Into the Ditch

We arrived at Oswego, NY a few days early so that we could sit out the forecasted thunderstorms. Our first destination was the Oswego Yacht Club, which had welcomed fellow sailors from GTYC (Annie and Dietrich on Calliope) a few years ago. Unable to get any response on the phone, Lisa emailed the commodore, and we received a sad note back that the yacht club had been “removed” by the city through eminent domain! The harbor was under complete reconstruction, and eventually will be home to the City’s port – Oswego Marina. The current Oswego Marina is across the river- it is small and old, and home to the sport fishing fleet. They did not have room for us until “mast down” day, and the alternative harbor was reported to be very shallow and very weedy, so we tied to the guest wall in the river, in front of the hotel. The good news was that our new refrigerator compressor and evaporator had arrived. Monday’s priority was getting that puppy installed, which went quite smoothly. How exciting to actually make ice instead of procuring and hauling it. Big smiles!

We thought our turn for servicing the mast would be Tuesday, but the marina had 2 sailboats in front of us with masts to be stepped (put UP). They told us if we could get everything ready before 2 pm, we could still get ours down. The challenge was on! We scoured the “bone pile” of discarded mast supports from other boats; measured stern, bow and mid-boat heights numerous times; and finally chose some supports that looked like they would work. By the time we got that completed, along with loosening the mast stays and clearing the decks, it was 2:30 pm. Too late for Tuesday, but we were promised that we could be second the next day. Wednesday brought very dark skies and the rain began as the catamaran in front of us was getting his mast up. Wanting to get ours done, but not really wanting to do it in a driving rain, we were quite relieved when the marina crew said “no way”! Another day of waiting – what’s new? We are resigned to learning to be more patient, since so many things are out of our control – the weather and marina schedules being two of those.

What does one do for fun in Oswego while learning patience? We had a good Mexican lunch; paid 5 bucks to use the hotel pool, rec room and showers; had a bad lunch at the Press Box bar and grill (but the patio was nice); walked along the rail trail to the grocery and liquor stores (no wine in NY grocery stores) and auto parts store (hydraulic fluid); and walked to a neighborhood Irish bar because the Yelp review said they had the best corned beef – only to find there was no food at all, not even chips, except on St. Patrick’s Day! And finally, walked across the Fort Ontario grounds (War of 1812 again) to a biker bar rumored to have good food. Score at the Woodchuck Saloon– excellent food, and the “bikers” looked mostly like us! There are nicer establishments and more expensive venues on the west side of the river; the east side of Oswego is “working class” but walkable.

Thursday morning we pulled to the dock under the gin pole and within 2 hours the mast was down and securely fastened to the supports. We got a pump out, topped off fuel, and entered our first Oswego Canal lock! The first few locks were as expected, but we were soon motoring along the Oswego River. Most of us, when we hear the term canal, think of a concrete waterway, but those old waterways were mostly abandoned, and now the trip is mainly in riverways, with locks interspersed to deal with the elevation changes. It really felt more like “The African Queen” than expected. Some parts of the river were wild and remote with thick overgrowth, while others had many cottages/homes, docks and boats. We completed the 7 Oswego locks and 22 miles by 5 pm, and tied to the wall in Phoenix, a little town near the junction of the Oswego and Erie Canals. In the summer there is a crew of kids here that will run errands for boaters, but now that school had begun, all was quiet, and though there were several boats tied up here, most were locals.

Friday we motored to the canal junction with the Erie, and on to Brewerton, a small town at the entrance to Lake Oneida. The lake is shallow, 20 miles long and 3 miles wide, and the strong northwest winds promised a choppy ride, so we pulled into the EssKay Marina for the evening. GTYC friends Pete and Sue on Salsa had left a promising note on this marina, and we found it to be a great stop. Family run by several sisters (awesome and unusual!), small and quaint – it had the best stocked marine supply we have encountered so far. We had a long list – water line, pipe connectors, brass fittings, electrical wire – and Fred got everything but one item checked off. When he mentioned that she didn’t have one of the pipe connectors, she reached under the counter, rummaged around, and pulled it out! They also had a courtesy car – Fred wrote our name and phone number in the book and was handed keys – amazing! We used the car for a grocery run and to cross the river to see Traveler – a Juneau 50 carrying Daisy, Mike, their 2 kids and dog. They had their mast dropped after us, and had passed us at the dock. We decided to cross the lake together the next morning when the winds were forecasted to be light.

At 8 am we began the trek across the lake – a little concerned that any rolling from passing motor boat wakes could result in our mast rolling right over the side! While we did have a few wakes, the boat maintained her rig (which was tied down really well), and it was an uneventful crossing. The summer town of Sylvan Beach lies at the east end of the lake. It has a nice beach and even an old-time amusement park, and of course Lisa wanted to stop here and tie on the wall. However, the park had just closed for the season, and it was not even noon, so we continued on. Here the river became very shallow – 7 feet in places, and we watched the red and green channel buoys carefully. The river water is the color of Lisa’s morning coffee and you cannot see anything beneath the surface. There is also a lot of debris floating by – mostly branches and small logs that have been dislodged by heavy rainfall, and the occasional “clunk” as the boat hull meets one is a bit jarring. Since we were only moving at 6 knots, we managed to see and miss most of them.

It was 15 miles to Rome, NY, the end of the “middle section” of the Erie. Locks 22 and 21 would be the last locks where we would be raising up in elevation, 25 feet each. We passed beneath the bridge and headed for the newer docks to spend the night. It had been reported as shallow but at least deep enough for us. Next thing we knew, we were bottomed out! After a few tries, we managed to back off and get back in the channel – whew! We tied up to the old timber wall instead. It was in bad shape, but we found a spot where we could jam in the big fenders and get off the boat. We thought no one else would join us here, although by late afternoon there were 3 more boats behind us.

The town is small but has all the necessities, and the area we walked to was called Little Italy. We had been noticing a lot of Italian names in the area and we took a chance on the Savoy Restaurant, one of the oldest in town. Wow – a superb meal, and a live piano player to boot! The next morning we cycled in the drizzle to Fort Stanwix, a reconstructed Revolutionary War fort run by the National Park Service. Unfortunately, as we plopped the bicycles from the boat to the timber wall, we stirred up some little bees and both got stung, twice! The fort, rebuilt on its’ original foundations, was a wilderness fort at an important junction of waterways. The staff was wonderful and really brought the fort to life – a living situation which was difficult at best, and made a bee sting seem insignificant.

As we continued east on the canal, the rest of the locks all dropped in elevation, and became more frequent. Most days we motored 25 to 30 miles and transited 2 to 4 locks, also passing under numerous bridges. The mast was down due to the average bridge height of 23 feet. Along the way many towns had either a small marina or a wall to tie to. This part of the canal is actually the Mohawk River, and the shores were busy with trains and highways, so evening stops were pretty noisy, especially the train whistles! However, the Mohawk valley was gorgeous, with vistas of high rolling hills and steep rock. Near Schenectady, we finally got away from I-90 and the trains, and had a quiet stay at the Yacht Club on the river. The last part of the river had large conservation areas, and the herons, egrets, and other birds were numerous. The last 5 locks were set up as a “flight”, one into the next, with it’s terminus at Waterford, NY. As we exited the last lock, we snapped up one of the few remaining spaces on the long town dock to rest and celebrate completing the canal. It was September 17, about 4 weeks later than we had originally planned, but we were glad for the delays – we got to enjoy Canada and the Thousand Island area, and missed all the heavy rains from Hurricanes Henri and Ida, which had inundated New York City and Albany, causing the canal shutdowns. On we go!