August 5, 2015  Day 46  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock
Phoenix, NY

We stayed in Phoenix as planned although we did move the boat up a little farther to be able to reach a 30 amp outlet.  We only had 15 amps at the first spot and we are used to having 50 amps!  One of the River House Brats helped us with our lines.

Joyce took advantage of having access to a Laundromat next to our dock. Although she normally does laundry on board, she was able to get everything done in two hours, including bedspreads.

Bill walked down to the bakery this afternoon to pick up the small lemon raspberry cake he ordered yesterday.  We enjoyed it for dessert this evening.

Most of the boats who were here last night left today, but we were glad to remain tied to the dock because of the wind.  Tomorrow looks very promising and we will leave early in the morning. Destination: Sylvan Beach.

 

August 4, 2015  Day 45  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock
Phoenix, NY

We were very happy to wake this morning to very calm wind and water!  We caught the 0800 opening for Lock #7 which was just a few yards from our dock.  We went through all remaining locks today on the Oswego Canal and had no problems – always a good thing!

We arrived at the small town of Phoenix, NY at 12:30 and tied up on the free wall.  This is the home of the River House Brats, a youth group who greets boaters and will run errands for them for tips. The setting is very nice here - lots of flowers and nicely landscaped grounds, picnic tables, gazebo, and a little museum.

A view down the dock in Phoenix

Such a nice setting

We walked to a small café for lunch and then went to a very nice produce stand and bought tomatoes, corn, peppers, and peaches.  Then we went to a convenience store and picked up milk and a few other items. There is no grocery store in this small town.  Next stop was a bakery where we ordered a small cake which we will pick up tomorrow.



Carried Away in Phoenix

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and then went out for pizza for dinner.  Even though we had a short day we are tired. We will be glad to spend another day here!

August 3, 2015  Day 44  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY

Another brief posting tonight. After looking at the forecast this morning, we decided to stay put here on the free wall in Oswego. We did not want to travel in wind and likely thunderstorms. So, we spent a very relaxing day reading, taking care of email and phone calls.  We had dinner on board and just relaxed.

We will reassess the situation in the morning and leave if possible. We will have to go through six locks to reach our destination of Phoenix, NY.

August 2, 2015  Day 43  New York Summer 2015

Free City Dock, north of Lock 7
Oswego, NY

What a busy day!  We were up before six am to get an early start.  There was such an abundance of weeds on the anchor that it took over a half hour to pull the anchor and get it cleaned and free of debris. So, we finally got underway shortly after 0700.

We entered the St. Lawrence River and had a good cruise in calm water and with little boat traffic – surprising for a Sunday.  Maybe no one else was up that early?  We passed Cape Vincent and entered Lake Ontario at 0930. The wave forecast on NOAA was for one to two feet, but of course we had two to three feet on the bow the whole time. It could have been worse, but it does make us not trust the forecast!  Actually, this was the best travel day as wave heights of at least four feet are out there for the next few days. 

Windmills everywhere on Wolf Island - we were glad
to see they were all turning!

We arrived in Oswego and stopped at the Oswego Marina for water and to empty the holding tank.  Then we entered Lock 8 with one other boat and locked up this time. We exited the lock and tied up on the free wall where we were last week!  The difference was that we were the only boat here when we arrived. Last week it was packed because of Harborfest. (Two more boats did eventually arrive by 6pm.)

Having left Clayton means we are now on our return trip south and are retracing our route. We entered the Oswego Canal today and will be in the Erie Canal in a few days.  We are watching the weather tomorrow with storms and wind forecast and we do not like being in the locks in wind.  So we will make a decision in the morning regarding staying here another day.

We have our antennas lowered again, so no TV for us. But, we are content to read and relax after our long day.  We had leftovers for dinner which was a godsend. We did not want to get off the boat and we were too tired to fix a huge meal.

August 1, 2015  Day 42  New York Summer 2015

At anchor
Clayton, NY

This will be a very short post. We stayed at our anchorage today in the Clayton Harbor, but we did not go to shore.  We relaxed, read, did some cleaning, and worked on hobbies.

This is our last day in the 1000 Islands, and we will leave in the morning to head back to Oswego. We plan to make it in one day, cross Lake Ontario, go back through Lock 8 and hopefully tie up on the free wall where we were a week ago!

Incredible sunset

 

July 31, 2015  Day 41  New York Summer 2015

At anchor
Clayton, NY

Our morning began at 0400 when we felt the boat rocking. Apparently the wind had picked up and once again we were concerned about our anchor holding. Bill stayed up until 0530 watching the chart plotter and our indicators. We were fine, but it didn’t seem that way for a while.

At 10:00 we took the dinghy to shore and docked at the City dock where we had our boat for four days. We were surprised to be the only ones to use the dinghy dock.

We bought our tickets for the Antique Boat Show and wandered through the market area with vendors selling used boat parts, tools, marine items, and new items such as jewelry, clothing etc.  We actually bought another line to use in the locks. It is a better length than the one we have.  (And, Joyce might have bought a pair of lovely earrings.J)

Then we spent lots of time wandering around looking at the beautiful antique boats – mahogany everywhere!  The Lyman Boats are featured this year, but we saw many Chris Crafts, Gar Woods, a Richardson, an Owens, Thompsons, and more.   Some of the boats are simply here to be admired, and some are for sale. We enjoyed talking to several of the boat owners. The boat auction will be held tomorrow afternoon. 

We had the opportunity to meet Joyce’s distant cousin, Nancy at the boat show. After communicating online through family research websites over the past several years, it was a joy to finally meet in person! Nancy and her husband sold their beautiful antique boat last year after having it for 36 years.  The boat was brought to the show this year by the new owners and we were happy to see it!



We bought a raffle ticket for this Lyman!

We had lunch at the boat show and then came back to Carried Away in mid-afternoon. We had a light dinner on board. We hope to take the dinghy into town again tomorrow.  We are watching for the “Blue Moon” to appear but we have not seen it yet tonight.



Not an antique,
but our means of transportation today!

July 30, 2015  Day 40  New York Summer 2015

At anchor
Clayton, NY

One of many wooden boats arriving
 to be on display this weekend

Dad and kids out having fun today!

Setting sun at anchor

The moon is huge tonight!

Today was a busy day and we did not go far! We helped our Looper friends with their lines and said goodbye at 0730.  Then we did some cleaning and then prepared to leave. We left the Clayton City dock about 9:45 and went to another marina to get the holding tank emptied – only to find out their equipment was not working. So, we went across the harbor to anchor.

About an hour or two later we realized we did not have a good hold and were drifting.  So, we had to pull the anchor and move to another spot and put out more chain.  That worked for about 6 hours, then we started to drift.  So, we moved again.  This was a very windy day and

it was causing problems for us and other nearby sailboats. The bottom is also covered with grass and we pulled tons of it up with the anchor each time we moved.  It takes a while to pull it off with the boat hook!  Finally at 6pm we moved closer to the houses across the harbor. The wind has died down and we are hopefully set for the night.

We cooked dinner on the grill and hope to have a peaceful night.

Tomorrow we plan to take the dinghy to shore and see some of the boat show.