Leaving Brewerton, NY and on to Oswego, NY. Day 1 of our second year. 27.5 miles. Total miles 28112

We spent the last few days at Winter Harbor Marina where we stored the boat for the winter. Spent our time cleaning and checking that all the systems on the boat are working properly. Took us a bit, but we reremembered all the quirks of our electrical system and all systems checked out okay. The only issue was we sprung two small leaks. Chasing water is not our most favorite thing, but we managed to find the source and plug it up.

This morning we woke up to 52 degrees and we bundled up to do the last of the chores and get ready to leave. Our first chore was to get fuel in the dinghy so we took a quick trip up the Erie canal and exercised the engine, then took on fuel. Luckily old habits die hard so we both fell into our normal groove of checking systems and setting up the flybridge for travel.

We left Brewerton at about 10 am and the sun was out, warming us up to 62 degrees. One mile into the trip Down the Erie Canal, we encountered our first lock of the day- Lock 23 which dropped us 7 ft.

The canal water is running high and the forests on the shoreline are all beautiful with new foliage- which is so different from seeing the trees in their Fall colors and less water in the canal when we were last here in the end of September.

Keeping us company on our cruise we’re lots of fishermen in their small aluminum boats, lots of Canadian geese and ducks and the ever present trains.

An hour and a half into the cruise, we left the Erie Canal and turned northwest into the Oswego River and Canal system.

The 7 locks on this system allow boats to travel the Oswego River from Lake Ontario to the Seneca River part of the Erie Canal. The river and canals are heavily forested with homes as you approach the few small towns on the river.

The locks took us down to the water level of Lake Ontario.

Lock 1 in the city of Phoenix,NY dropped us 10 ft.

Lock 2 and 3 in Fulton, NY dropped us 17 and 27 ft.

Lock 4 was eliminated when the canal was improved and Lock 5 in Minetto, NY dropped us 18 ft.

Lock 6 and 7 in Oswego, NY near Lake Ontario These locks dropped us 20 and 14 ft. That makes a total of 113 feet drop in one day as we traveled to Lake Ontario.

We will tie up for the night on the wall between Lock 7 and 8 for the night. Will tackle Lock 8 and the lake another day, when the winds die down a bit.

Bill and I wore ourselves out today tackling so many locks! We will sleep well tonight.

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Day 98. 2nd year. August 27. On to Manistee. Miles 25 Total miles. 3910.

We weighed anchor on a sunny 50 degree morning. So we put on our sweatshirts and drove from below as we left Frankfort. Going through Frankfort’s channel and breakwater we encountered a few intrepid fisherman and further along as we cleared the breakwater there must have been over a hundred fishing boats. Almost like playing bumper cars, but with boats. Had to negotiate a path between them as the fishing boats were all trolling fishing lines behind them. We were still seeing fishermen 4 miles south of Frankfort. These guys sure take their fishing tournaments seriously! The shoreline that we pass heading south are still sand dunes bluffs some as tall as 200 feet. As we travel, we pass the small town of Arcadia and Portage Lake, each situated on an inland lake which is connected to Lake Michigan by a dredged channel. Interesting to note that the dredged channels were originally small rivers connecting the inland lakes to Lake Michigan. As we passe...

Crustacean Travels

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