LYONS TO UTICA
22 September 2010 | UTICA, NY
Cheryl
Baldswinville - Arrived at around 4:00 pm, one of our longest days on the canal. Jack and Kris on 'Renaissance' and Dan and Mariann on 'Midori' were here tied up to the wall. Good to see them. Craig Horn left us on Saturday to return to Indiana - thank you Craig for all your help the past two weeks, it is very much appreciated.
Brewerton - A short day, stopped just west of Oneida Lake in Brewerton. Lots of places to stop for diesel here. We met Chris, Maggie and Tom aboard 'Oh Be Joyful'. They are on a catamaran also headed for the Bahamas. They told us that they stopped at Wardall's to have their mast unstepped. He wanted $125.00 for their very small light weight mast that would take 10 minutes to unstep, he wouldn't negotiate. So, they motored over to the bridge, tied a rope to the mast and bridge and lowered it themselves, with Wardall watching them. Good for them! Oneida lake is about 20 miles long, we were told to watch out for power boaters who zoom right by the sailboats, their wake causing the sailboats to be very unstable. We were all a little anxious after the stories we heard. Ended up being very uneventful, except for a missed buoy or two!
Utica - Left Brewerton at 7:00 am and arrived in Utica at 5:00 pm (long day). We all (Rubaiyat, Oh Be Joyful and Walk A-Bout) were going to stop at Rome but no power or water so we went on to Utica. We are actually tied to the wall at a restaurant that charged us $1.00 per foot. We have power and water but no showers. Tom mentioned that he wanted to shave off his beard so Chris (Rubaiyat) got out her dog grooming electric sheers and shaved him right there on the dock, it was pretty funny. Chris and I are going to make breakfast for everyone this morning before taking off. Plan on making this a short day, probably stop at Herkimer. Our 10-day canal pass expires tomorrow so we will need to extend it since we will not make it to the end by then. We still have another 20 locks to go. I believe we are just a little more than half way through the canal.