Day 137 - What Goes Up Must Come Down



Another cool and sunny start to the day, but we could see the dark clouds to the west.  We moved the boat closer to the pump-out, took care of that, and left the marina at 9:05 am.  Again, nothing but trees on both sides of the canal.  It was fairly shallow here and there were logs and debris sticking up.  The wind was up and the temperature down as we approached Lock 19.  It began to rain lightly as we went in, and Dad and I had our rain jackets on to handle the lines.  We were out by 10:08 am.  I noticed that there were now lots of pine trees as we were higher above sea level.

There was a working dredge outside the lock; good thing as it was still shallow.  We passed a second dredge between the lock and town of Utica.  The sky was lightening up which Dad and I were happy to see.  We saw a third dredge blocking the canal at the town dock.  Captain Randy thought he might have room to pass him on the port and called the dredge to clear it.  The dredge told us to wait and he would move.  Then he advised us to stay close to his hull and then keep a red buoy to our starboard as we maneuvered around him.  It’s a good thing Captain Randy is an excellent boat handler because the space between the dredge and buoy was very narrow!

 

 

We saw what looked to be another Guard Gate on a small branch of the canal off to the port, but it was not numbered.   We were at Lock 20 by 11:30 am and out at 11:50 am.  There was a fourth dredge on the starboard side of the canal and the captain tried to get him on the radio but there was no answer.  At 12:25 pm we reached the highest point on the canal, 420 feet.  We had been traveling higher since leaving the Hudson River.

 

 

Guard Gate 6 was next, then the town of Rome and Guard Gate 7 at 1:00 pm.  Two miles before Lock 21, we passed what looked to be a section of the old canal.  A sailboat was waiting outside Lock 21 when got there.  After being lifted at each lock so far, we were dropping down 25 feet in this one.  It seemed odd to be starting at the top of the lock after starting at the bottom so many times.  Dad says that it is much easier going down than up.  We exited this lock and entered Lock 22 ten minutes later for another 25 foot drop.  It was 2:50  pm when we left and only 4 miles to Sylvan Beach on Lake Oneida, our destination for the day.  The speed limit to the lake was only 5 mph so it took us 40 minutes to get to Mariner’s Landing Marina, arriving at 3:30 pm.  We had partly cloudy skies most of the day, but now it was clearing nicely and 73 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The marina and adjoining RV park is owned by the Oneida Nation, as stated on the marina’s sign.  The neighborhood surrounding the marina is made up of neat manufactured homes.  We saw an Oneida Nation police car driving by but we’re not sure how much of the area is owned by them.

We checked in and then relaxed on the boat, enjoying the sunshine.  About 5:30 pm though, it was dark again and rained hard for over an hour.  When it stopped, we walked into the town of Sylvan Beach for dinner at the Canal View Café, a restaurant that sits at the junction of Lake Oneida and the Erie Canal.  The place was busy and we had to wait a few minutes for a table.  We sat at the bar to wait and alas – again no rum for the Captain.  The food was good and plentiful though and I was glad for the walk back to the boat.  I was also glad it didn’t rain again!