We were going to be spending 2 days with three of our kids in a rental house in Brewerton, NY on the Oneida River. Tom and Matt trailered the boat to Bob's Big Bay Marina & launched it into Oneida Lake, so it could be sailed down to the dock at the house. The girls and I drove directly to the house and proceeded to plant silly objects on the dock, so the guys would know which one was ours as they traveled up the Oneida River. It was the hottest week ever and both days were well over 90 degrees, but the river was cool and we did a little swimming (when we weren't bathed in sunscreen and bug repellent while sightseeing from the boat.) We did a little fishing and spent an afternoon sailing up the Oneida River to the Erie Canal. It was so hot the girls and I held colorful umbrellas as parasols, and looked akin to the women of the 1890's while puttering along the Erie Canal in the old days. We decided to dock the boat at Lock 23, and climbed upon the dock and took a walk to the Lock Master's office for a history lesson. He gave us a little tour and told us how the lock worked and lucky us got to see firsthand exactly how it worked when a large cabin cruiser came through. Although we didn't realize it at the time that 20 minute tour would open up new ideas for us to travel the locks ourselves, and check out all of the small towns along the way. So interesting I really enjoy the history part of it all. Our little boat is going to help us learn all sorts of new things! What fun!

The Oneida River is a large river that forms part of the boundary between Oswego and Onondaga counties. Flowing roughly westward it is the outlet of Oneida Lake and part of the NYS Barge Canal. The Oneida River stretches approximently 18 miles from Oneida Lake to Three Rivers where it joins with the Seneca River, to form the Oswego River. There are three "cuts" or channels for the canal system: Big Bend, Morgan Cut, and Anthony Cut. Each of the channel cuts form an island. Lock 23 is located in Anthony Cut and a water level control dam is located at Caughdenoy.