We have begun a new summer adventure on M/V Carolina. Bob and I left our home in New Bern, NC on June 8 for Brewerton, NY where we had stored Carolina for the winter. We had planned on being back on board by the 2nd of June but I had to have an RFA treatment on my neck which could not be scheduled till the 7th.
Bob drove straight through to Cicero, NY. we arrived early enough to go and unload most of our clothes and gear onto Carolina that night. The weatherman was forecasting rain the following day and we didnt want to unpack the truck in the rain.
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| Waiting to take the arch down. |
For once, the weatherman was right. We woke to pouring rain on Thursday morning and it was COLD! It was 87 in NC the day we left....it was 53 when we got up to Brewerton. Luckily we had brought jeans and sweatshirts for just this possibility.
The first order of business was to test all our repaired/new gear. Rapheal showed up shortly after we climbed on board and introduced us to our new heat pump in the salon. That heat was gonna come in handy! Amazing what money can buy. Next we needed to test the serviced stabilizers and thrusters. Unfortunately all this work entailed techs climbing all through the boat. Theyre very respectful of our space but the dust looked like a light coating of snow on every horizontal surface. I started cleaning while Bob dealt with the technicians.
During one of our trips to the restrooms, we met Scott and his wife Kathy. They are loopers from Myrtle Beach, SC. We planned to get together but we all we so busy trying to-get our boats ship shape that we missed their departure. We also ran into Melony and Rick from Atlanta. We spent a couple of days in St. Johnsville, NY with them last year. We had happy hour with them tonight and caught up on our adventures since then. We also made some new friends - Dana and Mike and Tom and Tina. I’m sure we’ll run into them all again sometime this summer. Our departure is on hold now till Monday, June 13. We have to take down our arch and dinghy crane to meet the restricted height requirements of a couple of bridges west of here. The first available time for this work is Monday.
Melanie took this picture for us.
The arch comes down
Topless Carolina
We are planning on visiting my sister in Rochester on Sunday and collecting our flybridge surround which we stored with them for the winter. (It will not go up until we put the arch back up someplace near Buffalo.)it’s always a treat to visit.
We continue to clean-the decks have all been scrubbed and the floors have all been cleaned. I washed all the port lights and installed all the sun screens. I have yet to put up our sun screens on the “back porch” but we don’t need them quite yet since the weather is still cool. As I am writing this , Bob is putting up our new grill.
We finally dropped our dock lines on June15th. We left early hoping to get to Lake Cayuga and south to Ithaca. Unfortunately the weather was not with us. We started down the lake but decided that we didn’t want to be pinned in a slip for 2 days in Ithaca so we turned back and headed to Seneca Falls. Tomorrow is another day.
Seneca Falls was a real treat, I never realized how much industry there was in this one small town - besides it’s fame as the town in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. We had lunch at the Parker Grill and Pub then enjoyed the very complete museum in the visitors center.
The wind was no better the following day so we packed up and left for Palmyra- further along the canal. Palmyra has a very tiny harbor that can hold 3-4 boats. Of course the only space left was all the way in the back. The new thrusters proved their worth. Bob docked Carolina like a pro and wowed all the onlookers. We walked through Palmyra and discovered a few interesting architectural features and enjoyed a nice lunch at Muddy Waters, a sandwich shop beside the harbor wall. The following day was still too windy to attempt leaving so we took the bikes off the boat and went riding. We rode to the Richmond Aqueduct then down the canal to the previous lock. Always nice to get a chance to stretch our legs. 
Beautiful old homes in Palmyra, NY
Church with a stone steeple
Cobblestone building
Close up of that stone steeple
Another beautiful home
When the wind finally calmed, Bob was able to back us out of the tiny harbor and back into the canal. We had a date with my sister and brother-in-law in Pittsford. They were bringing us provisions and coming for a quick visit.
Silo Reastaurant in Pittsford
Carolina on the Pittsford wall
Our next stop would be Medina. There was a nice wall with bollards to tie to and restrooms for our use. The town itself was pretty dead. Most restaurants and stores were closed - some permanently! It was a quiet night. We walked through town but didn’t find too much of interest. We did learn that Medina once produced Medina Sandstone for use in buildings. Some had been used in Buckingham Palace. We rode our bikes again. This time to Medina Falls.
Medina, NY wall with Carolina
Medina Falls
We left the following morning for Tonawanda, carrousel capital of the world. We’ve visited Tonawanda by car in the past. This time we were tied to the wall in North Tonawanda beside a very popular bar call Dockside. Tuesday night the restaurant was closed and it was very quiet but come Wednesday boats and people started arriving in the early afternoon. A stage was set up, food carts moved in and then we realized we were in the middle of ground zero for the concert in the park! Boats rafted 4 deep, all playing their stereo systems at full volume. Even with the hatches all closed, it was too loud to talk. We decided to sit on our “back porch” and enjoy the people watching. Our weather window opened on Friday morning so we decided to move down to Buffalo just inside the breakwater and stage for an early departure for Erie, PA.
These are the last two locks on the Erie Canal!
Tonawanda was a happening place.
This fellow was quite good.
We spent two days in Tonawanda then left for Buffalo, NY. I’ll tell you that adventure next time.
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