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