DUNKIRK YACHT CLUB

We started Friday morning trying to get some more information on taking our mast down. In reading some different blogs and information from the internet, we thought it may be worthwhile to look at some of the other options for taking our mast down. Wardells seemed to be the place mentioned the most and there were some mixed reviews. Some of the people we talked to personally said he was the best place to go and, although his equipment was not the most up to date, he did a very professional job. We wanted to see what other places charged. The way it worked out, there were'nt that many options and the prices appeared to be similar. After deciding we would go with Wardell I called him to make sure we would have no problem finding cast off lumber to build our braces for the mast and to see what we needed to do to get the mast down. To my surprise, he said he didn't have much lumber and said we needed to have our bracing done before he would let us come in to take the mast down. By the way, he does not work on the weekends, so don't bother coming up until Monday! Now we had to figure out how to get lumber and materials to our boat and build our bracing before we got to Wardells. I was asking several people for ideas and one boater offered to take us to the local lumber yard. Another alternative would be to get closer to Buffalo and get more local information. We decided to stay another day at the Chadwick Marina and finish some of the chores, including the laundry. The marina people offered to drive us to the laundromat. There were two in town and we went to the one we thought would be the nicest, and hopefully with air conditioning. No such luck. Neither had AC and it was a scorcher of a day. When we were done, we decided to walk back to the boat. It sure didn't seem that far when we were driving there, but it was a very long and hot walk while carrying three weeks of laundry. We had left the air conditioning on in the boat, so it was nice and cool when we finally got back. I did some more searching on the internet and the charts but still did not find any solutions. We decided to walk over to the Dunkirk Yacht Club to see if we could find someone who had taken the canal recently. We were greeted by Jim Christy who looked vaguely familiar. We learned that he had gone passed us in a small boat while we were waiting to get into the gas dock and asked why we didn't go to the yacht club. Our friend Bob in Erie had told us that it was too shallow at the yacht club and that the docks were old and rickety. Apparently Bob must have mistaken the yacht club for some abandoned docks (that had recently been purchased by the owners of Chadwick Bay) that were to the East of Dunkirk Yacht Club. We were greeted enthusiastically by everyone at the club. The clubhouse is built entirely over water, which they believe is the only one of it's kind. We were offered drinks and to join them for dinner. The docks were in great shape and much nicer than the Chadwick Bay Marina. We were immediately informed that they had 7 to 10 feet throughout most of the marina. There were plenty of people who had done the canal and we were introduced to Jim and Ardy Atkins who gave us all kinds of information about the canal and their travels. Somewhere in the conversation,I mentioned I played guitar and sang. The next thing I know, I was the entertainment for the night. It was a lot of fun and everyone seemed so appreciative. What they didn't know was that I was enjoying it as much, if not more than they were. They insisted that we belonged at the yacht club and should move our boat over first thing in the morning. Jim Christy said he would take us over to the lumber yard on Saturday and would bring his tools and help us build our bracing for the mast. We should have listened to Jim when he asked us to come to the club on Thursday. They even offered the slip at no charge. How great is that?

A view of the town from the docks and the abandoned marina to the East.

As we prepared to move to the yacht club on Saturday, the winds started kicking up from a cold front and small storm that was coming across the lake. When it finally fell below 15 knots of wind, we powered ourselves out of the slip and headed to the club. There were about a half dozen people there to greet us and help us in. When Jim arrived, he told us he had found enough lumber at home to complete most of the project. After giving him an idea of what was needed, we only had to get two 2 X 6's. Jim Atkins joined us and, with his experience and Jim Christy's expertise, we now have some very sturdy mast supports and bracing. They were so fast and efficient I was amazed at how they put it all together. It would have taken 3 or 4 times longer for me to figure out how to do it in the time it took them to figure it out, design, build and install it. Everyone we met at the Dunkirk Yacht Club was extremely friendly and helpful. We had mentioned that we would like to get some diesel fuel just to make sure we had enough to get to Buffalo, and everyone just pitched in and offered to help. Jim Atkins happened to have a five gallon jerry can in his truck and he wound up letting me use the fuel he had and drove me to the gas station for another six gallons. He also saved the day (and perhaps a bit of a mess) with a siphon hose to get the fuel in the tank. We will be leaving Monday for Buffalo. We will be refreshed, fueled up, filled with local knowledge and ready to take our mast down, thanks to all the wonderful people at Dunkirk Yacht Club. A very special thanks to Jim and Chris Christy and Jim and Ardy Atkins. As we spent our last evening having dinner at this one of a kind club built on the water, we felt as if we were preparing to leave family and friends. Once again, the people we meet have been the highlights of our trip. Dunkirk Yacht Club seems to have raised the bar even higher!