The Canals (Oct 3-11)

Oswego (Oct 3)
Stripped the sails down and took down the mizzen mast last night. No problems getting the mast down and slid back into the slip for a while. Received 2 packages fron Craig, a DVD drive and a Koolatron. Both very nice but the koolatron (plug in 12v fridge) will take a while to find a spot on the boat. Finally noticed the laundry (2 pairs of machines) practically right beside the boat. Went to the office to get quarters and arrange to stay past check out to get 2 loads through.
Moved out of the marina early afternoon and passed through the first lock to the free wall between locks O7 and O8 of the Oswego canal. Basically we moved 1/2 a city block purely for financial reasons (maybe we are cheap). Went to get groceries downtown in the Ma and Pa grocery, the recommended Price chopper moved 5 miles out of town. tried a cafe with wireless and the picture download didn't take. Had a nice meal on the picnic tables along side the canal and hit the sack.

Phoenix (23miles, Oct 4)
Nice free dock that is maintained by the local teenagers, Bridgehouse Brats, in the summer. The wireless connection on site is running but not plugged into the phoneline this time of year. Dohh!!! Went to the local library for internet checked e-mail no problem. Unfortunately the library is through the local school and the school board has blacklisted the blog site. Understandable if you have ever seen some of the blogs, but very inconvenient.
Phoenix's downtown is one of the many casualties of our times and big box stores. The only going place is the modern gas/convenience/pizzeria situated at a 5 way intersection. We were a bit worried that we wouldn't make it across this intersection at rush hour(?). Phoenix isn't a big town but everyone seems to converge here and stop in on the way home for gas, pizza or bread.

Sylvan Beach(34miles, Oct 5)
Arrived Brewerton mid-day walked over to marine store and was disapointed by the selection. Headed out across lake Oneida (20miles) around 2 pm, only realizing after we left that we would be close to sunset on arrival. The wind was behind us so we made good time. For a short while we had the waves on our beam and rolled horribly with the mast down. This would have been a great sail but we needed the mast down for the rest of the trip. Pulled into Sylvan Beach and it was still daylight! The breakwall is decrepit and lets the Westerlies into the dock area and all the boats were bobbing up and down appreciably.
Took the kids for a walk passing through the winterized amusement park on the beach. Probably a real carnival atmosphere in the summer. Nice to see a place that has some life to it along the waterway, although in the summer you probably couldn't get a spot on the free wall very easily. Great sunset across the lake, a nice place even the main strip looked like it would be hopping in season. The boat rocked us to sleep at night and we got a good start in the morning.

Herkimer (43miles, Oct 6)
Big day mileage wise (moved onto the Erie Canal today) shopped groceries and the kids got new rainwear. Sad news on return to the boat, Fishy passed away. Had an impromtu funeral at sea, Abbey was especially upset after 4 years of fish ownership. In the morning abbey had a goodbye note tied to a string to send to Fishy as a goodbye.

Canajoharie (23 miles, 0ct 7)
Stopped for gas mid-day at lock #E5 we saw a man on a trawler attempt to pull his wifes arms off not once but 4 times. She got hold of the stern line but he couldn't hook the bow line, so he decided that if he ripped her arms, by putting the boat in gear, off as the lock lowered it would somehow help. She seemed to be in good spirits later, and with all limbs connected. Stopped at Canajoharie home of what we call the "Haunted McDonalds". We headed up to the Golden Arches to make a selection for a late dinner from the $1 menu to get our protein and grease requirement for the day to bring back to the boat. (seems maybe we are cheap) Upfront of this McD's parking lot is a small 1800's graveyard. The kids thought it was a great Halloween decoration! No the real thing, hence "The Haunted McDonalds". The kids were a bit less enthusiatic after that realization. Also got a gallon of milk for $2 at the corner store (eggs milk and chicken are way cheaper in the US).

Top of lock E7 (49 miles, oct 8)
Early start in the frigid fog. Limited visibility but we move pretty slow and with good charts and someone (Rob) freezing on the foredeck we made good progress and stopped in Fonda NY for breakfast. No sight of any of the Fonda clan down by the public works wall, not that we were expecting Jane to stop by during her workout.
Continued on clearing lock E6 the wall there being too tall, and a floating dock further on looking suspiciously shallow that we passed on. Later on the couple from Cobourg reported the ran aground attempting this dock. Got to lock 7 to tie up and was sent to the "girder dock". The south wall is steel plate with a protruding girder under the waterline to grind against the hull. A very poor design undoubtedly set up by someone with interest in the hullrepair business. The lock was closing so we swung around to the chamber side against a nice rubber bumper instead for an AM departure.

Waterford (23miles, Oct 9-11)
Blog up to date, no USB ports on the PCs here and the Mac wouldn't recognize the spare plug that a PC laptop user is happily using as I type this. No there will be no back log of pictures but Yes we are actually up to date on the blog even as I type.
Waterford is a very nice town, nice free dock, visitor center, and mostly warm showers!! We have cleaned up the boat, shopped, done laundry, and made a disappointing trip with some other cruisers to the West Marine store. Some more nice people here and we will head down past the last (Federal) lock later today into the Hudson River to begin experience the tides and re-step the mast, Yeah!!!

Snow Day Crew