June 26 / Day 36 / Brewerton, NY to Oswego NY / 28 NM

While we were home, Winter Harbor Marina needed to move Observer to maximize their transient dockage space.  When we returned yesterday, we found ourselves wedged up against a wall at our bow and along our port side with a large cabin cruiser’s bowsprit kissing our stern.  I personally was at a loss as to how we were going to get out, but with the help of a few dock hands and our capable captain, we were free without a scratch and on our way to Oswego.  We went through our last lock (23) on the Erie before we took a right hand turn onto the Oswego Canal.

Sign pointing to the left to continue on the Erie to Lock 23

The Oswego Canal locks are very pretty and all the lockmasters are wonderful.

Lock 6 on the Oswego Canal

We traveled through locks 1 through 7 rather uneventfully. (Interestingly enough, there is no lock 4 because after the initial design that called for 8 locks got re-engineered, lock 4 was dropped, but they had already numbered them all)  A little after 3:00,  we decided to pull over at the free wall between locks 7 and 8 for the night.  There is less than a ½ mile between these two locks so we had a great view of the north side of lock 7 and the south side of lock 8.

Looking back at Lock 7

Looking towards Lock 8

After our arrival, Tim went down into the engine room to retrieve a tool and noticed black rubber fragments in the bilge.  He traced the source to the alternator belt which had frayed significantly and was in jeopardy of completely coming undone.  As it was late in the day, we called a marina in Oswego on the other side of lock 8 and tried to arrange for a mechanic to take a look but were told to call back in the morning.  We then met the crew of Bucket List, Tom and Tracey, who joined us on Observer for cocktails.  Millie was so excited as they are dog people with a lab of their own at home and treated Millie like a grandchild which basically meant she could be as naughty as possible (think jumping) and they would still love on her.  After our visit, we grilled up some burgers and called it a night.

Oswego