OSWEGO CANAL We left Brewerton, NY, at 8:25 am. The weather was cool with blue skies. The Oswego Canal has seven locks and is twenty-three miles long. It is pretty, but the locks seemed like hard locks. It was hot and sunny in the locks. We had to use our own lines on many of the locks, which is all right, but it was hard to get them attached and he lock masters were not helpful at all. The last lock was really dirty and the water looked really bad. It had lines for us to use, but they dripped brown, dirty water all over the boat. We arrived in Oswego at Oswego Marina about 2:25 pm. There were two other Looper boats there, Free Bird and Si Como No. We did not like the marina. The dock power pedestal would not allow our power cord to be plugged in and the two 18 year old girls who came to help had no clue and could have cared less. LAKE ONTARIO We hoped that the weather held and we planned to leave the next day at 5:00 am to cross Lake Ontario with Si Como No and Lapacamar, a boat docked next to ours. Phil and I were up and ready to go by the time they were awake, but we were soon underway. The wind is a lot calmer in the early morning and that was certainly what we wanted for our crossing of Lake Ontario. The forecast was not good for later in the day so an early departure was important. We left at 6:20am. It was cool, cloudy and a little windy, with the wind and waves on the beam of the boat which results in a rocky, rolly side to side ride. After 2 ½ or 3 hours, the wind died and the water smoothed out. We were swarmed with little black, biting flies out in the middle of the lake. Phil passed the time by being the big hunter. His kill for the day was at least two hundred dead flies. As you can tell, there was not a lot to do while crossing…he killed, I counted! KINGSTON We arrived in Kingston, Ontario, at 12:40, Monday, June 16, 2008. We stayed at the Kingston Marina on a face dock behind Si Como No. Only the captain can get off the boat to go check in at Canada Customs. You call them on the telephone (in the marina office). They ask you many questions regarding firearms, pepper spray, date of birth, citizenship, animals, fruit, alcohol and tobacco. You must answer the questions truthfully and then they give you your Canpass number. If they don’t like your answers, they have the right to come board and search your boat. Everyone worries that they will board you for the search. No one we know on this trip got boarded, but we know it has happened to some Loopers in the past. We were delighted that it did not happen to us. After Phil arrived back at the boat with the numbers, we both got off the boat and went to an Irish pub, Tir-or-nog’s for a late lunch, fish and chips. We ate there last year when we were in Kingston by car. We went back to the boat and took a nap. We were exhausted. Killing and counting flies takes a lot out of you! Tuesday, we awakened to a windy, windy day. We could see Kingston Harbor, turquoise water with white caps. It was really pretty. The water in the marina was so clear; you could see the plant-life, growing up from the bottom. It appears to be about ten feet deep by the docks. We had lunch at a cute place, the Kingston Brewery. There was a market that day that had several booths of beautiful vegetables and fruit. There was only one craftsman there and, as fate would have it, he sold lovely jewelry…I bought a silver chain and a drop which is “Petersite” from Namibia, Africa. It is very unusual and pretty. We toured City Hall with a very good guide who was celebrating his 72nd birthday. We went to the Visitor’s Center and then back to the boat for the evening. Wednesday dawned quite cool and windy. We went to lunch at the Pilot House. We got tickets to go the Sunset Ceremony at Ft. Henry, the historic fort in Kingston. Fort Henry from A Distance View from Fort Henry It was built around the turn of the nineteenth century to defend Canada against the United States. It is on the top of a high hill and is very well maintained. The ceremony was interesting. It included the drum and fife brigade and their music, as well as their marching, was excellent. They also had a white goat, their mascot, I guess, that they dressed up for the ceremony. He was quite fancy. We got to see the Snowbirds, which are Canada’s version of the Blue Angels. There were nine planes, very different from what our pilots fly. They were amazing, such tight, close formations! There were Irish dancers and the soldiers also fired their muskets and canons. We left early because it was so cold and windy. We were freezing! Fortunately, we took a taxi because it was a long walk . Thursday, we took the trolley tour through Kingston. It was interesting and we got to see the military college and Queen’s College, but it was too fast and too many spots to see in too short a time. After that, we met Margie and Morry Miller from Pittsburgh in the laundry room. She told us about their afternoon the previous day. They had been sight-seeing and stopped for a drink at Toucan’s Bar which was very crowded. Waiters started passing through the crowd with large platters of hors d’oeuvres. Margie said it was just wonderful, she had never seen such a big, good happy hour. When she told the bartender, he said “Oh, this isn’t a happy hour. The owner died and this is his Wake.” She looked at her husband and said, “Oh, my God, Morry! We’ve got to get the hell out of here!! We didn’t even know him!” She was so cute and funny. We have many Margie stories to make us smile and remember them. That evening Phil and I went to The Keg for a special steak dinner to celebrate both our birthdays. We considered staying in Kingston until Monday, but decided that if the weather was nice and the wind calm, we would go to Picton, Ontario, which is about half way to Trenton, Ontario, the Gateway to the Trent-Severn Waterway. |
OSWEGO CANAL, LAKE ONTARIO, KINGSTON, ONTARIO – JUNE 15 -20
Harmony Log 2008
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