Monday, July 18, 2022
Lonnnggg trip today from Norrie Marina to the Troy City Marina. We left early and traveled 63 miles to get there. Last time we stayed here they had a city dock that would allow one to stay for days. They converted that to a marina with fee of $2/ft. Still, it was worth it. Water, electricity, easy access to downtown services. That evening we did take out from a local bar for supper.
Next morning we ordered groceries for delivery from Walmart and took laundry to local laundromat for wash, dry, fold service (Big Lou's charged only $25 for washing, drying and folding or hangers!!)…that with the help of Uber. And we planned out our routes up and across the Erie Canal.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Our spot at the Troy City Marina.. and leaving Troy that morning.
We left Troy City Marina at around 6:30AM, knowing the federal lock, a short distance from our location, would open at 6AM. There were 3 boats ahead of us as we approached the lock and we ended up traveling with them to the end of our day. They were all Loopers…one doing it for the second time (by the color of flag they flew).
The beginning of the day was very pleasant…and, shall I say…cool and breezy. Well. We all know that can’t last! The weather was pleasant as long as you were moving. Stop, and the heat caught up to you.
The locks were our issue today. One of the boats we were following had no sense of their effect on the rest of the “party”. When entering the lock, no one knew where that boat was going to go: starboard tie up (right side of the boat tied to wall) or port (left side tie up.) Everyone else had to adjust accordingly. In the first lock, this boat ended up being tied up to the left wall from the front of the boat…but the stern (back of the boar) was slowly floating to the right side of the lock and in danger of hitting the boat tied up there!
The wind, which had felt so refreshing as we started out this morning, turned into a real issue as the day went on. Looking at stats on the weather app, the average wind speed was 13 mph and wind gusts went up to 24 mph. That made locking through interesting, too. Bottom line, we decided to stop our cruise today at Lock 9. We all had to line up on the stern side to tie up in the lock and we barely fit in as the last boat there. We’d already decided to stay at one of the tie up areas by the lock and as soon as we came out we headed for the north side of the channel and a long wall with places to tie up. We started towards it and the wind kicked in big time. One of the lock attendants came over and helped up get onto the wall. Sigh! We’d had it for the day.
Shut down the engine and turned on the generator. Things have been better ever since. ;-) Took Maggie for a walk in the nearby field asap. Later I took her out with her e-collar on (read:stops the dog with a vibration on the collar…or a zap of “juice.” She got to run off leash with this set up for the first time on this trip! This dog LOVES to run !!
Plans for tomorrow are to make it to Little Falls and tie up on a wall there. Field beside the dock at Lock 9...
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Today was a good day. We left Lock 9 mooring early and traveled all the way to Little Falls, NY. We went through 7 locks…and every one is different! Some have large, 6” diameter poles that we can loosely tie up to for the trip up (all of the locks since we started have been moving higher and higher in elevation. Other locks have small steel lines in a recessed channel that you can loop a line around to hold the boat in place. All locks seem to have at least a couple of stairs leading from the top of the lock down to below boat level. These we can loop a rope around and hold the boat close to wall. Only hassle with that is that you have to take the rope off and loop it around a higher rung as the boat “climbs” the wall. All locks have a bunch of long lines hanging from the top of the lock for boaters to grab onto and try to keep the boat from swinging out as the water rises and you encounter the wind. I don’t like those lines. Too easy to “get away from you” which is when I yell WAYNE!!!! I guess we learned a while ago that if you can “snug up” to the lock wall, the boat will move less and suffer less damage. It was just hard to do that on most of these locks. Funny, but I don’t remember that being the case last trip through….
The poor boat is a mess after all this tying up to lock walls. The walls are flaky dirty and wet. The rope I used to tied up to ladders or slide along the poles or metal lines is filthy. Thank goodness for my “boat gloves!” When we get to Ess Kay Boat Yard in Brewerton we’ll clean her up!!
We stopped today right before Lock 17 at Little Falls, NY. We stayed there in the same place last time through. We didn’t go into town…just gave Maggie a good walk on a nearby trail, settled in for the evening with generator running and air conditioner pushing out cool air. ;-) Little Falls has some gorgeous stone banks...
Thursday, July 21, 2022
We were ready to go through Lock 17 and called the lock at 6:50AM. Other locks we’d been through opened at 6. This lock opens at 7. Well, it was almost 7:30 before we entered the lock. Hmmm. As we entered the lock we heard a weird sound coming from the bow thruster. We both sort of blanched at that because we’d had trouble with Journey on the last trip through, we thought this might be the same thing…and that would be…strange. Turns out we didn’t have any more troubling sounds from it today and will check it out at Ess Kay Boat Yard if we go.
The rest of the day went well. We had planned to go all the way to Sylvan Beach, NY, before crossing Oneida Lake, but the wind started picking up and it poured rain on us for a brief period. We decided to just stop on the west side of Lock 22, south bank. It’s perfect for us, and Maggie! Huge field by the boat so I took her out for a romp, again with her “E” collar on for safety. She had a ball!!
Our spot below Lock 22 and looking at sunrise there the next morning
Friday, July 22, 2022
Today we got up our usual “early” and traveled from west side of Lock 22 to Oneida Lake. In doing so, we passed by Sylvan Beach. Neat little town and a beautiful beach area park. They have a free wall and we stayed here for a few days on one of our trips.
The weather was perfect as we crossed Oneida Lake, 20.51 miles. The only “issue” came in dodging fishing boats! They insist on being right on our course of travel! ;-) We were at Ess-Kay Boat Yard in Brewerton, NY, where we had a reunion with Kim who, with her husband, have run the boat yard since she graduated from college. She was telling us that she had her sights on becoming a financial something, but when she told her father (the business owner then) he told her she’d be coming to work with him. “I paid for your college and now you’ll pay me back.” She’s been here ever since and is obviously very happy here and has a great business. We’re going to be here until Monday or Tuesday (depending on when Amazon packages arrive on Monday). Monday morning the crew here will change the oil and filters on the engine and generator.
Along the way...
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Maggie and I got out for a walk this morning…down a 2-lane road with houses on one side and woods on the other. Good for jumping outta the way when pickup trucks come barreling by. Yes, even in Brewerton, NY! Well, it is a very small town…
Ess-Kay has a courtesy car that we checked out for a couple of hours. We got some basics at Walmart…then went to Wegman’s for groceries. Nirvana!! Stocked up on goodies and necessities…then back to the boat to settle in for a lazy afternoon…naps, too
Sunday, July 24, 2022
This morning Maggie and I went in the other direction on said road and toured Brewerton. One main street with sidewalks a few shops, and a few “once were” shops. Our walk took us to the waterside park, small and clean…and then we turned around and walked back. About 45 min. and it did us both good.
In "downtown" Brewerton I saw this gorgeous old church. Apparently it's used now for things like weddings and art shows....
We have the car booked again for a couple of hours. There’s still room in the freezer and Wayne needs a “spider brush” from Ace Hardware to fight the never ending battle against spiders on a boat…
