Monday, July 22: Big Water in the Middle of New York State? Tou Betcha!!

Date:                           July 22, 2013

Day on the Cruise:      98

From:                          Mariner's Landing Marina, Sylvan Beach, NY
                                       
To:                              Ess-Kay Yards (Marina), Brewerton, NY

Statute Miles:              22.1 SM

Time:                           2.75 Hrs

Cumulative Miles:       2,093.7 SM

On Board:                  Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

Tonight we are at Brewerton, NY.

A sort trip today across Oneida Lake to Brewerton, NY. The Lake is about 21 miles across from East to West and looks to be 5 to 6 miles wide. We could not see across it looking to the West when we entered from the Erie Canal at Sylvan Beach, although we could always see land on either side of us. Water depths where fine, ranging from 30 or more feet to about 15 feet in a few shallow areas.

Mariner's Landing where we stayed in Sylvan Beach

Boats packed in around us at Mariner's Landing

View behind us at Mariner's Landing

View behind us at Mariner's Landing

Boats packed in around us along the back marina canal at Mariner's Landing

Ghosting through the back canal at Mariner's Landing

Lots of boats packed in at Mariner's Landing

Even modular homes in the Mariner's Landing Park!

Turning into the Erie Canal coming out of Mariner's Landing

Erie Canal looking under the bridge at Sylvan Beach out to Oneida Lake

The public wall at Sylvan Beach. A lot less crowded than Sunday afternoon

Public wall at Sylvan Beach next to an old timey amusement park

Restaurant in Sylvan Beach

Public Park along the Erie Canal at Sylvan Beach

Goodbye Sylvan Beach. NY

An old timey amusement parl in Sylvan Beach, right on Oneida Lake 

Coming out of the Canal into Oneida Lake heading West

Brewerton, NY, our next stop, is somewhere out there across the Big Water

The crossing was smooth, as there was only a light breeze, it seemed, from behind us. Waves were about one foot. This was a little like crossing Lake Okechobbee in Florida, except calmer. It was unusual to see big water in the middle of New York State after days of River and Canal travel.

Brewerton is another small town. It lies on the Lake as well as on I-81 that runs on the West Shore of Oneida Lake. There are some eating places on the Canal, probably within walking distance of the marina where we are staying. Brewerton is only about 20 miles North of Syracuse. Oneida Lake is a popular vacation and weekend destination for folks who live in Syracuse.

Coming into Brewerton, NY from Oneida Lake

This is the I-81 Bridge over the Erie Canal at the West end of Oneida Lake at Brewerton

Pretty scene along the Canal

Old house along the Canal

Brewerton, NY

Public wall and Park at Brewerton

Sherrif's Dive Team exercising at the wall in Brewerton

There are several big marinas and boat repair yards in Brewerton

When we arrived at Ess-Kay, which is a Looper Association sponsor, we refueled and got a holding tank pump out. They had a really good price on fuel-probably as cheap as we have seen since Portsmouth. I reviewed the maintenance work order with the manager and added a few things to be done. They have a great marine store at the Marina.

We are docked bow-in at Ess-Kay Marina in Brewerton

Boat Basin at Ess-Kay

View from our slip at Ess-Kay looking back on the Canal toward Lake Oneida

This is the place where we will lower our Bimini top in order to make our air draft low enough to get under many upcoming bridges on the Western portion of the Erie Canal. To do this we have to take the plastic glass (Isinglass) panels off and roll them up. We may have to remove some supports for the top then fold it down toward the rear of the boat. The top will stay down until we get to Buffalo. We bought some tarps in Kingston to cover things on the Flybridge if we need to. With the top down, we can clear about 13-1/2'. I may have to get on my knees and duck down to steer if we get that low.

Thank goodness we got the two new 25' power cords in Kingston. We had to use them last night in Sylvan Beach, and now here at Ess-Kay to reach over to the power pedestal at the dock. Our 50 footers were not long enough!

Tomorrow we will stay here in Brewerton while we do work on the boat. We have run now for 6 straight days and our bones are achin' and our muscles are sore, especially our deck hand Susan, who handles the lines in the Locks.

By the way, today was the first day that we did not go through a lock since last Thursday. So far, we have done 21 Locks on the Erie Canal. We also have traveled 150 miles on the Canal since we entered at Waterford, NY last Thursday.

Thanks for Reading!