Two more non sailing, all motoring days. Our fifth and sixth in a row. It’s partly lack of wind but even with wind it is often expected when River cruising. The interesting part of the two passages was the Jemseg River, between the Saint John River and Grand Lake — and it is big! The Jemseg runs at an acute angle off the Saint John. It reminded me of the Dismal Swamp route of the Intra Coastal Waterway (through North Carolina), but no “deadheads” (submerged tree trunks) to contend with here. Also, because it is wider, we did not have to contend with our masthead instruments getting caught on the overhanging tree branches.
Once through the Jemseg, and out into the Lake, the first few miles is a very well buoyed (red and green every 700 feet) channel until the lake is deep enough that folks can go wherever they want. Another reminder of our ICW because for many miles it runs through water that is a mile wide, but only a few feet deep, except in narrow, dredged, well marked channels. Finally it reminded me of the ICW in the low country areas with water grass and lilies at the sides.
Eight miles of each day’s passage were coming and going in the Jemseg and the channel out into the Lake. The water was as shallow as 12 feet deep, at spots, more than enough and more than in most of Eastchester Bay, but still, these are NOT our home waters.
Our first destination was Douglas Harbor on the north shore of the lake. Is is a favorite destination among boaters here with many boats moored in its eastern part, called “The Bedroom”.
There are beaches nearby, trails, a restaurant, etc. The problem was that the weather was not cooperating. We got on a choice mooring operated by the Club, near the dock, which would have been ideal.
But shortly after our arrival the rain came, and it stayed, sometimes heavy and other times light, until 10 am the next day. So while we visited Douglas Harbor, we did not experience its pleasures. We saw no one aboard, going to or coming from any of the many other moored boats. Disappointing.exiting the Harbor, into the Lake, you can see it’s still gloomy.
A mistake when exiting: I cut to close to the shoreline. ILENE’s depth sounder alarm honks at seven feet, 14 inches before the crunch. It did not, because when I glanced at the indicator and saw eight feet I swerved away from the shore. Another harmless mistake I failed to report from a few days ago. I pressed AUTO and left the helm to attend to some other issue. Suddenly alerted to the boat turning sharply I rushed back and put us back on course. It was not Auto’s fault that time. I had pressed a button but oops, not AUTO.
We were underway for the second passage at 10:40 and arrived at the Evandale Resort at 3:55.
Evandale has docks and only one mooring, which we had reserved. So no question which mooring was ours.
Letting down the dinghy I learned that I had failed to pull the drain plug of the dink when hauling it at Grimross. It was half full of heavy rain water from the night’s rain which had also gotten into the sealed plastic bags of garbage we had stored there. I pulled the plug, let it drain and washed it before reinserting the plug and lowering it.
The Hotel is right next to a drag ferry launch site. The ferry, seen here at the far shore, drags itself back and forth along its cable, seen here buried on the near shore.
These ferries seem to be in near constant motion. It does not take long for two or three motor vehicles to drive off, to be replaced with others going the other way. And then another crossing. I investigated: it is a relatively low cost infrastructure, compared to building 70 foot high bridges, operates 24/7 and is toll free, like the Staten Island Ferry.
The hotel has a snack bar, a small store, good showers, two washers and two dryers and a very friendly staff. We did laundry, took showers and had dinner at the Inn. Back in the 19th century, the river was a passenger route and the steamboats made a stop at Evandale.
Along the shore we saw cows:
No comments:
Post a Comment