O Canada

I'm in Canada. This morning I left Campbellford heading to lock 13 on the Trent Severn Waterway. The Waterway takes you through a total of 43 locks leading to Georgian Bay. Before I crossed Lake Ontario I stopped in Phoenix NY and Oswego NY, two towns on either end of the Oswego river and canal locks.

Here I am docked at the Village of Phoenix's Henley Park

A longer view of the park

We were here for a week, waiting on weather and catching up on things, such as:

laundry

 and

 sleep!

On our last evening in Phoenix, we were entertained by an Elvis impersonator.  A large turnout came out to catch his act.

"Elvis is in the park"

Before leaving the U.S., I had to give away my plant away due to restrictions on bringing plants into Canada. The photo was taken in March when I first got it. It had taken well to the boating life and had doubled in size.

Oswego Marina, our last stop in the U.S.

We had a good crossing of Lake Ontario. The first 2 hours were rough but after that it settled down. We stopped at the Murray Canal Swing bridge and the next day continued to Trenton at the entrance to the Trent Severn Waterway.

Please note that I will have limited access to the internet on the Canadian leg of my trip.

“Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal . . .”

If I had a soundtrack to this specific post I would be playing a song written in 1905 called “Low Bridge”. 

It’s more commonly known as The Erie Canal Song.  It’s been sung by Pete Seeger, the Kingston Trio, as well as Bruce Springsteen. 

Here’s a link to the lyrics and song, http://youtu.be/HcNJ2RMOd3U          

We stayed 2 nights in Waterford NY. It’s on the Mohawk River. I picked up a 10 day lock pass so I have to get through by Jul 7 or purchase another pass. The Waterford visitor center has 2 live cameras facing their city dock. http://www.town.waterford.ny.us/harbor-visitors-center.html

Waterford holds an annual tugboat festival. It will be Sept 5-7 this year. 

As you can see the water is clear as mud

There is so much debris surrounding the locks, you just have to glide through it. You are dodging logs and fence posts. On account of the dam that is alongside the lock, the current is strong. It hits the dam and comes back at you. Also they are repairing the locks so there are 5 mph construction zones.

I'm waiting for the lock to fill up

We stopped overnight at the Canajoharie riverfront memorial park, situated just before lock 14.  

Here is our caravan of 3 boats traveling the canal together, all docked at the riverfront park.
("And you'll always know your neighbor, you'll always know your pal; If you ever navigated on the Erie Canal . . .")

Elaine took this photo (above) of me under the lock gate but it looks like a guillotine ready to lop off my bow.

We went through 3 locks today (21, 22 and 23), covered 48 miles, crossing Lake Oneida and stopping in Phoenix, NY by lock 1 of the Oswego canal system. Next we’ll be heading north to Lake Ontario.