06-29-09 Oswego, NY

It was the best of days. It was the worst of days. Since the worst leads to the best, let’s start there. The Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY, had made arrangements with Aero marine, a Honda Dealer, to perform the 500 hour maintenance on our twin Honda motors. This was to be done on Monday, the 29th. We arrived at Winter Harbor on Sunday in anticipation of this maintenance. After several calls, and some phone tag, the owner of Winter Harbor told us that Aero had called and said they are too busy to do the job, but they can do it next week. Remember, we made an appointment last Thursday with them for Monday and all was well. So, Aero Marine gets one DB. Rick immediately got on the phone and internet to try to find someone to do the service. After several referrals, he found a dealer in Alexandria Bay, NY, a bit off our planned route. But, we made plans for TI Marine to do the job on Thursday, July 2. However, TI Marine is at least 3 days away, so we make the decision to leave Winter Harbor at 1130 and head for Oswego, NY, on Lake Ontario in prep for a trip to Alexandria Bay, NY.













Shortly after leaving Brewerton, we left the Erie Canal for the Oswego Canal. Here is a picture of Erie Lock 23, and the sign directing a boater to the proper canal. Also, the fee schedule is here.












This is the good news. Even though we went through 8 more locks, all descending, we got to Oswego by late afternoon. The trip was very pretty. We saw many houses built on the hills above the Oswego. We are reminded of the houses on the Intracoastal Waterway. Here is a picture.


We hopped off at the Town of Phoenix, at the free town dock and looked around. Phoenix is the location of Oswego Lock 1. They have a program for the teens to assist boaters in tying off and docking. They bring menus of various eating establishments. After you make your choices, they go get your food and deliver it to your boat. Keeps the teens busy in the summer. Keep in mind that all of these canals and waterways are frozen over all winter. They ice fish on Oneida Lake, which is 20 miles long and 10 miles wide. So, it gets cold up here in the winter.

We also finally found a stretch of the Oswego Canal that looks like what we thought the Erie would look like. Most of the canals look like the Dismal Swamp, tree lined, rural, and country. But we finally found a stretch that is wall lined, and rough looking. Here is a picture.




Folks often ask what we eat on the boat. Generally we eat breakfast and lunch on the boat and supper outside. Many times, when we eat out, we have food left over and we have it boxed up. This serves as our lunch the next day in many cases. Here is a picture of a lunch made with leftovers: ham with cherry sauce and pineapple, supplemented with toasted bread, a drink, and yogurt for dessert.


At the end of the day, we had a fierce thunderstorm. Then, Mother Nature reminded us of better and brighter days to come with a beautiful rainbow.