Saturday - June 16, 2018
Utica to Brewerton, NY
We began our cruising day at 8:45am and must say this is by far the best day; bright blue sky, mid 60’s and no wind. Today we will cruise the Erie for 28 miles and only 3 locks. At lock number 20 just a short distance from our overnight stop in Utica we reached our highest point on the Erie Canal at 396 feet above sea level which was at Troy. From this point on we will now be descending in each of the locks until we reach Lake Ontario. To this point the Erie Canal was part of the Mohawk River running from the Hudson River to Oneida Lake. After the 3rd lock of the day we travel through Sylvan Beach the last stop before entering Oneida Lake. This is the largest lake in NY that does not boarder another country or state. After several days of basically idle speed, 8.5 knots, we finally break out into open water. Before bringing Zoey’s Adventure up to a nice cruising speed we have to contend with the local weekend boaters and jet skis all looking to enjoy a sun filled day on the water. At one point the line of boats leading to the open lake was so long and slow we actually ran on one engine. Must say it felt good to be out on open water again.
Our trip across to the western shore was 22 miles taking a bit more than an hour. For a short time, we cruise the Oneida River/Erie Canal, to our marina, Winter Harbor in Brewerton, NY. I had called ahead to make a reservation for the dockage as space is very limited. Winter Harbor Marina, is very popular with Loopers and is a AGLCA “American Great Loop Cruisers Association” sponsor so they cater to Loopers, offering a great price on diesel fuel as well as discounted fees on dockage and power.
Winter Harbor has two huge heated buildings where they store very large boats, some as long as 60 feet. They have a reputation for doing excellent work on boats during the off season. We will be spending 3 nights here for two reasons: one I had some parts shipped here and they are scheduled to be delivered on Monday, and second the marina has 2 courtesy cars for Loopers to use for shopping, dinner and whatever, which we needed to do . There is a 1 ½ hour limit on the car but you can use it as often as needed, just fill it up when your finished. The cars were an experience where you had to test drive them to get use to how they worked. One was an old Mercedes station wagon, that had no brakes so you had to leave plenty of room between you and the car in front of you and the second was a dodge minivan that got us where we needed to go, but you always wonder. We were just happy to have transportation.
For the first time we put the dink, inflatable boat, in the water and cruised around the area. We went up one small canal, off the Erie Canal/Oneida River. There were homes on each side of the canal, with a dock and small boat. We believe that most of these were summer homes. The water is crystal clear and is around 70 degrees. Remember, there is no current or tides so the water warms up pretty fast. It has to because the season is so short.
The next day another boat docks in front of us with a hailing port of Kent Narrows, MD. This gets our attention as this is the same town in Maryland where we began our journey. Turns out the couple, Paul and Gillian, just bought this boat and it was docked just across the channel from where we spent the month of May. They are from Canada and were cruising back home. We invited them aboard for drinks and find they have been cruising the Canadian and US waters for 30 years and had a few suggestions for ports we should consider during our travels.
We began our cruising day at 8:45am and must say this is by far the best day; bright blue sky, mid 60’s and no wind. Today we will cruise the Erie for 28 miles and only 3 locks. At lock number 20 just a short distance from our overnight stop in Utica we reached our highest point on the Erie Canal at 396 feet above sea level which was at Troy. From this point on we will now be descending in each of the locks until we reach Lake Ontario. To this point the Erie Canal was part of the Mohawk River running from the Hudson River to Oneida Lake. After the 3rd lock of the day we travel through Sylvan Beach the last stop before entering Oneida Lake. This is the largest lake in NY that does not boarder another country or state. After several days of basically idle speed, 8.5 knots, we finally break out into open water. Before bringing Zoey’s Adventure up to a nice cruising speed we have to contend with the local weekend boaters and jet skis all looking to enjoy a sun filled day on the water. At one point the line of boats leading to the open lake was so long and slow we actually ran on one engine. Must say it felt good to be out on open water again.
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| This is a Lock Gate These are lowered in case of flooding or a lock needs to be emptied and repaired |
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| Dam next to a lock |
Our trip across to the western shore was 22 miles taking a bit more than an hour. For a short time, we cruise the Oneida River/Erie Canal, to our marina, Winter Harbor in Brewerton, NY. I had called ahead to make a reservation for the dockage as space is very limited. Winter Harbor Marina, is very popular with Loopers and is a AGLCA “American Great Loop Cruisers Association” sponsor so they cater to Loopers, offering a great price on diesel fuel as well as discounted fees on dockage and power.
Winter Harbor has two huge heated buildings where they store very large boats, some as long as 60 feet. They have a reputation for doing excellent work on boats during the off season. We will be spending 3 nights here for two reasons: one I had some parts shipped here and they are scheduled to be delivered on Monday, and second the marina has 2 courtesy cars for Loopers to use for shopping, dinner and whatever, which we needed to do . There is a 1 ½ hour limit on the car but you can use it as often as needed, just fill it up when your finished. The cars were an experience where you had to test drive them to get use to how they worked. One was an old Mercedes station wagon, that had no brakes so you had to leave plenty of room between you and the car in front of you and the second was a dodge minivan that got us where we needed to go, but you always wonder. We were just happy to have transportation.
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| Oneida River - entering Brewerton, NY |
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| View from the Marina |
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| View from the Marina |
For the first time we put the dink, inflatable boat, in the water and cruised around the area. We went up one small canal, off the Erie Canal/Oneida River. There were homes on each side of the canal, with a dock and small boat. We believe that most of these were summer homes. The water is crystal clear and is around 70 degrees. Remember, there is no current or tides so the water warms up pretty fast. It has to because the season is so short.
The next day another boat docks in front of us with a hailing port of Kent Narrows, MD. This gets our attention as this is the same town in Maryland where we began our journey. Turns out the couple, Paul and Gillian, just bought this boat and it was docked just across the channel from where we spent the month of May. They are from Canada and were cruising back home. We invited them aboard for drinks and find they have been cruising the Canadian and US waters for 30 years and had a few suggestions for ports we should consider during our travels.
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| Brewerton History |
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