June 9, 2013
We spent the day on Friday in Sylvan Beach, getting a few groceries and generally staying warm in the cool, rainy weather.
We departed June 8th at 0655 and by 0950 were across Lake Oneida and looking for Winter Harbor Marina where we intended to get fuel. We tied to their fuel dock a short time later and were pleased to learn that the price of their diesel was only $3.699 per gallon – much cheaper than anywhere else we’d seen along the Hudson River or Erie Canal. We took on 267.27 gallons, giving us a burn rate of 2.188 gallons per hour since our last fill. Normally we cruise at 1600 rpm and burn right at 1.75 gallons per hour, but on this leg since refueling in Norfolk we ran much of the time at 1800 rpm because of the long distances we were trying to cover each day. Once we cross Lake Ontario we’ll be back to our normal cruising speed.
We continued after about an hour at the fuel dock and turned into the Oswego Canal at 1215, then passed through six of the seven Oswego Canal locks to tie to the free wall between Lock #7 and Lock #8 in the town of Oswego. For those of you who are mathematically inclined, there is no lock #4.
Today we couldn’t get through Lock #8 until 0810 when it opened. The weather forecast for Lake Ontario looked good this morning with wind from the west at about 10 and SUNSHINE, but when we got several miles into the lake we realized that the direct route to our turning point on Adolphus Reach was going to put us in a rolling beam sea situation for the 25 miles across the lake which was very uncomfortable and would necessitate that we “tack” back and forth at a 45 degree angle on each side of the wave lines thereby increasing the distance substantially. Since we didn’t want to arrive in Picton (where we’ll clear Canadian Customs/Immigration) too late in the evening, we opted to head east and take an extra day to reach Picton. Even then we had to tack once in order to make the headlands on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario where we eventually anchored in a beautiful small bay (Whites Bay) on the southwest corner of Henderson Bay.
We hope to continue northwestardly to Picton tomorrow, depending on the weather forecast which foretells rain in the afternoon but gentle winds from the south-southeast throughout the day. We’ll see!
Day: 46.9SM/40.8NM – 6H25M Trip: 1600.4NM/1838.9SM – 265H10M
June 7, 2013
You will recall from our last blog page that when we arrived at Waterford, New York (the beginning of the Erie Canal) on Sunday, June 2nd, there was no space left anywhere on either the low floating dock or the high wall dock, so we tied alongside Tug Chancellor (with the help of friend Fred). On Monday morning a number of boats left the dock and walls; we saw a sailboat go past us heading east (either to proceed down the Hudson or up the Champlain Canal) and when I checked the dock I discovered a gap that was just the right length for Sanderling to slid into, so at 0715 we got underway to move up about 100 yards to the space formerly occupied by the departing sailboat. We fit in like a glove. We then walked about a mile along the old canal towpath (didn’t see any mules named “Sal”) where we shopped at a hardware store, meat market, Dollar General Sore, and an ice cream store all within the same small strip mall – what a find! We were able to get many items on our lists and found many items that we didn’t realize we needed until we saw them. On the way back we bought a 10-day pass for the Erie Canal that will be more than adequate to get us to Oswego. That afternoon Fred was gracious enough to take us on a tour of Waterford and the Cohoes areas. We saw the spectacular falls Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk River at the power station, and the old Erie Canal weigh station, among other old Erie Canal sites. These are things we would have never seen without Fred and his wealth of knowledge about the Erie Canal and its historic sites.
Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk River near Waterford
We departed Waterford on Tuesday, June 4th at 0905 and entered the first of a five lock flight of locks along with four other boats. Although these initial locks are close together, they do not share a common gate as do the 8-flight set of locks in Ottawa, Ontario. The Erie’s series has a short stretch of canal between each lock, so there is a little respite after leaving one lock and entering the next. By 1100 we had risen 160 feet vertically and exited lock #6 (lock #1 is the Federal lock at Troy) and were clear of the flood gate (a huge metal guillotine-type door that can be lowered to block water in the entire canal). We transited a series of locks the rest of the day and stopped for the night on the west wall of lock #8 at Scotia, New York.
Day: 23.3SM/20.3NM-6H10M Trip: 1420.9NM/1632.7SM – 229H50M
On Wednesday, June 5th, we continued westward trough the south end of the beautiful Adirondack Mountains and stopped at lock #16 on the west wall for the night at 1615.
Day: 46.9SM/40.8NM – 9H25M Trip: 1461.7NM/1679.6SM – 239H15M
On June 6th we were underway at 0655 in order to get to lock #17 for the first lock-through at 0800. Lock #17 is highest lock on the Erie Canal system at 40 feet and is unusual in that the east gate raises to permit a 20 foot clearance when entering or exiting, whereas other locks’ gates swing open for entry/exit. We entered the lock with three other boats, three sailboats (with their masts down and braced on their decks) and Sanderling (with her mast laid down. Since the maximum clearance on the eastern part of the canal is 20 feet, every boat has to be less than 20 feet in height. The maximum height on the western part of the Erie and on the Seneca Canal is 15.5 feet! Since Sanderling’s clearance with the mast up is 22.5 feet, we lower the mast and lay it in a crutch on the aft deck to give us a total height of 15.3 feet to the top of the bimini. At the lower height we can clear every fixed structure on any of the canals in the US and Canada. We tied to the free dock at Sylvan Lake (on the east side of Lake Oneida) at 1715 after traveling most of the afternoon in a light rain with cool temperatures. We decided to eat in a restaurant about 100 yards away from Sanderling last night – it was a nice, warm place with good food – the perfect plact to warm up after a chilly day on the water.
Day: 58.4SM/50.8NM – 10H20M Trip: 1512.5NM/1738.0SM – 249H35M
Tomorrow: Fuel and Oswego looking at Lake Ontario for Sunday.