Publish Date: Monday, May 18, 2009
Location: Oswego, New York
Coordinates: 43° 27.179′ N 76° 30.389′ W
Catchy title, huh? Okay, enough with the eye roll—that’s just what Ayla and Dave did. 🙂
Tom, Jon, Robin, Ayla and Dave
We enjoyed a fun filled four days visiting with family and friends (along with doing our first TV interview) in the Oneida Lake area. Both Sylvan Beach and Brewerton offer free 48 hour docking on their town seawalls to transient boats. Sylvan Beach is apparently quite the summer hot spot in this area. Luckily we were there a few weeks before the season began, and it was peaceful. Great pancakes at a local hot spot called The Pancake House (not the chain).
Dave’s Dad drove over from Michigan to spend some
Tom (Dave's Dad) handling the lines.
time with us on Three@Sea, and enjoyed his first cruise on her as we crossed Oneida Lake from Sylvan Beach to Brewerton. Dave’s love of boating came from his time spent on the St. Clair River in Michigan on his family’s 24 ft. Chris-Craft skiff, and his 11 ft. aluminum row boat. We were all thrilled to have Tom come and share our dream with us—I think he had a pretty good time too. 🙂
Also, Dave’s cousin Jon and his family live in near by Syracuse. Jon and Robin came and joined us on Jon’s
Aidan, Jenny, Alaina, Ayla, Lynn and Maria
Silverton cruiser called Bad Dog. His daughters Jenny and Alaina and their families came by car, as well as other friends. There was lots of catching-up, laughter and new friends to be made. Our heartfelt thanks to all of them for making us feel so welcome; and, filling our provision coffers with all sorts of treats from lettuce and fruit, to chipolte lime butter and herb basting oil, to 2 year old wedding cake. 🙂
Jon called a local Syracuse news station, and told them about our journey and being the area. They sent out a camera crew and did a piece on the evening news about us (http://tinyurl.com/pkor79). Ayla was GREAT, and I felt completely tongue-tied. It was all very fun and exciting.
From there we traversed the Oswego Canal system (8 locks and too many low bridges to count) on a cold, windy day (20-30 kts). It was only the second time, on this adventure, that I was truly miserable (which is actually pretty good for the last nine 9 months). I was tired, cold and sick of locks and low bridges. We decided to finish all the locks and spend the next several days in Oswego getting caught up on things. We came out of the last lock at 4:45 p.m. to a harbor full of swell, and waves from Lake Ontario crashing over the breakwater. Dave, being the wise captain that he is, immediately called the last lock and asked if we could lock back through (they close at 5:00 pm this time of year). The lockmaster took pity on us, and let us lock back up to a nice seawall between lock 7 and 8. It was perfectly calm and very quiet with a pretty park right next to the seawall. We spent the next several days there waiting for a good weather window to cross Lake Ontario, and getting caught up on various projects from home-school tests to the throttle cable replacement.
The waterfront walkways and parks of Oswego are lovely, with a charming maritime museum on the harbor. The town is economically depressed, which is evident when you walk down First Street and see all the empty shops and closed restaurants. I will keep my fingers crossed that better economic times lie ahead, as the architecture and history in the town are great, and the people friendly.
Now, it is off we go from Oswego…….into Lake Ontario and beyond!