Days 163-164: June 29-30, 2034

Last Erie Lock

With Coda back in the water, it was time to continue on. We headed out with Thistle locking with us. Day 163 took us thru the last Erie Canal lock for our trip. After E23 we turn north into the Oswego Canal and make our way towards Lake Ontario.

Goodby Erie Canal!

Owego Canal

After the completing our segment on the Erie Canal we turned the boats north and into the Oswego Canal. The remainder of the day was transiting thru the O1 to O6 locks. We have tons of pictures, in part thanks to the great lock master at the O2 lock, Call J Metz. He takes lots of pictures and keeps the Great Loop group updated on river conditions and closures.

Engine Issues

As we left the lock O5, we increased the RPMs and the port engine died. It restarted fine but then had issues again at higher RPMs. It led to a little anxiety when arriving at lock O6 and then docking on the wall at Oswego.

The problem was determined to be fuel. The engine was starting fine but was just not getting fuel. I replaced the filters and it appeared to be fixed. However, this was the beginning of a two-week ordeal. More to come…

Oswego

When we arrived, we were able to get on the free wall. The wall itself was a bit questionable with the cement crumbling away though suppose you pay for what you get and that’s just a place to tie up. There was a little gathering area so we had an impromptu docktails with the other boats that were already there. Later, we took the Harbor Rail Trail, which was a railway bridge converted to a walking trail, to the downtown area for their evening market.

Lock O7

While out for our morning walk, we saw that Thistle departing and headed thru lock O7. Bon Voyage!

Fort Ontario

Next to town in Oswego is Fort Ontario. The fort was originally built in 1755 by the British as one of many to protect the area at the east end of Lake Ontario.

The fort is neat to walk around. It has a bunch of underground areas, and we had fun exploring.

The three captains were up to some antics as well.

Night on the Town

On the last night Tonia suggested we walk around town to stretch our legs and mail some cards before leaving the next day. That took us by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum where we got to check out some boats. It was, of course, closed so we only walked around the outside.

Bar Hopping!

After walking around the museum, we were on a street with an Irish bar. We decided to go in for drink. It was a nice local establishment with the crowd being loud and jubilant.

After finishing our beverage, we continued our walk back towards town. That led us in the direction of live music and another bar. We decided to go in. It was crazy because you could not hear the loud music once inside yet it carried for blocks outside. The bartender was friendly and got us setup up with drinks.

After that we started heading towards back to the boat. However, there was another bar so why not? We headed in for a last nightcap and this place turned out to be the local college dive bar, though college was out for summer so sparser than usual. Tonia decided to try the Sunny D she’d seen at the previous couple bars. It tastes pretty much how you’d expect a Sunny D to taste. Then, about 10 minutes later, a girl pops in and under the end of the bar. It was the bartender from the previous bar. Appears she works at both establishments. She commented that the other one will never miss her.

Turned out to be a fun spontaneous night of walking and bar hopping.

Departure Morning

While Boris, Mayli, and I grabbed a couple provisions and fishing bait, Tonia took a walk to see some architectural points of interest.

Under way…

Day 163 Trip Details (June 29):
Winter Harbor Marina, Brewerton, US to City of Oswego, US
Time 6 h 38 m (05:04 to 11:42)
Distance: 27.61 nm

Day 159: June 25, 2023

One of the planned side trips for the Loop was Niagra Falls. Winter Habor was a great location to rent cars and make the trip happen, especially since we planned to be at the marina multiple days while Coda’s bow thruster blade was repaired and get bottom painted while hauled out. We loaded up with the Hodaks and me in one car and Tonia driving Steve, Barbara, Gary, and Carol.

We arrived and beelined it for the first falls we could see and were in awe. The group decided it was worth splurging for the Cave of the Winds and Maid of the Mist excursions to get up close, and very wet, looks at the falls. Thankfully it was a very warm day, so we all dried out pretty quickly. We had an interlude with lunch and ended with, would you guess, ice cream!

Most of what follows will be photos as we had many! The falls were so fun it was hard to limit our excitement to just a few!

Horseshoe Falls

Cave of the Winds & Bridal Veil Falls

Cave of the Winds view from below.

Seagull Nesting & Babies!

An exciting find on the Cave of the Winds path was the many hundreds of seagulls nesting. There were lots fuzzy little ones of varying sizes.

American Falls

Maid of the Mist

A view of Horseshoe Falls from the Maid of the Mist

Luna Island view of American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls from above

Video from Luna Island showing Bridal Veil Falls with Cave of the Winds tourists (in yellow) below, the Maid of the Mist (Americans in blue), American Falls with a misty rainbow, and finally the Prospect Point Park Observation Deck (where Maid of the Mist leaves from below), Rainbow Bridge to Canada, and the Skylon Tower on the Canada side.

Misty Rainbows

We had a great time visiting Niagara Falls! A side trip well worth the drive!

Days 157-162: June 23-28, 2023

The next destination on the Loop was Winter Harbor in the town of Brewerton. This trip took us across Oneida Lake, the largest lake entirely within New York state. It was a pretty relaxing journey and a nice break from the narrow passages of the canal.

Gross bugs

When we got to the marina there seemed to be tree debris everywhere. It wasn’t though. It was dead mayflies floating around into massive (no really, we mean massive) slicks across the water. It was not a great smell. Luckily, the current floated them off quickly. This photo shows a ‘small’ collection of them that got accumulated by the dock and boats.

Coda on the hard

When leaving one of the lock walls one morning Coda sucked a log or something into the bow thruster and it was not sounding happy. He swam under the boat at one of the anchorages and found that three of the four propeller blades on one side had broken off. It just so happened that Winter Harbor had the blades in stock and could pull him out early the next week. Being Friday, it would delay us for 5 days. The marina had a loaner vehicle, so at least made it a good stop for provisioning and getting maintenance done.

Projects

With the multiple day layover, it allowed us to work on some projects. One was to fix the entry stairs leading into the boat. The stairs lift open on a hinge and that hinge was just fastened with tiny screws, really not a great original boat installation. Those screws can’t handle the stress of people going up and down. Steve manufactured a support for the hinge, and we checked it off the list. Right after he jumped and down — enough to put Tonia on edge — on the stair to make sure it would hold.

The other project we worked on is a longer ongoing one. We are making screens for our helm area to allow for airflow and to keep out the pesky bugs. Steve is always looking for an excuse to use his fancy Sailrite sewing machine and his seamstress expertise came in handy.

Fun & Games

We had the pleasure of celebrating Annette’s 13^th birthday with her. She requested lasagna so Tonia complied with a gluten-free homemade lasagna. Annette was thrilled to get a bubble gun for her birthday and the day ended nicely with a rainbow for her.

We also enjoyed a meal out with other Loopers laid over in Winter Harbor, including Saga, Coda, Legacy, Thistle, and a couple others that joined the fun.

In the evenings after dinner, we got the Loopers to join us for a heated game of Codenames. Some enjoyed more than others and we’re looking forward to another match with Sheri as she was into it!

Thistle was also delayed in the marina waiting on a mechanic to address an engine issue so Doug & Sheri introduced us to “little beers.” It’s just Licor 43 and heavy cream in a shot-sized portion, in this case mini red solo cups. It does resemble a beer in appearance though not in taste. Pretty yummy.

We also enjoyed a lovely evening out with Doug & Sheri at The Cafe Bella Luna, which had some tasty and LARGE dishes. The leftovers were great though!

Fire

On one of the afternoons, we were working around the boat when we heard a mini explosion. More of a pop like a propane tank or something had burst. I could hear Delaney from Shenanigans (the boat behind us) say there was a fire and calling 911. We poked our head out to check and sure enough the boat across the canal had caught on fire. It took a very long time for the fire department to come so there wasn’t much left of the boat after. At least they saved the house. It was a pretty crazy thing to watch and scary to think if it had spread more.

Niagara Falls

Check out the next blog for the land side-trip we took to Niagara Falls!

Here are a couple parting rainbow pics from our Winter Harbor stay.

Day 157 Trip Details (June 23):
Town of Vienna, US to Winter Harbor Marina, Brewerton, US
Time 2 h 43 m (05:26 to 08:09)
Distance: 19.19 nm

Day 162 Trip Details (June 28):
Winter Harbor Marina, Brewerton, US to Winter Harbor Marina, Brewerton, US
Time 0 h 38 m (10:26 to 11:04)
Distance: 0.09 nm

Days 154-156: June 20-22, 2023

Locking to Sylvan Beach – Locks E18-E21

It was a long day! Almost 8 hours of boating. That’s a lot when you throw in locks and navigating thru the narrow areas. But everyone was doing great as we pulled up to Sylvan Beach. The sun was shining, and it was time for the air conditioning. Luckily, we got a spot that was shaded by the bridge. Therefore, our boat was cooler than most.

Sylvan Beach

We were near a mini tourist area that comes complete with an amusement park. We planned to stay three nights so the kids could go play on the rides. Unfortunately, the park never opened when expected because we were too early in the season. And we weren’t prepared to stay another week.

The two of us walked across the bridge to Verona to see one of the three lighthouses on Lake Oneida. We gather this area of New York State was heavily Italian inspired as we passed by Rome earlier when locking through (pic above) and then Verona was across the bridge from Sylvan Beach.

Tubing

Boris and I decided to check out the local marine store in hopes of getting some water skis. That plan failed as they were out, though we did find a tube to pull behind the dinghy.

That led to a fun afternoon enjoying the sun and water in Lake Oneida.

Anchored Out

The city wall had limitations on length of stay so we decided we’d anchor off the beach the last night. It was a great evening with great friends The sunset was very pretty…

Thank you for the good times Sylvan Beach!

Day 154 Trip Details (June 20):
City of Little Falls, US to Town of Vienna, US
Time 7 h 55 m (02:22 to 10:18)
Distance: 42.61 nm

Day 156 Trip Details (June 22):
Town of Vienna, US to Town of Vienna, US
Time 0 h 21 m (11:17 to 11:39)
Distance: 1.37 nm

Day 151: June 17, 2023

Locking to Canajoharie – Locks E12-E14

The crews once again heading out for the day.

Along the canal, we passed two large religious facilities: the Holy Mountain Buddha Land (left) and Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine (right).

Canajoharie

Our first order of business when hitting town was to find some grub. We were along a free wall, which we found later to be annoyingly close to a loud train crossing. The good news is we found an Irish pub and got some lunch and beverages before heading on to our outing for the day.

Here are the sites we saw along the way to the pub.

The Pot That Washes Itself

Canajoharie is a Mohawk term that means “the pot that washes itself.” Up from the village is a gorge that has a large pothole named the boiling pot. It regularly flushes enough water through to remain cleanish. There was not enough water to see the phenomenon when we were there. There was also what appeared to be an old dam just upstream.

Van Alstyne Homestead Museum

On the way back it started to rain hard, so we ducked into the Van Alstyne Homestead Museum. The original home, built around 1730, was smaller and demolished/added on to throughout the years to accommodate larger social gatherings, including a ballroom along the full back of the house. It was used as a meeting place during the American Revolution and later for the Fort Rensselaer Club, a men’s only club (perhaps to this day) and it still has a stale basement bar/gathering area. Interesting feature: if you click the bed photo, you’ll see a pullout trundle with straps or ropes across – the phrase “sleep tight” originates from medieval times where rope-strung beds needed to be tightly secured.

Michael was gifted a fishing pole in Waterford and has been fishing ever since. He’s really getting into it.

Day 151 Trip Details (June 17):
City of Amsterdam, US to Village of Palatine Bridge, US
Time 4 h 25 m (03:10 to 07:36)
Distance: 20.16 nm

Days 150: June 16, 2023

Locking to Amsterdam – Locks E8-E11

The crews of Coda, Saga, and Legacy heading out with us to the next set of locks.

The day’s trip took us to Amsterdam, NY, which required us to traverse through four locks. The theme for the day was Hawaiian. However, we didn’t get good pictures of the outfits though you can see Steve sporting his Hawaiian shirt.

After arriving Steve wanted to bike up with me to the Home Depot and Walmart. Many loopers told us it was not a bikeable journey because of the hill and recommended Uber. Being the stubborn people we are, we biked up and made it. It was very uphill so took a while. Steve had a huge advantage of using an electric bike.

On the way back the trip was crazy fast as it was all downhill. We stopped by G’s Famous Lemon Cookies to grab some goodies.

While we were out, the others checked out the park near the mooring wall and walked over to the castle. The park with bridge over the canal had some great artwork and a 9/11 memorial as well.

The Amsterdam Castle

The group decided we’d head out for dinner. Mayli had packed a tiara so where else would you go to dinner but a castle. Built in 1894, the original purpose of the Amsterdam Castle was as an armory for the National Guard. It was decommissioned in 1995, and of New York’s original 100 armories, it is the only armory converted into a private residence. It now also includes the restaurant and hotel.

Day 150 Trip Details (June 16):
Mohawk Harbor Marina, City of Schenectady, US to City of Amsterdam, US
Time 3 h 30 m (04:33 to 08:03)
Distance: 15.48 nm

Days 148-149: June 14-15, 2023

Locking our way to Schenectady

There were a lot of loopers waiting to start the Erie Canal in Waterford, so we opted to not be first in line and were off the wall for the second locking. The destination we set was Mohawk Harbor Marina in Schenectady, the sister marina to Shady Harbor (Pig Roast).

Traveling with us were Saga, Coda, and our new friends on Legacy.

We had studied lock E2 so knew what to expect from the upcoming locks. All the Erie Canal locks have prehung ropes that you come up and grab. And most of them are really gross. We definitely recommended wearing gloves.

The trip took us through Locks E2-E7, so we did 6 locks. Most of them were very close to each other. We’d leave one and could see the next a short distance away.

Mayli had fully prepared for the locks with costumes and all! Up first, pirate theme of course!

Fondue & Wine

After a bit of relaxation, we had a restaurant called The Shaker & Vine on the radar. It was an amazing place. They had a self-serve wine bar where you get a card and then fill your glass with whatever wine you’d like. Everyone had a great time trying many different wines.

Then we had the fondue. How can you go wrong with melted cheese. Delicious.

Schenectady

Tonia and I walked around to see what Schenectady had to offer. We found a block labeled Little Italy that had a lot of history and still has an Italian bakery and a few restaurants. We popped into the bakery for some Italian cookie treats to share with the crew.

While walking around we decided we should find an ATM and get some cash. That led us to city hall of all places. They did indeed have an ATM and the building itself was very interesting.

Outside city hall they were setting up for a farmers’ market. One of the venders was selling roasted nuts so we picked up a couple packages and some local produce.

Here are a few more random pictures from town.

Bowling

Down the street was a bowling alley that we had walked by earlier. When we threw out the suggestion as an afternoon activity, everyone was in, so we headed over for a few frames. It was a blast!

Tonia & Barbara Happy Hour

Before we left, Tonia and Barbara decided to treat themselves to a little ladies’ happy hour just to have the Peachy Keen cocktail from our fondue night at The Shaker & Vine (they had a lot of fun-sounding drinks). It was a drink and dessert in one! In case you are wondering, here’s the drink rundown: Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka, Crème de Pêche Liqueur, Rumchata, House-Made Cinnamon Syrup, Fresh Lemon Juice, French Vanilla Ice Cream, Puff Pastry, Peach Slice. Yes, you read that correctly — ice cream with puff pastry where the fruit garnish typically goes and a yummy peach slice to boot!

Day 148 Trip Details (June 14):
Village of Waterford, US to Mohawk Harbor Marina, City of Schenectady, US
Time 5 h 30 m (09:39 to 15:10)
Distance: 17.49 nm

Day 147: June 13, 2023

Albany & The Troy Lock

It was our final day on the Hudson. It took us up to Albany, where we had to make a quick stop for fuel, which was at the Albany Yacht Club. Founded in 1873, they are one of the oldest yacht clubs in America.

Once fueled up, we did a short trip up to Waterford. Just before Waterford is Troy and the Troy Lock—the first of many locks we will be doing over the upcoming weeks.

The lock was a bit different from the ones we’ve done in the past. It had fixed poles running vertically. The lock master instructed people on the radio to tie a bow and stern line and then run it behind the pole. So, you only have one point to tie onto mid-ship. Most people in the locks just tied a line around the pole to their mid cleat.

Waterford

In the afternoon, we walked around the town to check out the sites. The main attraction for us was the first Erie Canal Lock (E2)—both the new and old, original locks.

It’s a pretty cool park area and has remnants of the original lock system that predated the current locks. If you look at the pictures, you see a few that looks like rapids between two walls. That is the old lock system. We would not have been going through those!

Dinner with Legacy

We met Carol & Gary on Legacy at the Pig Roast in Shady Harbor when they were moored at the end of our dock. We quickly became acquainted with Barbara wooing Carol with her harp playing. We all took the next step of starting their Fomo Fleet indoctrination at dinner in Waterford. Certainly, an indication of many good times to follow.

Peebles Island

After dinner we decided to get in another walk. We crossed the single-lane bridge and explored Peebles Island. The island was made a park by New York in 1972. Prior to that it was a private island that contained a large factory dedicated to making material for shirts. According to the signs it was the largest manufacturer of material in 1940. However, by 1960 the factory was too small and closed down.

The island had many trails and allowed us to stretch out our legs. And we saw many deer!

It was also a good photo opportunity with Legacy, Lil Sudden, Coda, and Saga all tied up to the wall just off the Hudson and before the lock.

Day 147 Trip Details (June 13):
Town of New Baltimore, US to Village of Waterford, US
Time 4 h 10 m (09:08 to 13:19)
Distance: 21.70 nm

Days 142-146: June 8-12, 2023

West Point

After Ossining we made our way up the Hudson and anchored in the river just north of West Point. The rivalry was clear with “Beat Airforce” on the top of one building. We had a nice dinner of charcuterie and skewers with local wine-like beers (interesting though perhaps not the hit we’d hoped for) and Barbara’s homemade cherry crisp.

Bannerman Castle

Just a further bit north of our anchorage was Pollepel Island with Bannerman Castle, which isn’t a castle we’d typically think of as it’s actually an abandoned military surplus warehouse. It had quite the interesting history. It wasn’t open when we were there, so we poked in closer to take some photos as we cruised by.

Kingston, NY

Next up we anchored outside of Kingston, NY. Mayli voluntold me I was going with Boris into town to walk the dog. We took the opportunity to stroll around and grab a beverage at the local watering hole. Neat little area. Reminds me a bit of La Conner back in Washington.

Pig Roast @ Shady Harbor / New Baltimore

The plan was to stop in Catskill. However, Mayli’s FOMO (fear of missing out) got the best of her, and we revised the stop to Shady Harbor in New Baltimore to join the annual Looper Pig Roast.

As late arrivals they put us up on the restaurant dock. A bit on the shallow side but enough to get us in for the weekend.

If I remember correctly, there were about 40+ loop boats in attendance (check out the boat tracker map below). It was a fun meeting everyone and getting to hear the stories of the East Coast travels.

The weather was great, and we got a bit of pool time in. They had a bonfire and the girls had fun participating in the vodka tasting. And, of course, the main event was the pig roast. Love roasted pig. Tasty!

We decided to stay an extra day after the festivities to rest up. Coda who had stopped in Catskills to get Toni back to the airport arrived and we had a nice docktails with the remaining boats. Barbara even broke out the harp to serenade us.

We were having such a good time we got only a few photos.

Views cruising up the Hudson

Day 142 Trip Details (June 08):
Village of Ossining, US to Village of Cold Spring, US
Time 2 h 39 m (15:12 to 17:52)
Distance: 19.16 nm

Day 143 Trip Details (June 09):
Village of Cold Spring, US to Town of Esopus, US
Time 4 h 24 m (09:22 to 13:46)
Distance: 33.20 nm

Day 144 Trip Details (June 10):
Town of Esopus, US to Town of New Baltimore, US
Time 5 h 44 m (03:52 to 09:37)
Distance: 35.79 nm

Day 146 Trip Details (June 12):
Town of New Baltimore, US to Town of New Baltimore, US
Time 0 h 13 m (07:47 to 08:01)
Distance: 0.10 nm