Canada Has a Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve

 But New York Has Secret Reserves of Milfoil, Quagga Mussels, and Lily Pads

Crossing Lake Oneida was an exercise in FREEDOM.  20 miles of smooth clean water, no Mayflies, 

Sylvan Beach, Lake Oneida

and a chance to “open her up” and blow out the turbochargers.   Our next stop was the Ess Kay Yards Marina in Brewerton, NY.  There we topped up with another 310 gallons of diesel and met with a marine HVAC tech.

 The AC unit for our main cabin started blowing breakers a week or two ago and we have been weathering the heatwave with the AC in the fore and aft staterooms and three fans.  Sadly, the tech pronounced the AC unit DOA after almost 18 years of dedicated service.   With parts unavailable, we shopped around and ordered a more modern replacement unit to be delivered to us in Buffalo. 

We also took the time (an entire day, actually) at Ess Kay to scrub Irish Lass from stem to stern, keel to truck, port and starboard, inside and out.   Locking up and down in those big concrete boxes is a dirty business, as is fighting off the insect hordes.  Not to mention living aboard through days too hot and days too rainy.  It took us the best part of a day to get things spruced up to Commadore Kathleen’s standards.  Admiral Maggie supervised from the shade of a nearby picnic table.   Dinner followed with new Looper friends from Orion and Adventure Awaits

From Brewerton, we headed west on the Erie for Pirates Cove Marina, where we spent the Independence Day weekend with Living the Dream and Orion. While there, launched our auxiliary fleet for the first time.  First, we christened our rehabilitated dingy (Woo Hoo) with an hour-long cruise to inspect canal-side homes, both palatial and Deliverance-ish.  We also launched our two new 

Babes in Kayak

inflatable kayaks, including the 13’ Admiral's Barge, which Maggie took to, well, like an Admiral to her barge.   Finally, we unlimbered our folding bicycles and spent a few hours getting them ready for use.   Guess we are READY!

A word about invasive species……

The waters of the Erie west of Lake Oneida are CHOKED with underwater flora of the worst kind.   Instead of dodging crab pots or timber, we found ourselves maneuvering around endless mats of 

NY's new export crop?

 Eurasian Milfoil.  And any detour out of the main channel risks terminal entanglement in acre-sized Lilypad groves. (After our dingy cruise, we could barely tip up our little outboard for all the weeds wrapped around the prop.)  And the locals don’t seem to care.  We saw no sign of eradication attempts, legal or otherwise.  And they seem content to clear their props every time they exit their marina.  Instead, you see beautiful canal-front homes with waterfronts chocked with aquatic growth almost to the point of uselessness.  

  All we can conclude is that they are under some gov’t mandate to grow and nurture these vile weeds for some ultra-secret purpose.   Maybe for export to Canada?  (Hey, now THERE”S and idea!)  

Departing Pirate’s Cove on the 6^th, we made our way thru our final Erie Canal lock (#23) to

the confluence of the Oneida, Seneca, and Oswego Rivers. (Hence, Three Rivers.)   Turning north on the Oswego, we began our descent to Lake Ontario via the Oswego Canal, transiting seven locks spread over 25 miles. 

AND WE TAKE BACK ALL THE GOOD THINGS WE SAID ABOUT LOCKING DOWN!

These locks were q different animal.   The stiff river currents on approach and departure were bad enough, but a stout north wind swirling into the lock chambers made controlling the boat feel like “2.7  seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu” (as the song says).  With Commodore Kathleen wrestling mightily with a lock line, Wade was forced to abandon his post on the swim step and retreat to the helm and to use engines and bow thruster to keep the boat under some semblance of control.  Locks are hard.  Locks are easy.  It all depends.  Sheesh.

And another word about invasive species….

The lock walls on the Oswego canal are COATED with Quagga mussels, an aggressive, invasive 

Vermin on mollusk form

species wreaking havoc in America’s waterways.  Most states have taken an aggressive stance against these nasty little mollusks (See all those boat check stations along the highway?).  Bur New York appears to be ignoring, if not cultivating, them.  They ought to be killing them on sight daily. (Or maybe stripping hem off the lock walls and shipping them north for insertion into PW Trudeau’s koi pond.)

Needless to say, we were thankful to arrive safely at our Marina in Oswego, NY.  We are looking forward to a day of rest and an open water cruise west.  The Lass is ready to get out of the Lake and RUN a bit. (And no more locks for a while.)