Baldwinsville, NY, 5-30-11

Happy Memorial Day.
We are on the outlet side of lock 24, but had to promise that we would not go up the river, since it is still closed.  We now have power and water hook ups, so everyone is happy, except that we can not go anywhere.  We went to a cookout to one of the local Aflac Rep that one of the boaters knew.  He invited 12 of us boaters to his house for the cook out.  It was great.  He also had several friends over.  It sure made us all feel welcome. 
The town mayor came around and met all of us at the wall also.  We all went to the town Memorial Day Parade today.  It was a very nice day.

                                            Boaters at the cook out

                                                      Boats at the wall

                                                    The parade

They even had dogs driving some of the cars

Baldwinsville, NY, 5-29-11

We left Brewerton on 0730 on Friday, 5-27-11 and got to lock 24 at about 1100. Lock 24 was closed!  We tied up at the lower end of the lock and have been waiting for the lock to open since Friday.  As of today, Sunday, at 0800 it is still closed.  There about a dozen boats tied up at the wall waiting with us.  This is not a bad lock to be stuck at, since it is right in the center of town.  There is no power or water, but there are a lot of nice restaurants and stores close by.  The other side of the lock has power and water, but they will not let us through for fear that we will dash up the river that is closed to navigation.

One advantage of the delays in the lock openings is that the weather is getting warmer.


                                               Along the Seneca River

                                  At Lock 24 with leftovers from dinner

                                       At the Dam next to lock 24

           Preparing for a concert at the outdoor park in Baldwinsville.

Brewerton, NY, 5-26-11

We left Waterford with 5 other boats and went through locks 2 through 10 on Tuesday 5-24-11 at 0715 when the first lock opened at Waterford.  The boats we went through with were all Canadian boats.  One of which I locked through with in October from Oswego.  We stopped along a wall at Riverlink Park.  It was a good calm location, but there were trains blowing their whistles every hour it seemed.  The other boats we were traveling with stopped at the wall before lock  11.  It was a very rough turbulent location for them, not a good spot.
The next day Wednesday, 5-24-11  we went through locks 11 through 18.  Our Canadian group stopped at Little Falls and we kept going through lock 18, stopping at Ilion Marina.  It was very nice. 
On Thursday we went through locks 17 through 22 and crossed Oneida Lake.  We tied up at the wall in Brewerton and went to Rosies Restaurant for a carry out dinner.  It was very good.  As we arrived at the wall we were informed that locks 23 and 24 just opened.  We plan to go through those locks tomorrow.  Three of the Marinas I wanted to stay at were full, since lock 23 has been closed for the last 4 weeks.  Our timing appears to be very good.  The Oswego Canal is still closed, but we are by-passing it and Lake Ontario on our return trip.  Lock 25 is still closed, but we are hopeful that it will open by the time we get there.


                              One of the Guard Gates on the Erie Canal.
               As we go under we hope it doesn't have a cable break.

                             Mike on the back line in one of the locks.

                                 Erin on the front line in one of the locks.

                                    In the lock at the top, after it is filled.

                                       More guard gates to pass under

                      Our Canadian friends that we locked through with.

                                           On the Mohawk River

                                          On the Erie Canal

                                       Approaching lock 20

                                       The lock doors opening for us

                                 Erin handling the front line in the lock

                                                 Crossing Oneida Lake

Waterford, NY, 5-22-11

We are waiting for the Erie Canal Locks to open.  We are at the base of the first lock in Waterford, NY.  They are supposed to provide a schedule for the opening of the locks on Monday.  They have been closed for a while now, due to high water levels from all the rain.
We are reading a lot and looking for other things to occupy our time. 

                                A picture of the CAT wood art at Catskill

                                           Me up the mast at Catskill

                                Some of the tug boats at Waterford Dock

                               Boats waiting for the locks to open at Waterford

                           Our boat at the dock waiting with the others

A wood motorcycle puzzle that Erin put together

                                      A rope bracelet that Erin made

Waterford, NY 5-20-11

We left Croton-on-the-Hudson on the 15th and headed North to Catskill, NY. We got there at about 4:00 PM.  There was very little wind and about a 1 to 1.5 knot current flowing against us at times.  The 3 foot tide helped us and counteracted the current when it was flowing in.  The 3 foot tide goes all the way up to the first dam in Troy, NY where the Erie Canal starts.
In Catskill, NY we retrieved the mast cradle that we had left there on the trip South.  We took off the boom, boom vang, solar panels, Radar, VHF antenna, wind instrument, windex, dodger and bimini canvas.  After securing the mast cradle to the boat, we had the mast removed and set in it's cradle.  Once that was done we put the dodger and bimini canvas back on.  All that took only one day.  The next day Tuesday the 17th we left for Troy, NY.  On the 18th we went through the Troy Lock on the Hudson River.  Before going through the first Erie Canal Lock we tied up at Waterford just in front of the lock, since the lockmaster informed us that it would be a 30 minute wait to start through the lock.  While tied up at the dock we talked to people on a boat that I went through the locks with in October last year.  They convinced us that Waterford was a good place to wait for locks 23 to 26 to open.  It is Friday the 20th today and we are still waiting for those locks to open.  It will only take us 3 days to get to the closed locks from here.

                              A little house on the prairie, on the Hudson

                                       West Point on the Hudson

A kayak with an umbrella sail on the Hudson


At Waterford with the mast down waiting the locks 23-26 to open

                                                A Waterford park

                                 Some unusual down spouts in Waterford

                    Sunset at Waterford

Croton-0n- the Hudson, 5-13-11

We made it from Norfolk to New York City in two days.  The winds started out of the North West and ended up out of the South.  When they shifted to South it became much warmer.  That was a good weather window for us, since for several days after that the wind was predicted out of the North. 
We spent two days in Lincoln Harbor Marina in Weehawkin, NJ. Erin and I spent one day in NYC.  The next day we stopped in Tarrytown, NY.  Erin and I took the train into NYC and went to a Broadway Play,"Mary Poppins".  We spent 4 days in Tarrytown, since the Erie Canal was forecast to be closed until May 23rd.  We also went to a comedy club act in Tarrytown.  Today we are in Croton -on-the-Hudson. We plan to take the train again to NYC and see another play.  Mike's back and foot are bothering him when he walks too much so he has been holding down the fort at the boat. 

                        It was cold with a North West wind. Erin in warm clothes.

                                     A fishing trawler we saw at sea

                       I hope the fate of this boat has no bearing on its name.

                                   Our welcome to New York Harbor

                                   Seaport shopping area in NYC

                                              Erin and her Hero

                                       At the M&M store on Time Square

                                          Erin on Time Square

                             Superman averts disaster

                                        NYC from Lincoln Harbor

This is how many boaters think this is sailing weather!

                      Erin making a new bug screen for the companionway

                                    Mario Andreties race car

                                      An odd building in NYC

                                     Erin at the play "Mary Poppins"

                                       A street artist in Times Square