Thousand Islands, NY

 July 2 – July 8, 2011

 

For a few days, we had been watching the weather for a good day to cross Lake Ontario.  Our plan was to leave on Saturday, July 2^nd, because the winds and waves were supposed to be relatively calm and that looked like a good day for the crossing.  The weather held and we caught the first lock opening that morning to leave the New York State Canal System in Oswego and enter Lake Ontario, along with Danny & Susan and Ted & Nancy McCarley on “Aloha Friday”.  

 

Our first stop in Thousand Islands was Cape Vincent, where we stayed at the free town dock.  Our friend from Clearwater, Parks Honeywell, met us at the dock and took our lines.  Roger had met Parks last November at a Dunedin Coast Guard Auxiliary meeting and discovered that Parks used to own a Krogen Manatee.  In fact, he built a dock for it at his private island in Thousand Islands where he spends the summers.  He sold the boat some time ago and it is now owned by Ray & Linda Corrette, who named it “Summertime”.  Last fall, Parks invited us to spend some time at his island as we were planning to cruise in the Thousand Islands.  

 

Roger and I had been looking forward to this part of the trip and we were so glad that it worked out.  In fact, Parks extended another invitation for us to stay at his friend, John Gonazalez’s dock in Clayton the next night so that we could go to a 4^th of July party (actually on the 3^rd) for the Coast Guard Auxiliary members of a Thousand Islands flotilla.  After we enjoyed a nice night and day in Cape Vincent, Parks came back and helped Roger take the boat to John’s house.  It had been a long time since Parks was on a Manatee but it was like riding a bike!  I drove Parks’ truck to John’s and met the guys there.  Several Coast Guard and local policemen who patrol the St. Lawrence River in that area were there also.  We had a great time at the party.  I met a nice couple that went to the same grammar school and high school as I went to in Rochester, NY, as well as the aunt of my brother Bill’s good friend.  Talk about a small world!  

 

On the 4^th of July, we woke up to a gorgeous day and from our cockpit, we watched kayakers, sailors, and even a sea plane enjoying the morning.   It took almost 2 hours to get to Parks’ island from Clayton.  He is in Goose Bay, very close to Alexandria Bay, NY.  His island is named Norway Island and is about 3 acres.   Some of his Coast Guard friends were visiting him when we arrived and they all met us at Parks’ dock.  We tied up and stayed for 5 days.  Norway Island is surrounded by gorgeous views and is in a wonderful and peaceful setting.  I mean, who would ever want to leave there?!?!  Well, maybe in the winter…

 

Parks showed us around the entire island.  His house sits high up on the island so the views are majestic.  He was a wonderful host; I did all our laundry at his house and he was a great tour guide.  He took us out on his 1967 Lyman, a gorgeous wooden boat, and we watched the Alexandria Bay fireworks in the St. Lawrence River on the 4^th.    We also went to Clayton, NY and visited the Antique Wooden Boat Museum.  We caught up with our cruising friends and toured the museum and had lunch in the quaint little town of Clayton.  This is a definite “Do Not Miss” if you are anywhere nearby in the summertime.

 

The day before we left, we took our boat and toured Boldt Castle.  In 1900, the castle was built by George Boldt, who was the manager of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, as a dedication to the love of his life – his wife Louise.  When she died suddenly four years later, the castle was not finished, but he stopped all construction because he couldn’t imagine spending his summers there without her.  The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired it 73 years later and has been improving it since it fell into complete disrepair.  It is beautiful love story, a magnificent structure and is another reason to visit Thousand Islands.

 

After Boldt Castle, we went to Alexandria Bay and filled up our fuel tank before going back to Parks’ island.  The logistics of living on a private island were very interesting.  There is no trash pickup by the town and no mail delivery by the postal worker, so you have to plan ahead.  Along with his classic Lyman wooden boat, Parks has a pontoon boat that he uses as his transportation between the mainland and Norway Island.  It is about a 15-minute boat ride between his island and the mainland, but you hope you don’t forget the letters you were going to mail or your cell phone that you left on the counter because it’s a project to go back for them.  He also owns a piece of land on the mainland, where he built another boat house, with a garage for his pick up truck, which is his land transportation.  And he parks his motor home there, which is what he drives to and from Florida.  My head is spinning trying to keep all of this straight.  We shared so much with Parks in just 5 days—we have memories that will last forever.  Even our cruising friends said how much they enjoyed him.  It’s hard to write the words, but maybe you’ll get the idea from the photos.  

 

We were sad to leave Parks Honeywell and Norway Island, but we needed to move on with our trip.  It was good timing that Parks’ brother-in-law Charlie had arrived so that his island wouldn’t be totally quiet after we left.  We’ll look forward to seeing Parks in Florida in October.  

The Erie Canal, Cayuga Lake, & Oswego

 June 16 – July 1, 2011

 

After 3 nights at Waterford, NY, we traveled west on the Erie Canal.  We went through several locks each day, and didn’t have to wait for the lock operator to open a gate for more than 5 minutes.  Usually the lock operator called ahead for us and conveniently alerted the next lock operator that we were on our way.  

 

Somewhere between Waterford and Amsterdam, NY, we picked up a foreign object that clogged our raw water strainer and caused the pump to run dry, thereby destroying the impeller.  Danny alerted Roger on the radio, after we left the 2^nd last lock of the day, that there was no water coming out of our exhaust.  That’s a bad thing!  And it’s   especially inconvenient when there is nowhere to pull off the water highway and call AAA.  Roger was ready to put the anchor down, but Danny offered to tow us while Roger repaired the problem.  We ended up being towed for 10 miles, with Danny walking back and forth between his boat and our boat and Susan taking her turn driving both boats down the Erie Canal!  Our engine room was probably over 100 degrees and Roger was drenched in sweat.  He finally got all the pieces of the old impeller out and the new impeller on as we pulled into a lock.  Roger and I jumped onboard Danny & Susan’s boat so that we could have more muscle as both boats locked up 15 feet.  We squeezed both boats through the lock gate without bumping into the sides – not an easy thing to do – just ask Danny on the port side and Roger on the starboard side!  

 

Once we exited the lock, Roger started the engine and still no water came out of the exhaust.  He checked everything again and then restarted the engine, but this time gave it more RPM’s and yayyyyyyy, the water was free-flowing!  We cast off from Danny & Susan’s boat and pulled up to the dock under our own power – it was a great feeling!  I guess people who don’t know how to change out impellers just call BOAT/US (like AAA, but for boats) and get towed to a boatyard where someone else can do the work, for some big bucks.  But Roger has changed out many an impeller in his day, as you know.

 

The next few days down the Erie Canal brought us to Rome, Little Falls, Brewerton and Baldwinsville, NY.  Each town was a little different, but the commonality was the friendliness of the townspeople.  We docked along the town walls, many of which are free docks, and the people seemed very happy to see us and welcomed us to their town.  Many of these are old mill towns and on top of that, they are suffering under the current economic slowdown, so there are numerous businesses that are vacant.  It’s sad to see.  

 

We went through 23 locks on the Erie Canal before we turned left to go to the Cayuga-Seneca Canal.  There is a big concern in this area because the heights of bridges and lock gates can be prohibitive.  We had taken our mast down in Waterford and lowered our radio antennas along the way, and made it under all the bridges into Seneca Falls, NY.  I held my breath as we slid under them with only inches to spare.  We had called the lock operators at 2 locations to check water levels, and they assured us that the water was at normal pool level.  We didn’t have such blind faith since it is our boat, not theirs.  So I positioned myself on a chair, and stood above the top of the pilot house with my headset on so that I could talk to Roger as I scoped out the clearance while Roger slowly edged toward the bridges.  Mission – successful!  You can see a picture of Susan doing the same thing as they were ahead of us.

 

Both Roger & I lived and worked in Seneca Falls in our previous lives.  We walked by Goulds Pumps and along the downtown area.  We met up with some of the people who are still living in the area – Barry Bradshaw, Art Evans, Rose Palmieri, Russ & Moe Young, and Mike & Carol Jackson.  It was great catching up!  The Jackson’s were nice enough to receive our mail and packages and deliver them to our boat.  The 2^nd day we were there, Carol Jackson brought us a bouquet of flowers from the Farmer’s Market and a batch of her incredible and famous chocolate chip cookies.  We felt very spoiled!

 

On Friday, June 23^rd, we headed down Cayuga Lake and passed by Roger’s old house.  We arrived at Robert H. Treman Marine Park in Ithaca, NY and stayed there for 6 nights.  The park was enormous and there was so much green grass to walk Louie.  Ithacans must love that park because there were lots of people on the walking trail, in the ball parks, at the soccer fields, not to even mention in the marina.  The day after we arrived, we rented a car and continued our trip down memory lane.  We drove up to Ithaca College, where I went to school and stocked up on school memorabilia.  

 

On Sunday, I drove Roger to the Syracuse airport so that he could go to Indianapolis for meetings.  Roger got to spend a dinner at Bazbeaux Pizza downtown with Brett, Kelly, Nicole and Kacee – lucky him!  I got to visit and have lunch with my two friends from my Inficon Leybold-Heraeus days’ in East Syracuse, Ginny Brennan and Shirley LaPlante.  This time together was too short, but I had dropped Louie off at the PetSmart grooming salon and needed to pick him up and get back to Ithaca.  I ended up driving through Skaneateles (pronounced “Skinny-atlas”), and drove by Roger’s and my old house.  It was a sweet memory and I could picture Nicole, Brett and Heath standing on the deck spitting watermelon seeds into the grass.  I was glad to see that the neighborhood is still beautiful, as is the entire town of Skaneateles.  I drove by the old airport, now called Skaneateles Aerodrome and reminisced about flying with Roger and then taking flying lessons myself until my 3 solos.

 

On Monday, I had a wonderful visit in Ithaca from my Uncle Bob and his friend Joanne.  We had lunch and drove through Cornell University and Ithaca College.  The next day, I drove back to Syracuse and stopped by the Jackson’s house again in Seneca Falls to pick up more packages.  I was able to have a very nice dinner with Carol and when we left the restaurant in Waterloo, I ran into Alice Hetlund an acquaintance from Indianapolis.  Years ago, we had talked about her summer home in Seneca Falls, but I had forgotten about that until I ran right into her.  Small world!  

 

The morning after Roger returned to the boat, we returned the rental car and headed back up Cayuga Lake.  We stayed on the lock wall at the very north end of the lake.  It was funny to pull up to the wall and there must have been 7 state workers sitting at a picnic table or standing on the stern of the work boat, just watching us dock our boat.  Note that there was NO DOCK, only a wall.  So once again, with our headsets on, I told Roger when we were close enough to the wall and I jumped up onto the wall and tied down the stern.  He used the bow thruster to pull the bow over to the wall and I grabbed the bow line off the boat.  Not one person offered to help us with the lines – amazing!  That night Alice & Jim Hetlund (from Indy) found us at the lock and came by for drinks and a hot dogs and beans dinner.  It’s the simple things in life! 

 

We continued to backtrack another day up the Cayuga-Seneca Canal again to the Erie Canal.  I discovered that Louie had a few fleas on him and you can just imagine my reaction.  I called the company that made the Vectra 3D medicine that apparently didn’t work, called our vet in Indy who prescribed it and our current vet in Florida.  I was distraught since our dogs had never had fleas before – another new pet experience!  I had Roger stop in Baldwinsville and I went to a pharmacy for some flea shampoo.  I had to walk across the lock wall, past a sign that said, “authorized persons only” and then out to the street.  I was nervous walking across the very narrow bridge at the top of the lock, but no one stopped me.  We got underway and I gave Louie a bath while Roger drove.  The overnight stop didn’t work out as planned and actually had to go past Plan B, into Plan C where we ended up at a nice free dock in Minetto, NY (north of Syracuse).  It was a great spot and we grilled salmon on a cedar plank for dinner.  

 

The next morning we arrived in Oswego and stayed on the town dock with Danny & Susan (who had left us in Ithaca).   They were with Ted & Nancy McCarley, “Aloha Friday”, whom we had met in Clearwater back in December 2009.  Nancy & Ted had a nice group of people  over for cocktails.  Earlier that afternoon, my brother David had called me and he drove up from Rochester (about 2 hours) to see us.  We had such a great time with him and were able to go to dinner with him before he headed back to Rochester.  I can’t emphasize enough how hard it is to make plans to see people when you are cruising.  So when it actually works out as easily as this did with people that we love to be with, it makes it that much more special!

 

And just as an aside, we would like to genuinely thank you New York State residents for all the millions of dollars of taxes that you are allocating so that a few pleasure boaters can travel down the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca and Oswego, etc. canals for a mere $75-$100 for the entire season.  Can you imagine how many people are employed to operate and maintain dozens of locks and the work boats?  Thank you, thank you!  At Oswego, we were ready to leave the New York State Canal System and enter Lake Ontario.  Next stop – Thousand Islands, USA.