Clayton NY

This morning we tightened the stuffing boxes on our shafts and left for Clayton at 11:00 AM. We enjoyed the  scenic trip down the St Lawrence River,  with a good view of Canadian and US homes, cottages, and farms; Canadian on the left and New York on the right.  Much of our traveling lately has taken place in the state of New York.  As a result we are impressed with the beauty of this large state which extends from New York City to Canada.

Some views of Clayton New York

Incorrect spelling!

Clayton is an attractive city whose downtown is listed on the Historic Places.  We will stay here again tomorrow so we may  attend the largest antique boat museum in the country; the 1000 Island museum and a walking tour of the city.

I will not post a report tomorrow, Wednesday.  On Thursday, on our way to Gannaque Ontario Canada will spend a few hours at the Boldt Castle on Heart Island.

Change of Plans!

Todays winds were perfect to cross Lake Ontario.  We made great progress until... We heard a bump as if we hit something(400 foot of water-a submerged log?)
I checked the bilge and found 1 foot of water in the rear.  We called the coast guard who took us to a place we had never heard of called Sacket Harbour to have the boat repaired tomorrow.   The bilge water was not related to the bump but to a another less serious cause.

This town was on pleasant surprise!  It was beautiful with flowers and color everywhere.   Many fine eating choices as well.  A large number of buildings dated back to the early 1800s. 
We learned that Sacket Harbour off of Navy Point was used by our Navy in a big way during the war of 1812 for controo of Lake Ontario.   The harbour was big in boat building
Now it is a very well groomed harbour with many full time happy boating residents.


 


Thanks for the Coast Guard

A few scenes around town.

After repairs, we hope to make the 4 hour trip to Clayton NY as was planned for today.

To Oswego

Today we journeyed through 8 locks to travel from Brewerton New York to Oswego New York. 
Oswego was a major manufacturing port in the 1800s on the shores of Lake Ontario.  Lake Ontario is the 3rd deepest of the great lakes which means we will be crossing over areas with more than 500 feet of water.  Tomorrow seems like a good day to go across the lake;  we will cross over toward Canada but then take turn to the Northeast to go into the Saint Lawrence river to an american town called Clayton, New York.  This will be our last stop in the US until late July when we leave Canada and re-enter the US around Macanac Island.
Notable during today's trip were the large areas of relatively unpopulated lands and the hugh number of fisherman in boats and on shore taking advantage of nice weather and the beginning of the fishing season.
Jim and Cathy our side kicks for the last month are waiting for company to arrive, so we moved on without them. 


Pretty Boat




Interesting Boat




Geese and Duck babies everywhere





Entering a lock




 We just parked next to  a couple from Brazil who have traveled all over South America; the US for the past year and are on their way to stay in the Bahamas, Key West, Cuba, etc. They haven't been home for 5 years!!

Brewerton New York

We left early this morning from Silvan Beach to get to Brewerton before the rains which didn't happen anyway!   Although the Silvan Beach scene was a little loud with music until the wee hours we still were able to sleep; we get really tired from all of the physical effort.
Coming across the lake was a nice experience; a 20+ mile trip with lots of fishing boats everywhere.
We reached the other side and the town of Brewerton, also on the lake but not quite as resorty as Silvan Beach.
Our marina was well stocked with boating items; borrowing the courtesy car helped us to get to the other parts of town for groceries, dinner etc.

A few scenes of entering the Brewerton area:

Tomorrow to Oswego NY for a day or two;  pending weather we will make our crossing of Lake Ontario the next day.

Silvan Beach

Silvan Beach is a beautiful lakeside community which has an amusement park on the lake with a lot of bars and resturants.   We stayed on the free dock opposite the action.  It seems that everybody walking past our boats wanted to know everything about us, our boat and our trip.   A fun time. The lake is 20 miles long and quite wide as well.  The fishing seems good for walleye and largemouth bass.
Jayne and I walked the entire public beach and later the sidewalk along the beach.   This area reminds me of a lot of the fun family places I used to take the family to many years ago.

Tomorrow we cross the lake to the town of Brewerton NY.

Little Falls and Ilion NY

We stayed at Little Falls for 3 nights.  On Day 2 we rented a car and traveled to Rome NY to see the historical museums  and fort having to do with the revolutionary war.  We went to the larger city of Saracuse to do some shopping and visit the marine store there.  On our last day we went to the Herkimer house in Herkimer NY to participate in a tour of a 200 year old mansion owned by a german immigrant who did very well.  He and many other palatine germans (south west germans) occupied the Mohawk valley. 
The Mohawk valley was a much sought after area by the various nations including the colonies.  This river was a great transportation avenue to the west all the way to Chicago.  In later years the river was modified to creat the Erie Canal.  The Herkimer house became a bed and breakfast to take advantage of the people traveling the river. 

Today we boated 9 miles(!) to the charming town of Ilion.  It's claim to fame is the Remington arms factory.  We walked about a mile and visited their informative museum but were not able to tour the factory this year. 
We are docked in the very friendly town marina next to an outdoor resturant.  After eating a lunch there we were informed of the 5:30 DJ performance and the weekly $2.99 all you can eat spagetti dinner including icecream sundaes!!







Loopers: Jim Cathy Jayne and Bob



Remington also made Bicycles, Typewriters and cash registers

Tomorrow we move on to the resort community of Silvan Lake.

From Amsterdam to Little Falls NY

Today we went through 7 more locks (10 yesterday!).  The lift of the locks was from 6 to 40 feet depending on the lock.  The scenery on the Erie Canal can best be described as beautiful serene wilderness with trees of many kinds plus a few towns sprinkled in the mix. 
 Tonight we are staying in a neat little marina on the canal. We met with quite a few loopers  most of whom we had met at other stops.  It's fun to share the memories we are making.




Electric water and cable post




the wilds of Erie Canal




Going into lock #13

Tomorrow we will rent a car with our friends, Jim and Cathy use it to see the area and do a little shopping.

Next post will be on Wednesday the 15th.