Day 34, 6.30.18, Ithaca

Saturday starts with heat warnings, but out on the lake with a 15-20mph wind, it's chilly enough to wear long sleeves. We sail about a dozen miles, then enter Ithaca's harbor, home to Cornell University and Gary's niece Jessie. She joins us on the boat after we go shopping. But it's very hot here in town, so the three of us head back to the open lake where it's slightly cooler. 

Gary's son Peter arrives on the bus about 5pm, so we return to town and pick him up, and head directly back to the lake. The wind has died, and the heat builds. Nothing to do but go for a swim!

Dinner for all four of us of grilled salmon, potato salad, green salad. Then we drop Jessie off and find a place to anchor for the night. 

Day 33, 6.29.18, Cayuga Lake

Friday continues the heat wave. We depart from Seneca Falls and head for Cayuga Lake. Once under the last bridge, we drop anchor and up goes the mast! Here on the shallow northern end of the lake the weeds are thick, and get tangled around the outboard and the rudder, and interfere with the new depth gauge's performance. 

As we drop through the Seneca Falls lock, a rental canal boat locks up. Picturesque. 

It's nice to be sailing again, and we have a brisk tailwind from the northwest. Midday it veers more north and strong enough to reef the sail once. But within an hour we're back to full canvas. By mid afternoon we were wishing we had more canvas to put up, and as we head for an anchorage no amount of canvas would help as the winds just died.

Sailing Cayuga's waters.

While out, Kristen makes a batch of chocolate chip cookies, baked in the grill. 'Twas our first attempt at cookies, and I'd say there will be many repeat performances!

We're anchored on the eastern side of the lake, about a dozen miles from Ithaca. Beautiful sunset then the temperatures drop and everything is soon covered with dew. 

Day 32, 6.28.18, A Day in Seneca Falls

Thursday brings us another bad forecast. But nothing really materializes except for high temps and high humidity. 

Yesterday we got a new depth gauge, and got part of it installed in the evening. This morning that project was completed. The new sensor hangs off the transom, with a wire running forward to the control panel then up to the display unit in the cockpit. It works! And it has all sorts of useless bells and whistles built in. Not only does it show the water depth but it displays the temperature of the water, speed, direction, type of fish in the water, where you left your keys and what you're having for dinner tomorrow. 

Kristen works on connections. 

Life in the lazaret. Routing wires.

Mark again met us and we drove to the Menonite grocery store for to re-stock the larder. Back on board we made a deep dish pizza which the three of us devoured. Then Mark took us around to some wineries for tasting. Atwood was very good, as was Hazlit, then to the Lucky Hare brewery.

Looking out from Atwood Winery toward Seneca Lake

Hazlit winery

Day 31, 6.27.18, Seneca Falls

Wednesday and the forecast is aweful. At least it's not snowing. I get up early, cast off and head further up the canal. Decent weather for an hour, then the wind picks up with occasional drizzle, followed by two hours of rain. The tent keeps me mostly dry and Kristen stays below.

Kristen makes filling to make...

Crepes for breakfast!

The posh riverside homes give way to more and more run-down camps and finally to the expansive Montezuma Swamp, now a wildlife sanctuary. People died of malaria digging the canal through here. 

Eclipse entering C&S Lock 3. Thanks for the photo Mark James!

This house may have inspired the house from It's a Wonderful Life.

Seneca Falls is our destination, so we leave the Erie Canal in favor of the Seneca-Cayuga Canal. Up one lock, then up a double lock, and we tie up to the wall in downtown Seneca Falls. My grade school classmate Mark James lives here and works for the Farm Bureau, and is well connected. He meets us as we lock through, and again where we tie up. Seneca Falls is full of history, mostly for Woman's Suffrage, but also the Underground Railroad, the movie 'It's a Wonderful Life', the canal, and more. He drives us around to some of the sights and to a local cheese maker (delicious!!) then treats us to dinner.

Where it all started.

Barack Obamas visited here. 

Kristen at the podium

In the Woman's Rights Museum are many large quilt/tapestries. This shows Frederick Law Olmstead. 

A sample of wine at Muranda Cheese Co.

Kristen, Gary, Mark and Tom after sampling a dozen wonderful cheeses. 

This church hosted the historic Women's Rights Convention

The wall includes free electricity, water, bathrooms and showers, and coin-op laundry. We borrow a dehumidifier to help the boat dry out inside. 

Day 31, 6.26.18, Baldwinsville

Tuesday sunny and fair. On down the canal, past the turn-off for the Oswego canal and the Syracuse/Onondaga canal, to Baldwinsville. Nice town, easy tie-up, friendly people. There's a free concert across the river which we enjoy from the cockpit. Eventually we row Partial Eclipse over, but we barely make their last song. Timing. 

Flies, mosquitoes, no-see-ems. We battle them all!

Kristen makes bread with herbs and cheese. 

Instead we walk through town for ice cream, but they're closed, so we get a half gallon from the drug store. This prompts us to join a small party in front of another boat tied to the wall, and offer them ice cream. 

Canal scene

Canal scene

Day 30, 6.25.18, Lake Oneida to Brewerton

Monday brings winds from the west and strong sunshine with little cumulus clouds. We are to cross twenty miles of Lake Oneida today, so up goes the mast and boom and on go the sails. 12-15mph winds with some stronger gusts, so we put in a single reef in the main for a day of tacking. There are times when two would've helped the handling. Waves are 3ft and choppy, so progress is slow until we figure out that waves are better along the north shore. Challenging sailing at times, but much more fun than motoring. We're the only sailboat out today. 

Brewerton lies on the far end of the lake, where we un-rig the sails and mast, and set up for canalling.

We've been looking at our progress, and how far there is yet to go, and changed our proposed itinerary. We'll continue to Seneca Falls, probably wednesday, and down Lake Cayuga to Ithaca, then backtrack to the Oswego canal, and skip the western half of the New York State Barge Canal, aka the Erie Canal. This'll save us much motoring on canals, and still get us to Ontario and Lake Champlain. It also avoids the intimidating Welland Canal with its 140 foot deep locks. We can also spend more time visiting wineries and historic sites.

After dinner we take a walk about town, and notice a very small state park on a map of the town. And very close. It's … and we meet the two curators who happily show us around. Fort Brewerton was a star-shaped fort, built here in 1759 and the earthworks are plain to see. The museum is housed in a replica block house of the period. They have lots of good artifacts and enthusiasm for their history. We shared knowledge with the curators. Fun and very informative.

Day 29, 6.24.18, Sylvan Beach

Sunday brings more drizzle. Our wall-mate in the big powerboat leaves as soon as the lock opens, but we wait for clearer skies. Peter joins us to descend the lock, then he disembarks and we continue west through Lock 22 and on to Sylvan Beach on the shore of Lake Oneida. This is a small resort town with amusement park and lots of boats and a big beach. Most of the homes on the beach are rentals.

42 feet of drop.  Finally we are headed DOWN the locks.  Lock 21's concrete is

Peter joins us before departing eastward on his bikeride across the state to share our traverse through Lock 21!

The beachfront arcade at Sylvan Beach is reminiscent of years long gone by.

Sylvan Beach, on the eastern shores of Lake Oneide

Zoltar tells all!

Harpoon Eddie's

Harpoon Eddies has the most awesome band!

Among the mix is a bar with live music, so we enjoy a drink and dance to several of their songs. Such fun! The drizzle continues on and off all day and so we find ourselves hanging out on the boat between the rains.  It's a great spot!  Cars pay to park but we dock for free right downtown on the pier!

After dinner we take a walk about town and down some sidestreets. People are having a small party at their house, and one of them looks out and says 'Hey! It's the dancers from Harpoon Eddies! We are invited in for a beer, stories, and listening to music. 

Day 28, 6.23.18 Rome and beyond!

Saturday brings rain and cooler temps with a stiff east wind. With a late start we visit the Rome Historical Society Museum, which is quite impressive for a city of this size. It's a quiet day there, and the curator personally shows us around. Rome exists where it does as the 'Oneida Carrying Place', or the height of land between the Mohawk river flowing east to Albany and the Hudson; and Woods River, flowing west then north into Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence Seaway. Anything carried by boat was carried overland about two miles from one watershed to another. This was important militarily, as a route for the french between French Canada and their colony in Luisiana on the Mississippi, for the American Colonists getting to the rich farmlands of Ohio and beyond, for the British and territory they held and wanted to keep from the Americans and French, and for the Native Americans who lived here. Treaties were made and broken and battles fought. Tis a history well worth learning about. 

Portage of bateaux at the Oneida Carrying Place

Gary absorbed in the museum

Jervis, one of our pioneering civil engineers started here in Rome, then went on to engineer the Boston and New York water systems, railroads, canals, and more. 

Radiators were built here, for cars, aeroplanes,  dirigibles, trucks, etc. 

About 3pm we cast off and motored down a very straight canal for about four miles, but upon arrival at the lock, we were denied passage, as we couldn't complete both Lock 21 and 22 before the lockmaster's quitting time.

This journey is actually on the NY State Barge Canal. But here is a small piece of the old Erie Canal, that we were able to motor in to. It's all silted in and blocked by a dam, but we're actually on the real Erie Canal! 

So here we are, tied to the wall alongside a very big motor cruiser awaiting morning. There's a park here, and we meet Peter, a cyclist on his way from Seneca Falls to Albany. Being fellow cyclists, we invite him aboard for dinner. 

Day27 - 6.22.18 - Rome, NY

Friday starts with horns blowing. We are tied to the wall below lock 19, as far from the lock itself as there are tie-ups. I pop my head up, and a large power cruiser is near us. They call out 'You're too close to the lock for them to release the water.' That doesn't seem logical, but we untie and back off. We wait and wait, and finally return to the tie-ups on the wall, as does the power boat. Finally the water is released, and an east-bound sailboat exits. But the lower door is not open fully, so a repair crew is called in, and they manage to operate it by hand. We enter, rise slowly, and at the top the lockmaster apologizes for the condition of his machinery, which was due to be overhauled last winter. 

Erie Canal work boat

Traffic jam on the Erie

Onward up the canal, surrounded by forest. Very peaceful and relaxing. Mid afternoon we arrive in Rome. There is a historic fort here, run by the National Park Service, Fort Stanwix. It's free, and we learn much about elements of the US Revolutionary war.

Back at the landing we meet more fellow cruisers, and stroll along the riverfront walkway.

Fort Stanwix was built by the British in 1758 to protect a key portage along the trade route of what would later become the Erie Canal from attacks by the Iroquois and the colonists. In 1768 the British presented a “treaty” to the Iroquois to end the fighting and in fine print, it also ceded lands to the British all the way down to Kentucky. Why squabble over a few extra acres over who took land from who! This is supposed to be a happy occasion! The native Americans down in Kentucky of course never had a say in that treaty. I guess they never got a copy of the memo which included putting cover sheets on all TPS reports. During this same year, the fort went to ruin and fell down into the swamp.

Enter the upstart Americans who, on July 12, 1776, rebuilt the fort and occupied it to protect against the British. The British laid siege to the fort but while so doing, another colonial group heading west to relieve the siege encountered the British resulting in the British seige ending . After this event, the fort was abandone then burned down and then fell into the swamp.

Enter the Park service in 1974. They built the fort for the THIRD time in an attempt to besiege tourists and extract dollars from them and that fort stayed up! Now when you come to visit, all this can be yours!

“What, the curtains?”

“No, not the curtains”

Gary channels Jack Nicholson in "The Shining"