Crossing Lake Ontario entering Kingston July 8th and 9th

SweetPea docked at Winter Harbour Marina in Brewerton, NY they have 2 courtesy cars and a fantastic supermarket here, as well as West Marine, Walmart, Target etc.

Out for a joy ride!

Stopped in Phoenix just long enough to take pictures and wait for the lock to open.

Another nice lighthouse in NY, this one is located as you are entering Lake Ontario

About half way across Lake Ontario Jim broke out the quarantine flag which is required to flag as you enter Canada,  after you check in with customs you are then given a number to display on your boat which is your clearance #, you can then take down the quarantine flag and put up your Canadian courtesy flag.

Just as we were making the starboard turn to Kingston we got a call from the Canadian Welcome wagon.  They gave us a light show and everything, it really made us feel special.

Just a safety check Life jackets, flares, a few questions and ID.  They then wished us a nice and safe trip.

This is our first glimpse at Kingston, pretty nice ay?  I highly recommend a day or 2 here, and if you need Canadian charts or cruising guides this is a good place to get them.  The Confederation Basin is also recommended as to where to stay, its located in the downtown, right off the dock.

Heading into Canada

July 8th

We spent a couple days at Winter Harbour marina making sure everything is good for a crossing of Lake Ontario into Canada.  All Boat issues have been addressed to the Canadian standards.
We are now down to the Legal amounts of tobacco, plants etc.  Jim tossed my herb planter as it was too big to really sneek though if we are boarded, and the boat we are traveling with took the excess cigars  (the 2nd humidor) on their boat as they had no tobacco products.  So hopefully we will have no issues entering the country.  We believe we have all the proper documentation and other stickers, passes and paper work needed to clear customs. The postings will be fewer and pictures very limited while we are in Canada.

July 8th and  9th

We made the crossing on Lake Ontario and just as we were calling the Confederation Basin a boat with BLUE lights flashing was coming towards us......not a good sign.  We needed to show passports, and flares lifejackets etc.   All was good and on our way we went.  Customs was a phone call, answer the questions, show some ID and we were assigned our customs number.  Down came the quarentine flag and up went the Canadian flag, all is good.  We are now in Kingston for the Taste of Kingston thats happening this weekend, as well as the farmers market.  Tomorrow we head out with our newly purchased charts and books for cruising the Trent-Severn.  The plan is to anchor out tomorrow but we are not exactly sure where yet.

Happy 2nd 3rd and 4th of July from NY

We spent 5 days in Sylvan Beach NY, seemed like a good place of the long weekend.  Jim decided to take the dinghy down and go for a ride.

Mike and Twyla came for a visit on their new wheels.

All dressed up!  Its happy hour and dinner out tonight.

July 3rd Capt. Chappy's Birthday!  It took all he had to blow out that candle.

July 4th on the Free wall,  fireworks tonight, a busy place indeed.  Better people watching than an airport.

The amusement park at the beach.

That little opening there is the entrance to the back cove, that is where our slip for the weekend is, good thing those branches were flexible there wasn't much room for SweetPea to fit in. 

This little tug was built with 10 sheets of plywood then fiber glassed it.  Cute isn't it he named it Moby Dick.

Goodbye to Sylvan Beach. 

Crossing Lake Oneida , NautiNell behind us.

Today was a short day, crossed the Lake (20 miles) and we were at our next destination, Winter Harbor, fueled up, pumped out and in our slips for the night.  They have a courtesy car here so out for dinner tonight and oil changes all around tomorrow morning.   And Jim has to put a new impeller on the outboard. 

Steamboats-Debris-docking on lock wall

Coming out of a lock we saw a dozen of these small steamboats waiting to lock down

They are heading to Waterford visitors center for a steam boaters weekend for the 4th

Here is the Great Grand Daddy of Steamers.   110 year old steam tug Urger leads the flotilla,  flagship of the New York State canal system.

Some of the larger debris, you really need to stay alert! It could really ruin your day.

Inconceivable, Sunset2 and SweetPea waiting on Lock 19 to open the gates, it took some time as the lock master was trying to get some major debris out of the lock.

The New York Canal workers are trying to keep up with the removal.

 Inconceivable and SweetPea on the lock wall for the night.

 Heading into the largest single lift 40' with only ropes to hold onto it was work to keep the boat on the wall.

Its a tough job but someone has to do it.  The locks with a pipe or cable are the easiest, the captain enters the chamber and I wrap a line around the pipe, (in this one) and you enjoy the ride up in this case.  Having a line wrapped on a pipe keeps the boat on the wall as there are other boats in the lock with you just hold on and let line out as you reach the top.

You never know what you will see when you reach the top.  It is usually a visitors center or park where people come and watch the boats locking though.  The grounds are very well kept and some have beautiful historical buildings with picnic tables.  Some have walls before or after for you to tie up to and many you can spend the night if you wish too.  FREE no power or water but that is what the generator is for, the lock masters are very helpful and friendly.

Little Falls to Sylvan Beach on Lake Oneida

June 28th

What a Longggggg day, it was one of those days that everything seems difficult nothing major its the little stuff.  But, we survived, yesterday the locks seemed to be easy, today they were more work, not that there was wind or rain but the current seemed to reek havoc today.  We thought maybe it was just us having an off day and surely that may have been part of it.  But when we FINALLY reached our destination for the day we asked Inconceivable (who we have been following ) how it went for them, they agreed it was a lonnngggg day, and the current along with the rope only locks (no cable or pipe) were tougher today.  We travel through 7 more locks the last one of the day was the largest single lift on the Erie canal 40'. in all,  lo we were lifted 105' total for the day.  Directly after that we were at our destination for the evening Little Falls.  We ordered up a pizza, ate in and called it a night.

Wed. June 29th

We traveled through only 3 locks today and were lifted a total of 57', we docked early today as the marina we are spending the night in tomorrow will not have room for us until then, tonight we are docked on a free wall at lock 21.  We are now at the highest point on the Erie and tomorrow when we lock we will be locking down for the first time.

Thursday June 30th

Wow locking down is much easier and it was a very short day it took us only 2hours and 2 locks lowering us 50' total for the day, to get to our marina for the night.  We are now at Sylvan Beach (mariners) it is located at the mouth of Lake Oneida.  We had hoped to spend the 4th of July weekend here but they are booked up.  NautiNell is here as well as 3 other loop boats.  Inconceivable ended up at the Free Dock where they can stay for the weekend.  Since they have small children aboard this is a nice place for a few days.  There is a nice beach, an amusement park 100' away from the free dock along with 3 or 4 restaurants and bars.  Just down the street is town with more restaurants and stores, its a nice little town a real throwback in time, very 1960's like. 

As it turned out Jim managed to sweet talk a slip for the weekend for us,  we are back in a cove with much smaller boats,  we kind of stick out like a sore thumb here, and the entry was so skinny that we brushed trees to get in.  Quite the sight,  we are bow in and the bow it just resting on the sand but we have 4.5 feet of water under us.  Mariners Landing is a marina/campground since we are in the cove we are with the seasonal campers a friendly bunch too.  So, here we are until Tuesday morning along with NautiNell, fireworks are planned for Monday along with a antique car show and other activities planned as well.

I will post pictures when I can get them off Jims computer,  we downloaded all the pictures onto his Apple then shortly after it decided not to work.

Let the locking begin! Erie Canal here we come.

We entered our 1st lock on the Erie Lock#2 at 7:40 this morning it was a 34' lift,  This series of locks are called the "Waterford Flight " the flight features five locks where vessels are lifted or lowered the greatest height in the shortest distance of any canal in the world.  The flight lifted us a total of 169' in elevation in less than 2 miles and it took just under 2 hours.

Entering lock#2 our first lock on the Erie Canal.  This is Inconceivable up ahead of us, Loopers from Richmond,VA they are the Fallon family, homeschooling their children along the way ages 101/2 and 91/2.  What a great adventure for them!  They should ace US History.

This is part of the Waterford Flight Lock #3 I believe.

This is the view looking back after being lifted.

Lock #7 This is one of the many reasons your boat needs to fit certain height requirements to do the Great American Loop.  Ok you go first,Yup! they fit, and they are a bit taller than us.

The scenery is very beautiful.

Coming up to the next Lock, 8 (I think)....... Wall of water.

Today we traveled 9 locks with a total lift of 240'.  We decided to call it a day when we hit Amsterdam NY.  Tomorrow we hope to get to Little Falls NY.

Farmers market Waterford/Erie Locks open again

Just passing time waiting on the locks to open back up and they have as of this morning.  We hope to leave here tomorrow morning. 
Today was the farmers market on the riverfront with some very good entertainment just 40' away,  I picked up some veggies and of course fudge for Capt. Sweet Tooth.

 Sunday's farmers Market on the Riverfront,  small but nice.

 This was the entertainment he was really good.

I have been posting pictures of Boat dogs but some have boat kitty's yes..on a leash

The locks are open again we will be leaving here in the morning.