Lyn's Log, 12th July 2007
Erie Canal

Oswego, New York.
N43º28', W76º31'
15,208 miles.

We left Albany in the morning of 25th June and continued up the Hudson River past Troy to Waterford, where we turned off to the Erie Canal and our first lock.

The first four locks of the Erie Canal were close together and all around 30 feet rises. After that the locks were either five or ten miles apart. We stopped the first night at the top of lock seven, where the lock keeper told us we could have free electricity from the lampost on the wall. The day had been one of the hottest in the New York State and we heard that the temperatures in Albany reached over a hundred degrees! (They don’t know about centigrade over here). There was a park at the top of the lock and a family came along from there to the wall and started to enjoy jumping into the water. So we too decided to have a swim and were surprised at just how warm the water was. We have had little opportunity to swim since Puerto Rico.

The next day was also going to be very hot but the clouds started to build and thunder storms were forecast for the afternoon. After around twenty miles we went under a road bridge where Amsterdam was signed off one end and Rotterdam signed off the other end! Another five miles brought us past Amsterdam as we went through lock 11. As we approached lock 12 the thunderstorms had begun and I was welcoming the first drops of refreshing rain. The lock keeper informed us that he had lost his electricity and we would have to wait at the wall until he could open the lock. I had a lovely shower under the rain (Andrew handed me the soap) and then we waited another hour before we could go through the lock. It was then half past four and we would have gone on for another couple of hours, but the sky was still showing signs of storms so we tied up at the top of lock 12. The lock keeper told us we had been very lucky because we had just missed a mini tornado that had passed through lock 11 taking out trees and some roofs. The sky grew very dark with swirling black clouds, the lightening flashed away and the thunder clapped and crackled. Gusts of wind came at us from different angles, but nothing serious happened. The humidity was hundred percent and nothing, including ourselves, got dry.

It continued partly overcast and good breeze kept it comfortable. Lock 17 at Little Falls, was the highest lift at 40 feet. Two small motorboats followed us into the lock. The scenery was dramatic here with sheer rock cliffs which are good for rock climbing. A few miles after lock 18 we stopped for the night at the little town of Ilion, after towing in a motorboat with engine failure. Ilion is home to the Remington arms factory. We visited their small museum and saw the huge range of small arms that the factory has made over the last two centuries, including the famous 'Double Derringer' pistol that features in many western movies. There are a few other sidelines like sewing machines and typewriters.

The next day I spent visiting dentists and waiting for taxis. The Ilion dentist took a panoramic x-ray and decided I needed to see the specialist dentist for root canal treatment, but I could have an appointment there in the next hour. Unfortunately the taxi was so busy it took an hour to pick me up. It was not a cheap trip to Utica and the treatment was very expensive but fortunately the remains of my tooth were saved and I did not have to be referred to another dentist for an extraction!

We continued up the Mohawk River and Erie Canal to Rome where we gathered on the motorboat Barefoot Again with other boaters for drinks. Along with owners Ken and Sharon were Joyce and Barry from another yacht with the mast down and an Englishman, David, on a huge motorboat he had just bought. It looked a bit of a white elephant to us, but he seemed highly pleased. In the morning we visited a very interesting reconstruction of Stanwick Fort in the middle of the town. A wooden fort, it had been built to protect the important portage between Lake Ontario and the Mohawk river, then was a British stronghold during the War of Independence. Long since lost, the site of the old fort was rediscovered in the centre of the town thirty years ago, and cleared of all the properties and roads so that the fort could be reconstructed complete with surrounding ditches and park. The buildings inside were furnished and had costumed ‘residents’ ready to impart information.

Continuing on our way we went through our first two ‘down’ locks and came to the 20-mile long Oneida Lake. The wind was blowing strongly along its length crating a nasty chop littered with white horses. We decided it would not be pleasant, especially with the mast on the deck, and waited till 6 in the morning when it was calm. By ten we moored alongside the municipal park in Brewerton for a break and wander round the corner to the neighbouring marina’s store for a chart. Whilst there we were stopped by a couple of guys from a TV company (NBC) who were looking for boaters for a story about a possible mandatory tracking device for yachts. They asked to come aboard for a ten-minute trip for filming and ask us a few questions. The boat and us were looking somewhat scruffy but no matter, the guys were keen and did their stuff. We hope to get a video later.

We continued to Syracuse where Andrew’s father had worked in the early 1950's. We crossed the lake and entered a narrow opening leading to a new marina in the town, but at the final turn it was too shallow to continue and so we returned to the lake and anchored in a sheltered corner at the northern end. It was a pretty spot with a park alongside. There were two exercise tracks, one for roller blades, bicycles, skateboards, etc. and the other for pedestrians. It seemed very popular with the keep fitters.

The following day we back-tracked a little and took the Oswego canal down several locks to Oswego, on the shores of Lake Ontario. Here we met Ken and Sharon again and spent a boozy evening together. The following morning our mast was put up again. It took us all the day in drizzling showers, to get everything put back together and working again, and tidy below. That was July 4th. The town had had its Indepence Day celebrations on the previous Sunday, which was a shame to have missed, but they were wise since the 4th proved to be a washout. We had another pleasant evening with a local couple who were having their mast stepped at the same time as us. Tom, a keen back-packer in the nearby forests, was very interested in reading about sailors who explored out of the way places or made extensive voyages, and although he now had this yacht, his wife Chris had not yet been sailing.

On 6th July we checked out with Customs (by phone) and were now ready to leave the USA and sail across Lake Ontario to Canada.