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.