New York's Finger Lakes

We have spent the past several days hovering around Syracuse where we will be flying from on July 1 to attend a family reunion in Iowa. That is providing an opportunity to check out Cayuga and Seneca Lakes that are accessible from the canal system.

Heading West

As we headed west from Brewerton, NY we proceeded through lock 23 and then passed the entrance to the Oswego River which we will use to get to Lake Ontario on our way to Canada in just a few weeks. We needed to go though much of this section of the Erie Canal at idle speed because of the many boat docks and homes along the way. 

Our original plan was to tie up along the canal wall at Baldwinsville but the Lockmaster at Lock 24, which is right in Baldwinsville, told us all the spaces were taken because of a Saturday night concert across from the wall on Paper Mill Island. There are not many places for a larger boat to tie up in this area so we decided to proceed on another 9 miles to Cross Lake where we could anchor for the night. At this stop, we took down the fly-bridge canvas to get our height down below 16 feet since we will be soon be going under the lowest bridges that we will experience in the entire Great Loop.

In the morning we continued on west where we exited the Erie Canal for the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and then to Lock CS1. Cayuga is very shallow at the north end and very deep elsewhere. There are tall hills on either side of the lake and the area is known for its vineyards. We traveled on to Cayuga Lake where we found very few places able to accommodate a boat our size. We eased into soft mud and weeds at on marina that we tried to enter. Taking a quick look at the charts, we decided to go on to Ithaca where we were able to get in to the state park there.
Ithaca, NY

At Ithaca, Deb and Mike rented a car to explore the parks in the area. At the Robert H. Treman State Park we hiked some of the water falls. What a site to behold and what a workout!

 At Taughannock Falls State Park we were able to see the tallest waterfall in New York. At this point we decided against hiking to the base because we had a wonderful view from above.

Since we had a car we were able to do a proper supply run. We mentioned Wegman's in a previous post. From what we are used to downstate, these grocery stores are fantastic. We encountered our first Wegman's in Williamsport, PA where Maggie went to college. These stores not only have everything, they have a
lot of varieties of everything! The picture to the left is JUST the chips isle! 

Also, at Ithaca we we able to see the play "I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti." That was a lot of fun.

In total we stayed at Ithaca three nights. The marina park personnel were very pleasant. 

Seneca Falls, NY

Next we moved 30 miles north to the top of the lake and then continued west. In that stretch of the C&S canal are the lowest bridges of the trip until we leave Chicago, southbound, on the Illinois River in a few years. Carousel with the canvas, antennas, and radar mast down is about 14.5 feet. The bridges here are at 16

feet. Even though we were sure we were down to the right size, we were still very cautious going under these bridges and it always looks way closer than it actually is. For the first one, we floated gently under the bridge with engines in idle and Mike was able to confirm the height with a tape measure in one hand and the shift levers in the other in case we needed to stop and reverse. The picture to the right is of Don ducking slightly under one bridge.

We arrived at Locks CS 2 &3 which is a back-to-back lock that lifts about 50 feet. This was the first double lock for us but by this time we were pretty rehearsed at going through locks on the NY Canal System. We were quite anxious about locks only a few weeks ago but now it all seems pretty routine. Just beyond this double lock is Seneca Falls, our next stop. This town is full of history. The tie-up wall is right by the town museum. Seneca Falls boasts a lot of inventions from when it was a hub of industrial activity.  Now, the town struggles under the upstate economy which is aggravated by the ridiculous cost of doing business in New York. 

We were able to find the ice cream shop pretty quickly. While we have been having cooler weather, the temperatures have been creeping towards the 90's so ice cream hit the spot. Seneca Falls also claims to be the home of Women's Rights. We attended a short tour at the small National Park recognizing this fact. 

We also caught up with the local Harbor Hosts with the America's Great Loop Cruisers Association. These are volunteers along the way that have a great deal of local information and can offer all sorts of help. We had spoken to them on the phone a few days earlier but here, in Seneca Falls, they found us and brought along a bottle of local wine. We got some great advice on Seneca Lake and where to anchor in Cross Lake on our trip back to Brewerton. 

There are also rental canal boats in this part of the system. These are reminiscent of historic canal boats and can be rented for 3,4, or 7 days.

Seneca Falls also claims to be the inspiration for Bedford Falls, the town in "It's a Wonderful Life." Deb and Mike went to the museum dedicated to the movie. The town has it all, including the bridge that was an inspiration for the movie where somebody did actually save a life after a fall.

OH! and we found a GREAT pizza place!

Seneca Lake

From Seneca Falls, we moved on west towards Seneca Lake and Watkins Glen where we stayed at the Village Marina which is a County Park. Mike and Deb walked over to the nearby Super

Walmart (it seems we are always missing something in the boat's stores). For this trip, we used our fold-able wagon for the first time. It is about the size of a childhood red wagon but it folds down to a package about 8 inches thick and about 18x24 inches. I'm sure that it will be a great help in provisioning along the way.

We took an interesting boat tour on the lake and we learned that a tremendous amount of salt mining goes on here with some of the deepest vertical shaft mines in the world. Now they pump lake water into the caverns and draw the salt out of the water that comes back out. It does confuse me a bit why that is OK in NY but fracking is not. We also saw the 2nd tallest waterfall in the state - Hector Falls.

We spent two days at Watkins Glen and sampled some of the local cuisine (Southern BBQ). We watched several sailboats stepping their masts and preparing to go to Lake Ontario.

Our trip back covered the same territory with our next night back in Seneca Falls.  At this point we basically had 4 days to do two days worth of travel so the distances were short.  We took advantage of that great spot the Harbor Hosts had told us about in Cross Lake. We watched fishermen, eagles, Great Blue Herons, and other wildlife in a peaceful setting. The only down side is that we were having the hottest day of the summer so far. Seeing no need to rough it,  Mike ran the generator and the air conditioning on board until about midnight when the temperature came down to the mid 70's.

One of the pleasures aboard, when we are not sampling local cuisine or ice cream, is cooking and eating aboard. We haven't done much home cooking the past few years so it is nice to get back in the swing. I'm sure we are eating healthier now!

Baldwinsville, NY

By leaving around 10am, we were able to motor for a few hours to get back to Baldwinsville just about lunch time. There was really only one space left on the wall for a boat our size and we slipped right in. There was a short C&W concert which we enjoyed at the amphitheater on Paper Mill Island.

Returning the next day on June 29th to Brewerton, we were able to pick up our mail that had been shipped to us and pick up several Amazon boxes that were waiting. Most of the Amazon shipments were for maintenance supplies and spares that were becoming more import now with full time use of Carousel. Since we had use of Don and Sammie's car, we also took on filling our propane tanks and catching up with laundry. Carousel's varnish had not been cared for yet this year so some sanding and varnishing was in order. Carousel is now ready for the next leg of our adventure when we return from Iowa on July 5th.

We had a wonderful lake perch and walleye dinner right along the canal in Brewerton to celebrate Deb's parents' last night aboard. Our first leg of the adventure has come to an end and they will be returning to Florida.  Deb will be losing her valuable crew member, but her Dad has provide lots of helpful tips which will be quite useful when she is the single crew for the boat, especially making that first line secure in the locks!

Tomorrow, we will leave Carousel in the capable care of the Ess Kay Boatyard staff and fly to Keosauqua in southern Iowa. Maggie will be flying separately from Buffalo and join us for the triennial Hervey Family Reunion.  We are looking forward to spending time with her and our Hervey aunts, uncles and cousins while celebrating the birth of our nation.  Happy Fourth of July everyone!