CRUISING INTO FALL

Canalside Dairy Farm

September 25, 2009
Posting from Waterford, NY

I hope you didn't think that just because we reached Lake Ontario our adventures were over, and you wouldn't be hearing from us again. Our return trip would include some other stops, and we would be able to see things we missed on the first pass by. We spent 19 days cruising from Waterford to Oswego, and it took us 5 days to travel back again from Oswego to Waterford. It would have taken us a lot longer if Wayne hadn't been paying attention when I was at the helm and came up to the Three Rivers intersection. I just kept going straight from the Oswego Canal into the Seneca River instead of turning east into the Erie Canal. Duh! Most other cruisers have commented that the 5 days was too long, and look at us in disbelief when we tell them about the 19 days. We think they just missed a lot by not stopping and exploring the canalside towns and historic sights. It has been so much fun waking up in the morning and saying when do we want to stop today?, even if it is just a few miles away. It's like being a kid during summer vacation!

Summer Vacation Canal Fun

September 18 was Wayne's birthday, and we celebrated with a cake. The FLUKE crew can never have too much cake! Wayne is making a double batch of English muffins as I write this, but he didn't have to bake his own cake.

The Birthday Boy

Speaking of important dates, September 20 was National Pirates Day. We passed through Sylvan Beach and saw this pontoon boat with the crew all dressed up in pirate garb. We hooted and hollered at them and they yelled “Argh, Argh” back at us. Notice their pirate ship mast with “sails” attached is toppled over onto the pontoon boat roof. It was a cardboard tube and got bent from the wind. At least they had the spirit even though they weren't riding on the Black Pearl!

Canal Pirates

We saw a wind farm (we could count at least 30 windmills) on the high hills surrounding Oneida Lake that we had been unable to see during our first pass through. We had a conversation about all the clean energy sources we have seen on this trip, especially all the little hydroplants associated with the locks. We have discussed getting solar panels and a wind generator for FLUKE to help make us more energy efficient.

We can't complain about the weather either. There have been a few cloudy days, and one morning it was 33° when we took Ursa for her walk. A couple of travel mornings we had to deal with some thick fog that settled in after we had left the dock, and we were thankful there weren't other boats nearby before the fog lifted. We were only able to creep along at idle speed, 3 knots.

Poor Visibility

Most of the days have been beautiful, and you can never tire of looking at the water or surrounding hills. September 22 was the first day of Fall, and the leaves have started to change color on some of the trees. There is even a pile of colorful leaves on the dock I walk through to get back up to land. The fields of corn are being harvested, and we are seeing pumpkins and mums on doorsteps. We even have our own mum on a table in the cockpit: Eddie bought a pretty golden one with a gazillion blossoms.

Rolling Hills

We've furthered our enjoyment of learning about the lock system, talking with the lock attendants, and experiencing the locking through process. I learned that Lock O-7, at Oswego, placed third in the statewide lock competition based on how well the lock and its property is kept in order. I thought it would have been nice to have a visible sign posted, and I wondered if we had used the first and second place finishing locks too. The Lock 7 attendant (Joe) also told me that since there were budget cutbacks annual flowers were no longer supplied for landscaping, and it was up to the lock attendant to do whatever they wanted, if anything. So, Joe filled all the planters with vegetables, and gives them out to people who want them.

The Lock 23 attendant handed us a cucumber off the fence as we were locking through. He told us that he has the busiest lock, and on July 4 he had 90 openings.

We followed a small, trailerable boat into one lock. They tried to hold their boat in place with their boat hook hooked onto the safety ladder that hangs vertically the whole height of the lock. The woman holding the hook dropped it, and the boat shot all the way to the other side of the lock and had to have the bow fended off to minimize smashing it into the wall. They managed to get back to the other side again and grab hold of the boat hook. Someone blurted out on the radio “First timers”. I looked at the lock attendant, who was shaking his head and laughing, and I said “that boat looks like a ping pong ball”.

Scooter Man

This was the strangest sight we've seen locking through. The locks are 300' in length. The lock operator has to open the lock on the end you are entering, and then he has to go to the other end where you will exit to open the other gate when the lock is done emptying or filling. This guy used the scooter to go back and forth. Notice he is not wearing a Personal Floatation Device (PFD). The lock cap walkway he is scooting on is not very wide. None of the attendants wear PFDs, and I have wondered what would happen if one of them fell in while a boat was locking through. It is difficult to hold a big boat like FLUKE in place when a deep lock is filling, and it would be a challenge to try to help someone who fell in the lock.

Climbers By Lock 17

We wanted to stop at Lock 17 (the deepest one, 40') again and tie up on the east wall, below the lock like we did on the westbound leg of our trip so that we could hike on Moss Island one more time. We had a big surprise when we exited the lock and saw two construction barges tied up in “our” spot. We crept over to have a look see and decided, with some effort, we could squeeze between the two of them. We needed the practice in tight docking maneuvering anyway.

A Rose Between Two Thorns

The most interesting new stop we made on the return trip was Yankee Hill (so-called by the locals and the facility signage), but known as Putnam Park in the cruising guide. It's seemingly small dock keeps people away, but we gave it a good test and can report it is worth the stop.

Historical Summary

The property was once the site of the Putnam store, which has been recreated using some of the original lumber. Inside the building you can find great historical photos of canal store scenes and information about what life was like at these stops. There are even restrooms in the building. Someone has painted a life-like mural of the shelved goods behind a counter.

Eddie Tries To Make A Sale

The grounds have picnic tables, grills, and wide open spaces adjacent to the best preserved double lock from the improved phase of the Erie Canal we saw on the whole trip with informational plaques. The double locks were designed to be able to lock through barges that were going east and west at the same time so that neither barge direction had to wait for the other. The demand for quicker time was higher for eastbound barges because they were fully loaded with goods from the Lakes regions, so the locks were doubled in length in the eastbound direction to be able to take two barges at the same time.

Two Is Better Than One

There are bike and walking paths that go through Yankee Hill, and you can walk all the way over to the Schoharie Crossing sight, about 2.5 miles, right along the old canal tow road. However, be careful, while the abandoned canal has been filled with rubble and debris there are still many places where water is held in place for a long time, and it functions as a prime breeding site for mosquitoes. It may be cooler in the shade of the trees along the tow road, but watch out for those voracious insects!

I managed to get a nice picture of a preserved portion of one of the original aqueducts used to carry the barges over the Mohawk River. Just look at the beautiful stone work. Wayne read where the pressure exerted by the weight of the water being carried over the aqueduct actually strengthened the blocks in the arch underneath.

Aqueduct

We sure had a surprise when we pulled into Waterford again after our month's absence. The canal police had come through a couple of weeks earlier and gave out $100 tickets to any boat who had been here more than 48 hours, based on a NYS statute that says you can't tie up to a canal wall longer than that time. Remember when we were here a month ago, the Visitor's Center said the first 2 days were free, and then it was $10/day after that, which we gladly paid for our 9 day stay here. Word has it that other canal communities and private marinas are complaining that the cruisers all want to stop at Waterford and not stop at the other places. Well, duh, Waterford has so much to offer and goes out of their way to make it boater friendly. People gladly shop at the local stores and eat at the restaurants. Plus, the docks are right in town where it is convenient, safe, and fun to walk around. So, the canal police posted signs saying the stay is limited to 48 hours, and the Visitor's Center can't charge people. So, they have set up a donation jar where you can put in your money, and they don't make you put the date down when you arrived at the dock now, so the canal police will have a difficult time figuring out when anyone pulled in since they don't just hang out watching. We haven't seen one since we've been here, and no one has seen them since they gave out the tickets the last time. Our plan is to stay here as long as we want and see what happens. Our rap sheet may continue to grow!