Across Lake Ontario to the 1000 Islands!!!!

 Howdy, good folks - feels like it's been a while since we got a chance to catch up on things.  It's been generally smooth sailing on our end, with no new repairs, illnesses, injuries, or crises (thank goodness and knock on wood!).  We hear there's some rain coming to Hampton Roads - hope it isn't too bad for y'all!

Since the last blog, we were able to complete the Erie Canal/inland portion of our journey.  While we traveled through some gorgeous countryside, we started getting eager for a change of scenery.  We successfully traversed the remainder of the locks (some pictures to help give you a "hands on" perspective of what the locks are like):

They kindly post "instructions" for the locks

A 40-foot lock!!!!

A study in slime (but still less offensive than seawater locks!!!)

Sheryl even got some "lock line" calluses!

Going through a lock is not exactly exciting; everything moves slowly and relatively quietly.  Most of the locks don't use mechanical pumps, but use "gravity" to move the water as needed up and down.  The hardest part is making sure the boat stays somewhat close to the lock wall (it can start moving around when the current flows in or out of the lock), but it's usually not too hard to do. 

We stopped in several more small towns along the way, where we did some touring around and restocking.  Mark and I walked to a Super Walmart in Oswego, which was about 1.5 miles away from the riverfront (uphill!) with our wagon; it was an afternoon adventure and enabled us to bring back some of the heavier things we needed (like drinks).

Town of Ilion, which boasted a well-stocked Aldi store!


In Sylvan Beach, NY (on the eastern side of Lake Oneida) - very quaint little vacation town!

The riverfront in Fulton, NY with wall we could tie to


View from inside a lock (can't remember which one LOL)

In Oswego returning from a Walmart run


On Monday morning (June 19th), we left Oswego as soon as the final lock to pass through opened (7:00 am) and headed across Lake Ontario.  The water was clear and gorgeous, and the Lake was much deeper in spots than we expected (500 ft plus!!!).  We headed to a serene anchorage spot on the U.S. side of the 1000 Island region to spend the night; it was really beautiful and a nice change from the canals we've been on for a few weeks.  And as luck would have it, the weather seems to have taken a turn for the better as well.  We were getting pretty tired of wearing sweatshirts, long pants, and foul weather gear!!!



The river wall in Oswego, NY:  all the boats are getting ready to head across Lake Ontario!
Can you tell which is Oceanus?


With Lake Ontario in the background!

Our plan for the next couple days is to poke around the 1000 Islands area and cross over into Canadian waters before long, as the U.S./Canada border runs down the middle of the island chain.  We'd like to visit some local parks for some hiking and sightseeing if we can find places to come ashore with our dinghy.



One of the 1866 islands in the "1000 Island" region on the Saint Lawrence River.
More pictures to come of this beautiful area!


Stay well, everyone - we wish you were here!!!!

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