Day 1
Begin: Oneida Lake @ 12:00
End: Marcy (Lock E20) @ 6:15
Miles Traveled: 26 Miles
Weather: Sunny, warm, pleasant breeze.
On Friday, July 6th we loaded up the boat in the morning and headed to the Sylvan Beach Terminal Wall via sail. There was a nice breeze coming across the lake so we made good time. After about 20 minutes we were dropping sail and starting the engine to head into Sylvan Beach. We needed to stop at the canal wall and drop the mast to the deck and get the boat ready for the first lock.
Sylvan Beach Entrance
We dropped the mast to the deck, setup our fenders on both sides of the boat, stowed the sails. Double checked that we did not forget anything important and embarked on our canal journey. It took about 30 minutes to drop the mast and secure it to the deck. I was busy getting things ready, and Leila had the camera taking pictures of the some baby ducklings. We then passed under the bridge and stopped to top of the fuel tanks. We only have a 15 gallon capacity, and not knowing how much we would burn though, I figured an extra five gallons would not hurt.
Ducklings at Sylvan Beach Wall, notice the waves even at the wall from the wind.
Finally, we were now ready to go, nothing left to do but enjoy that trip. While fueling up, we were passed by the tug Waterford, which would accompany us through our first two locks, before it tied itself up for the day. It was rather ironic having the tug there, I have spent many years on the lake and it is rare to see a tug, much less travel through one on our first lock. The locks were a much easier process than I had thought, the sailboat hardly moved. It was a great feeling knowing that we were actually starting the trip that we had been talking about for so long. Almost everyone who we told our plans to thought we were nuts (and maybe we are a bit), and this is when it really sunk in. While going up through Lock E22 we looked at each other and made the realization that we were really spending a month on a boat.
Our first lock, with the tug Waterford (Lock E22) and another cruiser out for a day trip on the peaceful waters of the canal.
Once through Lock E21, we passed the New London Junction Lock, and were on our way to Rome. By two o’clock we were in Rome, and we stopped at the Rome Terminal Wall to eat lunch. We were in no real hurry as we were planning on spending the night atop Lock E20, which is only 9 miles (1.5 hours) away.
New London Junction Lock (Old Erie Canal Crossing)
We stayed in Rome for a few hours to organize the chaos that was below deck from when we just piled all our supplies in this morning before we departed. By using all the storage space in the boat effectively we were able to store most of our equipment out of the way, and most of it out of sight. The only exception was some of the sails, we stored them in the V-birth during the day, and moved them when we slept.
The 9 miles to Lock E20 was pretty uneventful. We have only motored about 20 miles and its interesting to find things that you never knew were there, even though I’ve lived in this area my whole life. There were many interesting old remains including the docks which were used for when gas/jet fuel/etc. were shipped by barge and the New London Junction Lock where the Old Erie Canal crosses path with the current canal.
Once we arrived at Lock E20 in Marcy we docked at the floating docks located on the northern side of the canal on the upper side of the lock (western side). There was power and water available, as well as a pleasant little park. Fortunately for us, on Thursdays and Fridays over the summer are performances that are part of the “Betsy” Concert Series. This particular day featured Courtney and Quintessence which played variety music. We were greeted by a friendly local who gave let us know about the concert and the concert series. We enjoyed the music and it made a great first day. We had dinner and were latter joined by a friend who lives in the area. All in all a great first day!
Lock E20 Canal Park Power Pole