Lake Ontario, Aug 29, 2012

We had a good crossing of Lake Ontario. Wed. Aug 29, 2012.
To catch up a bit. We pushed right thru the locks on the Erie Canal. We ran from Lock 7 thru to Lock 20 I think it was. Then from Lock 20 we pushed thru to Phoenix, and spent 2 nights there as the weather was calling for rain and thunderstorms. Rain is no problem, but do not like the t-storms on the water. Spent the day reading. What a novel idea. R&R on a vacation!

Dam waterfalls at Oswego. There are 3 dams and locks in rapid succession at Oswego as we get lowered quickly to the level of Lake Ontario.

From Phoenix, we pushed on to Oswego. Fueled the boat. The only place to fill up before Lake Ontario and the 60 mile crossing. And they really price gouge. $4.69 per gallon. I know, I know. It is less than in Canada, but still the highest we have paid in the US.

Oswego has a unique waterway system. The bottom of the picture shows the canal that the boat travels, and then right next to it is the watershed from the dam and waterfalls. Look closely, the watershed is flowing out while the canal has wind effect pushing the water the opposite direction.

We went back and tied between Lock 7 and Lock 8 on the Oswego Canal. Met another boat tied there. Knot a Chance, Jerry and Carol O'Malley. They live in the Thousand Island area and were on their way home from their vacation. We had cocktails with them on our boat. They would turn east on Lake Ontario and take the 3 day route home.

The waves of Lake Ontario had been breaking over the breakwall during the day. We were hoping for everything to settle down overnight.

Lighthouse, Oswego entrance. Goodbye USA.

Wednesday morning, the breeze was picking up a bit. There was a ripple on the Canal. Nice bright sunny day. Lets see what the Lake is serving up this morning. The winds were to be southeast, 10 to 15 for the morning, calming down, as it turned to northwest 10. Waves 1 meter and then lessening. This is our only reasonable weather day as the next 4 days are worse.

Out we go. Not bad. Still a roll from the winds from last night. We continue. After we get beyond the shoreline effect, not bad. The waves are on the beam, not comfortable but doable.  We proceed. It will be a long day. 60 miles, and at 7 knots we are prepared for a 10 hour day.

Fresh, clean, Canadian water. The dinghy has never been in fresh water. She loves it. And that's right, you heard it correctly, "we are in Canadian water now" 

10 hours and nothing to do. This is during the calm.

The waves got up to about 4 feet,  knocking the boat about a bit. The weatherman was right. The winds died down about 11:30 am, right on time. Things calmed down a bit for a couple of hours as the wind changed direction. The wind and waves now on the beam on the other side. A long tiring day.

Lake Ontario. 60 mile crossing. The calm.

It still amazes me. Wind, Waves, and a big body of water can make a  43' boat seem so small and insignificant. Then when you go to dock this puppy it becomes huge. Peter has become quite accomplished at handling this boat. It no longer is intimidating. The golden rule of docking always applies, "approach the dock at the speed you intend to hit it!"

We came through the Murray Canal on the approach to Trenton. The Bridgeport Swing Bridge is interesting. There is a $5. fare for the opening. The bridgemaster comes out with a metal cup attached to a pole to collect the fare. This fare pays for the opening of the two swing bridges. That is a first on the trip. "Don't pay the bridgemaster till he opens the swing bridge" I think they made a song about this.... the words may have been slightly different.

We got tied in Trenton (probably more accurately Quinte West). Met two couples. One couple was from Penetang, and they were joining another couple they had met in Parry Sound. The other couple were from Michigan and have a very pretty sailboat. After spending 4 days together in Parry Sound, the Michigan couple asked the Penetang couple to join them and help them bring thhe sailboat down the Trent and Erie Canal. And a new boating friendship begins.

They invited us to join them for dinner in Belleville. I don't believe it, but we turned them down. I had been up since 5:00 am, a little apprehensive about the Lake Ontario crossing, and only wanted to sit with a drink and relax, then perhaps dinner and a good nights sleep.

Peter called the Canada Customs. Got a different customs agent who gave him a bit of a rough time. Apparently we were to have called 2 hours ahead of arrival. The agent the day before had not mentioned that. He definitely was a government official, tired, near the end of his day, that had a form with a lot of blanks that needed to be filled. Little tolerance. He gave us a telephone number in Trenton to call and clearly told Peter several times, that he had to present himself to the Canada Customs office.

When we got back to the boat after dinner, saw that we had missed 2 calls from the tired Canada Customs agent. We can talk to him tomorrow. Too tired, right now to put up with his attitude. It will be better in the morning.