Last three days and on to CANADA!

Okay time to get caught up on the last couple of days.  When I did’t have wifi available I get lazy about updating the blog.  So where did we leave off.  Oh yes we were in Newark and getting ready to leave on Wednesday morning.  Leaving Newark was easy since most everyone by Wednesday had already left the dock.  There is a lock just as you are leaving Newark and we were able to get through that one pretty quickly.  We have found unfortunately that some of the younger lock handlers are not quite as friendly as the older more experienced ones.  From there we traveled on to Lyons and traveled through yet another lock.  By this time the art of locking through has become much easier and we seem to have a good rhythm down now.  No yelling or screaming now.  It was going to be a short day as we were only going to Clyde which was about 3+ hours away.  

It just looks as if that bridge is going to hit him in the head.

Odd things along the way.

The Locks at Lyons

We arrived in Clyde shortly after lunch and where the only ones at the dock.  That soon changed.  We were quickly joined by three other boats.  This is seriously the most boats this dock has seen in a while.  But with the canal opening on the eastern side there were many folks transiting through.  We had a young couple behind us that were on their way back to Michigan from the Bahamas.  I guess this is the time of year most folks vacate the Bahamas because of hurricane season.  Behind them was an older gentleman in a small Nimble Nomad cruising vessel.  Then in front of us was a very (and I mean very) small trawler with the name of “Canal Gal”.  In this extremely cute little trawler was two wonderful older ladies (in their 70’s).  They were cruising the canal together with one of the ladies son following them in so called “chase car”.  They want to do the Rideau Canal and where trying the boat out on the Erie before they go to Canada.  You just never know who you are going to meet out here.  One thing also to make note of is Clyde has an AWESOME hardware store.  We were able to pick up several items a box fan, propane tank, and a shut off valve for the hose.  They gave us information as to where the grocery store was and the car parts store.  Clyde is a struggling canal town but they are friendly and working to make things better.

Captain hanging on to the lock wall

1st mate working the locks

Coming out of the locks

Yes even I take over the helm once in a while

The canal has been flooded we could tell by the markings on the leaves

The town of Clyde has the BEST hardware store.  We found everything we needed.

The town is working to fix up their streets

Look at the Lady J all by herself, not for long.

A school summer program.  These kids pulled in right behind our boat.

Okay this one just made me laugh

Mike putting together our whole house fan for our boat.  It works GREAT!

We were quickly joined at the dock by an older gentleman in the tug in the back and then a young couple (in their 20's) that were on their way to Michigan coming back from the Bahamas 

And aboard this sweet little boat was two 70+ year old women cruising the canal.

We left Clyde Thursday morning for Baldwinsville.  The weather was not very promising but we decided to go for it anyway.  It was going to be a good 6+ hour run and we figured we would run into some rain, which we did.  We were though able to get through all the locks for the day before the ran started.  THANK GOD.  Locking in the rain is not fun.  We hit some heavy rain about half way through and since our bimini (canvas) needed waterproofing Mike decided to come down below and man the boat from inside.  It actually worked really well and even I took over for a little bit.  We cruised into Baldwinsville and noticed the dock was just about full.  There was one space open at the very end.  We slid into this spot in the pouring rain, but was able to dock without any problem.  It was a bit irritating as the folks docked in front of us just watched us come in and didn’t bother to offer a hand with the lines.  Courteous boaters will get out and help no matter what the weather.  Came to find out they wanted their friends to be in this spot, who came in about 10 minutes after we did.  They ended up pulling in a small space behind us and boy did this guy have attitude.  You could tell he was upset because our boat was between them.  Now I am not one to judge, but these folks were just rude.  They were obviously what we call “boozers” not “cruisers”.  Oh well I guess not all boaters are kind.  It proceeded to rain the rest of the day.  We stayed on the boat until the next morning.  Oddly enough this same gentleman was waiting next to our boat once he realized we were leaving.  Not to help us, but to move his boat up next to his friends.  Oh well, have a nice day.

We saw several bald eagles

The remains of an old aquaduct

Evidence of flooding still around

Such pretty cruising

Then the rain came

So inside we came to operate the boat.

Although some thought boating in the rain was okay

Even the first mate took a turn.

We left this morning (Friday) for Brewerton.  The rain was gone and the sun was shining brightly.  Awesome cruising weather.  We had a great run to Brewerton, came through 2 more locks today and then into Ess Kay Marina. 

Beautiful morning in Baldwinsville

The dock wall in Baldwinsville was packed.

Susie Singer this house made me think of you.  Look at that purple.

We just were not real sure what this was all about.

Sometimes the first mate just kicks her feet up and watches the scenery go by.  Life is good.

For tonight (Friday) we are in Brewerton.  We had the engine looked at and tweaked a bit.  She is running well now.  We met a couple here from California who are on their way to Oswego tomorrow morning and will be following the same course that we plan to take.  We have decided to buddy up with them and cross Lake Ontario together (safety in numbers).  So on Sunday morning we will be one our way to Kingston Ontario Canada and hope to be there by late afternoon.  It's a huge step in our journey and we are both excited and anxious all at the same time, oh and yes you can add a little nervous.  We don't know what kind of internet we will have access to so it's possible the blog and facebook will not be updated as much as we have been, but stay tuned I am sure we will figure a way to get the word out.

Currently docked in Brewerton, NY