360 Water View

June 18, 2019 – As the last boat to dock for the night, we had been squeezed onto the fuel dock. Just before closing time, the dock attendant came down to say that several other boats wanted to come get fueled up first thing (at 6 AM!) in the morning, so ‘could we be prepared to shove off by then?’

Well, sure we could. (Grrrr. )

So, with nobody making so much as a move toward the fuel dock by 6:15, we left anyway, for the 3 miles to the first lock, where we’d have to wait until 7 AM to lock through.

Surprise! After we idled in and tied to the wall before the lock, the lockmaster told us that if were ready, he’d go ahead and lock us through early (at 6:30!). Sweet justice.

After just one more lock on the Erie Canal, we came to Three Rivers, which represents a choice – go left to the Western Erie Canal to Buffalo, or go right, to the Oswego Canal, to Oswego and Lake Ontario.

We take the right.

There are seven locks to pass through on the way to Lake Ontario, all going down. A couple had bridges going across the locks at the far end. One lock lowered us enough that we could clear the bridge entirely. Another one required a bridge to be lifted as well. As we were exchanging morning pleasantries with the lockmaster, he told us that the bridge had been a bit finicky, so he was going to lower us, raise the bridge, and only then open the lock, in case there was a problem. Great. The bridge creakily got about this high and no higher – don’t know if that was the design, but he opened the lock and we slid under on the far right side and were just fine.

When we got to Oswego, we held up between Locks 7 and 8, which are only separated by about a half mile, and tied up along the park there. We had planned this stop, as it kept us out of any weather that might blow in off Lake Ontario, and if the conditions looked bad we could just wait it out, or if they were good, we’d pass out the final lock and head directly out in the morning.

It was a popular spot, and several more boats came in after us, including Justified, who we had followed into Sylvan Beach, and Vector, who we had leapfrogged many times, but never actually met until today.

We rode our bikes (uphill both ways, ughh) to go shopping, and later walked up over the bridge to the other side of the river where Chantale got a long overdue haircut at a classy old-time men’s barbershop.

We played a neat dice game over on Justified after dinner downtown, where the crew of BIG also joined us.

Overall, a good day – tomorrow, to the Thousand Islands.

June 16-17, 2019 – We stayed on the boat at Sylvan Beach all day Sunday while it was raining, catching up on some paperwork and small projects. We then headed across Oneida Lake the next morning. Very quiet conditions, but a lot of small fishing boats out, and apparently the best fishing is on the most direct route that we and other through-cruisers have to take to get from one end of the lake to the other. Sheesh.

Fuel tanks had gotten below 1/2, and it was reported that we were coming up on some of the best diesel prices before we crossed into Canada. We stopped to fill up for the first time since the coast of New Jersey – $637.45, and then stayed along with a number of other Loopers at Winter Harbor.

Came upon this short Erie Canal documentary that recounts some of the history of the canal that we have been traveling. Thought you might enjoy it.

June 14, 2019 – The docks at Little Falls were jam packed yesterday when we got there, but by 10 AM, we were all by ourselves.

The dockmaster was going to head to town (which is up over a bridge on the other side of the river), and offered to give us a lift and see some sights. He first drove up to an overlook where we could see back down the Mohawk Valley along the route we had traveled the day prior.

We then went by the Herkimer estate, the town ball fields, and a stone bread oven built by Italian immigrants in the 1800s when many of them worked constructing the canal. Then Mark dropped us off at the community co-op, where we picked up a few unique items before heading across the street to the Price Chopper for more provisioning. We loaded our small bike trailer with the goods, and crossed the main street in the rain to duck under the canopied sidewalk. We stopped at Ruggerio’s, an Italian restaurant that we’d been told about for its delicious food and gigantic portions. All true – we each ordered a cup of soup, that came out in huge bowls – ‘wait a minute, we only ordered a cup’ –‘no, that’s the cup size here’. The food was also great, and we brought some of it back to the boat for later.

We returned to the marina to find ‘9 1/2’, another Looper boat had pulled in – we had crossed paths with them briefly back at Norrie Point. In the evening, we scoped out the route we’d transit the next week or so up to the 1000 islands, and got ready for a long day on Saturday.

June 12, 2019 – Wednesday dawned clear and sunny. We knew it would be a great travel day, for us and for everyone else, so we cast off early.

(Click above image to pause the autorotation, zoom in or out, or move the point of view)

The water was like glass, and we were smoothly through the first two locks. The color of the trees, sky and water — the North Country!

As we were going along a section of the river where we could see straight ahead through several bends, the long string of markers started to look a bit funny in the binoculars. What the…..?

The reflection of the red and green buoys, and of the trees beyond, made it look as if the markers were floating up in the air, rather than in the water. (Look at the red ones on the right, and the farthest red/green pair.)

The miles were going by smoothly, until we got to Lock 13; a barge was in the lock, having something unloaded. It would be a “few minutes” said the lockmaster. Yeah, if 45 is ‘a few’.

While we were waiting, we heard another boat behind us hail the lockmaster. I looked back and saw another Looper boat. And another, and another. And one of the non-Looper boats we left at Amsterdam. Up until this point, we had only locked alone. But now we will be in the chamber as one of five.

First in, first out, so we led the fleet out of the lock and up the canal.

With the Lock 13 armada hot on our heels, we peeled off at the town of Canajoharie where we had a couple specific places in mind to see.

Town diner. Check. Great lunch – Ben had the wedge burger. Perhaps a burger with a wedge of lettuce, as in a wedge salad, you might think? Nope. Wedges of fried macaroni and cheese on top of the burger.

Arkell Museum. Check. Nice small museum, with an early American, Mohawk Valley angle. Seven Winslow Homer pieces, a Gilbert Stuart copy of his George Washington portrait, a Remington statue, and more.

Boiling pots. Check. The town’s name is said to be a Mohawk language term meaning “the pot that washes itself,” referring to a circular gorge in the Canajoharie Creek, just south of the village. We took a 3/4 mile hike up the hill to find the smaller falls in the creek and the location of these circular formations.

We hung our feet in the water for a while, before hiking back down the hill. We’d seen Jim’s Irish Harbor Pub on the way up, and figured it’d be worth a stop on the way back, to give hot and weary travelers something cold to quaff their thirst.

O.M.G. What an experience. We were regaled by the extremely genuine Irish-American proprietor, Jim, and his mother, Mary, with a wide variety of tales. Both Jim and his father were in the Merchant Marine, and three of Mary’s children served in the Navy, hence the ‘Harbor’ in the name. Jim presented Chantale with a Guinness hat before we could depart. Truly one of the most memorable encounters with locals that we have had so far.

As more than one person has so helpfully pointed out, we don’t seem to be keeping up with our posts, often taking more than 24 hours to get them on the wire.

We are trying to get caught up. Really. It’s just that other more important things seem to get in the way.