Archives June 2023

Day 35: We got the mast and antennae back up with a little help from our friends (thank you Boris!) and left Oswego entering Lake Ontario around 10:00 am heading NE with 12-18 knot winds from the west – nothing Legacy can’t handle with ease. The shore line is enshrouded with haze/smoke from the fires in Canada which you could smell in port, but it’s not nearly as bad as when we were in NYC. We can barely see a faint outline of the shore. Traveling around 3-4 miles offshore, waves are about 1 foot for a very smooth ride. This is the deepest water we’ve seen yet: 406 feet!

We left one of the three musketeers (SAGA) behind in Oswego with the other 2 (Coda and Lil Sudden) on the move from Winter Haven (after some work) moving through the final Erie Canal lock and all 7 of the Oswego locks to rejoin SAGA in Oswego. We’ve been named the 4th musketeer (d’Artagnan, joining Athos, Porthos and Aramis) and accept that role with joy! Will reconnect with the fleet in 1000 Islands.

Just a little mundane of boat life: We’ve developed a bit of a routine while we are under way for a substantial period of time in deep water. We run the generator and turn on the water maker. Since we are burning fuel to run the power plant, we might as well do laundry and run the dishwasher at the same time, especially if we won’t have power at the dock or will be at anchor. It is best to ‘make water’ in deeper water because it’s cleaner, but also because it is one of the louder pieces of equipment on the boat, especially if you are sitting in the cockpit or salon.

Arrived at Sackets Harbor, but the public wall was under construction and unusable while the very small marina had no room for us. We considered anchoring in Black River Bay but the bottom was very rocky and with a 5-10 knot wind, we were not trusting the hold. Decided to backtrack a little to Henderson Bay, a well protected anchorage and drop the hook there for the night. We would have liked to walk the town at Sackets Harbor, but looks like that wasn’t meant to be. Sackets Harbor hosted the American Navy during the War of 1812 and also played host to two critical battles along its shores. You can tour the battlefield and historic buildings as well as take in its history as a shipbuilding hub. Maybe next time!!

We anchored in Whites Bay at the end of Henderson Bay – a lovely well protected cove with beautiful homes and crystal clear water. We are in about 22’ of 71 degree water, enjoying the gentle breeze and solitude. It was a beautiful ride for our first day in open water again, contrasted to our last couple weeks of winding rivers, locks and kind of mucky water. Residents with antique boats keep coming by, but keeping a safe distance, checking us out. We are checking them out too!

For the Marylanders, it feels like we are in Sillary Bay without Dobbins Island! Grilled some steaks, fed the seagulls (much to Gary’s chagrin) and waiting for the sun to set! It’s so quiet we can hear the dogs barking and 2 people chatting in the distance. Life is good!!

Day 33-35: Had a quiet day in the marina in Oswego on Tuesday, checking in around 1:00 pm. Took a little tour on the bikes and went to the grocery store for a “few things” and found Maine Lobster for $8.99/lb….. that was too much to resist! Once we got them back to the boat, realized we didn’t have a pot large enough to cook them or claw crackers on board. Ingenuity kicked in and we made due!

Woke up to spitty weather on Wednesday and decided to bike ride to a laundromat .2 miles away to wash the fender covers that were filthy, but did their job! We knew an industrial size washing machine was a much better choice for this job. Went to a VERY local diner (Wade’s) about .2 miles away for breakfast while the washers did their work. Food was good and a totally authentic diner experience including loud communications between the line cooks and waitresses, cash only and a long line of locals staring at us who looked clearly out of place!

Toured Fort Ontario, a short bike ride away. Fort Ontario was one of several forts erected by the British to protect the area around the east end of Lake Ontario. The original Fort Ontario was erected in 1755, during the French and Indian War, to bolster defenses already in place at Fort Oswego on the opposite side of the river. It has a rich history of being defended, destroyed, rebuilt, and repurposed over the years spanning the colonial days, American revolution, Civil War and even WWI serving as a stateside hospital for wounded soldiers and in WWII as a training center and home for Jewish refugees.

Interestingly, The Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter was the only attempt by the US to shelter Jewish refugees during the war. After the end of the war, the refugees were kept in internment because of disagreements concerning whether or not to allow them to become US citizens. In January 1946, the decision was made to allow them to become citizens, and by February all of the Jewish refugees were allowed to leave Fort Ontario. The Fort was closed after WWII and later opened to the public as a historic site. It has been restored to what it looked like in the mid 1800’s. An interesting afternoon!

Tomorrow we are off to Sackets Harbor with a 3.5-ish hour run, a forecast of good weather and hope to find a spot on the municipal free wall. Then on to Clayton and 1000 islands where there is so much to see!

Day 33: Heavy rains, thunder and lightning overnight didn’t dampen our spirits, but it did make the satellite signal for our internet a bit spotty……time to catch up on other things. After a good nights sleep, we were off to meet the lock master and be the first customer at Lock O5 for opening time of 7 am. Lock O5 was an easy 18’ vertical drop. Then onto Lock O6 just 3.3 miles up river for another 20’ drop. Our final lock before stopping for a shower and 10:00 am meeting was less than half a mile up the river – Lock O7 and a 14.5’ drop. We were all tied up at 8:25 am – not bad for 3 locks. So much faster when it’s just one boat in the lock. We stopped there for a zoom call at 10:00 am and had lunch.

Finished lunch and passed through lock O8 (our last on the Oswego Canal) around 12:30 pm. Being the only boat in the lock, the lock master allowed us to just float in the middle of the chamber and not hold onto the lines against the edge. That was fabulous so I could video and move around the boat. Check out the 2 videos below – it was very cool. Did the video in 2 pieces so it was not too long.

We are now settled into the Oswego Marina, just north of Lock O8 where we will get out the bikes and do some sightseeing and provisioning, then do another Zoom call.

It looks like our Amazon packages won’t arrive until tomorrow. Gotta love that Amazon will deliver to you anywhere and meetings are virtual! We will be off into Lake Ontario to Sackets Harbor Thursday at the earliest unless Amazon surprises us with early delivery.

Sackets Harbor is about a 4 hour run, just west of Watertown and still on the US Side. Weather becomes a bigger factor now out of the canals. Weather window through Thursday looks good with some wind and waves after that.

Day 32: When we returned from Niagara Falls, we were pleased to find that the source of the stench (dead eel flies on the water) was gone, and so was the smell! YAY! We are guessing they just all finally sunk! Amen to that! We were looking forward to leaving the smell behind, but glad it left us first. Amazing what a difference a day makes!

We left Brewerton after breakfast headed toward Oswego where we planned to spend a day or two before entering Lake Ontario and crossing into Canada. We did leave the fleet behind, since CODA needed to get hauled out, bottom cleaned and painted, and bow thruster repaired. CODA was hauled this morning and should be ready to go by Wednesday. SAGA is celebrating Annette’s 13th birthday, so some teenager land based shenanigans were in order, and Lil Sudden is serving as temporary housing for the CODA crew who are not allowed to sleep on their boat on land. With tomorrow (Tues) looking like a partial ‘Zoom Call Day’ for the Legacy crew, we figured we’d cover some ground while the fleet hung out in Brewerton (at least it didn’t smell anymore!) and catch up with them in a day or two. Our plan for the day was to ‘go as far as we go’, since rain was in the forecast.

We passed through our last lock on the Erie Canal (E23), a small 6.9’ drop and made the strategic right turn at 3 Rivers Junction into the Oswego canal. We proceeded thru 3 Oswego locks (O1-O3) with vertical drops of 10.2’, 17.8’ and 27’ respectively. Decided to stop for the day just south of lock 5 (there is no lock 4) as the skies darkened and we heard thunder in the distance.

Check out the video below to experience a lock! This is E23 and being only 6.9’ was hoping the video wouldn’t be too long. Sorry it’s a stationary view, but we can’t be filming and manage the boat at the same time!

‘Sea No Evil’ left about an hour before us, the marina having ‘no room at the inn’ for them for the night, so we thought we might catch up with them along the way; Runaway, Nice Aft, Summer Breeze, Beachside, Into the Mystic and Gemini had all left the day before and were already in Oswego or beyond, depending on their pace. We passed Sea No Evil just before lock 3 – looks like they had already decided to hunker down on the wall with the threat of a storm.

Found a lovely little river park (Minetto Riverview Park) with a suggested donation of $1.00/foot for an overnight stay to be left in the locked drop box. We were greeted by Dave, the town animal control officer who lives across the street. Dave is going to leave the restrooms and showers unlocked for us overnight, left us his card and home phone number, and instructions to call anytime if we needed anything. Gotta love small town America!

The rain arrived and we were happy to be tucked in safe. First real rainy day since we left 32 days ago. Onto Oswego in the morning where we’ll settle in for a day or two!

Niagara Falls was just a 2.5 hour drive from Brewerton, so a great opportunity for a road trip. One car (not ours!) left at 6 am to get tickets while the second left at 6:45 am. Arrived around 9:30 am when the Canadian side of the Falls was covered in fog and mist and we could barely see them; made it a curly hair day! Soon, the sun was shining giving us a beautiful day. We stayed on the American side enjoying both the “Cave of the Winds” and a boat ride to the Falls called “Maid of the Mist.” Both provided plastic ponchos and yes we did get very wet! We really came to appreciate the history and sheer power of the Falls.

The ‘Cave of the Winds’ name is a bit deceiving. In the 1800’s there was a rock overhang – a cave like structure – that allowed people to pass behind the falls. The cave collapsed in the early 1900’s but the name stuck. Now the Cave of the Winds tour is a series of staircases and platforms that takes you within 20’ of the Bridal Veil Falls. The trip starts with a elevator ride 175’ down to the Niagara Gorge. The water rushing by is very cold and thunderously loud! The walkways and platforms were a real thrill to be so close to the power of the Falls. We also learned this area is a seagull breeding ground with 1000’s of seagull parents and babies.

Maid of the Mist was also a great experience starting with an elevator descent of 200 feet from the observation deck to the base of the river where we boarded a double deck tour boat and travelled past the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and into the basin of the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls) through the waterfall whitewater and rock formations – it was super loud and we got super wet!

Fun Fact: The Maid of the Mist fleet consists of two vessels: the James V. Glynn named after the Maid of the Mist CEO and the Nikola Tesla, for the man who invented the alternating current (AC) motor, the standard form of electricity that is used in American homes to this day. Tesla’s invention prompted George Westinghouse to invite him to join his team that won the bid to build the power plant at Niagara Falls back in the late 1800’s. I did not know the root of Elon Musks ‘Tesla’ name until today!

Additional Fun Facts:

• Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the U.S. Established in 1885. It was the first of several such reservations that became the cornerstones to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
• 3,160 tons of water flows over Niagara Falls every second. This accounts for 75,750 gallons of water per second over the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 681,750 gallons per second over the Horseshoe Falls.
• The water falls at 32 feet per second over the Falls, hitting the base of the Falls with 280 tons of force at the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 2,509 tons of force at the Horseshoe Falls. 
• Niagara Falls is capable of producing over 4 million kilowatts of electricity, which is shared by the United States and Canada. 
• Four of the five Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie) drain into the Niagara River before emptying into Lake Ontario. These five Great Lakes make up almost one-fifth of the world’s fresh water supply.
• In November 1896, electrical power was transmitted from the Adams Power Plant in Niagara Falls, NY to Buffalo, NY. This was the first time in the world that alternating current (AC) was transmitted over a long distance – note reference to Tesla above.
• In 1969, dam was built across the head of the American Rapids, de-watering the American Falls and sending all that water over the Canadian Falls. For six months, geologists and engineers studied the rock face and the effects of erosion.

And finally – after marrying in Grand Rapids, MI without knowledge of either of their parents, my parents passed through Niagara Falls on their way back to RI and here is Mom’s souvenir jewelry box – almost 65 years ago!

6/23: Day 29 on the loop!

Had a lovely evening on anchor off of Sylvan Beach. Enjoyed the live music from Harpoon Eddie’s and taco night on the bridge of Legacy. Then it was a beautiful sunset and very quiet and peaceful sleep on anchor with the 4 boats rafted together. Legacy, being the heaviest with largest anchor, took the center position with Lil Sudden on the starboard and Coda on the port. SAGA came a few hours later joining on the port side after, ah-hum, dealing with some fuel issues.

Rain was in the forecast for the afternoon, so we pulled anchor after breakfast and cruised the ~21 miles across Lake Oneida to Brewerton in about 2 hours….. it felt like we were back on the Magothy River or Chesapeake Bay with the wide open lake, colorful homes on the water and an island or two here or there. SAGA led us into the channel under a low railroad bridge, serving as our ‘canary in the coal mine’. The tapping of their antennae gave us the warning to proceed with caution, which we did, clearing by about 8”. We are hoping the 1000 gallons of fuel we took on in Brewerton will lower the water line a bit when we head out for more canals and bridges to Oswego. 8” was a little close, and yes, 1000 gallons is a lot… took about 2 hours to fill up.

Met more loopers here in Brewerton including Jeff and Pamela, 77 and 71 years old respectively, from FL doing the loop on a Mainship 390…….. YOU GO! What a lovely couple who invited us on board for cocktail before dinner. We re-met Tom and Diane aboard their 44 Trawlercat Beachside, who we met on our 2nd day on the loop on our bikes in Cape May! It’s a small world after all!

Speaking of small world… when we arrived, we thought we were seeing many small maple tree samaras, which we called ‘helicopters’ as kids. Remember them spinning to the ground? The helicopter is a seed consisting of two conjoined wings which blow away from the tree to attempt to find land and themselves grow into a tree. Well, these little things were not maple tree helicopters…… they were dead eel-flies, also known as May-flies….and they stink….I mean really stink! I googled “eel fly” and got “1852 Scientific Amer. 8.11 cNY, the approach of the eel season is known on the Oneida Lake by the eel fly, an insect with a long swallow tail, which comes in clouds, sometimes actually darkening the atmosphere at even tide.” They didn’t mention the stench – you can trust me on this one… it should be mentioned! Connection to small world? How can something so small stink so badly? It’s the atmospheric darkening volume! Time to leave Brewerton, despite the amazing friendly people.

The weather is looking spitty and spotty over the next few days so we are thinking about renting cars and traveling to Niagara Falls for a day or two – never been there! It looks to be about a 2 1/2 hour drive and the closest we’ll be to the Falls before we turn NE toward Kingston, Ontario. That’s a decision to be made over coffee and after a quick use of the courtesy car here at the marina to get a few needed provisions. Onward to parts unknown!

Left Little Falls early (6:40 am….. a bit of an eye rubber) headed to Sylvan Beach, NY – a small town just at the entrance to Lake Oneida – a large fresh water lake with crystal clear waters. Lake Oneida is 21 miles across and 5-6 miles wide. We travelled over 40 miles through 5 locks (E18 -E22) which was 3 up and 2 down. We definitely like down better! E18-E20 had us go up a total of 57 feet while E21 and E22 took us down 25’ each. It’s not the locks that give us pause anymore, it’s the low bridges and the water depth. We cleared one bridge by a mere 6” with SAGA ahead of us doing a rat-a-tat-tap of their antennae on the belly of the bridge. Now we know we want them in front of us as our tester! CODA is about the same height as us, so Steve likes us in front of them! If we rip off our horns, he knows he needs to stop! We saw water depth as low as 6.9 feet (we draw 5) just beyond a dredge who graciously told us the line to follow due to the low depths. None of us touched bottom but we proceeded slowly with extreme caution due to depth and lots of debris.

Sylvan proved to be a great little town with a free wall, nice beach with crystal clear (yet cold) water, decent food at beach restaurants and very nice people. The Amazon driver Shelly wasn’t comfortable leaving my packages at the location I had specified, so she called me and drove them directly to the boat! Shelly was fabulous and our bikes are back in business. We were grateful for that, since it gave us easy access to a beautiful beach sunset.

We will spend 2 nights on the Sylvan Wall and move to an anchor just off the beach in Lake Oneida tonight. Yesterday was a dinghy day including a little tubing with the kids of all ages. 70 degree water was not for Gary and I, but the Seattle-ites didn’t seem to mind, being accustomed to far colder unswimmable water in WA – it’s all about your perspective!

We are finally feeling summer temperatures in the 80’s and broke out the summer clothes and swim suits. We believe NY schools get out this week, so this place ought to be hopping soon, ergo we will get off the wall and onto a nice quiet anchor.

Pontoon boats are very popular here; Gary called it pontoon heaven! Really enjoying traveling with our flotilla – between all of us we have all the tools, appliances and gadgets we need; also the ingredients for some pretty amazing dinners. Steaks, parmesan potatoes and salad on Tuesday, Harpoon Eddie’s on the beach yesterday and tonight is taco night. We’ll pull some of our jalapeños poppers (made from our garden at home) out of the freezer for our contribution. It’s pretty communal eating, with Steve and Barbara serving coffee every morning on their boat. Steve makes me a fabulous vanilla latte every morning!

Tomorrow, we are off to Brewerton, NY – the other side of the lake where we will all fuel up, pump out, fill water tanks and prepare to exit the Erie Canal for new experiences on the Oswego Canal on our way to Lake Ontario and more parts unknown!

Arrived in Canajoharie on Saturday and found ourselves a nice Irish Pub for lunch and one of the best burgers we’ve ever had…..and of course a couple pints! One of the claims to fame for this town is the “boiling pot” or “Canajoharie Pot Hole” in the river, so of course we HAD to go and see it! Canajoharie in the Mohawk language (we are on the Mohawk River) means “the pot that washes itself” – reference to the boiling pot. It is a 20’ bowl in the river that when the water is high enough (it was not the day we were there) it swirls like a whirlpool. Had a nice view of the river bed and waterfalls, though!

Canajoharie was originally settled by the Dutch and the Germans; We learned a bit about the Palatine settlers and the difficulties of their immigration to America. Visited Van Alstyne Homestead that was established in 1749; a small museum/restored colonial home. Walked Main Street and stopped in a few shops. Found it to be more vibrant than some of the other Main Streets we’ve recently strolled, but still just a one day stay particularly with no power on the wall we were tied to, the train tracks and passing trains about 15 yards away and active goose population leaving goose poop everywhere!

We had an early start on Sunday 6/17 (Father’s Day!) with a plan to cover 19 miles and 3 locks. Left Canajoharie headed to LIttle Falls, NY where the excitement of the day was the tallest lock we’ve been thru yet. Lock 17, opened in 1916, has a vertical lift of 40.5’ which is one of the tallest in the world. It replaced 3 locks of the original 1825 Erie Canal. This lock was also different in that it uses a “guillotine gate” at its east end vs. a mitre gate. The gate is counterbalanced with a huge cement slab and drops down to close the chamber before filling. You might ask why? This design is felt to be stronger and better able to handle the water pressure of the much larger chamber which when filled holds more than 6 million gallons of water.

Little Falls has a lovely little marina for looping boats including ample power, great showers, a book exchange, picnic area and the harbor master Mark or assistant Allison who will drive you to and from the grocery store, all for $1.00/foot! We found a local smokehouse for dinner on Father’s Day (only thing open, but pretty darn good ribs!) and the next day we grilled bratwurst for dinner with our traveling flotilla of 4 boats. The sauerkraut I happen to have on board from making some ruebens earlier was a hit! Walked downtown; sadly most of the stores were abandoned but we did enjoy an old mill converted to a multi floor consignment antique shop and a walk to lock 17 to watch other boats come through. Stayed 2 nights and enjoyed docktails on the porch our last night there with about 20 other boaters.

Today we are off to Sylvan Beach, hopefully to be greeted by a couple Amazon packages including a new pedal for one of the bikes. We will travel over 40 miles and go through 5 locks (3 up and 2 down). It’s not the locks that give us pause anymore, it’s the low bridges. We dropped the mast even further, thanks to a borrowed smaller fender from Matt, and cleared one bridge today by about 6”. YIKES!!! Have definitely employed the rule of only approaching an immovable object at the speed you are willing to hit it!

Spent 2 days in the marina in Schenectady in order to be stationary for 2 Zoom calls. Starlink is working like a charm! After the calls, went bowling with Boris, Mayli and their 2 children (aboard SAGA), Matt and Tonya (aboard Lil Sudden), and Steve and Barbara (aboard Coda). A great time was had by all! On our second day in the marina, we introduced the Seattle crew to a MD favorite at docktail time: the orange crush! We shared a delicious dinner together made by Barbara and Steve, chatting well into the night.

Friday, 6/16 we set off for Amsterdam sporting a Hawaiian theme with everyone in Hawaiian shirts and leis. It’s amazing what Mayli can pull out of her bag of tricks! We passed through 3 locks E8-10 (of course with Hawaiian music playing) covering 17 miles. All of these locks were not nearly as tall as the Waterford flight at 14-15’ each (vs 33-35’). In Amsterdam, we found room on the wall at Riverlink Park, but no spots with power… the early bird catches the worm! Also had to raft the 4 boats into 2 positions on the wall. Thought the trains going through during the day were quite interesting – didn’t enjoy them nearly as much all night long…yes blowing their horns….. for a long time….like every 30 minutes!

Enjoyed dinner at a former armory that was built to look like a castle; their big claim to fame was that when JFK came through in his 1960 campaigning for president and stopped there and gave a speech. He and brother Robert sat on a couch upstairs that you can still go and see today! Yahoo!!

Today we are off to Canajohaire and will pass through 4 locks (E11-14) raising another 39 feet between all 4 locks. It’s a rainy/spotty day so our theme is sunshine! We’ll travel about 20 miles today. It’s a sweat shirt kind of day! We’ve been on the loop now for 23 days and not put a bathing suit on yet! Still uncharacteristically cold!

OK…. Who remembers the song about the Erie Canal you were taught in grade school?….. Atleast I was! Here’s the one I remember, but I’ve since learned there are longer versions with several more verses.

Erie Canal: Children’s Song Lyrics and Sound Clip — Read on www.songsforteaching.com/folk/eriecanal.htm

Well that was a busy day! We left the free wall in Waterford to enter Lock E2 – the start of the Erie Canal – around 9:00 am. The 5 locks at Waterford (E2-E6) are known as the ‘Waterford Flight’ and they lift vessels over 165 feet in 1.5 miles (do the math – that’s about 33 feet per lock.) That’s a long way up! We got a bit of a break from “locking” when we exited lock E6, but still had one more lock to go (lock E7) in Niskayuna, NY before stopping at a marina in Schenectady. We arrived there around 2:00 pm having covered just 17 miles.

We were the first boat to enter the lock and took our position on the starboard side at the front. 5 other boats fit in the lock with us; 3 of us were on the starboard and 4 on the port. There was about 10’ between us (both on the side and front to back). The walls are filthy and you hold onto a grungy line or cable as the lock fills and the boat goes up. The tricky part is keeping the boat in place but off the wall (yes we had out lots of fenders), but we were surprised how much we got pushed around by the flow of the water (it comes in from below the boat and pushed us up against the wall). Gary manned the thrusters from the helm station in the cockpit while holding a line and I held us in place on the bow. After feeling like we were in hand to hand combat with the lines, cables and water flow in E2, we settled in to a far better rhythm in E3-E7.

We were happy to settle into a brand new marina in Schenectady, and celebrate a “safe arrival” with manhattans onboard ‘Coda’ with our 3 other looper boats! Needing to do some work to prepare for a meeting tomorrow, we only had one! Not sure if we’ll hang out here after the meeting or try to press on to Amsterdam (and 3 more locks.) Challenge is the locks close at 5:00 pm. We’ll see! Either way, we are hoping for a different and less turbulent position in the locks tomorrow!

Fun Fact: built in the early 1900’s, the “Waterford Flight” was the greatest lift in the shortest distance on any canal system in the world ….and it still is today! Also – the opening of the Erie Canal was a pivot point in the power shift of America’s greatest cities from Philadelphia to NYC. Why? The Erie Canal/Mohawk/Hudson River combination opened commerce between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes/interior of North America, right through NYC.

Special thanks to my friend and former Bechtel colleague Jim Henschel for help with some amazing fun facts!