We're Back at Sea!!

Thursday, July 16th, 2003 - Brielle, NJ to Jersey City, NJ

Tom enlisted the help of Cap.  DeRosa to get "CrawDads" back on the water again...Thanks, Alan!!

On Friday, July 17th, I returned to join Tom on the boat  (having spent the last month relocating from NJ to GA...Thanks, Eileen for your help!!!)

On Saturday, July 18th, Pete & BettyLou returned to the boat (after having spent the last 30days frantically getting their house sold and moved into storage for the next 6 months or so...!)  They also had a chance to visit with their daughter, Paige, briefly on her return from Slovakia (where she plans to spend the next 2 years full time in the mission field!!)

Our friends, the Moores, joined us for dinner on Saturday in Jersey City.  Dinner was great, but the walk there was one we don't want to repeat, right?

Sunday, July 20th, 2003 - Jersey City, NJ to Kingston, NY

Beautiful day today for our ride up the Hudson River.  We got great pictures of West Point, which sits perched on the cliffs of the river.  Such an awesome sight.  Also in view were the beautiful mansions of the Vanderbilts and the Roosevelts, from a more glamorous era...

We planned a lunch stop in Newburgh, but the restaurant was closed for a private party - and weren't too accommodating to our sweaty crew, so we went on to Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston.  The staff there was every bit as kind as Tom and I remembered from our trip there a few years ago on our previous boat.  Dinner was great at "Ship to Shore" restaurant.

Monday, Cap Tom had to make an emergency visit to the dentist ... so, of course, the ladies went.....Shopping!!!   BettyLou had a ball - and even met a fellow "Hokie", Teri from Christopher & Banks store - who came back to the boat to join us for a bit.    Quite a storm blew in to the area in the evening  - we did not know the extent of the damage until the next morning when we read about it in the papers!! Tornadoes!!!

Tuesday, the boat needed some "cleanup" - so it was hauled out and "bottom washed."  We spent a few peaceful hours at the pool.  In the evening, we took in dinner and a movie...but more entertaining than the "Pirates of the Carribean" was the local wannabe comedian who was our cab driver...Tuesday Night Live in Kingston, good grief.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2003 - Kingston, NY to Waterford, NY

Continued our northbound trip up the Hudson today.  Saw some great little lighthouses en route.  We got a "trial run" for the Canal locks today - with our first lock at Troy.  It was a little tense, to say the least!  We lost one of our bumpers off the side (and had to have the lockmaster retrieve it for us...he got an extra beer for that!) - we realized rather quickly that we needed to purchase the "lock equipment" that other boats had...big orange balloon bumpers!

   The marina - town docks - at Waterford is worth mentioning.  The town has built a brand new marine visitor center - it includes free docking for the night, complete with power and water.  Town is a short walk away, and the staff there is just cute as can be.  Thanks, Waterford!

Thursday, July 24th, 2003 - Waterford,NY to Amsterdam, NY

 It was a long, grueling day today for the "CrawDads"...lock after lock, after lock, etc.  We executed 6 New York State Canal Locks today...not too difficult after you get the hang of it...but dirty, slimy walls were too often the scenery today.  Yuck.   The weather was cooperative, though. 

Friday, July 25th, 2003 - Amsterdam, NY to Ilion, NY

Another long day on the Canal Locks today.  But we are an efficient crew with the Locking process now..!  We got through Locks #11-16 without incident today!  Some locks were handled within 15 minutes! 

We cleaned up as soon as we arrived in Ilion, where Gary (another Crawford brother) and Garad (brother-in-law) came to pick us up for dinner at the Williams home on Lake Oneida.  Dinner was incredible - a practical feast!  The ladies outdid themselves...thanks, Diane & Betty.

   After dinner, Tom and I returned to the boat with our guests...the newlyweds, Kimberly & Jay...while Pete & BettyLou enjoyed a good night's sleep on land!

Saturday, July 26th, 2003 - Ilion, NY to Sylvan Beach, NY

The Williams gang (with our crew in tow) arrived at the boat on Saturday morning, all ready for a ride on the Canal.  We quickly loaded up and gave some brief "locking" instructions to our new crew members!  It was a really peaceful ride westbound on the Canal today, and the weather was wonderful.  We all got some sun and had a great time.

Upon our arrival, Diane (our amazing hostess) fed us another virtual feast - Italian, tonight.  We all ate way too many meatballs!  How many was that, Kimberly???

Sunday, July 27th, 2003 - Sylvan Beach, NY to Brewerton, NY

We were all up early this morning, so we could join the Williams for their church service at Crossroads.  We really enjoyed it.  After church, we had a quick lunch at Eddie's - great fish, as promised!

As soon as lunch was over, we trekked back to the boat to do the suitcase shuffle in order to make room for our two new crew members, Gary and Betty Crawford!  They are going to join us for the next several days (until Detroit).

The ride across Lake Oneida was a little choppy, but it was a short one - so we made it to Brewerton pretty easily.  Before dinner, Cap. Tom called a "muster" of the crew - to discuss the next week's itinerary...we're bound for Canada!!

Monday, July 28th, 2003 - Brewerton, NY to Oswego, NY

We wanted an early start today, since we had 7 remaining locks to execute in the Erie Canal.  Our crew performed very well through the locks; unfortunately, we misjudged one of the cable bridges and left our running light as a souvenir near the Oswego area.  Oh  well, no personal injuries were sustained, so we call it a successful ride anyway!!!

Upon our arrival in Oswego, we all headed into town to do some exploring.  Apparently, we had just missed their Harborfest (there were 1000s of people - and boats - in town over the weekend).  We enjoyed dinner aboard - with a lovely NY sunset as our backdrop.

Tuesday, July 29th, 2003 - Oswego, NY to Clayton, NY

Everyone was up early again today, anticipating our trip to Clayton.  Coming out of the channel into the open waters of Lake Ontario was quite rough! We weren't exactly prepared for this "turbulence" in the galley - and things really went flying!  After we got used to the "rock and roll" of the Lake, most of the crew settled in for a little nap (catching up on lost sleep from the night before).  As we got closer to the St. Lawrence River, we began to see the beauty of the 1000 Islands area...

Docking in Clayton was very, very difficult.  Two side by side marinas were giving us conflicting signals, which did NOT please the Capt!  After  2 attempts to squeeze into a slip that was too small, we opted for the next marina down the waterway!

In the afternoon, we took some time to explore the shops of Clayton, as well as the Antique Wooden Boat Museum (very cool).  We enjoyed dinner at the Riverside Cafe. Lovely view!

Wednesday was one of our FAVORITE days so far! After breakfast, we hopped aboard the Good Sam Tour Boat (yes, we even surprised ourselves that we would actually want to PAY for a boat ride>..!) to get a narrated tour of the 1000 Islands area...Millionaires Row was incredible - awesome homes from the elegant 1920s era.  We disembarked at Alex Bay and took a shuttle over to tour the Boldt Castle (c.1900 - if you haven't heard the story, you should look it up, it's quite a story of love lost).  We wandered around the castle, the grounds - even the indoor pool - for a few hours, then headed back to Alex Bay for some..you guessed it - shopping!  We got back aboard the Tour Boat to complete the circle tour - this time through the Canadian waters.  We all simply fell in love with this area! Wonderful!!