 |
| Small barn across from the park path where we tied up to the wall in Baldwinsville Good advice |
In an attempt to beat the heat we rose and prepared to take off pretty early. We were visited briefly just before shoving off by Joe (new AA friend) and his dog, Loki. At 7:06 we pulled away from the wall and cruised up to the double lock where they had the chamber prepared for us. Within only about 15 minutes we were through both locks and on our way continuing back up towards the confluence of the Cuyuga and Seneca canal with what would now be considered the Central section of the Erie Canal. By about 9am we had made the turn and were again headed east. We paused for a few minutes to take time to put up our Bimini top for the first time since we had entered the canals. According to all information we have seen all of the bridge clearances from here forward on the canal and Hudson River will be high enough for us to clear with it up; this made us happy and immediately made a noticeable difference in body temps by not having the sun blaring down on our heads.
 |
| Last remaining small section of a very old aqueduct system that used to carry water to towns over the Erie Canal |
It was a smooth and uneventful cruise today of just over 37 miles that we covered in just less than 6 hours. There were a good amount of homes with docks and boats as well as an occasional marina that we passed which had us slowing down to a minimal wake speed (~6mph) often. More waterfowl, deer and what we believe was an otter was spotted swimming across the canal throughout the morning. As we were nearing our destination in Baldwinsville we passed a couple of other looper boats heading west. One was a large 60’ cruiser and the other was a small 27’ or so center console with a single large outboard motor and 4 guys aboard. The boat was skinned out with vinyl indicating ‘The Great Loop Challenge’. We didn’t have our phones ready to get a picture of it….hmmmm, will have to do some research later.
 |
| Couple deer along the way And Renee says squirrel 🐿️ Erik says otter 🦦 Swimming across canal |
 |
| Several of these contraptions were in the canal/lakeish area as we approached Baldwinsville scooping up weeds along the banks and loading into dump trucks on shore |
 |
| “The Great Loop Challenge” boat we saw Pic from their website Turns out upon internet research that Mr. Scott “Red” Flowers and crew are attempting to set a Great Loop world record completion in 30-40 days total and are fundraising to support pediatric cancer research They’ve raise 240K of their 1 million dollar goal! https://nationalpcf.org/the-great-loop-challenge-2024/ |
We pulled into Baldwinsville and got tied up to the free wall which was located immediately at the base of the next lock entrance at just before 1pm. Hooked up to power, turned on our beloved AC units, and grabbed a bite for lunch before heading out on the bikes to see what the town had to offer. Well, it turns out that in our eyes, not a lot (at least not today). There was a nice amphitheater just across the canal off our bow, but, the live entertainment for the week was last night :-(. We rode through and around town looking at many very well kept and maintained old homes before stopping in at a small museum that was open. The lady at the small visitor center booth where we had tied up forewarned us that it was less than spectacular, if even open, and her assessment proved to be spot on. We rode back to the boat to relax, nap, and chill with Riva for a couple hours before we headed back out to attend a 5:30pm meeting at a clubhouse located less than a mile up the road. The meeting had about 30 friendly folks with a nice mix of men and women of all ages. We stopped at the local dollar store and Ace Hardware to look for and get a new collapsible garden hose (one of ours had broken a couple days ago). The grill was put into service again to cook up a mother load of kabobs that we had prepared and marinated earlier in the day while cruising. LOTS of leftovers today so looks like kabob filled omelettes will be on the menu tomorrow 😋
 |
| 6 or 7 boats moored on the free wall by sunset |
 |
| Yes…yes we do! On the wall at the local AA clubhouse |
Several boat chores made up the remainder of the evening. Engine fluid level checks ✔️ Water tanks filled with new hose ✔️ Put flybridge enclosure panels back up ✔️ Adjustment to air flow screw on generator carb ✔️. While cruising a couple of days ago in the heat, we had started the generator up to see if it would run properly. The generator did run, however, something was askew And it did not seem to be putting out enough juice to run the air conditioner…..not good. At the AA meeting yesterday evening in Seneca Falls A gentleman that we met, who is a boat mechanic, suggested that we attempt to adjust the airflow screw on the carburetor. After the adjustment was made, we started her back up and turned on both air conditioners, and it seemed to work perfectly…..yay!
 |
| The girl is topless no longer! Tune in later to see if Renee is still topless 😝 |
We concluded our day, enjoying splitting the second Robert Redford dessert. We had purchased back in Seneca Falls last night while hanging out on the deck drinking our coffee.
You had me at "the girl is topless".
ReplyDelete