June 14, 2017 Little Falls, NY to Oswego, NY

We are by no means experts on locking but I will say that with 29 locks behind us, we are feeling a bit more confident.  So far we have traversed the locks mainly by ourselves and with the exception of one barge (that was not in the lock), have only dealt with pleasure craft.  Ken informs me that once we get in the St. Lawrence Seaway that will all change.  Oh, joy..... 

In the past week and a half we have mainly only been in a couple of locations.  Brewerton, NY was the longest stop over as we had work done on Independence.  The starboard engine alternator needed to be replace, which would have been a simple repair as we already had a new alternator (one of many spare parts that Ken has crammed into the many nooks and crannies on the boat).  It turned out that the alternator was not the issue but rather with the inverter.  For those who do not know what that is (I was one of them), the inverter converts the batteries' DC output to AC power needed for key critical functions when Independence is underway like the frig and the icemaker (can't have of cocktails at the end of the day without ice!!!).  Our 2 day stop turned into 5 so we took the opportunity to re-provision, do a little laundry and fix my shattered cellphone screen.  But the most fun was the maiden launch of our dinghy 'Sparkler'.  It was a beautiful sunny day with warm temps and a baby cruise on the canal was in the cards.  We got her launched, quite a feat and one I would not attempt without Ken.  Her throttle needs adjusted when in idle but other than that, we headed up the canal into town and decided to dock up at the town pier and had lunch.  Great fun. 

Sparkler launched and ready to go.

All smiles as Sparkler is handling great.

View from the restaurant.  Notice the small white vessel between the blue covered boat and the boat at the end of the pier.  That is Sparkler.  She is so tiny looking.

Our trip back, getting ready to pass under the railroad bridge.

Hello home!

Lifting Sparkler back to her crib on the fly bridge.

With the repairs behind us we continued west on the Erie canal till we got to the Three Rivers junction where we turned and headed north up the Oswego Canal.  Still part of the New York canal system but now heading toward Lake Ontario.  We went through 7 locks before deciding to dock on the lock wall between locks 7 and 8.  There was no service so ran on the generator.  We stayed here for 3 days.  Each day was warmer than the one before so ran the generator though did not run it all night.  Felt a little like camping but being able to shower, have ice and cook on the boat was so much better than camping and the generator got a good work out.  We got a chance to talk to other loopers who also docked up.  The neat thing was there were 2 different water streams here.  We were in the lock waters which were very calm and on the other side of the lock wall was the Oswego river that has rapids from being shallow, a descending flow as well as the water flow from the lock 7 dam.  We got a great pic of that below.

Oswego, NY Lock 8 in the upper right of pic taken from the walking bridge over the canal.

For the next 2 days we moved to a marina to wait for our 'projected' ideal day for crossing Lake Ontario.  We have power and water at the marina so I feel human again.  Of course, having my hair colored and cut helped a lot.  :)  Today we decided to explore Fort Ontario which is very close to the marina and on the shores of the Lake Ontario.  Fascinating place.  Originally built by the British in 1755 during the French and Indian War.  Over next 60+ years, the fort was attacked and burned and rebuilt several times by the French, the Americans and the British.  Yes, the British burned their own fort in retaking it from America.  With the War of 1812, America re-captured it one last time. 

Oswego, NY - Entrance to Fort Ontario

View of Lake Ontario from one of the bastions at Fort Ontario.

 Postscripts from Roofus:

Enjoying the warmer weather.  Lots of sunny spots to sleep in and though I still do not like the locks, have decided they aren't so bad when the doors are left open enough that I can really see what is going on.  And best part is barking at the lock masters!!  And they don't ignore me like my humans.  They talk to me and smile a lot.  My humans could take a few lessons from them.  Only down side is I am getting my ears cleaned a lot then ear drop medicine.  Golly, a little bit of judicious rubbing and scratching, all of a sudden the sky is falling down and my humans get worried.  Can't an old dog just enjoy being a dog.....