Daily stats
Start: 4:45 AM - New London, NY (Lock 22)
Finish: 5:45 PM - Baldwinsville, NY (Lock 24)
Time: 13:00
Daily dist: 48 miles
Total dist: 3700+
Companions: None
Weather: Mostly sunny, high of 80, west wind 5 mph
Notes: It was so nice I didn’t want to stop
Start: 4:45 AM - New London, NY (Lock 22)
Finish: 5:45 PM - Baldwinsville, NY (Lock 24)
Time: 13:00
Daily dist: 48 miles
Total dist: 3700+
Companions: None
Weather: Mostly sunny, high of 80, west wind 5 mph
Notes: It was so nice I didn’t want to stop
Wow, what a day!
Every once in a while everything seems to fall in place resulting in such an enjoyable time on the water that I just don’t want to quit. Today was one of those days. After getting up very early (even by my standards) I was on the water and well across Oneida Lake before the winds had a chance to catch me. It was really more worry than was necessary as the winds never did build past 7 mph all day. With such light winds I made great time and made the west end of the 26 mile long lake by 11:00 AM. An hour later, even after stopping for a soda, I made it to Lock 23 which had been my destination for the day.
Every once in a while everything seems to fall in place resulting in such an enjoyable time on the water that I just don’t want to quit. Today was one of those days. After getting up very early (even by my standards) I was on the water and well across Oneida Lake before the winds had a chance to catch me. It was really more worry than was necessary as the winds never did build past 7 mph all day. With such light winds I made great time and made the west end of the 26 mile long lake by 11:00 AM. An hour later, even after stopping for a soda, I made it to Lock 23 which had been my destination for the day.
Because it was so early, and because I was still feeling strong and full of energy, I figured I’d press on to the next lock which happened to be 19 miles away. It was in lock 23 that I met a man named Lyn Morgan who was captaining a large pontoon boat. He noticed that I didn’t look like I was out for a day paddle and asked where I was going. It turns out that he’s on a big loop trip of his own. Putting on almost 100 miles a day, starting in early May he’s already come from the TennTom waterway, around the Gulf, up the Intracoastal, and so on to where he crossed paths with me in lock 23 today.
Check out Lyn's blog at ranchhouseloop.blogspot.com
It wasn’t much further on that our paths diverged as he turned right and went north on the Oswego canal toward Lake Ontario and I made my previous decision a reality by turning left and continuing west on the Erie Canal. My original plan was to head up to the lake then west toward Niagara. However, the Erie canal was dug for many reasons that still hold true today. The canal will give me a couple hundred more miles of sheltered water before I have no choice but to deal with the wind on Lake Erie. In addition, and probably most importantly, the canal takes me up and around Niagara Falls, the several hundred foot road block that cut Great Lakes shipping traffic off from the Atlantic until the Erie (and later the Welland) canals were dug.
24 miles to Lake Ontario or 192 to Buffalo and Lake Erie
People had offered to help me get my boat and gear around the falls (I checked you can’t take a kayak through the Welland Canal) however, I decided that it would just be simpler, if not more pleasant, to stay on the canal. As it turns out the Erie Canal will be one of the few waterways I paddle in it’s entirety on this trip. So far I’ve paddled half the Mississippi, half the Gulf coast, and two thirds of the Atlantic coast. It will be nice to paddle ALL of the Erie Canal.
After I turned my back on the Oswego canal (and lake Ontario) option, I blazed out another 13 miles into Baldwinsville just to be sure there would be no changing my mind. Baldwinsville, I must say, was one of the most pleasant and boater friendly river/coast/canal town I’ve seen on this entire trip. The town was clean, people were friendly, and everything a boater could possibly need was within a short distance from the public docks. It only took me minutes to find a great place to get a burger and a few doors down from there I found the worlds largest “small” ice cream cone for only $2.00. What a great town!
After I turned my back on the Oswego canal (and lake Ontario) option, I blazed out another 13 miles into Baldwinsville just to be sure there would be no changing my mind. Baldwinsville, I must say, was one of the most pleasant and boater friendly river/coast/canal town I’ve seen on this entire trip. The town was clean, people were friendly, and everything a boater could possibly need was within a short distance from the public docks. It only took me minutes to find a great place to get a burger and a few doors down from there I found the worlds largest “small” ice cream cone for only $2.00. What a great town!
This is a small..... I could be very happy in this town.
With my boat tied up amongst the yachts on the public dock I checked in with the police to see if it’d be alright if I camped on the lawn right near there (kind of right in town). They didn’t mind and as it turned out, I wasn’t alone. A bicyclist named Rich already had his tent spread out on the lawn when I got back from dinner. Rich is in the midst of a ride from Chicago to Boston, like Lyn in the pontoon boat, he rides 80-100 miles a day. Unlike the pontoon, however, he’s not burning 50 gallons of gas to do it. With the sun already set and darkness closing in, Rich and I hastily set up or tents before the mosquitoes paid their nightly visit. Through the walls of our tents I bid Rich good night and good luck before I passed out after such a long day.
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