Yesterday, Tuesday Sept 11th, we crossed lake
Oneida. It’s the largest body of water on the Erie Canal. It is 29 miles
across. Luckily for us it was a calm day. It seems so weird to be out on a lake
without a mast or sails. It won’t be to much longer till we get to Hop-I-Nose
NY to have the mast stepped. We traversed 2 locks, both of them lifting us 25
ft. for a total of 50 ft. The turbulence in lock # 22 was so strong. It took
all of our strengths to keep Miss Ellie from banging into the wall! (I think
the lock master let the water in to quickly). Phew! It was a pleasant sunny day
so I busied myself baking, preparing lunch and dinner, Guy, played his
harmonica while behind the wheel and once we were tied to the wall he got the
hose out and cleaned the decks. Later, he checked our engine’s oil level. Although
the engine is working well, we are still leaking oil. Poor Guy religiously
cleans the oil spill every night and places the “diaper’s” beneath the engine
before any of it enters the bilge. We plan to have a diesel mechanic fix the
problem once we get to Annapolis Maryland at the end of September.
Our pics of the day!
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| These two must be mad at each other! |
Today, Sept. 12th ,we did 7 locks. Lock # 17 is the largest lock on the
Erie Canal. A vertical drop of 40 ft. ! I did a few basic boat clean-ups
below decks while Guy practiced his harmonica while motoring between several
buoys. In the afternoon, we listened to some Putumayo tunes. Again a cool start
to the day and warming up nicely after lunch. At 1700 hrs, we tied up on a new
dock east of lock # 14, went for a pizza and a walk around the town of
Canajoharie.
Guy holds the boat off with a boat hook at the bottom of the 40ft deep lock. The current kept pulling us into the middle!
