacular sights along the way. We have learned to take nothing for granted. Just accept the current moment for what it offers, try and make the best decisions we can with the information we have, and move on to the next moment. That is pretty close to as good as it can be. And it has been working out pretty good as well.
From our trip back down the St. Lawrence River:
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