Daily stats
Start: 5:45 AM - Utica, NY (Lock 20)
Finish: 11:45 AM - New London, NY (Lock 22)
Time: 6:00
Daily dist: 19 miles
Total dist: 3700+
Companions: None
Weather: Mostly cloudy, high of 80, west wind 15-20 mph
Notes: Had to stop short of Oneida Lake (too windy for exposed lake)
As far as I’ve counted, only three boats have gone through Lock 22, and one of those boats was me. Lock 22 which is outside of New London, NY is the last lock a westbound boater encounters before entering Oneida Lake. About six miles wide and 26 miles long, Oneida Lake is situated with it’s long axis aligned east to west. This east/west orientation means that the prevailing west wind has 26 miles of open water over which to blow before hitting land on the eastern shore. Consequently, it doesn’t take too much wind to whip up sizeable waves on the eastern shore of the lake… and today was one of those days. That means that nobody but the most hearty or impatient boater is going anywhere much beyond this lock today.
Start: 5:45 AM - Utica, NY (Lock 20)
Finish: 11:45 AM - New London, NY (Lock 22)
Time: 6:00
Daily dist: 19 miles
Total dist: 3700+
Companions: None
Weather: Mostly cloudy, high of 80, west wind 15-20 mph
Notes: Had to stop short of Oneida Lake (too windy for exposed lake)
As far as I’ve counted, only three boats have gone through Lock 22, and one of those boats was me. Lock 22 which is outside of New London, NY is the last lock a westbound boater encounters before entering Oneida Lake. About six miles wide and 26 miles long, Oneida Lake is situated with it’s long axis aligned east to west. This east/west orientation means that the prevailing west wind has 26 miles of open water over which to blow before hitting land on the eastern shore. Consequently, it doesn’t take too much wind to whip up sizeable waves on the eastern shore of the lake… and today was one of those days. That means that nobody but the most hearty or impatient boater is going anywhere much beyond this lock today.
an early start gave me several hours of calm before the winds
The buzz amongst the boaters at the park where I camped last night was that today was going to be windy. Too windy for lake Oneida. I had been planning on finishing up today somewhere on the eastern shore of the lake to make the run to the western shore on Friday as short as possible. However, the winds that were predicted would have made landing on that shore anything but pleasurable, so it was time for plan B. The alternative plan was to simply camp at the last lock, Lock 22, (a few miles inland from the lake) and then get up extra early to get a jump on the crossing before the winds build tomorrow. Hence that is where I ended a relatively short 19 mile day today.
the lock master suggested this camp spot near an old dam
Knowing that the wind would be up, and that storms could be in the area, I got an early start this morning and made is almost all the way in before the winds did build. The lock master at Lock 21 suggested camping at the mouth of a tributary stream just below Lock 22. Never knowing what I’m in for, I was delighted to see a quiet grassy area tucked behind the ruins of an old dam. About three miles from the nearest paved road, there is nobody else around and for the first time since the last week of May I have a camp site all to myself.
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