Saturday – Day 43 – 9/13/08

Today we started down the canal just after 0730 with haze and light fog. The water was like a mirror reflecting everything on the water surface which made you think you had double vision. We motored east and then south entering the Cayuga-Seneca Canal heading to the Finger Lakes. We entered six more locks two dropping us 12 feet on the Erie Canal then the last four on the Seneca River lifting us 72 feet to Seneca Lake. The lock before the last one was a double lock that lifted us from the lower cell at the same time that the upper cell was lowering three boats to a common mid point. The center door opened and the three boats moved into our cell and when they were secure we moved our boat into the cell they were in! A cell on the canal system is much narrower and shorter than what is on the Illinois River. There isn’t a lot of room to pass other boats considering the turbulence of the water and other factors 25 feet down from the surface of the lock. When the transfer was completed we had risen 51 feet and the other boats had dropped the same distance. That was a first for us --- to pass other boats going in opposite directions within a closed lock! Tonight we are at the northern most part of the Seneca Lake planning to go to Watkins Glen tomorrow 37 miles south of us. The land between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake is famous for its 28 vineyards with tasting rooms, which I intend to take advantage of on a tasting tour! (Imagine that!)

Again the hospitality that we have encountered is unbelievable. Barb and I stopped in Seneca Falls (picture below) to visit a welcome center and plan our next few days within the Finger Lake region. Our Illinois registration on the boat was noticed and within a few minutes we were invited to use a slip as their guest at the Watkins Glen Yacht Club. The club is located at the south end of the lake 37 miles away! Then as the day was coming to a close and the weather was looking less than perfect we were next to a marina in the canal, and hailed some people on a dock to get information on how to obtain a slip for the night and a couple of delightful ladies waved and motioned for us to pull into an empty slip 100 feet away - which we did and before you knew it the boat was tied up and the water and power was hooked up! We are again the guests of friendly New York boaters! We are here for the night and possibly longer if the weather doesn’t cooperate tomorrow. The wind is picking up and dark clouds are rolling in.