BACK TO THE BEACH

September 10, 2009

We've Got Our Ducks All In A Row

After leaving Rome we locked down the next two locks, 50' total. It sure is a lot easier going down: less turbulence, not getting pushed into the side wall, and just a gentle lowering. We have seen an increase in cruising traffic, mostly boats flying Canadian flags. They say they are headed south, eventually to Florida or the Bahamas. Several have said they plan to stop in Annapolis, MD for the boat show which takes place the first week of October. They are all surprised when they find out we are headed north. We saw this small cruise ship which was headed north to pick up passengers to go on a leaf peeping cruise. We've seen the ship in Florida on the ICW in years past.

Looking For Passengers

We stopped at Sylvan Beach, located on the shore of Oneida Lake. They have several hundred feet of canal wall space available for docking, free with a 48 hr. limit. We heard that on the Labor Day weekend boats were rafted up to four deep along the wall, so we had stayed an extra day in Rome to make sure the holiday traffic cleared out, and there was plenty of space available for us.

Still Pointed North

The atmosphere at Sylvan Beach is quite a change from all the other stops we had made along the canal. It is strictly a summer resort and vacation town. There are no old mill buildings or grand period homes of architectural uniqueness, since the first two phases of the canal didn't pass through here. Most of the residential homes are very small, stacked closely together with minimal yard space, and some were already boarded up for the winter. The majority of the commercial buildings are restaurants or bars with a couple of small gift shops. A lot of those establishments are closed or have reduced their hours of operation since Labor Day. The one thing that makes Sylvan Beach unique is that it has an old timey amusement park, complete with one of those rickety roller coasters.

Sylvan Beach Waterfront

The main draw for Sylvan Beach is 20 mile long Oneida Lake and its sandy shore line. Apparently the fishing is good out on the lake, and the waters are friendly for all kinds of boating and swimming activities. One of the marinas near where we are docked has 200 slips, and there are several other marinas in the area. I saw a large, waterfront boating information sign that talked about boating on the lake and used the terms courtesy zone and common sense zone. I had to laugh as I never thought those were words that most day boaters would even understand when it came to using their boats. Maybe boating on a lake is a different pastime than what we've seen on our travels in the coastal waters.

Oneida Lake's size forced the original Erie Canal to have to be routed many miles to the south and be routed through Syracuse. Since the barges didn't have any self-propulsion they couldn't make it across the lake, and the lake was too wide and deep to try to build up dikes for the mules who pulled the barges to be able to walk on. It wasn't until boats became steam powered that Oneida Lake became part of the modern day canal system.

Verona Beach Lighthouse

We walked over the bridge to Verona Beach. Even though it is right next door to Sylvan Beach it has a much less festive atmosphere. A lot of the homes are full time residences and are on larger pieces of property. Interestingly, the Verona Beach Lighthouse sits on a small plot of land right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. At least they have left an access road so people can visit it, but there are signs posted limiting your stay to 1 hour to prevent people from making it a recreational facility. The 84.5' tall lighthouse was built in 1915 as part of the modern phase of the Erie Canal to guide boats, coming from the opposite shore, into Wood Creek where we are docked. Beautiful Verona Beach State Park is a short distance away where people can camp and swim.

Guess Where We Ate

We ate out for the first time since we were in the Bahamas. This place, now in their 75th year of business, gives heaping portions of all their food, including the desserts. We gorged on BBQ pork sandwiches and old fashioned greasy fries. I think FLUKE sat a bit lower in the water after we boarded again that evening!

Time to move on. Here is a map of FLUKE at Sylvan Beach.

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