The Sailing Adenutres of Island Eclipse

                                                              Making some miles and some memories.

It's Friday afternoon around 2 o'clock and we've been on the water since 8 am.  We've completed two locks and we're now crossing Lake Oneida the scourge of every sailboat that comes South through the Erie canal.  Fortunately it's overcast and a little lumpy so the smaller boats are staying off the water, we've got the whole thing to ourselves.  

We didn't do too much on Thursday, we got off the late after doing the overnight from Youngstown to Oswego.  We slept in till around nine, had breakfast and then kind a took a look around the town. We got off the dock around noon and completed six locks before calling it a day, tying up on the wall between lock 6 and 7 on the Oswego Canal.

When we set out this morning our goal was to make it as far as lake Oneida but when we got to the mouth of the lake before noon we decided to stop and fuel up before making our crossing. Lake Oneida is seventeen miles long and we're roughly three miles into the trip. 

When we got into Oswego Wednesday afternoon, we biked to the local Wendy's to get something for dinner.  It had been a long day on the water and I didn't feel like cooking.  On our way back from Wendy's we stopped into the Walmart to pick up a coupe of things. we took a look around the aisles to see what the prices were like.  Overall I'd say that Americans are paying thirty percent more than what we're paying in Canada for food.  Traditionally  American food prices have always been a little cheaper than ours but now they're either the same or more expensive,  the exchange rate adds thirty percent right off the top so eating has gotten more costly.  Luckily the price of fuel isn't terrible, we took on thirty-five gallons of fuel before we hit Lake Oneida, costing us one hundred and forty dollars.  The same volume of fuel back home would be a hundred and fifty-six dollars after exchange give or take. 

 Henry's been on the wheel through the locks, I take the wall and hold the rope and keep us in place while he uses the engine and the rudder to keep us positioned.  Going through the canal today reminded me of the last time we came through here on Sassy.  Island Eclipse was a delivery so we didn't take time to look around.  When we passed lock eight today it sure did bring back memories of the dogs running around the gated confines behind the lock, and Henry playing on a swing.  Then he was a passenger, now he's the mate.  A full circle moment. 

It's too bad it took us so long to get back here, and it's too bad Deb wasn't able to come with us for the  entirety of the trip. who are we kidding, she'd have thrown in the towel after the first night  and ended up flying down anyway!!  We'll make the best of the time that she does have when she comes down to visit in a week, a week we very much look forward too

 Henry's downstairs doing his school work, I'll will see what type of reviews it gets by the end of the day.

The further into the trip we get, the more and more I realize how much of an undertaking it really is to do this. I really don't think we considered the what if's when we rented out our Condo and drove to Florida to sail Sassy back to Canada.  I mean how crazy was it that we were four months pregnant and moving onto a boat in Florida.  And then go back to the boat after Henry was born and sail it home.   I look back and  think "Holy shit, what were we thinking".  I can't imagine what our friends and family really thought behind those awkward "you can do it" smiles. 

Hats off to my wife Deb, she's always jumped on board with all of my crazy ideas, she's the bravest and most trusting person I know.  When I asked her about it, she said that she had faith in me and that's all she needed.  If you're going to let a person put that type of faith in you, you've got to deliver.  Like Yoda said "Do or do not, there is no try".

When we got to the far end of the lake we tied up for the night, there was no chance of making the next lock before closing time so we called it a day, tying up on a nice open wall for the evening.  The Fair grounds where all closed up for the season, in fact it seems like summer ended a while ago on the canal. Not many boats to speak of at all.

Fred was puffing a little grey today and he was running a little hot so we did a little maintenance when we shut things down.  We replaced all four fuel filters and the impeller, as well as tightening the belts.  I might have to service the injectors in Norfolk if the emissions don't clean up with this service, don't want to take any problems with us to Cuba were parts are scarce.

We helped a late arrival tie up before making dinner, it seemed serendipitous that the boat was in fact an. 1986 Ericson E32-200.  Almost the same boat as Sassy just a little less so.  What a trip!  There's very few Ericson's on the great lakes, so to come across this one, on this trip was definitely a special moment.

It's Saturday evening around nine thirty, we got moving this morning around nine and made some real miles.  We covered fifty miles locking up and down ten times before coming to a stop in Little Falls.  Not so fond a memory connected with this little town.  Delivering Island Eclipse from Annapolis to Toronto in 2010 we sucked in a garbage bag up locking on Lock 17, overheating the engine before we got to the top.  With the help of some locals we managed to clear the bag but the damage had already been done leading to the installation of Fred, our Ford Lehman.  No such problem this time, we found a tight little spot on the wall above the lock and parallel parked the boat like we new what we were doing!!

Henry was great company again today, he did a great job handling the boat and he has pretty good taste in music.  Todays sound track was 80's and 90's one hit wonders, we cruised the canal and talking about cars, girls and life.

The trees have been changing colour for a while here, off in the distance the flat terrain lends way to rolling hills and picturesque landscapes painted in the bright colours of Autumn.  Canada is similar to the US but it's got a different feel down here.  The big steel railway bridges I first saw on TV dot the canal, the sound of heavy rail not to far off in the distance.  It reminds me of so many movies I've watched over the years.  Now we're part of it, how cool is that.  

It will be another long day on the water tomorrow, if we get to it early enough and we get all the lock openings we might make the Hudson tomorrow, at the very least we'll make it to the top of the "Flight of Five" in Waterford New York putting us on the Hudson Monday and in Manhattan by Friday.  Just in time for a family reunion in the big apple

Fair winds and thanks for reading.