The Lady J: Baldwinsville, NY

We left Seneca Falls early Sunday morning on our way to Baldwinsville, NY. It was an absolute beautiful morning. Although the morning had it's "oh shits" as my mother used to say. Upon getting up Sunday morning I realized that non of our lights were working. The outlets where fine, but not one light in the boat would come on. For those of us that get up at, well at the "Crack of Dawn" (I am not called Mrs. Yoder for nothing ya know) it was a bit tricky getting around. After fixing a pot of coffee Mike soon got up and was made quickly aware of the situation. After some gnashing of teeth and a stern talking to, the lights mysteriously came back on. To be honest we aren't quite sure why, but Mike seems to think there might be a short somewhere (other than me).

Moose was assisting with the navigation this morning.

We along with the crew of Manatee (Jeff and Sandy) we shoved off around 8:00 a.m. The cruising was perfect. We hit our first set of locks shortly after leaving Seneca Falls. Oddly enough Mike and I had yet to lock through with another boat so this was a new experience for us. It went smoothly. Below are some photos taken while we were in the locks. Notice the condition of the walls of the lock as we are being lowered. They are covered in slime, and crustaceans (that literally spit water at you). Sandy even got creative (she is the art teacher you know) and carved a message in the wall of crustaceans. The one piece of equipment, other than your boat hook that is important are gloves.

The crew of the Manatee getting set up to be lowered in the lock.

Gloves are an absolute must when working the lock lines

This is Sandy's art work she did on the lock walls.

While cruising you follow many charts, guide books and such, but there are those times that either the books/charts aren't correct (or aren't read correctly) or in this case the sign was washed away and you get off track of the canal. This can get a bit tricky and sometimes dangerous as the water can become extremely shallow. We have a 3 foot draft to the Lady J. Basically this means we have 3 feet from the water line to the very most bottom of our boat. But on the Manatee (pretty much all sailing vessels) have about a 6 foot draft) Big difference when you are in only 4-5 foot of water. Well the Manatee became stuck in the bottom when we missed our turn off on the canal. Luckily there were some folks there water skiing and was able to pull them out and get them back on their way. Whew! another disaster diverted.

Sometimes you have to depend on the kindness of others.

We were soon on our way and the rest of the cruising (6 hours total) was picture perfect. Must admit thought the boat traffic on the canal was pretty busy, being it was the last day of a long holiday weekend.

Remnants of an old aqueduct.

Not sure where this little one was going.

Is this the meaning of the saying "sitting duck"

Moose getting into a little mischief. "Hmmm does Captain have any coffee in there".

We arrived in Baldwinsville, NY around 2:30 p.m. We were able to find space at the town dock and the cost was only $5.00 a night. No shower or bathroom facilities but the view was nice and the price was good.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Jeff and Sandy. I have come to find out that boaters usually eat potluck style for most meals. Everybody brings something and it always is amazingly delicious! We actually ate out on a picnic table next to the docks, there was a great breeze and it was actually cooler outside than it was in our boats. We met and talked with another couple from Canada that were docked behind us. They had been out cruising for the past 9 years. (yep I said 9) and were on their way back home. Their stories were amazing. Not sure where we are off to today. I leave that up to the Captain, but I am sure where ever it is we will find more adventures ahead.