September 3, 2024 Rivah Cruisin' - Baldwinsville to Lyons 50 miles and 6.9 hours

 Tuesday Sept. 3, 2024  Baldwinsville to Lyons   50 miles and 7 hours

This was one of the longest cruising days we've had in quite a while.  Several locks to interrupt the cruising but also just a lot of slow-going river cruising.  Mostly natural river scenery interspersed with some stretches of narrow man-made cuts.  As we left Baldwinsville there was a fleet of canal employees "harvesting" weeds in a shallow area off the main canal route.  Pretty fascinating to watch as they loaded up their vessels then headed to shore to transfer it to a dump truck. 

Transfer barge hauls away weeds while "Chomper" vessel collects another load

 

Overall it was pretty scenic. One thing we noted was the abundance of birds. Blue herons, snowy egrets and even a few eagles.  In particular were the blue herons.  I always associated them more with southern saltwater marsh areas so it's been surprising to see so many in this stretch of the canal.  They have a strange behavior.  As we approach their shoreside area they would fly off in front of us and land several hundred feet ahead.  Then as we approached again they would fly off and land another few hundred feet ahead.  Oftentimes doing this numerous times before finally flying back behind the boat to an undisturbed area. 

Blue Herons everywhere in this section of the canal.

And a few bald eagles too!

Unlike the Rideau canal which was built as a military supply route for its primary purpose, the Erie canal was always about commerce.  As such it actually went through several iterations of progressively bigger and wider versions. There was the original canal, then an "expanded" canal and then the current 100 year old canal.  Much of the earlier versions have long since disappeared.  Towns like Lyons used to have the canal going right through the downtown.  Now those areas are completely filled in and oftentimes designated by names such as Water or Canal Street.   Occasionally you can still come across some ruins of the old canals.  We passed by the remains of the aqueduct that carried the original canal across the Seneca River. 

Original canal aqueduct ruins

With our radar arch lowered, the bimini top removed and the radar dome removed from its platform, we measured our overall height at 14'10".   That should get us under all the bridges on the western Erie as the lowest ones are listed as 15' at full spring levels.  We have a little extra room being later in the season - but not by much.  Went under the first of many 15' bridges today.   Not a ton of room to spare but more than just a few inches. 

Getting close and personal with the undersides of bridges

Finally made it to Lyons.   It's a town trying hard to survive.  Using its history as a canal town as one reason for visitors to stop. Really not much there other than a few interesting old buildings in the downtown.  At one time Lyons was known as the Peppermint Capital of the World.  Fields of peppermint surrounded the town and the Hotchkiss Essential Oil Company processed it and exported it worldwide for use in medicines, candy, etc.  A part of their old factory is now a museum - just wasn't open during our stay. 

The old Lyons fire dept.  Green building to its right was the police dept.

Lyons National Bank building attested to the area's wealth

Journey for Sept 3, 2024

September 2, 2024 Go West Young Man! We head onto the western Erie Canal

 Monday Sept 2, 2024   Brewerton, NY to Baldwinsville, NY   21.6 miles and 3.2 hours

Had a good stop at Ess-Kay Marina. Wound up staying an extra day to participate in the Sunday Labor Day picnic.  Primary reason we stopped here was to drop the arch and bimini to get under the shorter bridges of the western Erie Canal.  Weather just wasn't cooperating. Kept getting rain showers.   Finally got the bimini canvas off during a dry period on Saturday. Then Sunday afternoon provided good weather for the balance of the job. We must be getting better at lowering the assembly.  Went quicker and easier and no pinched fingers. 

Received this picture via NEBO as we headed out.  
Radar arch and bimini lowered always looks odd to me. 
Can't have too many fenders when locking - or so I've been told!

First part of the trip today was just backtracking back to the Three Rivers intersection with Oneida, Oswego and Seneca rivers.  Ducked under a few bridges and into Lock 23.   Lockmaster seemed glad to see us saying it had been a very slow day so far. Once past Three Rivers the cruising was pretty routine river cruising.  The canal has a 10mph speed limit so just slow going most of the time.  Lots of dropping down to idle as the shoreline has spots of development with houses, docks and boats.  Then more slowdowns for the numerous fishermen in their bassboats.  Made it to lock 24 and Baldwinsville.   Had to wait a few minutes for the gates to open but another easy passage.  Several boaters at Ess-Kay told us it was a good first stop going west.  

Old town Cemetery was right next to canal wall

Town has a long floating dock with power and water so very accommodating to boaters. Unfortunately, being a holiday and a Monday most everything in town was closed.   We still did a walkabout, a surprisingly big new amphitheater is on paper mill island between the canal and river.  Interesting old cemetery next to the lock wall.  Lots of tombstones from the 1800's.  Town was quite prosperous in its heyday based on the size of some of the monuments. 

Journey for Sept. 2, 2024

August 29, 2024 On the Erie Canal and over to Brewerton.

 August 29, 2024.  Phoenix to Brewerton   11.5 miles and 2.25 hours

Not a long travel day so no real hurry to leave.  Decided to let the Blockhouse Brats assist with getting a pumpout.  Not essential yet but the hook up was right there - so why not.  Plus, it gave the brats something to do other than picking up trash, chasing away geese and welcoming the town seniors at the waterfront picnic tables.    

We have reservations at Ess-Kay Marina for a few nights.  We'll use the time to drop the radar arch and bimini to provide the necessary lowered height to get through the shorter bridges on the western Erie canal.  Also need to be sure we've got good internet to continue updating the blog and most importantly to watch the Clemson - GA football game on Saturday. (a terrible start to the season for us).  The marina asked that we not arrive before noon as another boat needed to leave to make room for us. Departing Phoenix by 10 worked perfect.  Easy cruising up to the three rivers junction (Oneida, Oswego and Seneca Rivers).  Scenic wooded shorelines.  Even starting to see a few trees with some autumn colors starting to show. 

Easy scenic cruising day.  10mph speed limits.

Touches of color in the trees, shorter days and cooler weather are all
telling us the cruising season is winding down 

Made a turn to port onto the Oneida River and the eastern Erie Canal.   There's a 20' bridge we need to get under.  Our measurements say we're at 20'10" to the top of our anchor light but we're able to rotate it down giving us just enough clearance.  We make it to Erie lock 23 and need to wait a few minutes for them to clear the lock and lower the water.  

Waiting at Erie lock 23.  Flood gate in the up position in background

Passing by Winter Harbor Marina.   As You Wish will spend the winter here in heated storage.

Arrive at Ess-Kay right at noon.  Tight spot to stern in with a boat on our port side and wind blowing against our starboard side, but the dockhands are good and get us secured without any issues.  It's a marina we're familiar with as we left As You Wish here for a week when doing the Great Loop to let us make a trip back home to check on things.   No such trip needed this time.  "Lock it and leave it" is working just fine with the condo.

Colorful sunset over the boats  at Ess-Kay Marina

Journey for August 29, 2024

August and YTD Trip Maps

 

Journey for Month of August 2024

YTD  Journey  for 2024

August 28, 2024 Phoenix, NY - Home of the Blockhouse Brats

 Wednesday August 28, 2024   Oswego NY to Phoenix NY 21 miles, 7 locks and 4.5 hours

Sunshine State of Mind, our boat neighbor at the marina in Kingston, was also on the wall here with us but decided to make an early departure to catch the 8AM first lock opening.  We just weren't ready that early after our long previous day.  We had figured about a 10 AM departure would be fine to get through the seven remaining Oswego canal locks and dock in Phoenix.  But before we were fully ready, we heard a boat hailing lock 8 for passage and decided we might as well hook up with them.  By the time they were leaving lock 8 we were ready and waiting.  Then we saw them coming out the gates and realized it was a BIG boat. Decided to jump the line and head into lock 7 before them.  Really wasn't an issue as these locks are significantly bigger than any of the ones on the Rideau and we both easily fit using a port side  tie.   Boat was a 70+ foot Marlow.  Beautiful boat but felt huge next to us with it's high bow and 18.5 foot beam.  Found out it was corporate owned.  Crew of 3 were bringing it back south to it's hailing port of Key Biscayne for the winter.  

Big Marlow follows us into a lock

Got to lock 3 and had to tie to the wall.  Two smaller cruisers were waiting and explained there was an issue with the discharge valve function.  Waiting on a mechanic to either override the system or perform a manual discharge.  Good little break and it was fixed and ready for us within 1/2 hour.  Four boats in the lock got a little tighter but with the cruisers up front and the Marlow and us on either side we all fit fine.

Interesting bascule bridge had to lift before we could enter this lock

Made it up to  Phoenix and through Oswego lock #1 where we parted ways with the other 3 boats who were continuing eastbound on the Erie canal.  Phoenix is a pretty small town but it's known for "The Blockhouse Brats".  A community group of kids who welcome and assist boaters at their town dock. Oddly, no one was at the docks when we arrived so figured must be a summer program and kids are back at school.   Made my way to the bakery before it closed for a few items.  Nice waterfront park, lots of picnic tables, clean bathrooms, Laundromat right around the corner (Martha's favorite so far on this trip), even had a pumpout station. 

This mural was a High School art project. 

At one time Phoenix had multiple manufacturing buildings along both sides of the canal.

Most were destroyed in a fire in 1912. Oddly, Phoenix was named for the original town founder, 

not the way it rose back after the fire.

We made the most of the evening visiting most of the town businesses.  Duskee's Sports Bar had 60 cent Wing Wednesday.  Couldn't go wrong with that for dinner.  Ordered beer that never arrived and after reminding the waitress (who was swamped with a full house for wings night) we suddenly had 2 each with her apologies and a chip for a third drink.  We gave the waitress a big tip and the chips to the locals at the table next to us.  Certainly picked the right couple as they quickly listed several other bars we needed to visit along the Erie canal towns ahead of us. Then headed over to Tones ice cream shop for dessert where we found out Lock 1 Distillery had Music Bingo tonight.  So we headed there. Split a flight of assorted drafts and tried one of their bourbons.  Music Bingo was a hoot.   Each game had cards for a specific era with bands or artists in the squares.  DJ played a bit of a song and you tried to match the band to a name on your card.  We did good with the 70's card but the music of the 2000's gave us the most difficulty.  "Who are these bands".??

Woke up in the morning to the sound of kids playing in the park.  Apparently the "brats" work from 7 - 2 and we had arrived the previous day just after they left.  

Journey for August 28, 2024

August 27, 2024 US Customs entry DENIED - Oswego, NY

 Tuesday August 27, 2024  Kingston to Oswego, NY  56 miles and 8.3 hours

The Kingston farmers market is conveniently held on the square behind city hall.  One of the longest running farmers markets in Canada and it's held Tues, Thurs and Sat.   Since we were late getting to the one Saturday but noted a good selection of vendors and especially local farm produce, we wanted to hit it on Tuesday before heading out.  It's set to start at 8 AM so we got up early and were on the square at 8 only to find just 2-3 vendors and not the ones we wanted.  We needed to drop our lines by 10 for the cruising day ahead so still had time to wait and see who else arrived.  By 8:30 a few more vendors arrived but were slow putting up their tents and tables.  We decided to walk around the corner to Pan Chancho. Picked up a few scones at the bakery.  It's also a specialty store and had some small containers of maple syrup.  Martha bought one to give to our neighbor who is collecting our mail in our absence.  Headed back by the farmers market and one of the vendors was a maple syrup farmer.  Needless to say, Martha was in heaven buying several jugs of syrup for us to take home. By then a produce vendor was setting up. We grabbed a few items on display and had them pull a few items off the truck before heading back to the boat. Winds were forecast to be from the south gusting up to 20 but waves were showing only 1' with a 2 second period.  Waves on the bow, so no problem. With the long fetch across Lake Ontario the waves were a bit steeper than forecast but mostly it was the occasional windblown spray that made it feel a bit rougher.  

Light swell on the bow.  Ship headed to St. Lawrence barely visible on the horizon.  

Nice calm conditions once we got to the far side of the lake

Things settled down nicely about halfway across as we got closer to shore. Not much to see on this open water crossing.  One large ship crossing our path headed out to the St. Lawrence and a few fishermen working the 150' line.   Got a nice opportunity to run the boat up to speed and blow out the turbos.   

We would be entering back into the US at Oswego.  Procedure is to use the CPD ROAM app. Worked flawlessly when we returned during the Great Loop.  We had set up profiles, scanned our passports, entered boat info and replied to a few standard questions.  When we were a few miles off the Oswego harbor entrance we submitted our return request and waited.  Normally takes 10 minutes or so.  App said "Processing".  We waited, and waited, and waited.  After almost an hour I started heading for the harbor. 

Oswego harbor entrance light

That's when the app pinged us "REJECTED"!!  No explanation - just "REJECTED".  Martha made a few calls to CPD and the Oswego Marina for guidance. Finally determined the info on our application had errors in the passport numbers.  That was odd since those fields get auto-entered via you scanning your passport.  We tied up to the dock at Oswego Marina but did not disembark.  That's a requirement until approved. 

Our rejection notice from US Customs. 

We resubmitted another application making sure the scan filled out all info correctly.  It didn't and we had to make a few manual corrections. Once done we resubmitted and waited as the app again showed "Processing".  We were expecting the normal routine of getting a call from a Customs and Border Patrol officer requiring a video chat.  Nope.  Just a ping on the app after a few minutes wait - "APPROVED".  Relieved we headed further into the harbor and the entrance to Oswego Canal Lock 8.  They only lock until 5:00 and even then you generally need to arrive 1/2 hour before then to catch the final lockage of the day.  With our delay we were getting close to pushing that timing.  But the lockmaster was congenial and helpful.  We planned to stay against the wall between locks 7 and 8.  He recommended we go well past the bridges and tie up along the new section of wall.  Nice spot except the geese had been making the area their home and it was covered in droppings. Gross but survivable as we were just staying on the boat and not walking about.  Late arrival meant no time to go exploring Oswego. Second time through here and still haven't made it into town.  Maybe we should plan an extra day on the wall here next year when starting the Down East Loop.

Journey for August 27, 2024
Pretty straight shot across

August 24-26, 2024 Kingston ON, Canada

 August 24-26, 2024   Relaxing in Kingston  

This is our 3rd time in Kingston.  Still a great town to visit.  Good marina, Lots of history. Lots of tourists. Lots of interesting architecture. Lots of restaurants, etc.

Here are some links to blog posts back when we passed through Kingston while doing the Great Loop.

On the Water with As You Wish: July 8 Gananogue to Kingston (looperasyouwish.blogspot.com)

On the Water with As You Wish: July 10 Kingston to Trenton (looperasyouwish.blogspot.com)

We didn't really do much of anything upon our arrival in Kingston.  Ran up to the Saturday Farmers Market but since it was already late afternoon vendors were packing up.  Went out for an early dinner at Woodenheads - had good reviews for woodfired pizza.  Waitress said only one size pizza - they considered it their personal size.  She said it's a decent size but she could eat a whole one - and so we each did.   No alcohol consumed with dinner so figured we should hit up Kingston Brewery. Got a nice spot on the outdoor patio, watched the people walk by. while enjoying a pint.  Weird, they don't do flights. 

Slept in on Sunday.  Breakfast on board.  Martha was doing laundry and I was lazing about and noticed a boat coming in the harbor and docking that looked familiar. Sure enough, it was Roy and Lisa on Zora Neale.  They own one of the few other 38' Marine Traders that was like our original As You Wish.  Weird how we never seem to be going the same direction but have crossed paths numerous times. We caught up on each other's travels over an Indian dinner at Namaste later that night. We'll each head a different direction come Tuesday.

Zora Neale moored directly across from us

Monday I got up early and headed over to Pan Chancho Bakery.  Fresh cinnamon roll, Pain au Chocolate, scones, loaf of raison bread and a small baguette.  Sweets for breakfast, Raison bred in freezer for later consumption.  Needed that sugar rush as we spent several hours washing the boat and trying to rid it of the spiders we picked up along the Rideau. Did a little walkabout in the afternoon to the grocery store for a few provisions and found an open jewelry store able to replace the battery in my watch. 

City Hall - built in 1843 as the Capital.  
Just in time to have the capital moved to the more secure inland location
created by the Rideau Canal - Ottawa

I think we took the same picture 5 years ago. 

Prince George Hotel

St. Anthony's Presbyterian Church. 
Many of the historic buildings in town are constructed from a locally
quarried limestone giving the area a cohesive look.

Roundouts were a unique fortification at the Kingston Harbor entrance. 
 Three stories tall with cannons on top floor.  Never fired a shot.