Oswego NY Gateway to Lake Ontario

After Lock 23 on the Eire, we turn North on the Oswego River, to go to Oswego, NY. We will complete about 32 miles and 7 locks on this trip. Oswego will be begin our trip across Lake Ontario. Part way across Lake Ontario we will leave the US and enter into Canada. We will first dock at Kingston, Ontario. Once there, only one of us can leave the boat until we have cleared Canadian Customs. While in Oswego we walked the part of town near the marina. Pictures are of Fort Ontario, and the Fire Museum. Once we enter Canada, internet connection will be more difficult. Air card will be too expensive to use, hopefully I can find wifi.

Troy NY West on the Eire to Oswego

It is time to leave Troy, NY and head West on the Eire Canal. Captain is geared up and looking for the directions to Eire Canal. Knowing that it is hard to communicate early on we got the wireless head sets and light weight life jackets to make working the lock system on the Eire. We have had very little experience locking the boat through. The locks vary in tie ups to stablize the boat as water is fed into the lock to raise the boat and let out of the lock when lowering. We had worked out a system, so that Nancy would manuver the boat close to the lock wall, and I would reach out and grab a rope at the bow, cleat it off, run to the back of the boat grab another rope and pull the stern close to the lock wall. Over the head set I would tell Nancy I am ready, she would leave the helm, come to the stern and take the stern rope, I would run back to the bow to man the bow rope. The Eire consists of 20 locks up, for a raise height of 420 feet, and three locks lowering about 40 feet. Then the Oswego canal has 7 locks that lower the boat to the height of Lake Ontario. These were busy and tiring days. These days we spent the night on the wall. Some of the pictures show the locks, some of the Eire Canal and Mohawk River. The other pictures are of the towns we passed thru. Also, you will see the Security Gates that were to help to reduce debris and assist with water control during flooding. The last 2 pictures are Onidea Lake which we crossed to go to Brewerton, NY where we spent the Forth of July. We had firework displays on the 3,4,and5 of July. Had a great time before moving onto Oswego, NY. It is July 13th and we will try to leave for Kingston, Ontario in the morning. Hopefully we will cross Lake Ontario tomorrow.

Kingston NY on the Hudson

From Rondout Yacht Basin we rented a car and drove to the Vanderbilt Estate, Roosevelt Estate and not far from the Vanderbilt Estate and the Roosevelt Estate is the Culinary Institute of Amarica. This is an education center for Chefs. It also has several resturants within the Institute and you can go in and eat. Reservations are required at most and we were only able to get into 2 as walkins. We ate lunch at St. Andrews Cafe and dessert at the Apple Pie. All was very good.

The following pictures are of the Roosevelt Estate. We were not allowed to take pictures of the interior home or the Libary and Museum. The Roosevelt Estate was located just South of the Vanderbilt Estate. Both estates were on the East bank of the Hudson River. Franklin's car was very interesting. The car had been modified by a local mechanic to allow Franklin to accelerate and brake by hand levers. He also had an automatic despenser for lighted cigarettes mounted to the steering column.

These pictures are of the Vanderbilt estate near Kingston, NY. We were not allowed to take pictures inside of the mansion. All that I can tell you is that this was the smallest of the Vanderbilt homes and it was used twice a year spring and fall. It had about 60 staff for the 700 acre farm. When donated to the US Park Service, it had all of the original contents as left by the Vanderbilts.

Hudson River To Kingston NY

It's time to leave NYC and head North on the Hudson River. Our goal is to go to Troy NY where we will turn West on the Eire Canal. Our trip will take several days and on the first day on the Hudson will to go to Half Moon Bay Marina near Haverstraw, NY for just a 1 night stop. These pictures are some of the sites we saw. The first picture is on of the light houses marking the entrance to a marina on the Hudson, sorry I do not remember which one. I just remember it was early in the morning. As we moved North fog begin to develop and this was a neat shot. There are a lot of bridges crossing the inlets to the Hudson. The large brick structure is West Point, it is now off limits, so I took this picture from far off so as not to draw attention to the patrol boat we saw. We did see some commerical traffic such as tugs and barges moving South on Hudson. We also saw several trains both commerical and passenger on both banks of the Hudson. I guess this is how many people get to work in NYC and live outside of the city.