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Nice start to morning with light rain and cool temperatures.  We pumped out, as Hudson is a no discharge zone, and headed up the Erie. The day before we enjoyed a music group playing on the waterfront within 50 feet of our boat and watched the canal tour boats go by.    Thunderstorms were forecast for mid afternoon today, so we made 20 miles and 7 locks and moored at Lock 8 wall by 1:30 pm.  We passed by one of the many gate control stations, seen below, and Carey enjoyed wearing her rain gear holding the lines in the locks as it rained.  We safely anchored before the thunderstorms started at 2:30.   

Underway at 9 am with winds at 15 knots.  Made lock 9 and 10 experiencing 20 knot gusts at top of lock.  Carey strained herself at both locks trying to hold the bow in.  At lock 9, we had to drop the lines and move to the other side of the lock, less wind.  We stopped east of lock 11 and Carey was dizzy and weak.  We went to the emergency room at a local hospital (St Mary's in Amsterdam, NY).  They had an EKG on her within 4 minutes.  Service was great.  They admitted her and the next day completed an entire series of heart, brain, and stress tests.  Late Wednesday they pronounced her fit, with only a muscle strain.  We're now back on the boat and ready to continue the trip.  The lock master at Lock 11 watched the boat and was most helpful.  For what happened it could not have been at a better place.  The hospital was only 3 blocks from the lock.  And when we took Carey to the hospital the cab drove over the grass yard to bring the car right to the boat.    

Underway at 11 am and moved 20 miles to Canajahorie, where we found a full free dock.  Friends Mike and Mary from Tuesday's Child invited us to raft with them.  We did and enjoyed a walk into town and dinner at a local eatery for less than $10 per person.  Later Carey won the game of Farkel we all played.  Nice day, even though it was raining most of the day.  When we departed the next day our two boats were the only ones remaining at the free dock area.  Once underway the views were worth the travel in the rain.

We've completed 18 locks, 17 on the Erie canal and are now 380' above sea level.  We were at zero when starting the Erie canal.   The largest lift lock on the Erie is lock 17, pictured from the bottom of the lock below right.  It lifted us 40'.  Carey had to get her rain hat on as it was raining most of the day.  The Erie was built between 1817 and 1825 and in total is 360 miles long, connecting the Hudson River to Lake Erie.  We'll turn off the canal this weekend and head north on the Oswego Canal towards Lake Ontario.  We are nearing the middle section of the Erie and are in the Mohawk Valley, a farming area that is really beautiful.  We stopped tonight at Herkimer and were the only long range cruisers here.  A nice peaceful evening.  We enjoyed steaks grilled out in the misty rain.

Left Herkimer at 9:30 and cruised the Mohawk valley.  It was beautiful and sunny today.  We cruised a canal built next to the river.  The view from the conning station was great, along the waterway and going under the bridges into the locks.  At Sylvan beach people were out in canoes and near the end of the day dozens and dozens of boats were returning from Lake Oneida.  Tomorrow we're off for our trip across the lake.  

Underway at 10 am Sunday we left Sylvan Beach, with its cement wall and its amusement park and made the 21 mile trip to Brewerton and Winter Harbor Marina.  The views along the waterway were spectacular.  After arriving at Winter Harbor the rain started and I had time to read the paper addition of the Wall Street Journal.  Monday I installed the part for the engine synchronizer and with help from the marina installed a new inverter.  The old one worked well for 3.5 years but the fan that cools the charger portion gave up the ghost and a new one was required.  We'll back up to 100% of equipment working and ready to continue the trip.     

We stayed at Winter Harbor Tuesday and relaxed.  That evening 6 long range cruisers gathered to share stories and plans for the summer.  We hooked up again with Marc and Maureen from "YNOT" for a visit.  Their boat is at right at Winter Harbor today.  Wednesday morning we got underway at 10 am for the 26 mile trip to Oswego, via the Oswego Canal.  Directly below is one of the lock walls boaters can tie to in the evening and below right is a sample of the views on this part of the trip.  We're hoping the weatherman is right and we can make the crossing of Lake Ontario tomorrow to Sackets Harbor, NY. 

Underway at 8:30 am for a very pleasant trip across the east end of Lake Ontario to Sackets Harbor, a 35 mile trip.  This was our first bad experience with a marina ... expensive and poor service.  But, the town was nice and Carey enjoyed the walk down the stairs to dinner where we ate under umbrellas and watched the ducks wait for their share.  The town has a nice stage right on the water that the Chamber schedule indicated is used a lot.  We're relaxing on the boat after a great dinner and planning our trip to Cape Vincent. 

Underway at 10 am for Cape Vincent, an easy 22 miles and the start of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.  We moored at the Dept of Environmental Conservation Docks behind their beautiful old building.  It was a free tie up without services but with plenty of boats by the end of the day. We ate lunch at Capt Jack's and looked out at the small boats in the shed directly behind the restaurant and watched the US to Canada car ferry land.  We then walked main street ... it took all of 10 minutes in this 600 person town.   We finished the evening with two great couples tied up near us as we shared stories over a bottle of wine. 

Make the 13 NM trip to Clayton today in rain.  Moored at an inexpensive town dock waiting for the arrival of Bill Bowman tomorrow.  He will travel with us for the trip to Ottawa and Montreal.  We'll stay here two days, touring the Clayton Antique Boat Museum on Monday after Bill is settled tomorrow.

Bill arrived this afternoon, just after we completed some boat chores.  Late in the afternoon we had a major thunderstorm and Bill, I, and a new friend we met several days ago, had to make the tour of the city dock to put fenders out on several boats that had parked without being ready for the wind that came our way.  We had a good time but got soaked.  After we dried off Carey took us out to dinner to celebrate my birthday.  Oh to be 62.  Later that evening we enjoyed a cool evening and a beautiful sky as the sun set. 

Sun was shinning when we awoke.  Couple of chores and we headed toward the Clayton Antique Boat Museum ... an amazing place ... then walked the town for a tour and some ice cream.   The boat museum took several hours to view all the boats, including the saloon of Bolt's large floating boat.

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