We are getting caught up on everything and want to get everyone up to date…Sorry for the delay, as we have had plenty of time…
We had a late start due to getting the Vestal house ready for marketing…That held us up a week…Finally, on June 8th, we gat a ride to Brewerton to get the boat out of winter storage…We had made three trips getting it prepped. We decided to leave Tuesday am, but heavy rains delayed us…Finally, on Wednesday we set sail for the western Erie Canal…We went through lock 23 and to the Three Rivers Junction, pictured above…Three hours into our trip, we called Lock 24 for passage, and were informed he would lock us up, but the canal was closed and we would have to dock for a few days…
As you can see from our dissatisfied roaming gnome, a few days ended up 14 in Baldwinsville, NY…Fortunately, we had 12 other good neighbors…I was elected Mayor of our little group and negotiated with the Lock keepers and the Village…The folks of Baldwinsville helped us out immensely…We got free docking,water, and electric, and a church provided a bus and driver to take us grocery shopping…Except for a minor sewage incident I was involved in, it was a pretty good time…So good, I got a plaque for my efforts, and mention in the Syracuse Post Standard…
After escaping from lock 24( we gave up on any more Erie Canal sightseeing – one three hour tour is enough), we went through the Oswego Canal and spent the night in Oswego with two fellow captives…Next morning we braved Lake Ontario and were repaid with a beautiful, calm crossing to our good friends, the Corrigans, in Brighton, Ontario…They live in a waterfront neighborhood, but more designed for run abouts and shallow draft boats…Nonetheless, cleared customs and were guided into the canal (in reverse, no less) to Doug Corrigans dock…His sea wall was even with our gunnels, but three feet away, posing a problem for Linda…
No problem too hard…Doug and his neighbors came up with some lumber, screws and a saw…Ten minutes later, we had a gang way to shore…needless to say, he was her hero!
we spent several days visiting with Doug, Agnes and Miles and totally enjoyed our relaxing time with good friends. A special was the arrival of more good friends—Jim and Robin—for dinner one night! Not wishing to wear out our welcome we departed for the Murray Canal en route to the Trent Severn waterway for the next phase of our journey.
This is what was waiting for us on the first lock of the journey-----A waterfall in the lock! the lockmaster came out to assure us all would be well –he had observed the looks of confusion on our faces!
Not too much excitement after that…It rained most of Tuesday, and we pulled into Campbellford to swap out our expensive wiper blades that didn’t work for some cheap ones that did…Imagine our surprise when a dapper older gentleman approached and knew our names…It was Doug Corrigan’s dad and mum who saw our boat as they were crossing the bridge…So cool…
Then several more hours doing the locks in the rain…
Today (July 1st) is Canada Day and the little village of Hastings is throwing a great party…Food, parade, and (we are told) the best fireworks on the Canal…
Until our next posting…
