7 August 2020 - Wellesley Island to Clayton, NY
Today is a short run to Clayton just to get off the island
start our trip. We tied up at the Mary Street dock for the night.
8 August 2020 - Clayton to Sackets Harbor, NY
We are heading to Sackets Harbor from Clayton. We stayed on the Mary Street dock, where it was free this year due in part to the Coronavirus pandemic, just to get a jumpstart to our trip. We left the dock at 1030 and arrived at the Carlton Island anchorage at 1220. We’re taking a shorts swim and having lunch and will continue after we eat. I just might jump in again once we get out on Lake Ontario, hmmm.
9 August 2020 - Sackets Harbor to Oswego, NY
Rough passage across the lake today. When the NOAA weather forecast says 2’ waves, what they really mean is 2’-4’ waves with the occasional (regular) 5-footer. What they don’t say that you will see a 6-footer tossed in the mix too, you know, just for fun. Melissa did not fare well in the rough water, her stomach had enough after two hours.
10 August 2020 - Oswego to Baldwinsville, NY
We went through seven locks today. They were smooth sailing.
We stayed on the free wall in Baldwinsville. It was a short walk to the
restaurants and shops in B’ville. There was a small free library on a small
post for boaters to exchange books.
Lock 2/3 on the Cayuga – Seneca Canal almost damaged our
boat and I lost my cool with the dockmaster! Here are a few lessons learned;
~ ALWAYS be prepared for anything.
~ Communicate - Ask the lockmaster
which side to tie-on to.
~ Dock/mooring lines ALWAYS go on
the outside of the bow rail.
The Problems:
1.
The gate valves on one side of the lock were not
working, so as water entered on the bottom of the lock on the working side, the
incoming current swept across the bottom of the lock and up the far wall. As
this current reached the surface it continued to sweep in a circular motion and
pushed our boat away from the wall and into the center of the chamber towards
the opposite wall.
2.
The lockmaster filled the chamber with water at
the normal speed the chamber is usually filled.
3.
The Lockmaster NEVER looked into the chamber as
it was filling to see how events were progressing.
As a result, the water pushed us into the center of the
chamber at a 45-degree angle to the walls. Thank God we were the only boat in
the lock. The current was so fast that Melissa could not hold the boat to the
wall. I was at the stern of the boat and my feet were on the gunwale while my body
was straight across and parallel to the cockpit floor. I was trying to push the
boat back to the wall. The lock wall lines were only attached to the top of the
wall so the line was at 45 degrees. No help what-so-ever! I changed tactics and
tied off the last few feet of line to the stern cleat and ran to the bow to
assist Melissa with her lines. She had run them over the top of the bow rail
and was just holding them in her hand. She was unable to tie the line to the
bow cleat.
When we got to the top of the lock, I lost my cool with the
Lockmaster. He made a feeble excuse but it made no difference to me, I was mad.
I was mad because:
1.
He made no attempt to tell us there was a
problem with the gate valves on the lock. If he had, we would have followed his
directions and this would have been a non-issue.
2.
He did not look into the chamber to see how we
were doing as water filled the lock. If he had, he would have seen the trouble
we were having and could have slowed the rate of water ingress.
12 August 2020 – Seneca Falls to Ithaca, NY
Lock 2/3 was much better going down today. We met up with
Ruby and her boyfriend Taylor and took them on the boat with us to Thirsty Owl
and Goose Watch wineries. We had a lot of fun with the server at Thirsty Owl. I
created “The Cracker Code” while there. We were not allowed to use pencils to
mark the tasting sheets, so I used the oyster crackers to mark the wines we
wanted to taste. The lady pouring our wine said that no one had ever done that
yet. Ruby then took us to her winery, Bright Leaf, by car. We ate BBQ and
listened to live music; it was great fun! We stayed on the dock at Long Point
State Park, we weren’t supposed to but it sure beat the alternative.
13 August 2020 – Day in Ithaca
We motored to the Alan Treman State Park and took our slip.
After settling in we took an Uber downtown and walked the Commons, a pedestrian
area filled with restaurants and shopping. We stopped to rest our weary feet,
had a drink and a plate of fries to ward off hunger and thirst (necessary for
human survival), and eventually made our way back to the boat via a park
fitness trail. Before you ask, no, we did not attempt to try using any of the
equipment on the way back to the boat. Although we probably should have.
We met up with Ruby and Taylor again later in the evening for dinner at the Boatyard Grille. It’s located at the end of a peninsula with a fantastic view of the water, boats, and the marina. Oh, and they serve delicious food too, bonus!
14 August 2020 – Ithaca to Seneca Falls, NY
We went to Sheldrake and Varick wineries today while waiting
for Dianne and Austin to arrive with their Ranger Tug aptly named Sine Wave as
he is a Mechanical Engineer. We met them near Lock 1 on the CS Canal and
motored to Seneca Fall. Yeah, we had to go through Lock 2/3, again, oh joy. It
was a much better trip this time.
Austin and Dianne showed up quite a bit later than expected.
Tire troubles. One was repaired before they departed, smart move on their part,
but another one blew out on the way. They were able to get it repaired but it
took a toll on boating time on the water. They were frustrated but showed no
visible signs of it. They are better people than me for sure. I think my head
would have popped off!
15 August 2020 – Seneca Falls to Watkins Glen, NY
The crew of Sine Wave like to sleep in so we got a late
start and only went to one winery today, Belhurst Castle. We didn’t really care
for the wines at Belhurst. Time was running short and we tried to make it to
the second winery of the day but decided to cool off in the water instead. We
went for a swim in 600 ft of Seneca Lake water. No, I didn’t touch bottom.
After cooling off we enjoyed a slow cruise to Watkins Glen where we took our
slips for the next two days.
16 August 2020 – Day in Watkins Glen
We hiked into town and walked the Glen. It’s a geological
wonder to be sure as well as a cool and refreshing walk in the shade. Whew, it
was hot! I bought a t-shirt in the gift shop that says, “Hiked It-Liked It”. We
grilled hotdogs on the dock later that night and had a wonderful conversation
with the crew of neighboring boats.
17 August 2020 – Watkins Glen to Seneca Falls, NY (again)
Before departing Watkins Glen, Melissa and I went for a walk
to reprovision at the super Walmart. We stopped at a local bakery and picked up
a dozen homemade style doughnuts. They were terrific!
We visited Miles Winery on our way north. They have a
wonderful dock and we took of a table in the shade for our picnic lunch. At the
winery itself we tasted a flight of wine under the canopy of an enormous willow
tree. After we pulled up to the wall in Seneca Falls, we hosted our final
dinner with Dianne and Austin on our boat.
18 August 2020 – Seneca Falls to Phoenix, NY
We got an early start as we had to get to the Baldwinsville
library so Melissa could get to the library for a school related Zoom video conference.
After her conference we continued on to Phoenix and tied up to the free wall
for the night.
19 August 2020 – Phoenix to Oswego, NY
We enjoyed a slow cruise through the locks as we made our
way to Oswego. We passed through six locks and decided to stay on the wall
between Locks 7 and 8. It was free and we felt safe there. It is close to the
downtown area and we strolled there and did a little shopping. We just might
make this a regular stop instead of paying for a slip.
20 August 2020 – Oswego to Cape Vincent, NY
We finally got the elusive bagels from the Bagel Shop
downtown. They’re hardly ever open when we pass through, YAY! Lake Ontario was
in a better mood today and the crossing was uneventful. We stopped in North Bay
on Carlton Island for a little swimming and lunch before we moved into Cape
Vincent for the evening.
21 August 2020 – Cape Vincent to Wellesley Island, NY –
HOME!
We rather enjoyed a slow cruise through the Thousand Islands
on our way home. Here are a few stats from our trip.
~ 14 nights on the boat
~ 67 engine hours
~ 505 miles
~ 1.5 cases of wine
