"Too Tall" Remedios

The next section of our journey will be through the Oswego Canal and then through Lake Oneida and then through a section of the Erie Canal. These are all waterways that are managed by the state of New York. At present it is raining quite hard as we motor along and I couldn’t see the sense of all three of us sitting out in the rain so I offered to come down here and update the blog. Pat does have a rather heroic look back there at the wheel while sheets of rain come down. We do have a bimini top but that just stops some of it. Rob took a picture when we had a break in the rain.

The real excitement of the last couple days was the process of taking our mast down, building some cradles out of scrap lumber and tieing it all down. After we get to the Hudson River and get past the last low bridge, we will stop at a boatyard to have a crane lift it back up. This was lots of work but for three guys raised on Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets it was the dream of a lifetime.

Here are Pat and Rob looking over the scrap pile of lumber from mast cradles from other boats who raised their masts at this marina and then left the cradles behind for others to use.

Here is Remedios with the cradles all ready. We took the boom down with the mainsail in it ourselves. Yes, it was heavy. Real heavy.

Next is Bernie, the local de-master, going up to attach his line. He puts on a sling and the electric winch hoists him up. He has two trusted local boys as helpers.

After Bernie gets back down, all the strong guys gather at the base of the mast while the crane lifts it off the deck. Pat helps with this part as Rob and Tom stand wisely, a distance away.

Next, the mast is allowed to swing over the side and will be lowered in place. Rob and Tom stand even farther away. Even Pat has stopped helping.

And, at last, the mast is safely down and ready for its trip through the canals. After we got it all lashed down, Rob and Tom worked out a plan to put a tarp over the mast and spreaders, and offered, on their own time, to go get colored lights and a couple of those lighted hula dancers and set it all up for a big marina party underneath. But Captain No Fun said we had a date with the ocean and had to leave. Maybe when we hit France...