Day 75 In the canal at Lock 6 saved

Rained a little last night, but cleared up to be a beautiful day. Storms were forming north so we stopped after transversing only 6 locks. Hasn't hit here, but we hear from boaters coming south that there were some big storms that we missed. Guess Canada's similar to Florida  - if you don't like the weather - wait 10 minutes. Met David and Susan in the locks and ended up mooring with them on the same wall.  They are from the Georgian Bay so we picked their brains a bit for some "local knowledge". We cross the Georgian Bay after this canal. Biked into town for some food supplies and then just enjoyed this gorgeous setting and weather. This is a big improvement over last night's location. Biked to town again to find wifi so we can send blogs and order maps for the gps. . . and we got fish and chips as a side benefit. 

Day 74 Lock 1 of the Trent Severn saved

Took off at the crack of dawn from Kingston and tried to make up for that rain day we lost. Did 71 miles by the time we reached Trenton - exhausting. It was cold and then windy by the end of the day. I had on a long sleeve shirt, 2 fleece jackets and a flannel ski hat. It's pleasant now down in this lock, but suppose to be cool again tomorrow. One of the more interesting things we saw today was a small island covered with black colored birds. They started to fly to another destination right above the waterline. They took flight about 10 at a time and formed a single line about 2 or 3 miles long across the basin. There were hundreds and hundreds of these birds. Amazing sight. Canada has beautiful countryside. The scenery we passed was so picturesque like out of a Norman Rockwell painting. There were a lot of homes on isolated islands like the first picture.  However, this is not one of our more serene and  pleasing overnight stops. Pic 2 is the train crossing over the unattractive lock about 200 feet from our boat. We made it to Lock 1 of the canal, but they closed earlier than the guide said, so they had us dock right outside and we can go through first thing in the morning. Pic 3 is the bridge welcoming us to the canal.  We are at 243 feet above sea level and we are going to top out at 840 feet. 

Day 73 Monday and still tied to a dock in Kingston

Some brave souls made their way out of the marina and into the bay. We are not going to be one of them. Early on, the weather was so bad, you couldn't see past the stone jetti that surrounds the marina. Finally figured out how to send the blogs this morning so a couple will come today. If you hold the iPad over your head and point it towards this yellow tower ...and say Beetlejuice three times - it posts. Hoping John can send me some of the pictures from our trolley tour that we took on the camera yesterday, Sunday. We have to upload them onto the laptop then send the pictures in an email to the iPad. The internet is so sketchy here, it's just not connecting. Ate in some great places while we were here. Yesterday we had lunch in Chez Piggy - an old stable that one of the members of the Lovin' Spoonful converted into a restaurant decades ago, which was the start of the resurgence of downtown. (For the youngin's - that was a rock group from the '60's and '70's) Today we ate in John A. MacDonald's Pub. The building use to be his law office in the 1800's. John A. was Canada's first prime minister - he had a bit of a drinking problem, but he was such a good and innovative leader, his people overlooked his flaws. We ducked in a little covered alley to get out of the rain for a minute today and a plaque there said that it was one of John A.'s favorite places "to relieve himself after a night of imbibing and decision making" - how special. Took a trolley to the Penitentiary Museum. I guess this area has quite a few lock up facilities, but this one is their oldest and is now closed. The displays are in the warden's house that sits right in front of the prison.  It's a beautiful structure built by the inmates. There's even an 1800's mock up of a cell in the back room - very disturbing and very real. All kinds of creative weapons made by the inmates are displayed including a crossbow made out of toothbrushes. Actually, it was a very interesting and thorough museum. The women's facility is behind the house - it is much smaller than the men's. However, back in the 1700's, if a woman was thrown into their prison, their kids went with them. Hmmm, that doesn't seem quite fair...to anyone involved. Bought some sweats today - the high tomorrow is in the low 60's. Hard to fathom for us Florida crackers. Took some iPad pics since uploading is not happening. This Martello was built here to protect the large ships moored in this basin at the turn of the 19th century. The other pic is our view of the Royal Academy. Not sure when I can send a blog again - we are leaving this marina early tomorrow and heading west. 

Day 72 Kingston

After our marathon nap (that lasted all night), we decided that a trolley tour was the best way to see the city. By the way, forgot to include in yesterday's blog about customs. We were so anxious about it and heard all kinds of horror stories. Well, they did it over the phone, it took less than 5 minutes and they couldn't have been nicer. Whew! The tour covered all the highlights of the city. Kingston is known as the limestone city because of the abundance of structures made out of that material here. They have beautiful buildings and homes. The city hall is right at the entrance of the marina. - it is majestic. Rumor is that the forefathers built it to house parliament and keep Kingston as the capital of Canada - neither thing happened. Toured the Royal Military College which was patterned after West Point. It reminded us of a smaller Annapolis. Their museum was in a martello which is a round building that is really a mini fort with 3 cannons. The roof is detachable in 4 pieces and when the city needs defending - off it comes and out come the cannons. There are 4 in the city and they are credited with keeping Kingston safe from us Americans in the War of 1812. One is in our marina - John shot a picture that is quite dramatic with the front moving in. However, he is unable to send me any pictures right now. Hopefully, I can send them from the next marina. An extensive gun collection was in the museum - it took up the entire second floor and was donated to Canada by a Mexican dictator. One of the dorms has a sword on the roof. It was welded there as a practical joke many years ago by the senior class - it points to the girls college. We visited the maritime museum which focuses on the boat building in this area. It was quite interesting. At one point there were about 40 builders here, but now there is maybe a half dozen. Watching this front - not sure if we are going to get out of here tomorrow. Internet is sketchy in the marina so bear with me. (FYI - John's cell phone is turned off so that we don't incur charges. Text me on my phone if needed.)

Day 71 oh Canada

Said goodbye to Oswego, MaryLynn, John and Barbara and set our sights on Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It was a cool, overcast day, but no rain was predicted. The winds were coming out of the south south west 10 - 15 mph. Unfortunately, we were going north so we took it on the stern most of the way. It was a rough ride - we did a lot of rockin' and rollin', but we also discovered what our little boat could do. We passed Yorkshire Island (pic 1) about 5 hours later - welcome to Canada! The next island we passed, Duck Island, had a cute little lighthouse and almost 90 wind turbines. You can't make them out in the 2nd picture, but they were there. The bay was crazy with all types of boats, but they had room for us in Confederation Basin Marina. They have a little holding harbor where you chill while they park each boat individually. Sometimes there were 5 vehicles waiting. The marina was packe since there is a bass tournament going on. We decided to take a short nap before venturing out - well, 11 hours later, we woke up. However, I finally feel like I've recovered from the last 10 days of constant boating. There was a big storm around 3:30am, so we were glad to be tied up in a safe place. Going to take a trolley tour and explore the city on Sunday. 

Day 70 Goodbye USA ay

Took a day off from boating and walked around Oswego. It seems like we've been in NY forever since we went up the coast then crossed the state. It was still delightfully cool today, but the nights get really chilly. When we got home last night after hiking down to hear the Atlantic Rhythm Section, Jack had drug out DJ Kitty to keep him company. (Pic 1) He's so neglected. The local residents advised us to get some fleece or we would freeze in Canada, so we found a bike shop that had some appropriate jackets. The clothing company is big into recycling (no pun intended since it was a bike shop) so the fleece is made partially out of recycled material. Also it has been tested for warmth on the "peak of Everest" so I'm thinking they will do for the boat AND we helped save the environment. Harborfest has been going on all day. Boats are rafted 8 deep on the wall in front of the band and bar. Pic 2 shows one of the bandstands right across from our marina. Grand Funk Railroad is playing tonight.  Hmmm, how many of them are still original from the early '70's?? Dinner with MaryLynn, John and her sister, Barb before they head out to Webster.  Then we are crossing Lake Ontario (pic 4) for Kingston early tomorrow while the weather is good, so we will miss the huge fireworks display, but we will be in Canada, mon cheri! It's hard to believe we've come this far. Will try to keep in touch and blog as much as we can over the next three weeks. 

Day 70 UPDATE for Blog when in Canada

Tomorrow we head to Kingston, Canada  - ay! Unfortunately, data is verrrry expensive up there through our Sprint account so after today, blogs will come in bulk when I get to a wifi marina. I will record one every day, but not sure when they will be published. Also if anyone needs to call us, we only bought roaming service on my line getting a reduced rate. So conversations will be short and only call my cell. However, John and I can text for free. We will be in Canada for about 3 weeks. I'll do the regular blog later today. We are hanging out in Oswego for their Harborfest and a day of non-boating rest. 

Day 69 Oswego Canal

Woke up this morning to temps in the 50's. Wearing our sweats today - hard to believe for us Floridians. Finished up the Erie Canal.  This section has been the most scenic with quaint, cute residences along the jade green water. At marker 214, we took a starboard turn ( that's "right" to you landlubbers) onto the Oswego Canal. We are heading north again. This canal connects Syracuse to Lake Ontario and was completed in 1829. It's only 24 miles long.  Had delicious, fresh roasted chicken and cheese bread from Wegmen's this morning. That place was amazing - again I ask - why  don't we have them in Florida?! Pic 1 is Treasure Island. In the 1600's, the Jezuits and French fled from the Indians and hid on this island. Supposedly, they lightened their load by leaving gold and a cannon behind. No one has ever found anything, but the locals still call it by that name. In the left part of the picture is old bridge abutments that use to support the trolley bridge. Still traveling with the Emerald Lady, but MaryLynn and John are heading west after Oswego - we will miss their company and guidance. Pic 2 is the Emerald Lady going through a lock immediately followed by a bridge. The last couple shots are of 2 of the 7 locks we went through today. Hooked up at the Oswego Marina which sits right on Lake Ontario and the canal. There's the huge annual Harborfest starting today so we were lucky to get a slip. Checking out the action and watching the lake to see if we will be crossing it tomorrow. 

Day 68 Lake Oneida

Took off from Rome around 9am with a goal of making it to Brewerton across Lake Oneida. Only did two locks and now we are going down. I like down better than up - it's easier to hold on to the lines - less turbulence. Traveled with the Emerald Lady again. Storms were threatening in the afternoon so John, not mine, made reservations in a marina so we would have a safe harbor after the lake. Weather was a bit warm, but windy. The Erie Canal opened up after Sylvan and the lake looked calm so we went for it. About 3/4 of the way across, the clouds started gathering and racing the storm to the other side began. Only got hit with a little rain and came sliding into Ess- kay Marina just in time. MaryLynn and John were already on the docks ready to help us get into our slip. If you are checking on the map, we are near Syracuse. The pics are views of the marina and this canal. Pretty little area that was a huge boat building center in the early 1900's . . . and nooooo train whistles. The temperature dropped as the front passed - NY turned on their air conditioning. Had some post boating cocktails then MaryLynn took me to Wegmen's in the courtesy car. Why don't we have this store in Florida?!  I could live there! Had a pleasant dinner with great company and we are leaving the Erie Canal as we head for Oswego. 

Day 67 Another day on the Erie Camal

Remember the lyrics from the Erie Canal song - "Git up there mule, here comes a lock, we'll make Rome 'bout 6 o'clock." Well, that's where we are tonight - a free city dock in Rome, NY. Got a late start around 11am waiting for a diver to cut the rope from Lock 17 off of our prop. First little hiccup of the trip, but it got solved pretty quickly. Jack watched some local geese through the front window, but when he got out for a walk, he gave them a wide berth. Traveled with John and MaryLynn who are bringing their new Mainship home to NY from Conneticut. Dodged a lot of debris and dredges in the river (pic 2). They are constantly dredging to keep the canal navigable. You have to watch out for "deadheads". Sometimes you only see a little piece of wood on the surface, but there's a whole tree log down below. They can do some damage to a boat.  Only traversed a few locks today - not quite as bad of a workout. Passed one of the old locks from the original canal (pic 3). Stopped in Rome and the Emerald Lady rafted up to us for the night. This is not a very big or elaborate dockage and we are sharing the dock with a canal cruise ship. Walked to a local burger joint and had some tasty eats. The heat is building again, but we are suppose to get rain tomorrow night then the temperature drops again to a high of 77. I love that about this northern weather - unlike Florida which stays hot for 4 - 5 straight months without any breaks. Heading for Lake Oneida tomorrow. 

Day 66 Making our way along the Erie Canal

The total length of the Erie Canal is over 340 miles, we are going to conquer about 160 miles of it. At this point in Little Falls, that's about our half way point. The scenery is different than John and I imagined. John thought it'd be more industrialized. I pictured more historic homes and farmlands since this project was started in 1817. There is a little of all three. Like yesterday, we passed the Herkimer House. With great effort, General Herkimer won the Battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War with the help of the infamous Benedict Arnold. His federalist house sits right on the water. Most of the canal is forest and then you can't forget about the trains, which is what put the canal system out of business many decades ago. John was fascinated with them when we started on this adventure, now he hates them. The whistles blow all night and day. Today, he speculated that the engineer's ex-wife must live in this town because he laid on his horn the entire time he passed through here at 3am in the morning. (LOL) We went through 7 locks today, a couple of them were quite a workout. The third picture is a view up from our boat in the biggest lock. The last shot is of the boat in front of us trying to hang on as we rode up 40 feet. As you can see, we are stll traveling with Le Grand Crüe and Gwenhyvar. We sat out tonight with a group of boaters here in the small marina. A great group of people. More canal tomorrow. 

Day 65 The Erie Canal

It's always fun to travel with other boats especially when you are doing something new. We left Waterford this morning with two other trawlers heading west on the Erie Canal. Within minutes, we started the lock system. We scrambled on the first one, trying to figure out the best method to navigate this challenge. Fortunately, the lockmaster gave us some tips and after going through 10 today, we are experts now. We have risen in elevation almost 300 feet on the Mohawk River which is part of the Erie Canal. We will continue to rise tomorrow. It is definitely a P90X workout hanging onto ropes as you and your boat go up anywhere from 16 to 40 feet. Ended our day on a city dock in Amsterdam. Hung out and shared NY pizza and beer with one of the boats we traveled with. Ann, John, Mark and Sandy are heading our way on their Grand Banks so we are traveling together again tomorrow. It still amazes us how many trains we see. Hundreds of them travel through these peaceful, lush mountains on a daily basis.   However, I must say the locks are a distraction from focusing on the scenery of this area. Hoping my hands and arms aren't aching too much tomorrow, we've got like 100+ to go! 

Day 64 Beginning the Erie Canal

Really wanted to get an early start for the Federal Lock to start the Erie Canal, but the temptation of the Troy Saturday Morning Market was too much. So wandered back into town for some NY breakfast bagels with our new friend, John, and browzed the market. Bought some local blackberry honey and yellow plums. Delicious. Then hit a hardware store for a couple things including velcro for the bottom of the screen doors to foil Jack's attempts to escape to land. The little Houdini has learned how to unsnap and unzip the doors. Sigh. Forced ourselves to leave around 10am and successfully navigated the first lock. Stopped at the second lock to purchase our boating pass and gather information - by this time it was around 1pm. Where did the day go?! The lock master talked us into staying today and getting an early start tomorrow. Walked to the store for kitty litter and other necessities then did much needed laundry. There's free or cheap dockage at the locks, so this stop only cost us our time. Met some more nice travelers who we will probably be going through the lock with us tomorrow morning at 8:15. The pictures are views from our boat of the lock and wall dockage. While I was up on the bridge taking pictures, guess who snuck out the opposite door, walked across the bow and jumped on land. Velcro's working great. Another sigh. 

Day 63 Troy

Today was a day of surprises - mostly good. We started the day early around 5:30 - ready to jump on the river to catch the right tide. However, when we looked out of the porthole, you couldn't see past the railing - fog...thick fog. So we went back to sleep and tried again at 7. As we came around the corner from departing Athens, we ran into (not literally) the trawler that lead us to the beautiful Vanderbilt anchorage - John on Skylark. He is heading to the Erie Canal too. The fog was still with us up ahead, so we used the radar essentially for the first time. It helped us get through the thickest stuff, but the cloud eventually lifted and we had a spectacular cruise up the Hudson. It was crisp...no, it was cold till early afternoon. Saw some unusual sites on the way today. Pic 1 is a mannequin that was standing on the bank of the river - just chillin' - not sure what the significance was. Pic2 is an antiquated sailboat sitting in a restoration yard. It's not everyday you pass  a pirate ship. The last pic is the Hertz building in Albany. There was a rent-a-truck spinning on the roof. Wonder if it runs better than the ones on the ground?? Talked to Skylark on the way and agreed to meet at the free city dock in Troy. Made it here around 1pm. It's very basic - old wooden floating docks saddled up against a high deteriorating seawall. From the water, Troy looks like a nasty, industrial city, but after exploring for awhile, we discovered it is a revitalized, intriguing downtown with eclectic shops, restaurants and beautiful historic architecture. Met up with John (Skylark) for a delicious dinner and then the three of us wandered the streets for a couple hours. We came across Sage College, which was the "first seminary for advanced education of women in the US". Who knew?! Wonderful campus buildings. This is also the home and origination of "Uncle Sam" (initials U. S.)  In 1812, Sam Wilson delivered meat to the soldiers. It was marked "US Meat" and the soldiers started calling him Uncle Sam and a legend and national personification of the government was born. Tomorrow we enter the first lock of the Erie Canal. No more dealing with tides and currents till we leave the Great Lakes. 

Day 62 Athens

Hard to believe, but the tides are still affecting us this far up the Hudson. Unfortunately, the currents and tides were not with us so we had a slooowww day on the River. We only made it 20 miles, but we passed some of the most beautiful riverfront. The houses and farms are just pristine and the countryside serene. Loved the little deserted lighthouses. John made the observation that he felt like he was on an HO train set mockup - everything is so picturesque with the trains zipping up and down the shoreline.  Found a free city dock in Athens so we stopped there for the night. There were no stores in this little town that died in the 70's, but we found a brewery, Crossroads Beer, and a gazebo (tiki) bar, conveniently located right on the waterfront. We spent a very pleasant afternoon talking to the locals like John, Jack, Kadrian and many other neighborhood regulars. I must say that I miss our friends terribly on this trip, but today, it was nice that we were allowed to partake in some local commorodity. For instance, John (Moon) is a retired Navy guy, who always wanted to be an actor, and so he pursued it in his 60's.  He was in War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise and a few more, which is a lesson in "you are never to old to follow your dreams". We closed the evening by watching Jack drive off on his 1970 BSA motorcycle. What a sweet sound and smell it dispelled. Catching an incoming tide early tomorrow morning for Troy. 

Day 61 Anchored part 2

We were surprised at what an impressive fortress West Point is. It rises high above the river. However, since 9/11, it is no longer open for touring. Right around the corner from WP, there were steps cut into the stone of the mountain that headed all the way down to the water.  I'm not sure of their significance nor can I imagine how they were created (Pic 2).  One strange thing happened today, as we were boating along, some mutant-looking, strange creature leaped straight up out of the water right next to the boat. John and I both saw it.  It was brownish and the size of a small dog with tiny arms. Creepy. As the day waned, we hailed a fellow trawler traveler and asked him about anchoring in the river. He lead us to a gorgeous setting in front of the Vanderbilt Summer Mansion. They have daily tours and for a little extra, you can go back in time and spend the day  as a "Vanderbilt servant". The brochure says to wear comfortable shoes and "be prepared to go up and down lots of stairs". Now that's what I call fun. The fragrance of summer flowers from the estate filled the air as we ate dinner. The silence is blissful and so welcome after the constant city noise. The last two pictures are taken from either side of the boat. The last one reminded us that this is still a thorofare for ships. Hang on, Jack! Tomorrow we are heading to the city docks of Troy which is a quarter of a mile from the first lock of the Erie Canal. Our future plans for the next couple months are to boat across the Erie Canal to the Oswego Canal. We will then be in Lake Ontario. After crossing the lake, we are on to Kingston, Canada. Ay! We will then take the Trenton Severn Canal to the northern end of the Georgian Bay. The next step will be taking the North Channel into Lake Michigan. At this point, we wil skip down the eastern coast of Lake Michigan and land in Chicago. 

Day 61 Anchored in front of the Vanderbilt Mansion Part 1

This day made up for the last two. We saw some magnificent and majestic scenery starting with Sing Sing Prison. It is huge and does not look like a place of incarceration and the property runs just about down to the river. Mo and Kev took us to the Bear Mountain State Park last year and John said, "Someday we are going to boat under that bridge" and, by gosh - today we did. After passing under the bridge, we were met with the Catskills Mountains embracing the river on both sides. The pictures cannot not capture the beauty - waterfalls cascading down to the Hudson, craggy rocks, and lots and lots of trains running along side of us. There are more "castles" on this river than anywhere else in the US, I think. The Bannerman Arsenol or castle was on a small island in the middle of the channel. An eccentric Scotsman and munitions dealer built it in 1900 to look like his homeland. He used it as a warehouse and summer home. Hmmm, nice place to vacation with the kids?! It was abandoned in 1960, but the NY Preservation Society is diligently trying to restore it for public viewing. Continued in part 2. 

Day 60 stuck in Tarrytown

Ventured into town last night in the rain and devoured some Greek food. Rained off and on all night, but never saw the winds that they got north of us. The Tappan Zee Bridge was so pretty right before dark. (Pic 1)  Decided to stay in Tarrytown for another day because of this crazy weather, but we are not getting any of it - it's just humid, gray and hazy. However, we can't go north because 20 miles up from here, they are getting slammed. Frustrating. But it I s "lovely weather for ducks" or geese as you can see in the picture I took from our dock. They were not only in the water, but all over the baseball field. Doing some jobs on the boat that we have been putting off so it's not a complete waste of a day. Walked to the grocery store for provisions - uphill - BOTH ways - or so it felt. Bad weather is all around us, but so far we haven't felt the brunt of it. Not complaining. John has been diligently planning our trip for the next few weeks. This weather should clear out by late tomorrow morning so we can continue on our way.