TRIP 1 SUMMARY
Mystic, CT to Cleveland, OH
July 4-20, 1997

     The crew of ILLUSIONS, David and Angela Magill, flew to Providence, RI on July 4, 1997, to be joined by son, Chuck Magill, on a later flight, as crew, to take possession of the new ILLUSIONS, a 1995 Carver 440.  The boat was berthed at Mystic, CT, hence the name of this cruise.  The goal: to bring the boat to TX and have a great boating adventure at the same time.

     We spent the 5th of July getting groceries and other provisions for the trip.  There was a West Marine store in Mystic, along with a world-class maritime museum--the Mystic Seaport (50 buildings on 22 acres with up to 150 boats, including the last wooden whaling ship in the world), and this West Marine was serving free hot dogs and sodas.  The clerk knew a few words of English and said them all occasionally.  (Yankees are conservative with words.  They don't waste them.)  We learned a few new ones--ALL SET? and YEP were our favorites.

     This was written as a summary article.  You can also get the daily Trip Reports and our video tapes.  We hope you enjoy them.  I think every lock is shown, so if you want to see one, it's on the video.

     In summary, we traveled west on Long Island Sound to the East River, past Manhattan to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, north on the Hudson River past Albany to Troy, NY, then west on the Erie Canal to Syracuse, north on the Oswego Canal to Oswego, NY, west on Lake Ontario to the Niagara River, south through the Welland Canal to Lake Erie, and across Lake Erie (south and west) to Cleveland, OH.  We flew home from Cleveland on Sunday, July 20, and made plans to pick up the boat again on August  2 for Trip 2 around the state of Michigan.

     We traveled 813 miles, traversing 38 locks.  We went from sea level in New York City to 420 feet above sea level at Rome, NY.  We then went down about 50 feet on the Erie Canal and 118 feet on the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario, which is about 255 feet above sea level.  We then went up 327 feet through the Welland locks to Lake Erie at about 572 feet elevation.

     Along the way we saw world-class attractions, including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the NYC skyline from the water, the Battery and its marina, the Hudson River Valley, West Point military academy and other beautiful structures on the Hudson, the Erie Canal itself (built initially in the early 1800s), the 1000 island area, Boldt Castle on Heart Island, Niagara Falls, Ft Ontario, the Welland Canal itself (built in the early 1900s to bypass Niagara Falls), Cleveland from the water (very attractive with nice lunch places on the Cuyahoga River downtown), and beautiful scenery in New York, plus great weather!

     We enjoyed each other's company and participated in some positive support of each other.  We had some fun, especially with my two sons' humor--they're really funny!  We surprised ourselves doing some mechanical things we had not done before but probably will do in the future.  And I feel better about cruising after doing that, and after successfully planning and executing a trip like this one.

     Some things we appreciate about the Clear Lake, TX area--good boat repairs are more readily available there than in many other areas, we have good roads, we have good and plentiful restaurants, we have a long boating season, we have good marinas, we have good boat cleaning services available to us, we have friends who have gone cruising and are willing to share their experiences with us, and others I'm sure that don't come to mind right now.

     Surprises included the low bridges over the Erie Canal.  We knew they were low, but they were really low!  The lack of traffic, the complexities of the lock and river systems on the Erie, the lack of boating facilities (at Rome, NY, for example) are others. Dealing with the USA Customs and Immigration were another.   Angela says to take your time when you’re cruising (probably to get me to go slower), and I agree, of course.  Reading about the places we're going to see and planning the trip are both important to me.

     We bought diesel at prices of $1.07-1.24-1.75 per gallon, 1046 gallons in all.  We estimate we averaged 1.29 gals per mile, 14 gals per hour, and 10.9 mph.  The speed limit on the Erie Canal is 10 mph, and we complied, naturally.  Our running hours added up to 74.7 over the two+ weeks.  We did no traveling on the boat on the 5, 12, 15, 17, and 19 of July.

     It was a great trip, and I look forward to the opportunity to do some more "cruising!"

     David Magill