• We arrived at Kingston Town Dock around 4 on Thursday. The dock master was among the missing. We asked around and nobody knew where he was. We called my cousin Pete, he lives in High Falls, and asked him to meet us. We went to dinner,(my favorite thing to do)at a restaurant on the dock, it was great. Turns out it was the place to go. Pete showed up around 7 and we talked and laughed for hours.
• We wanted to leave early, the dock master still wasn't around. We left him a note with my cell phone number and told him to call us and we would send him a check. He called us around 11 and told us because of our honesty there was no charge. (Pay it forward)
• Next docking, the Troy Town Dock. My tire was flat on my bike, the Dock Master gave Mike a ride into town to have it fixed. Real nice people. The next morning we went to the local farmers market. Lots of nice fresh fruits and veggies. Mike wanted some important stuff like sambal chili aioli and wasabi aioli and garlic aioli.
• Friday - we were ready to start the locks. Let me describe the the locks for you. They're usually made of steel or broken cement. The water swirls around and makes quite a bit of turbulence. I wore my life jacket. The walls are slim and green muck, really messy. You pull up as close as you can to the wall, grab a line that hangs from the top, hold on to it until the water comes up or down. Some are as much as 50 feet.
• Locks 2 through 6 are taken as a set. Once you start you can not stop from either direction. This is called a flight of locks. Total distance is less than 2 miles, yet the combined lift takes you up a little higher than 170' ft. (17 stories). We were all set to start when we saw a couple that we have been corresponding with.. We stopped to say hello. Then, another couple needed a place to dock so we moved our boat to accommodate them. Where else but on the water can you meet some couples at 5 and have dinner with them at 7.
• On Sunday we went to Mass at a church in Waterford. We went to a little diner for breakfast. Two eggs, ham and toast $1.75 . In the afternoon we went for a long bike ride on Peables Island.
• Monday - we decided to start the locks. As we were entering it started to rain and then the wind picked up. Between the rain and wind it was nerve racking. We made it through without an incident. Well almost, I don't know what I did, but my hand looks like I'm wearing boxing gloves. Mike thinks I broke a small bone. I'm black and blue from my knuckles to my elbow. I guess I'm taking over for Mike.
• The Erie canal is absolutely beautiful. You ride for miles and just see the great landscape on both sides all green and quiet. In the distance you can see golden arches. Turns out there's a McDonald's drive in on the canal. I couldn't believe it.
• The next day the wind finally settled down, the locks were a pleasure. We stopped at Little Falls. We took our bikes for a ride. The hills were huge, thank God you only have to peddle up one way. Before we knew it we were in the middle of Lake Oneida. It's about 20 miles long and 4 miles wide. It was mirror like calm. Mike decided to take a swim. He kept telling me to jump in, that the water was warm. . .like I believed him.
• We stopped at Esskay Marina in Brewerton, N.Y. for 2 days. We did a little walking, shopping and relaxing. We were sooo relaxed; we watched 2 little boys try to get their Lab puppy into the water for his 1st swim.
• Then down the Oswego locks. Going down it's a lot easier than up. There are 7 locks--but they call it 8, number 4 lock is skipped. At the end of the locks is Lake Ontario, it look like an ocean. We started out clear and flat. After we committed ourselves the fog rolled in and Mike had the radar set for 1 mile. There were no other boats near us.
• We pulled into Sodus Bay Yacht Club around 3. The club was having an antique wooden boat show. Mike was impressed with the detail and beauty of the boats. Lots of work. Most of the boats in the club were sail boats, about 50. There were 12 or so power boats. We were docked right behind their club house and restaurant. They had a trio playing our kind of music. Everyone was very friendly. We had prime ribs for dinner...very reasonable.
• Sunday, after Mass, we had breakfast at the club, then we went for a ride in the dinghy. We noticed some black clouds coming in from the south...we were told to watch out for southwest winds, they're real bad. We headed back to the dock just in time (there was a wedding going on and the wind was so bad it took down the tent). They said the winds were 70 miles an hour. All I know is the boat started rocking and hitting the dock. Several of the men came over and helped us secure our lines. Then Mike became part of the team and helped others. Finally, just like at home, we had a storm party.