Ahoy!

My, how time flies when you're moving slow!

On Tuesday, the 29th, I went to a Laundromat in Frankfort, NY while Dennis took the computer to the library to use their wifi signal for email. He also purchased the daily bag of ice for refrigeration and happily found the bakery open so he could buy a cannolli. This confection is a favorite of Dennis', but he only buys them when we are here in Frankfort. They are very, very rich.

With those chores completed and bikes stowed on the bow, Sadie B. left Frankfort Harbor. But not before Dennis tied a line to a huge log (12')wedged beneath the swim platform of the boat in front of us. We had watched it float into the harbor from a side stream, circle in the current before finding a resting point. Once we were at the junction of the canal, we untied it and hoped it would wash up on the low bank.

We cruised a total of 11 miles, passed through one lock at tied to the now defunct lock at Utica (Mile 100). We settled into our reading and quilting.

Wednesday, was a beautiful day for a bike ride. There are "Canal Way" Paths along much of the Erie Canal. Use of the old mule tow paths make for great biking or walking. We left the boat about 10:00AM and rode into Utica. It is a small, old city and we just rode along its historic streets. A Farmer's Market was a surprise treat. Corn on the cob and cukes would survive the day in a bicycle basket but we had to pass on tomatoes and peaches.

On past trips to Utica, we loved browsing through multiple floors of a very old, eclectic hardware store, however, it had been consolidated and most of the store roped off. So we peddled on.

The massive, old library intrigued us and gave Dennis an opportunity to read the paper. I browsed the quilt section and the extensive "books for sale" aisles. The prices were great at $.25 or $.10 a book and we managed to find a couple we were willing to haul around the rest of the day.

The next item on the agenda was lunch. A postman suggested a little café in a renovated warehouse, very near the Brewery. This was a good suggestion as we already had reservations for a tour at the FX Matts (Utica Club Beer) Brewery for 1:00. The café was Italian. I had an antipasto salad. Dennis had a fish sandwich with fries. Didn't sound very Italian to me.... but he said it was excellent and didn't eat again the rest of the day.

The big bonus of this renovated warehouse was finding a small quilt shop. What luck! I needed a special pigment pen to sign the quilt I was working on. And yes, they had the perfect color.

Off to the Brewery. The tour was interesting, but the taste tests at the end were the highlight, of course. They make a great Ginger Beer and Root Beer. Dennis tried a Pomegranate Wheat Ale and some other fancy brew. The biggest sellers of this brewery are the Saranac beers and soft drinks. With our history lesson completed for the day we retrieved our bikes and headed back, downtown.

We were actually back tracking down the canal so Dennis could make an official "Waterway Guide" call on the owner of a business. Dennis is a field editor for the Waterway Guide. As we travel, he makes notes, corrections, additions and deletions to the guide. In this case, the business had changed owners and he wanted to introduce himself. We found ice on the way, so with his mission accomplished, it was and easy ride on the Canal Way Path back to the boat.

Last night, we experienced a fair bit of rocking from the wakes of passing boats, and decided since it was only 2:30, we would move to Lock 20, four miles up river.

This was a good move and provided us with a "wake free" evening. I finished the quilt. Yeah!

Thursday (31^st) Dennis took a long walk, while I did some yoga and a short walk.

After breakfast, Sadie B headed for Rome, about 10 miles upstream. Once secured to the floating dock, Dennis removed the bikes and he headed for town. I opted to enjoy the solitude and the peaceful sound of the falls a 100 yards in front of the boat.

A new knitting project was started. Dennis returned with news of a beautiful renovated train station across the bridge and a program for the weekend Canal Days Festivities. Needing some exercise, I walked to see the train station, then on to downtown Rome and back to the boat with out stopping at any of the shops.

The train station was very impressive, but not at all ostentatious. It was eerie as there was no one around. I saw one attendant. When Dennis was there, he saw no one. The schedule showed 5 trains a day, one being called the Maple Leaf, for all you train buffs.

Friday, August 1^st, together we went to the grocery store. With the basket on Dennis' bike and my back pack, we were able to transport all our purchases without a second trip. Dennis took the computer to the library while I went to check out opportunities at JC Penny and Marshalls. I am jumping ship again next week to go to a wedding in Maine, and was hoping to find something more appropriate to wear than what I already have. Happily, I found a long, bright pink, linen/rayon skirt in the clearance rack. With this mission accomplished, I biked back to the boat.

I mentioned earlier about weekend festivities.... the amusement rides are being set up in the park adjacent to the boat dock. One of the directors told Dennis, we would have to move as the tour boat will be docking where we are parked. This is also the area of the pirate activities, balloon tossing and canon firing. We move on.

With all this information and a phone call from our Boat Broker that someone wants to see the boat on Saturday, it was an easy decision to move on. We back tracked a ½ mile so that Dennis could make another one of his official calls. It gave us the opportunity to take on fresh water and check out options for storing the boat, should we need to.

Once again we head to a quiet, peaceful lock, out in the country, 9 miles to Lock 21.

Instead of pulling out the relaxing projects, we pulled out the cleaning supplies and tackled a couple of areas needing attention. Trying to look around with "new eyes", we removed unused items and stowed them in compartments. Why didn't we do this years ago? Oh well, Sadie B is ready for "lookers".

Saturday morning we awoke to rain. That eliminated scrubbing the decks. A quick mopping did the trick. We had 2 locks and 6 miles to arrive at Sylvan Beach, at the east end of Oneida Lake. This is a quaint, very 50s, summer, resort town, complete with amusement park. There is a wall that extends for 1000 feet for boaters to dock. We easily find a spot and secure Sadie B. I busy myself preparing salads for lunch, should the "lookers" be interested enough to hang around for a while. I assume they will, since they are coming from Ottawa. Dennis went off on his bike to explore.

At 12:00 Katie and Bruce arrive. They were very friendly, enthusiastic folk. It was fun and easy to show them around and share information. At 1:00 we took a short sea trial, shorter than planned because a thundershower was eminent. Back at the dock we all huddled in the salon to eat lunch. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, including a couple of bottles of wine. They departed at 5:00 with plans to return Sunday morning.

Sunday, August 03, 2008,

Katie and Bruce arrived around 9:30 and we all went out to breakfast. They very much like Sadie B. and said they were almost positive this was "their" boat, however, they did want to look at 2 other boats. Whether or not they buy the boat, we truly enjoyed their company. Meanwhile, we continue west, but not today.

The skies are clearing, but the wind is blowing like stink. Oneida Lake stretches 22 miles from east to west and is fairly shallow. When the wind blows from the west, it gets very rough and choppy. We spent the rest of Sunday with our projects and watching the passers-by and the boaters. Since the lake is rough, most are not going out on the lake. They cruise down the canal as far as the breakwater, turn around a cruise up the canal or back to their marinas. There is a strong presence of law enforcement in boats, so no one abuses the "no wake" rule. It is a very entertaining place to be docked.

Monday, August 4, 2008.

We awoke to find the skies overcast, but the winds were light. The decision was made to leave by 6:30 to cross the lake before the winds picked up. During the last mile of the crossing, the skies opened up and it poured. By 10:30 we were docked at Winter Harbor Marina for fuel ($4.59/gal!!!), water, ice, pump-out. With all this accomplished, we proceeded to the next lock 3 miles west. It is another rural, quiet place to spend the rest of the day and night. By mid afternoon the sun came out to further enhance the beauty of the spot. We expect to be lulled to sleep by a chorus of frogs.

Life is good !

Ahoy from Brewerton, NY