July 31, 2015  Day 41  New York Summer 2015

At anchor
Clayton, NY

Our morning began at 0400 when we felt the boat rocking. Apparently the wind had picked up and once again we were concerned about our anchor holding. Bill stayed up until 0530 watching the chart plotter and our indicators. We were fine, but it didn’t seem that way for a while.

At 10:00 we took the dinghy to shore and docked at the City dock where we had our boat for four days. We were surprised to be the only ones to use the dinghy dock.

We bought our tickets for the Antique Boat Show and wandered through the market area with vendors selling used boat parts, tools, marine items, and new items such as jewelry, clothing etc.  We actually bought another line to use in the locks. It is a better length than the one we have.  (And, Joyce might have bought a pair of lovely earrings.J)

Then we spent lots of time wandering around looking at the beautiful antique boats – mahogany everywhere!  The Lyman Boats are featured this year, but we saw many Chris Crafts, Gar Woods, a Richardson, an Owens, Thompsons, and more.   Some of the boats are simply here to be admired, and some are for sale. We enjoyed talking to several of the boat owners. The boat auction will be held tomorrow afternoon. 

We had the opportunity to meet Joyce’s distant cousin, Nancy at the boat show. After communicating online through family research websites over the past several years, it was a joy to finally meet in person! Nancy and her husband sold their beautiful antique boat last year after having it for 36 years.  The boat was brought to the show this year by the new owners and we were happy to see it!



We bought a raffle ticket for this Lyman!

We had lunch at the boat show and then came back to Carried Away in mid-afternoon. We had a light dinner on board. We hope to take the dinghy into town again tomorrow.  We are watching for the “Blue Moon” to appear but we have not seen it yet tonight.



Not an antique,
but our means of transportation today!

July 30, 2015  Day 40  New York Summer 2015

At anchor
Clayton, NY

One of many wooden boats arriving
 to be on display this weekend

Dad and kids out having fun today!

Setting sun at anchor

The moon is huge tonight!

Today was a busy day and we did not go far! We helped our Looper friends with their lines and said goodbye at 0730.  Then we did some cleaning and then prepared to leave. We left the Clayton City dock about 9:45 and went to another marina to get the holding tank emptied – only to find out their equipment was not working. So, we went across the harbor to anchor.

About an hour or two later we realized we did not have a good hold and were drifting.  So, we had to pull the anchor and move to another spot and put out more chain.  That worked for about 6 hours, then we started to drift.  So, we moved again.  This was a very windy day and

it was causing problems for us and other nearby sailboats. The bottom is also covered with grass and we pulled tons of it up with the anchor each time we moved.  It takes a while to pull it off with the boat hook!  Finally at 6pm we moved closer to the houses across the harbor. The wind has died down and we are hopefully set for the night.

We cooked dinner on the grill and hope to have a peaceful night.

Tomorrow we plan to take the dinghy to shore and see some of the boat show. 

July 29, 2015  Day 39  New York Summer 2015

Clayton City Docks
Clayton, NY

This morning we took a tour boat to Boldt Castle with Looper friends, Leslie & Doug and Debbie & Henry to see and hear the history of the many islands, both Canadian and US, along the way. Even though this area is called the Thousand Islands, there are apparently more than 1800 islands. Some are very small and others a few miles long.

Boldt Castle

Boldt Castle on Heart Island is not to be missed when visiting the Thousand Islands.  George Boldt immigrated as a child and became a hotel magnate who managed the Waldorf Astoria. He was the president of several companies.  He built the castle for his beloved wife, Louise.  Tragically she died in January, 1904, just a month before he would have presented it to her on Valentine’s Day, also her birthday.  Sadly, he ordered all remaining work to be stopped and he never returned to the castle.  It sat in ruins until 1977, when The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority assumed ownership and began to restore and preserve the castle and properties. The castle is six stories tall and has 127 rooms. There are also lavish gardens that surround the castle. It is a poignant love story and one can only imagine the splendor of the home that might have been.



The Boldt Yacht House
held their boats on Wellesley Island

Beautiful flower gardens - many are heart shaped



The view from the castle

After returning from our tour, we spent the rest of the day onboard. Many of the antique wooden boats are arriving for the Antique Boat Show and auction this weekend.  Our dock will be used for the show and all transients must depart in the morning.  We will anchor nearby and hopefully be able to use the dinghy to get to shore and see the Boat Show.

Time for a pose

July 28, 2015  Day 38  New York Summer 2015

Clayton City Docks
Clayton, NY

We welcomed Leslie & Doug on Happy Clamz & Debbie and Henry on Seven Tenths when they arrived this morning.   They got checked in and then left to tour the Antique Boat Museum.

Joyce did more laundry, finalized plans for Wednesday, and after lunch walked to the grocery store to do some more provisioning. The grocery store provides transportation back which was greatly appreciated.

We joined Leslie & Doug and Debbie and Henry on Seven Tenths for docktails at 6pm.  We had a very nice visit!

Tomorrow morning the six of us will take a tour boat to Boldt Castle on Heart Island!

July 27, 2015  Day 37  New York Summer 2015

Clayton City Docks
Clayton, NY
 

This Thompson was being restored and brought back memories
to Bill - his family owned one when he was a teenager

Classic Lyman

An Elco

All about speed in this building!

She is from Virginia!

The Antique Boat Museum opened at 0900 and we arrived shortly afterwards to be able to spend the whole morning there.  We first took a guided tour of La Duchesse, the 106 ft. elegant house boat originally owned by George Boldt (of Waldorf Astoria fame), next by Edward Noble (of the Life Saver Candy fame), and finally by Andrew Mc Nally (of Rand McNally fame). It was first built in 1903, with six staterooms, a sizeable galley and dining room, servants’ quarters, a large master stateroom, a large salon, and sundeck on the upper level. It now belongs to the museum and was a pleasure to visit.

We toured all the buildings of the museum, including the Morgan Building that houses the speed and hydroplane boats; the Dodge Memorial Launch Building, filled with runabouts and cruisers; the Small Craft Building filled with various types of canoes; the Noble Historic Stone Building, where boats are being restored; the McNally Yacht House with its in-water fleet, and the main Haxall Building, where we watched a movie and saw a few exhibits. It was a fascinating look at classic boats and the people behind them. This weekend marks the 51^st Annual Boat Show and Auction!

When we returned to our boat for lunch we spotted another Gold Looper boat, Quimby on our dock. They are on their way to Canada to do the Triangle Loop in a few days. We last saw them in Ft. Myers!

After lunch we walked back downtown, visited a few shops, including the cheese shop which sells the Original Thousand Island Dressing. The dressing was created here in Clayton by Mrs. Sophia LaLonde in the early 1900’s and became famous! Then back to the boat for a rest.



Lots of mahogany

Time to relax tonight!

We had pizza on board for dinner and relaxed for the evening.  We have friends (Happy Clamz and Seven Tenths) arriving tomorrow.

 

 

July 26, 2015  Day 36  New York Summer 2015

Clayton City Docks
Clayton, NY
 


After a late (for us) departure of 0900, we pulled our anchor at Cape Vincent and headed out for a two hour cruise down the St. Lawrence River to Clayton, NY.  It was very cloudy but calm.  The sun came out after we arrived.


Our destination was the City Docks. They do not take reservations, and only a few spots at the end of the dock have 50 amp power, but we were very lucky on this Sunday morning! They had room for us. After five nights at a free dock with no services and one night at anchor, we are happy to have power and water!  Boats come in and out of here all day long – many are local boaters who may just come in for lunch. 



Passing a freighter on the St. Lawrence River



Looking down our busy dock

We discovered this Owens today on our walk

We decided to stay here three nights. There is so much to do here and we needed to just stay on board today.  Joyce had lots of laundry to attack.  After dinner, we did take a short walk to see some of the town.

Clayton is the home of the Antique Boat Museum, which is housed in several buildings just a couple of blocks from our dock. This is top on our agenda tomorrow.  We look forward to seeing these classics!

 

July 25, 2015  Day 35  New York Summer 2015

At anchor
Cape Vincent, NY

A new location! We left Oswego after five days there as planned and caught the 0800 lock opening. We were the only ones in the lock which worked for us.  Then we pulled into a marina and filled the water tank and emptied the holding tank.

The Lighthouse at the Port of Oswego

Entering Lake Ontario

We passed the lighthouse at the entrance to the Port of Oswego and entered Lake Ontario.  The forecast was for a one foot sea but they were between 1-2 feet, all in all a good ride. We also had a 50% chance of rain, and we encountered it at 1240 for almost an hour. We saw very few boats out today. We did not expect others to leave Oswego today – they are there for Harborfest and the big fireworks display is being held tonight.

We arrived in Cape Vincent at 1430, hoping to find a spot on one of the docks in this little town, but no luck. So, after we called a marina to make sure we could anchor here, we dropped the hook near two boats on mooring balls.  At least we could watch a movie!

We will go to Clayton, NY tomorrow for three days.



Pretty deep lake!

July 24, 2015  Day 34  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY



A final wave from Dawn and Colin

Day five in Oswego began with saying goodbye to Colin and Dawn on Movin’ On. We helped them cast off their lines and then walked down to Lock 8 and talked to them while they were locking down.  This is the last lock on the Oswego Canal and when you depart, you are on your way into Lake Ontario.   They are now traveling through Canada with Sue and Ted on My Dream – new friends we all met while we were all docked here in Oswego.  We wish them the best of journeys!

The rest of our day has been a quiet one.  Instead of wandering around the various venues of Harborfest, Bill confined Joyce to the boat today to let her hip rest.  All this walking has been increasingly painful the past few days.  We did walk down the dock to visit Debbie and Henry on Seven Tenths late this afternoon.  Other than that, Joyce read and Bill did the chart plotting.

We did have unexpected visitors this afternoon.  Friends, Sarah and Brooks who are former Loopers have a cousin who lives here. When Sarah learned we were here, she called her cousin and he and his wife stopped over to say hello!  A small world!

We are preparing to leave in the morning. We will go through the last lock and then stop at a marina for water and empty the holding tank.  Then we will enter Lake Ontario and travel about 50 miles to Cape Vincent.  We hope to find a space on their free dock or we will anchor.

We will spend the next week touring the Thousand Islands, visiting the Antique Boat Museum, Boldt Castle, Singer Castle and the towns of Clayton and Alexandria Bay.  We will be very close to Canada and will not be posting the blog unless we have access to wifi. We do not want to pick up roaming charges from nearby Canadian towers.  So, if it is a few days before we can post, that is the reason.  We are looking forward to seeing the beautiful Thousand Islands!

 

July 23, 2015  Day 33  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY

Day four in Oswego. We are enjoying being here on the free wall and relaxing and continue to see the area.  The annual Harborfest officially begins tonight.

We joined twelve other boating friends and went to breakfast at the Oswego Tea Company. We all had a very good meal and were in good company. After breakfast we walked with Debbie & Henry (on Seventh Tenths) and Leslie & Doug (on Happy Clamz) to tour Fort Ontario, which dates back to the French & Indian War, Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812.  The current fort has been built over the ruins of earlier fortifications. 

Fort Ontario

Fort with Lake Ontario in the background

When we returned, we helped Colin and Dawn move their boat further north on the wall. They wanted to get under a low bridge today and then put the mast back up on their trawler. This will give them an earlier start tomorrow.  Some of the other boaters have moved further up by going through the lock and securing on the next wall.

Eight of us walked downtown to the popular Farmers Market which is held every Thursday from 4:30-8:00 pm. We stocked up on sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches, snap peas, and blueberries.  From there we made a long walk to Breitbeck Park where many of Harborfest activities were held – live music, amusement park rides, food vendors, and more.  We had pulled pork sandwiches for dinner under a large food tent and listened to some of the music.  All this walking was taking its toll on us so we caught a bus back that was operating just for the festivities.

Ice cream for Colin and Dawn!

Colin and Dawn invited us back for a final evening on their boat.  They are leaving in the morning to continue the Canadian portion of their Great Loop.  We have immensely enjoyed the past three weeks we have spent with them and will miss them very much.

July 22, 2015  Day 32  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY

Day three here in Oswego. Winds are too strong for either transiting the lock and especially to be out on Lake Ontario.

Dawn and Joyce walked across the bridge that goes over the canal to do a little shopping. New York grocery stores are not allowed to sell wine, so a wine shop was our first stop.  Then we walked across the street and picked up a few groceries at a local market. We were limited by what we could carry, so fortunately we did not need much!

After lunch we went for a long walk along the water, past the next lock and to a marina that is at the entrance to Lake Ontario. We could see the waves crashing on the lake. 

More looper boats arrived today and our dock wall is getting full. We all had a nice visit this afternoon sharing travel plans, etc. Some of the boaters will continue on the loop heading to Trenton, Ontario. Some are doing the Triangle Loop and will go up the St. Lawrence to Montreal and then to Sorel and down the Richelieu to the Champlain Canal.  We are just going to the Thousand Islands and then retracing our route.  We will all venture out on to Lake Ontario in a few days!

Looking down at our boats on the wall

Our famed "Ticket to Ride" Game!

We had a quick dinner on board and then Colin and Dawn came over to play “Ticket to Ride”. We even had time for two games and Colin won them both!  A good night of strategy for him!

Several of us will meet for breakfast in the morning at the Oswego Tea Company.

 

 

July 21, 2015  Day 31  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY

Today was spent at the dock as planned.  We knew we made the right decision to arrive yesterday when six more boats came in today with horror stories of being in the Oswego locks today, being swept sideways with strong wind and current.  No thank you!

We did enjoy meeting everyone who arrived. Two boats are Canadians; one is on the Great Loop, and two are actually boats we met earlier on the Erie Canal.  We walked down the East side of the lock wall and up the steps that lead to the street.  We found a nice park area and then a Tim Horton’s and Cold Stone Creamery.  So we had ice cream and then brought back donuts.  We do not buy sweets (other than ice cream) very often!  Bill also found time to work on his bird carving this afternoon!

We had dinner on board and the Colin and Dawn came for a visit and we played the train game again.  It is always fun to have them over, and we know that will end soon when we go our separate ways in a couple of days.

Wave heights on Lake Ontario are forecast at 4 feet tomorrow so that will keep us all here!

July 20, 2015  Day 30  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY



We turned right at this junction to enter the Oswego Canal.
The Erie Canal continued to the left.



The Oswego is scenic and has many more homes
along the banks than the Erie did.

Our free dock in Oswego.

This was a challenging travel day!  We left Brewerton at 8:15 under a bright sunny sky with our friends on Movin’ On. We reached our final lock, E-23 on the Erie Canal just after 8:30. (The Erie Canal continues on west to Buffalo, but we are going north).  After locking through on the port side, we realized the wind was coming out of the west.  So, we changed the fenders to the starboard side to transit the Oswego Canal locks.  We went through six locks on the Oswego Canal.  Some of the locks are more difficult than others but we managed to get through them.

We arrived in Oswego at 2:15 and tied up behind Movin’ On on the free wall just past Lock 7. With rain forecast for tomorrow, we decided to arrive today.  There are no utilities on the wall so we have to use our own water and run the generator as needed, but it is a nice place to dock for a few days. Most places are within walking distance.

Oswego is holding its 28^th annual Harborfest, a four day event later this week and boats are starting to arrive for it.  Harborfest is featured in several park locations and includes juried arts and crafts, many children’s activities, fireworks, parades, food, live music and entertainment, including jazz and blues and more!

Dawn and Colin came over for a shared dinner of steaks on the grill, salad, vegetable, bread, and fresh fruit, and of course wine! And we played “Ticket to Ride” again, this time with Joyce being the winner.  Bill has dominated the game for the past two weeks, so we were all happy with the outcome.

We will stay here again Tuesday and we may stay for the rest of the week to enjoy Harborfest.

 

July 19, 2015  Day 29  New York Summer 2015

Winter Harbor Marina
Brewerton, NY

Today was a day full of chores.  Joyce went to Wegman’s Grocery Store with Dawn and Colin this morning. This was our first time in this store although we have heard people rave about it. It was quite a shopping experience. The produce department was incredible!

Carried Away and Movin' On
at the dock at Winter Harbor Marina

Joyce also did all the laundry and vacuuming while Bill repaired a step on stern ladder. He also found time to practice his violin.

We got together with Colin and Dawn this evening to discuss our travel plans.  We will depart in the morning and complete this section of the Erie Canal. Then we will enter the Oswego Canal. We may go all the way to the town of Oswego tomorrow – we will make that decision as we go along. 

July 18, 2015  Day 28  New York Summer 2015

Winter Harbor Marina
Brewerton, NY

Colin's beautiful photo of the Erie Canal
 as we left Rome, NY

Oops! We had so much fun last night that we (well, Joyce) forgot to write the blog!

We left Rome, NY at 0800 as planned. It had rained earlier in the morning but stopped before we departed.  We only had two locks to transit. Both locks E-21 and E-22 were a 25’ drop and were fast!

We received a phone call from Peg, a fellow Looper who was a day ahead of us warning us that we probably would not find a space on the free walls in Sylvan Beach. She was right! Sylvan Beach was holding some kind of pirate event and it was packed. We even saw some boats rafted three deep. So, we continued on, and immediately called Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton to make a reservation. 

No room at Sylvan Beach

Following Movin' On into Oneida Lake

This added another 23 miles to our day, which took us across the large Oneida Lake. We were very fortunate that the wind was calm as we crossed. There were several recreational boaters out on this Saturday!

When we crossed the lake we entered the narrow Oneida River at Brewerton.  (As a point of reference, Brewerton is just north of Syracuse.)

We arrived at Winter Harbor at 1:25 along with Movin’ On and tied up behind Gold Loopers, Jim and Peg on Sanctuary.  We quickly decided to spend two days here. We were tired, we needed to get chores done, we needed to provision, there is more rain in the forecast for Sunday, and the marina has two courtesy cars!

We borrowed a courtesy car at 5:00 and went to dinner with Colin and Dawn at the Coppertop Tavern, about an eight mile drive to North Syracuse.  The food was very food and we were happy our harbormaster recommended this restaurant!!



Thanks to Colin for taking this photo of
Carried Away on Oneida Lake

We all came back to our boat and yes, played “Ticket to Ride”. Dawn almost won but Bill persevered once again. We finished the evening with ice cream.

 
Tomorrow’s plans are to get chores done and to borrow the car again to do provisioning.

July 17, 2015  Day 27  New York Summer 2015

City Docks
Rome, NY




Another scenic ride on the Mohawk River /Erie Canal

We have to share the waterways!



Movin' On in Lock 19

Ft. Stanwix

We had a good day on the Erie Canal. This is day 4. We left Little Falls at 0745 to time the opening of Lock #18, which we made in perfect time. This lock lifted us 20 feet. We had an hour and thirty minutes until we reached the next lock, so we enjoyed our cruise on the river.



Our biggest concern is the number of tree branches and logs in the river and we need to keep a sharp look out.  Lock #19 was another good lock that raised us 21 feet.  We reached our final lock (#20) of the day at noon. We were raised 16 feet in this one.  This is the last lock going west in which we will be raised. Tomorrow we start going down!

We arrived at our planned destination of Rome, NY at 1:30. This is a free city dock with floating docks but no water or electricity.  That is why we have a generator!  In mid afternoon, Joyce, Colin, and Dawn walked down to tour Fort Stanwix while Bill stayed on board and did some maintenance.  Fort Stanwix was built in 1758 but burned in 1781 and was carefully reconstructed with original plans to replicate the original fort as it appeared in the Revolutionary War.  We were in time for a musket demonstration, and we also toured the buildings, and the museum.  We were happy we took time to tour this fort, and learn more about the significant role it played in the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars.

We walked back just a light rain began to fall. We each had dinner on our own boats tonight.  Tomorrow we will go to Sylvan Beach!



Our musket demonstration