For those of you interested in seeing this year's trip on a map, there are several to show you. After sailing down LI Sound from Ivoryton, CT, Shabu made the turn at New York City and headed up the Hudson River.
Starting with this map of Lake Champlain you can follow the route north - up the lake - and see the list of towns and cities that surround the lake.
After sailing the length of Lake Champlain, Shabu headed up into Canada on the Chambly Canal. Follow along by finding Lake Champlain (at the bottom of the image) and trace their route north to Sorel, then south along the St. Lawence. Just north of Montreal, Shabu turned into the Lachine Canal and eventually to the entrance of the Ottawa River.
Shabu then headed west-southwest to Ottawa and then entered the Rideau Canal. On the bottom of this map you can see Kingston, Ontario at the southern end. This is where Shabu will spend the winter.
Here are the "log" entries from Admiral Bev Astles as Shabu made her way. It should be noted that the "log" entries are in chronological order, but the dates stated represent when they were received by me, not necessarily the dates they were written. Since access to the Internet was fairly limited, lots of details about the trip are not posted. I'm hoping there will be more details available to post later.
July 30, 2003 - Yes, we're here on the lake having great sails - no salt, no tides, no current, no lobster pots. We finally got away from the house on 6/23 and had a very peaceful ride down the Sound, thru Hell Gate, and rounded the tip of Manhattan. Only problem our cell phone won't work; Verizon has got area sewed up wants us to give them $2/min. Other problem is Win 98 laptop died; got replaced with Win XP; now looks like GPS will need replacing to talk to Win XP; have loaded 1st album at www.webshots.com and managed to find a Win XP exe to load pictures; went well, but the segment for inviting friends just goes to MS Explorer; couple this with 1 plug in on this whole lake so far, I think I've sailed to the end of the earth. We think we will spend 1 more week sailing on the lake then head north, get the mast out again (we're spoiling ourselves by finding a trucker as a 56 ft mast on a 30 ft boat is another story). We'll do the Richelieu to Sorel, then down the St. Lawrence to Montreal, stay for a few days, then the Ottawa River to the Rideau and come out at Kingston. By then, since we are really taking our time, it may be mid Sept.
August 30, 2003 - Sailing Lake
Champlain was great - no tide, current, salt, lobster pots, or crab pots. Just
gentle winds and calm waters. We crossed into Canada, entered the
Chambly Canal
& Richelieu River to Sorel. Then down the St. Lawrence to Montreal where we
entered the
Lachine Canal.
We were treated as royalty at the St. Lawrence Royal Yacht Club, then across Lac
Louis to the St. Anne de Bellevue Lock. Next the Ottawa River to the Carillon
Lock.
August 31, 2003 - The lift in the Carillon Lock is unreal, but the
floating dock in the lock makes it very easy. Montebello was a beautiful place
to stop, about 4 different spots to eat, 6 different spots to drink, 2 huge
pools, sauna, etc., and the Louis Joseph Papineau Estate (1850) to tour. Once we
arrived in Ottawa we entered the first 8 locks of the Rideau Canal.
Webphotos
September 20, 2003 - With a seasonal mooring pass you can tie up just about anywhere, even along the canal wall in downtown Ottawa while you visit the city. Parliament Hill is awesome both outside and inside, especially the view from the Peace Tower. We are getting lots of "lock" practice, but there is always plenty of staff to help. There are so many places to drop the hook, it is hard to decide where.
September 28, 2003 - The Narrows lock is about midpoint in the Rideau Canal System. From here Shabu made stops at Colonel By Island, Portland, Westport, the Chaffeys, Davis, Jones Falls Locks, and Morton Bay. We met the 128 ft cruise ship, Kawartha Voyager, which folds its bow to fit in the locks. Each stop seemed more beautiful than the one before it.
Rideau-Narrows to Jones Falls Webphotos
September 30, 2003 - After passing through the locks at Upper Brewers, Lower Brewers and Kingston Mills, Shabu had completed a total of 74 locks for this part of her Great Loop trip. She is now hauled out at Kingston Marina along with her mast and wishbone. Her crew is back in CT until May '04, when they will return to launch Shabu and continue on the Great Loop.
Rideau-Brewers to Kingston Webphotos
October 1, 2003 - Had a phone call from Bev and Dick - home and warm in Ivoryton. They are happy to be on dry land having hitched a ride from Canada with a former neighbor who now lives out in that neck of the woods.
As noted in the final entry, the plan is for two admirals to continue the voyage in mid May 2004 with some more paddling around the lake, visit Mackinaw and then eventually to buzz down to Chicago where they will pull out for the winter.
You may also read about the 2002 Voyage of the Shabu by reading the Ship's Log