Thursday, 7/16
We’re back. We got back to the boat at noon and spent the
afternoon getting Samba ready for the next leg of her great adventure. As luck
would have it, there was a nice farmer’s market in downtown Oswego from 4:45 to
8:00 that night so we rode the few blocks to the downtown area and filled our pack
with all sorts of goodies.
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| Birthday boy happy to be on the water |
Friday, 7/17
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| The start of the NY canal system |
The forecast is for rain later today – of course
– so we headed out first thing for Brewerton, NY. The trip is 24 miles with 8
locks. It was also Jim's birthday.
After experiencing the Canadian lock system, we were surprised and
disappointed in the US canal system. Most of the operators do their job and
that’s all. Also, the system to secure boats is awful! Very unfriendly,
difficult and dirty. ARRRgghhh.
In many cases, we either have to hold the boat by hand, which is extremely
difficult with a boat as big and heavy as Samba or we have to take their slimy
ropes when they are long enough and tie them onto our cleats. Yuk! In Canada, we looped our lines around their clean, plastic coated cables.
All of the locks today had very
pretty dams and waterfalls next to them. The picture below is a shot of one of the nicer
ones. The dam was convex and flowing very nicely.
There were very few boats on the canal today. We locked through 2 locks
with this small French sailboat. Notice the leaky lock gates ahead of us.
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| Leaky lock gates |
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| Tall, slimy walls |
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| Tug pushing 2 small barges |
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| This lock master also controlled the lift for the highway |
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Oops. Must have made a wrong turn somewhere.
We thought we were in New York. |
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| Notice all the turns & forks at the historic 3 Rivers junction |
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| 2 Osprey parents & a nest of young ones |
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| Lots of nice waterfalls today |
At the recommendation of one of the lockmasters, we stopped for a tour of
Erie Canal’s lock 23 facility. It is a beautifully restored hydroelectric plant
with all of the original brass and copper controls for the lock. The lockmaster
of the lock was quite proud of how it looked. Each winter, he spends most of
his time working on it. Though they don't use it now, the hydroelectric plant is still in operating condition.
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| Original brass lock controls still in use |
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| Inside the hydroelectric plant |
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| The governor for one of the generators |
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| The water powered drive shaft for 1 of the generators |
We ended up at Ess-Kay Marina in Brewerton, NY.
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| Our slip in Brewerton, NY |
In many cases, we either have to hold the boat by hand, which is extremely
difficult with a boat as big and heavy as Samba or we have to take their slimy
ropes when they are long enough and tie them onto our cleats. Yuk! In Canada, we looped our lines around their clean, plastic coated cables.
At the recommendation of one of the lockmasters, we stopped for a tour of
Erie Canal’s lock 23 facility. It is a beautifully restored hydroelectric plant
with all of the original brass and copper controls for the lock. The lockmaster
of the lock was quite proud of how it looked. Each winter, he spends most of
his time working on it. Though they don't use it now, the hydroelectric plant is still in operating condition.
