Cross Lake Marina - We awoke quite early
inspired by the morning's light (sunrise
~ 0530) and the desire to do some canaling.
We left the dock about 0630, motored out
into the center of the lake, killed the engine,
and drifted while having breakfast. The lake
was very still in the early morning. We brewed
coffee with the stove-top percolator, a skill
we hadn't used in decades. After breakfast,
we motored southwest in Cross Lake, re-entering
the canal / Seneca River westbound.
Our daughter, Jen, joined us for the beginning of the week. She was torn between taking some vacation and returning to grad school to finish editing a paper due for submission in a few days. She compromised by spending hours Sunday slaving over the word processor while we parents handled the boating. She pulled up a convenient cooler for a desk near one of the a/c outlets on the boat. Her computer was without battery, so she used the boat's inverter-supplied 110V to run the computer. Save early, save often.
It's a long run from Cross Lake to the first lock on the Cayuga-Seneca canal, probably ~ 4 1/2 hours. Our note taking was spotty; we didn't log this leg.
Most of the canaling we did was in rivers that were incorporated into the New York Barge canal. As such, they wander around, have many camps and homes on the shore, and support lots of recreational boating. Occasionally a man-made shortcut appears where the river meanders too much. We didn't get to the real dug barge canal until a few days later.
For now, we just motored, enjoyed the scenery and wildlife. In contrast to our other boating hangouts around Lake Champlain, we saw relatively few seagulls and cormorants. We saw dozens of blue herons, many Canada geese, lots of fish jumping (carp, we were told) as we motored through the Montezuma wildlife refuge.
We passed an old adqueduct from the 1856
canal.
In late morning, we arrived at the junction
of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and turned south
into it. We soon passed
under the New York State Thruway and enjoyed
seeing traffic whizzing
by at 65+ mph while we chugged along at 6
mph.
We locked through lock 1 on the C-S, then headed west towards Seneca Lake. Next came the double locks 2 and 3, then about 1400 we arrived at the Seneca Falls town docks. We stopped long enough to buy some more ice and a few groceries and top up the water tanks before we continued on to the big lake.
The normal contract with MLN forbids boating in Lakes Ontario, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca without prior approval. We had obtained permission to poke into Seneca and Cayuga, although we arrived late enough in the day, that with our other travel needs, we didn't venture out into the lake very far. I had hopes of spending the night at the state marina where the canal meets the lake (this doesn't involve entering Seneca Lake, prior approval and all). However, the marina was very busy since it was a glorious Sunday, and fathers' day to boot. I didn't envision playing bumper cars among the yachts in the marina. The few transient spots I saw didn't look very hospitable. Given a bit more practice maneuvering the boat, and a better understanding of the marina layout, I might have gone for it. As it was, we turned back, and motored back to Seneca Falls where the facilities were known, and I knew I could handle the docking!
In Seneca Falls we had a very good meal at nearby Avicolli's restaurant (West Fall St., pizza place out front with tables and wait staff in the back) which was recommended by a local couple we met at the town dock. Afterwards, the women surprised me with some fathers' day presents under the street lamps at the marina.
Late night at Seneca Falls docks. The area
was immaculate and
well lit.
The facilities featured
free docking, electricity, water, and pump-out
(not needed for
a one week MLN charter).
The Cayuga-Seneca canal had huge amounts of seaweed. We snagged
enough to noticeably slow the boat. After docking, I used the
boat hook to dislodge as much as possible from the boat. While
we were docked here, a passerby pointed out a baby beaver that
was having a hard time slogging through the thick seaweed on our
side of the canal. It eventually managed to get free of the grass
and cross the canal searching for mom and home.
