June 10 & 11, 2011, Friday and Saturday:

Oswego, NY to Rochester, NY, Shumway Marina:  Today was our first day on Lake Ontario and it went great.  We started with a little wind and swells about 1 to 2 feet and as we got closer to Rochester, NY, the swells smoothed out and became small waves and we just had a little breeze.  We stayed at Shumway Marina for just $1.00/foot which was great but don't get fuel there as gas was $4.85/gallon which is the most we have paid since we started last summer.  New York City was even cheaper.  They have a very good restaurant on the premises. 

Shumway Marina, Rochester to Orleans County Dock, Point Breeze on Oak Orchard Creek:  There was a 70 per cent chance of  thunder storms predicted for all day Saturday.  We debated last night and this morning if we should go or stay.  It didn't look bad when we got up and it looked like there might be a 4 to 5 hour window for travel.  Well, we went, and an hour out I called to get a transient slip at Point Breeze, NY, for the night and they said they were full as there was a fishing contest going on all weekend.  The gentleman told us that all the marinas in the area were full.  Now what do we do?  We debated some more and I made a few phone calls and we found a place at the Orleans County Dock; we lucked out.  This is a nice little dock with electric, water, showers and heads for just $20.00 per boat per night.  You are well off the lake so no mater what the weather is you are in a true safe haven.  Tomorrow is also forecasting thunder storms and high winds.  We will wait and see what happens.

We will be in Port Weller, Ontario, Canada, hopefully by Monday night.  We changed our Verizon plan to include Canada but it came with limitations.  We will have limited minutes on our phone after 21:00 and also on weekends.  My data plan will also be limited.  I will not be doing much on our blog unless the marina we are at has free WiFi.  As soon as we are out of Canada will will go back to our regular plan.  The amount of time in Canada depends on the weather but we are shooting for next weekend.  Time will tell.

CO's comments:  At Oswego it was very busy with boaters coming in for fuel and sail boater to raise the masts.  While I was sitting having my evening drink and in came a GB trawler about 34 feet, the old guy driving came into his double slip, slammed into the boat next to him, driving it into the finger, gets outs and doesn't even go over to look and see if he did any damage to the other boat.  Someone made a comment and he said, "Well, that's the way it goes".  Then a  40 foot sail boat with his mast down, hanging at least 5 feet over the bow, came into his slip just about sideways, hitting the boat next him.  He gets out, walks over and looks at the other boat and says, "That's not to bad".  I walked down later and looked at the boat and saw a large scratch mark at least 4 feet long.  The next morning the sail boat was gone and the poor owner of the other boat didn't know what happened.  It seems boaters in the mid-west and western Florida have more respect for other peoples property than easterners.  I will be glad to be back in the mid-west.

Oswego Marina gas dock almost
under water from surges off Lake Ontario

Our slip at Oswego Marina

Leaving Shumway Marina,
Rochester, NY

In our slip on Oak Orchard Creek at
Orleans County Dock

June 6 through 9, 2011; Monday through Thursday

June 6, 2011; Village of Ilion to Rome, NY, free city dock:  We got up early and walked to the Remington Arms Factory about 3/4 of mile from the marina.  Dozier's said that they did tours at 10:00 and 14:00 Monday through Friday but when we called they have discontinued this practice.  They do have a museum at the office which we both enjoyed very much and thought it was worth the walk.  The store was closed for inventory so we couldn't buy any thing which is probably a good thing.  The service manager came down and we had a nice discussion with him and one of the gunsmiths.  On the way back to the boat we saw a shoe store.  I had been looking for months now for a new pair of tennis shoes so I finally got a pair.  This is the first time in years that I have worn out a pair of tennis shoes.  We do a lot of walking.

We got back to the boat and had engines running by 10:15.  We had a short day planned with 2 Locks and 19 bridges.  Lock 21 was the first lock on the Erie Canal going west to go down instead of up and for the rest of our canal trip they will all be going down.  This made it a little more difficult to catch their ropes and/or tie one of ours to the cable as we started out a good 4' above the lock wall; I learned fast how to adapt.  We tied up at the city dock in Rome, NY.  It was a very nice park but there were no cleats on the dock; looked like the dock was mainly for towns people to use for fishing.   It was tricky getting tied up but luckily there was no wind. 

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Remington Arms Factory, Ilion, NY

Remington Office in the newer part of the building

Original letter from George A. Custer to Remington & Son
telling them how good his Remington Sporting 50 caliber rifle was
when he took in on the Yellowstone Expedition in 1873. He shot
more animals at a greater distance than any profession or armature
hunter in the group (this was about 3 years before the battle at Little Bighorn)

June 7, 2011; Rome to Phoenix, NY, free city dock with electric:  We got going early this morning as we had 3 Locks, 23 bridges, and Lake Oneida to cross.  Weather report said that the winds would pick up in the afternoon so we wanted to get across the lake before  they picked up.  It was a beautiful day and the lake was just a mild chop.  We got across the lake in 1 hour and 45 minutes without any problems.  Sylvan Beach on the east side of Lake Oneida and Brewerton on the west side both had free tie ups for boaters.  Both were cute little towns with homes on both sides of the rivers.  It didn't take long to get to Three Rivers Terminal and then 2 miles up the Oswego River to Phoenix, NY, were we tied up the the free dock for the night.  The book said free electric but it was just house plugs so we had to use our adapters.  This little town had a very nice water front and park but over half the business' were shut down; a sad thing to see.  We have seen a lot of closed business so far on our trip.

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Phoenix, NY free city dock tie up

City dock at Phoenix, NY

June 8, 2011; Phoenix to Oswego, NY, Oswego Marina:  We were waiting for Lock 1 on the Oswego Canal to open at 07:00.  We have been very lucky lately and have had nice travel weather.  Today was nice and calm but hot again.  This part of New York has a lot of geese and ducks.  They all have babies now and it fun to watch them.  One mom had 17 little ones.  Our 120 volt adapters last night did not work very good.  It was a drain on our system and the voltage fluctuated from 100 to 115 and the coffee pot took forever to brew.  We got through the canal and to Oswego Marina by 12:30 where we got gas and tied up.  The marina has some new docks and they are very nice.  Oswego Canal has 7 Locks and 18 bridges.  One of the stores down by the marina sold charts, etc. so we got Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, plus we got our Canadian flag.  Had dinner at the restaurant by the marina; it was OK.

June 9, 2011:  We stayed in Oswego a 2nd day.  It is supposed to thunder storm all day so we are sitting it out and doing the usual; laundry, grocery store, buy oil for next oil change, etc.  It does look like Friday will be nice so we will venture out into the lake and go as far as Rochester, NY, or more if all goes right and we are not too tired.  All day in the sun and humidity can really tire you out so I always have Plan B and sometimes Plan C.  We have about 125 miles to go on Lake Ontario to Port Weller, Ontario, Canada, (the beginning of the Welland Canal) and plan on doing it in 3 days.

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View of the Oswego River

Lock 8 on the Oswego Canal
in downtown Oswego, NY

CO's comments:  A 54' Meridian with Zeus drives backed into the slip next to us.  Man did he churn up the water; water was going in every which direction.  The Captain told me the reason for this was the props were constantly changing directions in order for the boat to back straight into the slip.  This caused greater turbulence than a normal boat.

Previously posted pictures from May

Taken from our tour boat

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Inside Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty from the outside grounds

Flag flying at Ellis Island

USMC Ospray flying over New York City

Ospray Pracicing for Memorial Day Celebration

Wednesday through Saturday, June 1 through 4, 2011:

June 1 and 2, Wednesday and Thursday; Waterford, NY, Visitor Center:  Stayed another 2 days while waiting on a package.

June 3, Friday; Waterford, NY to Lock 12 on the Erie Canal:  We got our package and we were on our way by 08:00 and got to Lock 2 by 08:15.  We were the only boat in the lock.  This lock also had a cable but it was only about 1" in diameter and was coated so your line did not get caught.  Right after we left our first lock we saw an old barge.  The gentleman told us it was the first barge ever made for the Erie Canal and it is motorized.  Now they are making it into a moving museum and will do narrated tours on the canal; pretty cool.  The next 2 locks were the same as Lock 2.  The rest of the locks for the day we had to use the lines they provided as there were no cables.  We did 11 locks and went under 27 bridges today; a very long day, 9 hours.  By 17:00 we were tied up to the west side of Lock 12 for the night.  Visited with the Lock Master while we went for our walk, then it was back to the boat for dinner and we were in bed by 20:30.  My arms were sore and tired from holding 25,000 + pounds of boat in 11 locks with 35 mph winds.

CO's comments:  We learned the hard way that you must place fenders at the water line of your boat and also on the rub rail.  These are unlike other locks that we have seen before.  When you get to the top of the lock you feel like you are going to come out of the water completely.  There is only a foot or less left of the lock wall.  The locks are all rough concrete and we received a few scratches not to mention what it did to our fenders.  By the time the lock stopped rising Bobbie was looking down a good 6 feet and pulling up on her line.

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Lock and Dam 7
Just beautiful

Tie up above Lock 12

 June 4, 2011, Saturday; Lock 12 on the Erie Canal to Village of Ilion Marina, NY: Got going pretty early and it was a beautiful day and the wind was a lot calmer than yesterday. We had 6 locks and we went under 19 bridges to day. We are staying at a marina tonight and tomorrow so we can charge every thing up.  We also got gas, and; besides,the weather for the next few days does not look good.

CO's comments: The dock master here at Ilion Marina told us of a brand new boat costing a million- seven stopped for fuel earlier today.  The Skipper was just about in tears because he didn't have enough fenders and/or they were not in the right place.  The whole length of his boat was scrapped terribly.  Even his lower windows were all scratched up. 

We can tell we are up north now because I saw fire flies tonight.  I haven't seen them in years as we do not have any where we live in Montana.

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Lock 17 has the highest vertical
lift; 40 feet, of all the locks on the
 whole New York Canal System

Our view when leaving
Lock 17