Adventures End

    Sept. 30, 2021

      It’s been a few weeks and a number of miles since I posted anything.  For this, I apologize.  When I left off we were heading from Oswego to Rochester to catch up with my niece who lives in Singapore.   She was coming to see my sister and brother-in-law in Rochester.  We managed the 7 locks up the Oswego canal to Oswego with little drama.  The marina there had a spot for us on their wall which was maybe 200 yards from Lake Ontario.

    We settled into the marina and took our bikes off in hopes of a ride.   We determined that there was a museum within riding distance and decided to give it a try.   The H. Lee White Maritime Museum was a treat.   Run by volunteers it was obvious that no one cared to knock down the spider webs or chip and paint the boats.  We enjoyed it none the less.

Museum from our side of the river

Tug H.Lee White

Bob with our trusty steeds

   We had a nice ride around the town - many restaurants and shops were closed but there were enough open to keep the streets busy. Later that afternoon a waterfront concert took place across the river from our wall.  The band playing was covering Journey and they were terrible!  We retired to our salon early to avoid the cold blooded murder of any more songs.  They need to talk to the Rhythm Pilots from Scotia.  They were a rocking’ band.

     The following morning the weather looked good for a crossing.   Winds 5-10 from the south, waves 0-1 foot with a 3-5 second interval.  We dropped our lines, pushed off and we’re on our way.

OswegoLighthouse on Lake Ontario

Concert venue under the white tent

    The weather was not exactly as predicted and we had some very gusty winds and 1-2 foot waves most of the 6 hours.   Carolina is a stout girl and she did very well.   Of course, the stabilizers helped a lot!   We arrived in Rochester around 3pm.   We were offered dockage at the Rochester Yacht Club but had respectfully declined.   We had assisted a couple with a disabled Sabre and they wanted to repay us.   The Port of Rochester Marina was a bit more convenient for my sister to pick us up at, hence we stayed there instead.

Carolina at Port of Rochester Marina

   We enjoyed two days of family gatherings and more time on solid ground than we had in months.   It was god to catch up on all the happenings .  We had a chance to ride parts of the canalway through Fairport and scope out the canal that we will hopefully traversing next year.   We, as always, were keeping a weather eye for the next window to take us back to Oswego.  Unfortunately it came to soon.We would have to leave early Monday morning or be stuck in Rochester till Thursday or Friday.   We opted to leave.

    

The trip back across Lake Ontario was uneventful and we pulled into our same spot on the wall in Oswego. We once again got the bikes down and rode to a grocery to pick up a few things for the trip back to Brewerton.   We left early the next morning heading south down the Oswego River to the Oneida River and Winter Harbor…Carolina’s winter home.   This time we would not stop in Phoenix but instead would anchor at Battle Island.   It was a lovely anchorage with a clean, sandy bottom.   We had rain coming in so I was hoping to minimize my time on deck.   Hahaha-  you can’t lock through without hands on deck.  And it seemed every time we got to a lock the skies would open up.

Rainy day lock wear- also had a cap and the hood pulled up

Phoenix lock

   We arrived in Brewerton atWinter Harbor during a rain storm which continued all that day and the next. We had planned to do some outside maintenance on that Thursday but the rain gods said no.   We packed up everything that needed to come home, picked up our rental and waited for the rain to stop.  Friday the skies were not clear but the rain had stopped.  We dug into all the outside chores and finished up by 1pm.  We had packed the car between showers the day before so now we just needed to drop off keys and say goodbye to our sweet girl.   We’ve never left a boat unused for this long.  We’ve never had to store a boat before.  This is all new to us.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

    Bob drove us as far as Fredericksburg, VA on Friday.  We checked into our hotel around 9pm.   We were up and out by7am - trying to get home by noon so we could turn the car in.   Needless to say we made it.

    We had barely finished unloading the car when the first of the neighbors showed up to visit.  By the end of the evening the porch had seen 3 local couples drop by for a beer and a chat.   It sure is good to be home!   We missed our friends and our sweet little town more than we knew.

Winter Harbor heated shed

Brick House Cafe in Brewerton, NY

This one’s for you, Wayne!

 September 14, 2021

   We ended up staying three nights in Little Falls.  It’s another dying mill town.  More than 50% of the stores on Main Street are closed.  Over Labor Day weekend there were less than half the restaurants open. The big draws- antique malls, breweries- were all closed.  So sad for this small town (pop. 1,524).  We decided that our next stop would be Herkimer, NY.  Not a much bigger place and not really a good place to stop but they had a Walmart within walking distance of the gift shop/restaurant where we could tie up.

Carolina and Post Script at Little Falls

    The Tuesday after Labor Day, Post Script and Carolina dropped their dock lines and headed west.  Post Script was going to make a long day and go all the way to Brewerton where they too would be storing their boat.   We said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch.   We parted ways at the wall in Herkimer.  Bob and I tied up, hopped off the boat and headed into the gift shop.  The lovely ladies there gave us directions to the Walmart and a great book on the locks.  We walked the 1/2 mile to the store and lo and behold they had bicycles!!!  We looked over our choices carefully and finally settled on a nice little black and green number.

Herkimer Walmart’s bicycle selection

Bob’ s new bike

      We stopped in at Applebee’s for linner.   Remind us not to do that again.  Then we headed back to the boat.  When we arrived with new bike in tow we decided we needed to move on to a more inviting dock.  We untied and continued on to Illion, NY and their $1/night RV Park/Marina.   We were met by Mike who helped us tie up and gave us the lay of the land.  The Empire State Trail and Canalway  cut right through the camp ground.  We decided we would have to ride the bikes since we were right there.   Our first ride was to Frankfort just to check out the new bike.  It was a great ride up and then back.   We managed to stop at the Aldi just up the street and pick up a few things.  I’m gonna make a big list for tomorrow.

Canalway in Herkimer

    We rode the canal way again the following day and did a fairly large shop at Aldis all before the rain started around 1pm.   We rode back to the lock in Herkimer that we had come through the day before .We enjoyed Illion but it was time to move on. 

The wall in Illion

We also disposed of Bob’s old bike while there in Ilion.  I posted pictures on Facebook and got a lot of push back about how someone could use that bike, and how could we throw out a perfectly good bike.  If it was a good bike, we would have kept it.  The derailleur, the part that enables gear changing, had wedged into the spokes and was broken in half.  The spokes were compromised and the tubes had been repaired numerous times.  The bike had been on a salt water boat for 3 years and was almost rusted through in a few spots.  We salvaged what we could and trashed the rest.

Goodbye old bike!

    Our next stop would be the Aqua Vino Restaurant in Utica.  The owner of the restaurant bought the Historic Utica Wall.  He could care less about the wall for boats….power doesn’t work, docks in disrepair…but he seems to like the way boats look outside his very expensive restaurant.   We made reservations and ate in the establishment but did not find it that excellent.

Carolina in Slyvan Beach

     The next morning we were up early and on our way to Sylvan Beach on the east end of Oneida Lake .  There was a very nice wall in town to tie up to but no amenities.  No electricity, no water, no bathrooms.  There were restaurants open and nearby. The town is a summer resort town but summer is over and the amusement park was closed.   

     There was a jet ski competition happening that brought in a number of people to watch and spend money.  This town is not dead yet.  Hanging on by a thread.  The boat traffic past us on Saturday was phenomenal.  We saw at least a hundred boats exit the canal into the lake and back in again later that evening.   We attended the jet ski competition for a bit and walked the length of this small shoreline town.  We were ready to move on Sunday to Brewerton.  This is our final destination but we will continue on to visit family.   We are stopping to talk to Noreen about maintenance we want completed over the winter and some upgrades we’d like estimates to complete .

    

     Sylvan Beach was an interesting stop.  We enjoyed our time there but we need to move on.  One last beautiful sunset.

     We left on Sunday, Sept. 11th for Brewerton.  We had weather coming in so we left before 8am to cross Oneida Lake.  We’d heard it could get pretty bumped up in a good breeze so we were taking no chances.  We timed it well. The wind came up just as we reentered the canal.  Leslie and Hannah we waiting on the dock for us and helped us tie up at Winter Harbor.   Leslie gave us a comprehensive tour of their facility.  Bob and I were very impressed.  We feel real good about leaving Carolina here for the winter.   We can ever come visit her if we want to!

Post Script at the docks at Winter Harbor

    We are planning on leaving here tomorrow, Sept. 14th, and continue up the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario.  We’ll probably stop in Phoenix to check it out then on to Oswego to wait for a weather window to head west to Rochester.   

     As we were saying our goodbyes and getting our last bit of advice from Mike on Irish Rogue, a lovely women dressed for the yacht club and not the boat yard walked up.  She needed to borrow a phone to call her husband.   He was nursing a sick Sabre called So Lucky in for service.  We got to talking and walked down to help their lines.  They were from Rochester and offered to get us a slip at the yacht club but we declined. Such nice people.  We hope their Sabre is not hurt too badly.  Captain Don is 87 years old and loves that boat.

     We left Winter Harbor on Tuesday, Sept. 14 and traveled up through lock 23 then turned right into the Oswego River.  We planned on going as far as Phoenix.we arrived around 12:30 and found the wall almost empty.  There were two other boats, .   We wedged ourselves in between the two and tied up.  We were immediately accosted by Rose who wanted to see what our boat looked like inside.   Bob can’t say no, so Rose and her husband, Marvin, boarded Carolina for a tour.   They’re trying to decide what kind of boat they’d like to purchase for future cruising.   No sooner had they left than Mick, the Scot from the boat to our aft, came over to welcome us to the neighborhood.  Turns out we’ve been shadowing each other.  We were in Sylvan Beach and Winter Harbor together but had never met.

      Mick is an extremely well traveled single-hander.  He has been to all the places we want to go.  Bob picked his brains for two hours on the sun deck learning everything he could and then some.  Mick is a wealth of boating knowledge.  Every new friend we make adds a little more to our cruising knowledge.  We are so lucky to have this opportunity.  I hope we can continue for many years to come.

        Mick introduced us to NEBO, an app for logging your boat travels.  I’ve downloaded it but now I have to learn how to use it.   Wish me luck!!  We plan on staying here another day-rain in the forecast tomorrow.  I’ll work on it then.  NEBO may work better than our inReach if I can figure it all out.   

       Well , that’s it for now.   I will write again after our stop in Rochester to rendezvous with my sister and niece.   Kat is flying in from Singapore for the first time in over two years.   Her mother is very anxious to see her and her husband, Ting.  We spent time with them in Singapore and want to take this opportunity to see them also.  I don’t think we’ll be going back to Asia for a while.  Take care and stay healthy.  If you have time, come visit.  Till we meet again…..

 August 31, 2021

    We have finally left our security wall in Amsterdam, NY.  Our friend and lock master came down to the boat yesterday and let us know that they were going to pull the upper gates on  the movable dam today.  He strongly suggested we move at least beyond lock 12 but further would be better.  We had planned on leaving on Tuesday,  for St. Johnsville Marina just beyond lock 15.  

    We hurriedly left the upper wall at lock 11 with Post Script (a Carver 44’) and headed west toward St.Johnsville.  We called ahead and we’re told that there was room for our two boats if no one else came in.   No reservations are permitted.   Needless to say, we hightailed it to St.Johnsville and got there around 4pm.  There was just enough space for us to pull up to the wall and tie off.  

On the wall in St. Johnsville, NY

Blue Horizon, Post Script, Carolina, and Toucan

    (The photo was taken by Suzanne on M/V Knot Again as they departed.)

    We were greeted by Scott from M/V Knot Again and Barry from Toucan who helped us both tie up.  It wasn’t long before we were making plans for Docktails and BBQs and breakfasts in town.  Seemed like we were all heading west and we’re stuck until they opened the locks from 21- 23 again.  We decided to make the best of our time together.

Breakfast at Bridge Street Diner

In between group gatherings, Bob and I tried to get some bicycling in.  Our first foray was just up through town.  We found the DollarGeneral and bought a few things.  Stopped at the local barber and Bob got a hair cut and I bought some sweet pickles from the barber’s wife.

Bob getting a sweet trim.

     On Thursday, Bob and I decided to take a ride along the canalway up to the next lock.  We suited up in our cycling shorts and helmets and had barely spun our pedals one rotation when Bob’s bike came to a screeching halt..  on closer inspection it looked like his bike had finally given up the ghost.

It Oh!  A burial is in order.

Sure enough, the derailleur had broken off and jammed in the spokes.  There was no fixing this, especially not in St.Johnsville.  The bike is at least 4 years on our boats so it seemed it had done its duty.  A new boat bike was on the horizon for Bob.  But, in the mean time, John, our friend on Post Script, offered us the use of his “clown” bike.   You can’t pass up an offer like that, so off we went to see the old lock and ride some of the canalway up to lock 16.

Old Erie CanalLock 33 - Carolina would be a tight fit.

That evening those of us on the wall in St. Johnsville gathered for a hot dog feast.   We made a community salad with offering from 4 boats, appetizers, watermelon, hot dogs sausages and buns.  It was great fun and everyone enjoyed the beautiful evening.  The next day 4 of our group would be heading off.   We knew that four of the boats on the wall would be leaving for points west.  Carolina and Post Script decided to stay another day and let the canal clear some.   

     

Luna and Velo

Clare, Rick, Bob,Barry, Scott, Scott(2), Lynn, John, Cheryl and Suzanne

The next morning was a bit sad.  We had to say goodbye to all these new friends we had made.  Melanie promised to update us on the dockage at Little Falls, NY and Suzanne was going to let us know how hard lock 17 was to maneuver through.   Barry and Lynn’s Amazon order  arrived so they were next out and Anna and Scott had left before the crack of dawn.

    John, Cheryl, Bob and I walked into town and visited the Bridge Street Diner for a delicious lunch.  We continued on after lunch toward Larry’s vegetable stand but he was not there.   When we got back to the wall a new boats was coming in.  They were fromPoughkeepsie, NY.   They were “practicing” for the loop and were not having much luck.   The admiral did not like going through.o is and the captain was just generally unhappy.  We had docktails in the common area but they never joined us.

 

     Friday dawned bright and sunny.  Bob and I loaded the bikes back onto the boat, filled our water tanks and dropped our dock lines.  We, with Post Script, were  off to lock 16 - a 20.5 ft lift and lock 17. - a 40.5 ft lift.

Our bikes plus John’s clown bike.

Lock 16 was easy peasy, just 20 feet.  The lock master asked for our USCG documentation number and passed us through.  Next up was the tallest lock in the Erie Canal- lock17 with a 40.5 ft. Lift.   We had read that if it was windy you could have problems entering the lock.  We also had to switch all our fenders to the port side .  The water filled the lock from the starboard side and it would be impossible to hold the boat to the wall with all the turbulence.   We were out front and made a clean entrance into the lock.   The upper gates spew water all the time so Suzanne had warned us not to get too far forward in the lock.  I had put on my foulie  jacket just in case.

Clare preparing for lock 17

Since we were the lead boat for this leg of the trip, we entered the lock first, we will move up close to the front gate to give Post Script enough room to join us.   There are hanging weighted lines about ever 30 ft. that we grab onto and hold while we are raised.  I take the bow line and Bob grabs a line at the stern.   We have every fender that is on board deployed along the side against the lock wall.

Bob with his stern line.

The lift took about 30minutes from entering lock to exiting the lock.  Each lock has a sign that is visible when you reach the top of the wall that tells you how far to the next lock, what the lift was, what county you’re in, etc.

Waiting to begin the lift.  Note the height of the gates sill…well above our bow!

Up against the wall-which is slimy and not nice to touch 

Water is over the sill….about 6 feet to go

Sign found at each lock

 

Once out of the lock , we were traveling through a gorge with high walls of limestone rock.  There were climbers trying out there skills on the cliffs as we cruised by.   We arrived at the Little Falls, NY canal Harbor and Rotary Park.  There were no other boats so picking our spot was easy.

Post Script and Carolina tied to the wall in Little Falls

View of the river 

Cheryl and me at the river 

Later in the evening after the locks had closed -so around 5:45- a glut of boats arrived to our wall.  There was one boat from New Bern among them.  A couple from Fairfield harbor.  There were at least 10 boats , counting ours, on the wall.  We had to scrunch up to fit everyone in ….then the Steadfast - a 70-80 ft. - arrived.  We could not move enough to fit that big boy in.  He had to stay around the corner on the wall without power.   

      Cheryl went to work finding a restaurant that would be open and found a wonderful little spot just across the river.  We walked over for our dinner and had a wonderful meal with great company.  We got back around 10pm and the marina was quiet.  

      The next morning everyone was up and gone by 7am (when the locks open).  We slept in.  It was a rainy Sunday and we are not in a hurry to get anywhere.  

Below I’ve added a group of random pictures.  Enjoy!   Come visit if you have time.  We’d love to see our friends.

Cheese Capital, Herkimer Cheese, NY Sharp Cheddar

The little falls of Little Falls

Cute sign

Herkimer County Courthouse

MainStreet Little Falls,NY