Honah Lee 2

When we left the Erie Canal, we thought we had finished the locks...surprise, surprise, one last lock and it was the federal  lock on the Hudson River. This was a tough lock to handle with no ropes or cables and only pipes spaced at 75 feet to hold on to. The current off the Hudson is fairly strong and we were so happy to leave to leave that lock behind. Well we made it to Catskill in New York where we got our mast up. It’s been a brutal 2 days of hard work getting everything back together turning our boat back into a sailboat. Yesterday while working on our boat, a big Catamaran was passing our boat and someone yelled “my dad built your boat” sure enough he and his dad came by later on....he did build our boat in 1979. What a treat and extraordinary experience to meet the man that put this boat together. What are the odds. A wonderful ending to a long day. Tomorrow we leave for Kingston NY and hopefully buy a new dinghy to replace ours that ended in the garbage befor...

Today we went through 6 locks and finally arrived in the Hudson River. We’ve done a total of 30 locks including the Iroquois lock in Ontario. Going through the Oswego and Erie canals and the locks has been an amazing experience. The locks system was built over a hundred years ago and is in really great shape. The lock masters are super friendly and helpful. Having fantastic weather makes it even better. Last night we docked at lock 7 with 2 other sailboats that we’ve been traveling with for the last week and had a great BBQ. In 2 to 3 days we’re heading to the Catskill to put up our mast then heading to New York City for 4 or 5 days. Cheers

On our 3 rd day in the Erie Canal system. We’ve gone from lock.  23 to lock 12 going down to the Hudson River. Going down in the locks is super easy and quite fun. Today was the first going down 40 feet - lock 17. Most averaged so far between 8 and 27 feet. The weather has been stellar up to now. It’s cool to see the leaves changing colors and we’re still in our shorts and tees. Docked at lock 12 for the night, found a cool little pub that had the best local brew and conversation 🍺 In a few days, we’ll be in the Hudson River and looking to step up our mast then heading for New York City . On another note, a lot of you have tried to put comments on our blog without success. We are trying to work out the bugs. We apologize . We really want to hear from you so please give us news on  our emails or Mikes Facebook page. pmazerolle3@gmaill.com miketoynton @gmail.com

After a tense start wondering what the locks had in store for us we entered our very first lock with would you believe it another Corbin sailboat. The boat was lifted 8 feet and we were no longer lock virgins......fast forward 8 locks under our belt, we are now checking the weather to cross the Oneida lake that is 20 miles wide. With our mast down, we need to be careful since the boat isn’t balanced as much. Tomorrow looks like the perfect day. However there is a power boat race across the lake that creates major wakes so..... To be continued!!!

Yesterday the mast came down. It took 2 hours and a lot of heavy lifting. Our beautiful Honah Lee looks tired and beat up without the mast and boom. We’re staying an extra day to secure everything on deck before heading through the locks south. This morning we strolled to the first lock and met the lock master.  He was very friendly and offered advice on transiting the locks Also, it took us 6 banks to get one to agree to change Canadian cash currency into US dollars . They agreed just because they liked us.....🇺🇸

We decided to reach for Clayton NY as a wind warning was issued for the area. So happy to be tied up at the public dock as the winds increased for the rest of the evening. Thinking that we were one of two boats on the Dock we had a surprise awakening at 4:30am when a bright light flashed into our boat . First thought Homeland Security was taking down our boat however a bass fishing derby was starting. We were surrounded by over a 130 fishing boats They all sang the Star Spangled Banner with hands on hearts. Welcome to the USA 🇺🇸

Mad scramble in the morning to get everything organized Throw off the lines try not to rub the dock(sorry ladder) and full steam ahead to clear the low water level in the channel before entering the St Lawrence River The Iroquois lock on the River upbound went well on our second transit and now we anchor beside Prison Island , our home for the night. Goodnight All

The day has finally arrived. We’re leaving tomorrow morning heading for Oswego New York. We hope to get there in 3 or 4 days. Getting cold at the marina in Morrisburg in the morning and evening. Time to go…

We thought to share a few details about our boat. She was built in Montréal in 1980, and is 16 out of 200 that were built by Marius Corbin hence the name Corbin 39. Honah Lee 2 is a 39 foot long cutter sailboat. Cutter means that the boat has an extra sail between the bow and the mast. She is a heavy boat registered at 16.6 tons. When Corbin built his boats he used massive amounts of fiberglass on the hulls making them extremely strong and safe. She is considered a blue water sailboat which means she is capable of crossing oceans. We can sleep 6 persons in two cabins and two fold out beds.

Hi all, We have just started our new blog for our new adventure to the south and beyond. Follow us and see what sea we see.