While staying in Clayton NY we took a little side trip to Boldt Castle. The story goes, that Mr Boldt had the Castle built for his wife, but she died prior to seeing it.  He cabled “stop work” to the architects, and never went there again. Much of the exterior had been completed but not the interior, and it was left to languish and deteriorate, becoming vandalised.  In 1977 it was taken over and has been slowly restored since then.

A little out of order.  We stopped at Sylvan Beach on the way up.  Free dockage at the downtown wall, a nice rainbow and the Crazy Clam.  What’s not to like?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We stayed on the riverwalk wall in Oswego.  A large canal cruise ship pulled in right behind us; the passengers were as fascinated with our boat and trip as we were with theirs.  They hired a few local folks to break down the top deck, take off the railings and remove stored items, so that they would fit under the bridge and head back south down the canals. We were told they were headed down the Erie then the Hudson, and on down to NYC.  There was a huge breakwater as we entered the lake, and we passed plenty of the big boys along the way.

First view of Lake Ontario

Lighthouse near Oswego

This canal barge docked behind us on the wall in Oswego

Headed southbound into the lock.

Now that’s a breakwater

Headed out to the Lake

Some days are a bit rough

At the Three River junction on the Erie Canal,  you have to make a choice to either continue into Western New York towards Buffalo, avoid crossing into Canada, and continue on the trip.  Or, turn up the Oswego Canal to Oswego, and then out onto Lake Ontario.  The Western Erie has a few very low bridges, so we chose to go up the Oswego.  There are a few lower bridges and unusual locks there, also.  Here are photos of a lift bridge that lifts on one side only, and which is located within the lock. Also, a shot of our helm station – we do still use paper charts for the “Big Picture” and for backup. Note the lock gloves ready to go.

The

Had some crazy weather pass over, just as we were entering Lock 20.  That lock is positioned such that the weather will funnel through; as we entered behind a large sailboat, the wind grabbed the stern and twisted us sideways in the lock.  After a few tense moments Capt Artie was able to turn us around, go back out of the lock, turn around again and re-enter, and we successfully locked through.  Kevin reported that her weather app indicated gusts of 50+ miles per hour associated with the storm.

The first lock going north is at Troy, also called the Federal lock.  Next up is Waterford, where the iconic sign points the way to either the Champlain or Erie Canal.

Locks, locks and more locks.  We’ve been traveling with Kevin and Steve on Lone Star for the last ten days, starting in Waterford, NY continuing up the Erie and Oswego Canals, crossing over part of Lake Ontario from Oswego NY to Sackets Harbor, then on to Clayton, NY, a side trip to Boldt Castle, and finally crossing over to Kingston, Ontario where we cleared into Canada.  Tomorrow, we will move up to Trenton, where we will enter the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Canadian Canals.

I am often asked how Skipper gets on and off the boat.  He is quite the old salt by now.  As we finish our walks, we tell him “House!”.  He will take a running leap (of faith) and will either jump directly onto the back deck if the angle and height are correct in his expert doggy opinion, or will leap onto the walk-around, shimmy under the side ladder, and push in through the back canvas.

LerryLynn, Abaco Lady and Lone Star at Waterford, NY passing by Leap of Faith at the dock before the lock.  Lone Star stayed over and we have travelled with them the last few days, along with Orphan Girl – who is headed up the Erie but not looping this time around. Note the Green light that indicates you may enter the lock.

After leaving the mid-Hudson, we moved up to Kingston, then Waterford.  At Kingston, we were fortunate enough to stay at a dock at the Ole Savannah restaurant where we had a nice meal and a quiet stay.  Waterford is the crossroads, where you can choose to go west up the Erie Canal, or north up the Champlain Canal.  Both will lead you to Canada eventually.  We met up with a few other loopers at our first stop; we then moved on to Waterford intending to stay there to visit with Artie’s sister (Hello Gail and Joe!  Get that RV and get moving! Life is too short!) and to also take care of an appointment.  This was over 4th of July weekend, and Waterford was hosting a steamboat festival.  We were asked to move up to Lock 3 for a few days, where we stayed on the lock wall.  We then moved back down to Waterford, waited for a few other loopers, and have been moving through the Erie in tandem with Lone Star for the last few days.

Ok, so we won’t be seeing dolphins for a while.  But we do get to see EAGLES!