Greg
Active Member
Thought I’d post about our vacation this year. It’s a bit long but I threw in some pics. We left from our home port in New Jersey, cruised up the Hudson River, made a left at Waterford and went out the Erie Canal. We then turned right at Three Rivers Junction and headed up the Oswego Canal, crossed Lake Ontario (that was fun) and headed into the Saint Lawrence River. Made it all the way to Canada.
Of course the day before we were to leave the washer/dryer aka. Wrinkle-Master, stopped working. It turned out to be a bad main power connection. The contacts over heated and melted the solder joints loose.
Fixed that and headed out with the bikes bungeed to the bow rail, looked a little funny but we actually used the bikes so it was worth it.
Here’s where we made the left to go to Waterford. I originally wanted to go out the Erie, through the St. Lawrence, then back down through the Champlain Canal. But there are low fixed bridges on the Champlain that we wouldn’t clear. Should have done this trip last year with the 340. Oh well…
Here we are in the first of many locks. I think this was the most boats we locked through with, most of the time we were the only boat in the lock. I asked a few of the lockmasters how many boats they put through a day the average was about 12. Oh look a 340 Dancer…
I made some fender boards to go through the locks. Just some 2x8’s with some holes drilled in them for the lines. While I was sitting at my desk planning them I was going to use pressure treated 2x10’s but man were they heavy. I cut them so they just fit under the back bench seat in the cockpit. I figure I’ll keep them on the boat. I could have used them a few times when over-nighting at places with pilings.
Passed this on the Canal, pretty neat.
Stopped to meet my parents just before the tallest lock on the canal. I think it was a little over 40 feet.
Sylvan Beach was a good stop along the way, they had all kinds of rides and stuff for the kids. It was also kind of neat watching the sunset over water, don't get to see that much on the east coast.
Here is where we turned to go up the Oswego Canal. Out west on the Erie there are also low bridges.
A view from the next to the last lock on the Oswego Canal, just before we get into Lake Ontario. I wanted to get past all the locks that night so we could leave early in the morning to cross the lake. The locks open at 7:00am, and they say that the Lake can get pretty rough as the winds pick up.
Most of the nights on this trip we docked for free. All through the canals different towns provide free docks, many with power and water. Although this day we did have to get water while we were in the lock. We asked the lockmaster where the closest place to get water was, he called ahead to the next lock and they let us fill up inside the lock. There was a spigot on that white building next to the lock.
This is from the restaurant, there is Lady TAZ in the lower right all ready to cross the lake in the morning.
Got up early and headed out. About halfway through the lake it started to get a little rough, I forgot to latch all the doors closed and the fridge flew open and dumped its contents on the floor.
First stop was Clayton, we visited the antique boat museum. That was pretty cool, all kinds of old wooden speedboats. We also got to tour George Boldt’s Houseboat, the guy that built Boldt Castle.
Boldt Castle and Boldt Yacht House were next on the list. This guy started building this enormous castle on a private island for his wife, about 4 years into the construction of it she died, so he had everyone stop working on it, and he never returned.
That’s not the Castle, that’s only the play house.
Nope, that’s not it either, that is the power house, where the generators were to produce power for the island.
Here’s the castle
Got up the next morning and went go-kart riding near Alexandria Bay. One of the longest tracks in North America and I kept all the wheels on the track.
I then had a surprise in store for the kids. We were spending the night at Singer Castle on Dark Island. That was incredible. If you are ever in the area you should check it out. They give public tours from 10 till 5, but then they kick everyone out and it was just us and the caretaker on the island. He gave us a special tour and took us through all the secret passages, tunnels, and the dungeon. We were actually alone in the castle while he took the staff home, and picked them up the next morning.
After our special tour, they served us dinner, we got to pick which room in the castle we would like to eat. We chose this room.
After dinner we were free to roam about the castle and explore on our own.
Then it was time to go to bed.
The room we chose for Breakfast the next morning.
After Breakfast, the caretaker had to leave the island for a while to go get the staff. So we again got to snoop around and check out the castle.
The water was so clear up there you could see straight to the bottom. Amazing…
Time to move on, goodbye Castle…
Then we headed back out across the lake, which was quite a bit calmer this time, even though it was later in the day. The winds were only like 4 knots or so.
Then it was back through the canals and the locks, where the water wasn’t quite as clean as up north.
Early morning “smoke on the water”
Passed this on the way back. I wonder if this is legal?
So there you have it, everything went very well, no major boat issues, genny strainer got plugged with seaweed in one of the locks, and I had a heck of a time getting it opened, bent my spanner wrench. I put anti-seize on it when I put the top back on. We put 83 hours on the mains, and burned a little over 1200 gallons of diesel. Now I can start planning my trip for next year.
Of course the day before we were to leave the washer/dryer aka. Wrinkle-Master, stopped working. It turned out to be a bad main power connection. The contacts over heated and melted the solder joints loose.
Fixed that and headed out with the bikes bungeed to the bow rail, looked a little funny but we actually used the bikes so it was worth it.
Here’s where we made the left to go to Waterford. I originally wanted to go out the Erie, through the St. Lawrence, then back down through the Champlain Canal. But there are low fixed bridges on the Champlain that we wouldn’t clear. Should have done this trip last year with the 340. Oh well…
Here we are in the first of many locks. I think this was the most boats we locked through with, most of the time we were the only boat in the lock. I asked a few of the lockmasters how many boats they put through a day the average was about 12. Oh look a 340 Dancer…
I made some fender boards to go through the locks. Just some 2x8’s with some holes drilled in them for the lines. While I was sitting at my desk planning them I was going to use pressure treated 2x10’s but man were they heavy. I cut them so they just fit under the back bench seat in the cockpit. I figure I’ll keep them on the boat. I could have used them a few times when over-nighting at places with pilings.
Passed this on the Canal, pretty neat.
Stopped to meet my parents just before the tallest lock on the canal. I think it was a little over 40 feet.
Sylvan Beach was a good stop along the way, they had all kinds of rides and stuff for the kids. It was also kind of neat watching the sunset over water, don't get to see that much on the east coast.
Here is where we turned to go up the Oswego Canal. Out west on the Erie there are also low bridges.
A view from the next to the last lock on the Oswego Canal, just before we get into Lake Ontario. I wanted to get past all the locks that night so we could leave early in the morning to cross the lake. The locks open at 7:00am, and they say that the Lake can get pretty rough as the winds pick up.
Most of the nights on this trip we docked for free. All through the canals different towns provide free docks, many with power and water. Although this day we did have to get water while we were in the lock. We asked the lockmaster where the closest place to get water was, he called ahead to the next lock and they let us fill up inside the lock. There was a spigot on that white building next to the lock.
This is from the restaurant, there is Lady TAZ in the lower right all ready to cross the lake in the morning.
Got up early and headed out. About halfway through the lake it started to get a little rough, I forgot to latch all the doors closed and the fridge flew open and dumped its contents on the floor.
First stop was Clayton, we visited the antique boat museum. That was pretty cool, all kinds of old wooden speedboats. We also got to tour George Boldt’s Houseboat, the guy that built Boldt Castle.
Boldt Castle and Boldt Yacht House were next on the list. This guy started building this enormous castle on a private island for his wife, about 4 years into the construction of it she died, so he had everyone stop working on it, and he never returned.
That’s not the Castle, that’s only the play house.
Nope, that’s not it either, that is the power house, where the generators were to produce power for the island.
Here’s the castle
Got up the next morning and went go-kart riding near Alexandria Bay. One of the longest tracks in North America and I kept all the wheels on the track.
I then had a surprise in store for the kids. We were spending the night at Singer Castle on Dark Island. That was incredible. If you are ever in the area you should check it out. They give public tours from 10 till 5, but then they kick everyone out and it was just us and the caretaker on the island. He gave us a special tour and took us through all the secret passages, tunnels, and the dungeon. We were actually alone in the castle while he took the staff home, and picked them up the next morning.
After our special tour, they served us dinner, we got to pick which room in the castle we would like to eat. We chose this room.
After dinner we were free to roam about the castle and explore on our own.
Then it was time to go to bed.
The room we chose for Breakfast the next morning.
After Breakfast, the caretaker had to leave the island for a while to go get the staff. So we again got to snoop around and check out the castle.
The water was so clear up there you could see straight to the bottom. Amazing…
Time to move on, goodbye Castle…
Then we headed back out across the lake, which was quite a bit calmer this time, even though it was later in the day. The winds were only like 4 knots or so.
Then it was back through the canals and the locks, where the water wasn’t quite as clean as up north.
Early morning “smoke on the water”
Passed this on the way back. I wonder if this is legal?
So there you have it, everything went very well, no major boat issues, genny strainer got plugged with seaweed in one of the locks, and I had a heck of a time getting it opened, bent my spanner wrench. I put anti-seize on it when I put the top back on. We put 83 hours on the mains, and burned a little over 1200 gallons of diesel. Now I can start planning my trip for next year.