Rome in August

Saturday, August 16^th: one month from day of departure from EYC…seems like a lot longer. Weather has cooled, we certainly enjoyed the warm sunny days spent in the 1000 Islands. 

Note to self: There is anxiety we face for every challenge along the way, the unknown, having never been here or done these things before, but we push on and typically find it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We are proud of ourselves for facing the challenge, adjusting during the situation and doing it unscathed.

Up around 7:30, Oneida Lake just ahead. I doubled up on the straps that hold down the mast on deck, checked the weather, radar and winds…looks like big rain will hit us around 12:30 but we should be on the other side, 29 miles, of the lake before that hits. Within 10 minutes of shoving off, were out on the lake and no longer fighting the current. The winds are a little stronger than expected and we have about a 1 foot chop (1 foot high waves). Since it’s a shallow lake the waves are close together so BoomDeYada handles them well without any rolling. It’s nice to be able to use the Auto-helm once again. Oneida Lake is about 4 miles wide, 29 miles long, 30-40ft deep with some shallow shoals. There are buoys every mile for us to follow which is basically down the center of the lake. We pass at least 60 fishing boats…its later confirmed that they stock the lake with fish. Julie studies the charts and highlights the locks and marinas down the Erie Canal. We’re surprised that we haven’t seen many other sailboats heading south. Since Oswego, the winds have mainly been from behind us so we constantly smell the fumes of our diesel engine…today is no exception.

Somewhere close to the middle, we can see a huge power boat heading our way following the buoys; he is a 60-70 foot cruiser throwing off a wake that would have had us roll over 45 degrees. As he approaches I take us off Auto-helm in preparation to handle his wake (the waves he makes behind his boat); thankfully and respectfully he slows down, waves and then powers back up to speed. We turn into his waves to take the brunt of it on our bow (at 90 degrees) as not to rock and roll from side to side…our mast is well secured; no concerns. The rain never came until much later that evening.

Since our mast is horizontal, we are able to spray spider killer (I hate spiders), we must have killed about 20-30 spiders…some still suddenly hang down, half dead the next day…not good to have them crawling around now at head height.

We manage our last two UP locks (Locks 22 & 21), the walls are covered with lots of green slime…we are now at the top of the canal – elevation 440ft; Lake Ontario is 243ft above sea level…no current against us. Julie serves up left-over pulled pork for lunch.

We stop late in the day in Rome, NY; as I finished tying up BoomDeYada, I stopped to chat to a young fisherman with dred-locks; he is fishing on the dock by us. He had finished college for Environmental Studies now working at McDonald’s. We talked about life, work, world affairs and our travel plans. I gave some advice and he thanked me for inspiring him…flattering for me but another sign of aging. J

Julie headed up the street to the grocery for vegetables and I knocked off a few projects on the mast while I have easy access to it. 

The rain held off until now. As we prepared to BBQ our dinner on board, another sailboat was pulling in to dock for the night (all locks close at 18:00) so they had no choice. We jumped on dock to help them dock (proper sailor etiquette). We chatted briefly on the dock as the rain came down…they were returning to Ottawa, Ontario and kept their boat ‘Crimson Katherine’ in Kingston, Ontario. We assumed they were teachers as they had 2 months vacation and decided to sail to Bermuda as a shake-down cruise before attempting to sail to Ireland. They jumped off shore from Staten Island, took 7 days to reach Bermuda; their last day at sea with rough waters their engine failed (fuel filters got clogged) and had to sail up wind for the last day into Bermuda…not the smartest thing, to do an ocean crossing with only two people as someone must keep watch 24/7…way too exhausting and sleep deprived. She flew home and he hired a couple crew for the journey back to mainland…after that experience, they scratched the sailing trip to Ireland. We both mentioned getting together after dinner but both of us were too tied to visit…they were gone before we awoke the next morning…I guess they couldn't wait to get home.

Well thanks to updates from our son, Ryan –we learn that today is National Rum Day, so I tried a new rum we picked up in Brewerton from the Virgin Islands…different but one must get to the bottom of the first drink before assessing it’s taste…not bad but needs a splash of Eldorado. LOL  http://www.ministryofrum.com/blog/?p=158