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| This is the CSX Railroad bridge that we hit with our anchor light in 2009
Last evening we learned that the Oswego Canal which connects
the Erie Canal with Lake Ontario may be closed for a week due to flooding, and
we were wondering what this might do to our itinerary, but we continued to move
westward on to Utica this morning despite the overcast conditions with possible
rain showers ahead. It was a 21 mile
trip through 2 locks, and there indeed was a lot of debris in the canal around
which we had to dodge. Along the way we passed the “Gems along the Mohawk”
Outlet Center on the water which features Central New York products (Revere
cookware, Oneida Home Goods, Remington Arms, etc.), and quartz stones marketed
as Herkimer “Diamonds” because of their sparkle. We arrived in Utica around 10:30
a.m. and tied to a floating dock at the “Aqua Vino” restaurant where we enjoyed
lunch. George was one of only three male
diners in the main dining room which was filled with a large number of elderly
ladies who obviously belonged to some organization that must dine there
regularly. During our meal it really
began to pour outside, but by the time we left, the rain had subsided to a
drizzle. During the afternoon while Pat
read, George decided to write and post an article about “Locking Etiquette” in the
America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association Daily Digest, and got a great
response. There are a few novice
“Loopers” that we have observed in the past 10 days who just don’t seem to know
yet how to “play nice in the sandbox” so to speak, but now they do!! His article really struck a chord with a lot
of people!
6/17/2015
  
Waterway approaching Sylvan Beach
Our trip this morning took us through 3 locks over 29 miles
to Mariner’s Landing Marina in Sylvan Beach, N.Y. This is a resort town on the shores of Oneida
Lake, and we had a great time here on our first “Loop” voyage in 2009. “Reflection” was tied up by 11 a.m. and
shortly afterwards Pat was on her way to the marina’s laundry to do the wash. However,
she ended up not getting out of there until 4 p.m. because only one of two
washers was available, and the two dryers they had didn’t really work very
well, to say the least! Afterwards, we took
a long walk into town, and found out that the restaurant that we had eaten at
last time had been closed for the last two years, but we found another one
close by on the waterfront called “The Crazy Clam”! This place was really
hopping because it was “Wing Night”, and well-drinks were priced at 2 for 1. We
opted for fish and chips and salads, and had a great time not only eating, but
also “people watching”.
6/18/2015
 
Waterfront restaurant where we had dinner last night
Roller Coaster at Sylvan Beach
 
Approaching Brewerton
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We had no locks to go through on today’s journey!! Instead,
we did a 23 mile crossing of Oneida Lake, but we went carefully because a
number of the charted buoys were missing or off-station. Luckily the wind and
waves were light, so it was a smooth trip and we arrived at Winter Harbor Marina
at 10:30 a.m. As we pulled into its
walled area lined with boats, we were delighted to be tied up right behind “I
Think I Can…” with our friends Randy and Cindy Peterson aboard who were there
to take our lines. We decided to take fuel on immediately, but
unfortunately the hose would not reach both of our tanks, so we played a game
of moving our boat back and forth up the dock during the afternoon after
letting the fuel level off between both tanks.
Later on we received additional word from the N.Y. Canal Authority that,
barring any more rain, the Oswego Canal would now remain closed until next
Wednesday!! So everyone here is
currently staying put, since we are in one of the closest marinas to the Oswego
Canal – and none of us know how long this condition will really last. We are safe, have access to a courtesy car,
there is a laundry, liquor store, and a Wegman’s Supermarket nearby – so we are
in a great spot! There are approximately
ten “Looper” boats here, so naturally we had a Marina “Dock-tail” Party tonight
with passed hors d’oeuvres followed by our having Roast Chicken for dinner
onboard!
6/19/2015
Winter Harbor Marina
A “Looper” boat was towed in today from Ess-Kay Yard across
the Canal because that yard could not take care of the mechanical issues that
it had. Another “Dock-tail” Party was on the schedule for tonight, but several
couples have decided to leave their boats here, but will return home to wait
out the Oswego Canal delay.
6/20/2015
Another boat was towed in today and placed behind us, and
tonight’s get-together was cancelled because of showers. However, we had invited Randy and Cindy over
for dinner, so we had our own party aboard with Cindy’s Capresse Salad and
Pat’s cheese and cracker tray as an appetizer, Pork Loin in Peppercorn Sauce,
George’s Roasted Potatoes, and Corn as the entree, and a choice of Chocolate
Chip cookies, chocolate candy, grapes, and/or cherries for dessert. It was a
fun evening!
We had additional rain over-night, and George installed a
new fresh-water pump today. We also
worked on our proposed itinerary. Pat then typed up our edited notes for the
“Waterway Guide” 2016 Great Lakes/ Great Loop edition, and also worked on this
blog. George, meanwhile, scouted out the
location of the laundry in town, purchased more liquor for our Ship’s Stores
before entering Canada, and also picked up a menu from a local Chinese
restaurant. Klaus Loehr, aboard “Chinook,” stopped by in
the afternoon to go over some Canadian charts and also to get some advice from
us about travel in Canada. Later on,
only a few of us got together at the marina‘s picnic tables to chat, but Chinese take-out food was on our menu for
tonight’s dinner, so a short while later George got the keys to the marina’s courtesy
car and returned with our meal, which turned out to be excellent!
This morning we were up early because we had a plan in place
with Randy and Cindy to enable both couples to use the courtesy car in order to
get laundry done, as well as to do another supermarket run to Wegman’s. We met at 6:45 a.m., and by 7 a.m. we started
our laundry at the local Laundromat.
Cindy stayed at the Laundromat to oversee things and to put all our
clothes into dryers after they were washed, and we had Cindy’s short list along
with our longer list of items, so we went to the supermarket to do all the
shopping. (Randy had stayed aboard his
boat to finish installing a new heater, as well as to field some business phone
calls.) Afterwards, George dropped Pat
back at the Laundromat, while he returned to the marina with the food and other
items for both boats. He then drove back
to the Laundromat to pick up Cindy and Pat with the clean laundry – and we
accomplished all our tasks in just two hours!
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