Date: July 21, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 97
From: Canal Harbor, Little Falls, NY
To: Mariner's Landing Marina, Sylvan Beach, NY
Statute Miles: 49.2 SM
Time: 7.75 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 2,071.6 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are at Sylvan Beach, NY.
It was foggy this morning and this delayed our departure for a few minutes. We still were the first (and only) boat at the first lock when it opened at 8:00, err 8:15. The lock master over slept and was late. We could not raise him on the radio or the phone. I even threw him 3 blasts of the horn to no avail. Finally at 8:15 or so we saw the lock open and we got the green light to go in. Still nothing from the lock master. Anyway, we got in and out and continued on our way. The guy yelled at us and apologized as we pulled out of the Lock, saying he was not used to working Sundays. No harm, no foul.
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| Saying goodbye to Canal Harbor at Little Falls |
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| A bit of fog burns off early this morning |
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| View out our front door this morning |
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| The Canal is pristine in the early morning! |
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| Beautiful countryside! |
We transited 5 locks today. The last two locks dropped us down about 25 feet each instead of lifting us up. This was a departure from what we have been through. We got as high as 420' above sea level. We are now at 370' above sea level.
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| Looking at a Lock just beyond this LOW CSX railroad bridge |
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| CSX bridge in front of the Lock. Can we fit under this bridge? |
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| CSX train crossing the bridge at the Lock |
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| Sitting up high in a Lock waiting to go down |
We were entirely in the Canal today. No Mohawk River at all, except that this river followed the Canal and the Canal featured a number of spillways that dumped into the River. The Canal was very narrow and straight as an arrow in most places. We dodged trees, shallow areas, Canal work boats, dredges, and even folks building a dam across the Canal. This was as we came out of a lock. Another hour and we might not have gotten by. Still don't know what the deal was with that. Maybe anything goes on a Sunday in New York!
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| Building a dam across the Canal on a Sunday afternoon. Nothing else better to do, I guess. |
We also dodged a lot of Sunday fishermen out in very small boats. You have to slow down to pass them with no wake so you don't swamp the boat. There were a lot of no wake zones as we passed Utica, and Rome, NY. All this contributed to another very slow day, even though we did not share a lock with another boat today.
We saw a number of Canal tugboats today. They were more prevalent, maybe because we are near the middle part of the Canal System. These tugs are very old. Some are 80 to 90 years old and still in service! They are all painted blue with yellow trim, which are the Canal colors. Most of them are wooden.
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| Canal Corp Tugboat |
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| Canal Corp Tugs. Big brother and little brother! |
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| Canal Corp Tugs |
We also passed the towns of Ilion, Utica, and Rome, NY.
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| Ilion, NY |
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| Ilion Marina |
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| Ilion Marina. Note the Canal Terminal Wall that forms the Marina, much like the place we stayed at Little Falls last night. |
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| Ilion Marina |
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A big sign erected next to the Canal
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We finally made it to Sylvan Beach which is a resort town on the East side of Oneida Lake toward the center part of New York State. There is not much to see here. We are at a marina that we picked up from another blogger. We are not too impressed, but it is for only one night. I think we can make it. The area is very busy with weekenders and vacationers. There are a ton of boaters, mostly in ski boats, some pontoon boats, and PWC's. It is vey crowded.
Tomorrow we go across Oneida Lake. It is a 22 mile run. We will try to do it
early in the day so that we can avoid the wind if possible. It has been a while since we have been on "big water".
Thanks for Reading!
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