June 11, 2011 Liverpool, NY (Onandaga Lake State Marina)

After shopping at a small grocery store about four blocks from the marina, we departed this nice marina at 1140, entered the Erie Canal and headed west for Seneca Falls. This part of the Erie Canal is very rural, with both very modest “campsites” with manufactured homes as well as newer modern homes along the way. We turned into the Cayuga Seneca Canal at 1735 and went through the “mud” lock, and then thru two stair-step locks and into the pool just before Seneca Falls. There were four other boats along the free wall with electricity and water at Seneca Falls, but there was still room for us at the eastern end. We ate dinner aboard that evening, and stayed the next day in order to explore the town and see the Women’s Rights Museum.

Trip: 288H 45M – 1903.2SM

June 13, 2011 (Seneca Falls, NY)

We departed at 0900 to head toward Lake Ontario and the main objective of this summer’s cruise! We tied up for the night on the west wall (upriver side) of Lock #24 at Baldwinsville. There was an ACE Hardware, Duncan Donuts, and Rite Aid within walking distance so we were able to get a few non-grocery supplies.

We departed the next morning (June 14) at 0930 heading east and entered the Oswego Canal (leading to Lake Ontario) at 1125. We stopped about 1145 for half an hour to take advantage of the free holding tank pumpout at Phoenix, and then continued on to the wall between locks #7 and #8 in the town of Oswego, just before entering Lake Ontario. We ate dinner at a very good Thai restaurant that evening and did some shopping. The next morning we checked the lake and it was rougher than we wanted for our crossing to the St. Lawrence Rive, so stayed another day. Andrew, Avery and Bob toured the fort, and that evening Andrew and Avery took in a movie, while Judy and I found a Cold Stone Creamery!

Trip: 295H 40M – 1937.9SM

June 16, 2011 (Oswego, NY)

After exiting lock #8 we stopped for fuel just before entering Lake Ontario. We were underway by 0825 and crossed the relatively calm Lake Ontario heading north-northeast and into a bay that lead to Sackets Harbor, New York. I was surprised at the lack of commercial vessels – I had expected to see a line of them entering the St. Lawrence Seaway, but there were none in sight and none showed up on my phone’s AIS app. We anchored just outside the channel leading into the town, then Avery, Judy and I took the dinghy to the town dock to explore some of the museums and the battlefield (War of 1812). Most of the museums turned out to be closed that day, but we did walk the battlefield, find an ice cream shop, and make dinner reservations at a very nice restaurant “Tin Pan Galley.” We then returned to Sanderling where Avery and Andrew went swimming off the boat and we got ready for dinner. The four of us then returned to the dock and went to the restaurant for dinner – dining al fresco with nicely prepared and presented meals.

Trip: 301H 35M – 1980.7SM

June 17-21, 2011 (Sackets Harbor, NY)

We departed at 0850, headed around the headland and into the St. Lawrence Seaway. Again, I was surprised by the lack of ship traffic, but after arriving at Clayton, New York, which sits right off the seaway, we did see (and feel) several commercial freighters pass heading both up and down river. We stayed at the town dock at Cayton for a day in order to explore the town and the Antique Boat Museum – a spectacular collection of early run-abouts, sail boats, and “speed” boats built for racing.

This photo doesn’t begin to show all the boats in the multi-building museum.

The next day we headed across the river to Heart Island and Boldt’s Castle (Boldt’s Castle) where we tied up at the free dock while we explored the castle and grounds. The island was purchased in the early 1900s by a wealthy hotel magnate and the castle was a gift to his wife; unfortunately, his wife died at a relatively early age before the castle was completed; all work stopped at that point and the castle was abandoned and fell into ruin until it was given to a trust which has maintained it since and is undertaking a mamouth restoration project. We took our time walking through the castle and grounds, and after lunch on Sanderling took the pontoon shuttle boat to the boat house (which housed a few of the approximately 60 boats owned by Mr. Boldt, some of the exhibits were on loan from the Antique Boat Museum). The castle did not permit boats to be tied up to the docks overnight, so early in the evening we moved a few hundred yards off the dock, near the boat house, and anchored for the night.

We were underway at 1010 the next morning (Monday, June 20th) and at 1040 crossed the boarder running through the St. Lawrence River into Canada and hoisted the quarantine flag (indicates we had not yet cleared immigration/customs) and then tied to a dock at Rockport, Ontario, and used the free phone to call Canadian Customs and clear in by phone. All that was required was for me to provide information about Sanderling, myself, and the three other passengers; I had our passports with me, but it wasn’t necessary to show them to anyone. While we were at the dock we pumped out the holding tanks (not free this time), bought ice, and then were on our way eastward through the small boat channel along the north side of Grenadier Island to Mallorytown Park, operated by the Canadian Park service, where we bought a season pass for the Canadian Parks which permits us to stay without additional charge at any of the Canadian Parks (along the St. Lawrence River as well as all the Canadian Canals). We stayed at Mallorytown Park for one night, and on the 21st cruised 9.7SM around the eastern end of Grenadier Island and west down the main shipping channel to Grenadier Island Central Park.

We met a Canadian couple who had tied up their 32 foot Carver on the “T” head of the series of slips; when it became obvious that Sanderling wouldn’t fit any of the remaining slips (we could only get about 1/2 the boat length into the slip), they offered to move their boat into one of the slips so we could take the “T” head where there was plenty of room for Sanderling. As it turned out, they had met another couple we know (who are cruising in a DeFever 40) a few nights earlier and had dinner with them in Ganonoque, Ontario, just a few miles to the west and a town we anticipate visiting in a few days. Small world! Another boat came in last night with a young couple from Montreal who promptly placed a gasoline powered generator on the dock near the land-side and ran a long extension cord from it to their boat; the young man provided us with a sample of some local port produced in a Vinyard near Montreal and showed me some areas of the Rideau Canal to visit on that part of our cruise.

We are staying here for an extra day since it’s a beautiful spot, in a small bay protected from the river current, with rest room and picnic facilities in the park. Avery has been rowing the dinghy around the area, Andrew and Avery have been swimming (in the cold water), and this morning Andrew showed Avery how to operate the outboard (Avery already knew how to row the dinghy from his Boy Scout training).

Trip: 312H 10M – 2057.8SM

Photos to follow once we have a WiFi connection.