0500 June 10, 2011; I was advised by several boaters that the winds on Lake
Oneida can get very strong and that I should leave early to cover the 30 mile lake
before the winds pick up. Well, we were off by 0530 on a very cool morning and
as soon as I left the harbor protection, I headed into mild northwest winds coming
straight at me and making a medium chop on the lake. I had to endure these
not so pleasant conditions for the next two hours and even put on three wind
breakers. Yes, my hands were cold!
As I approached the end of this 30 mile journey, the sun started coming out and
the lake became calm. I entered the channel to Lock 23 and started calling the
Lock Master. By the directions on the chart and my GPS, the lock was only a
few miles up the canal but a few miles on the chart made out to be 30 more cool
minutes before I reached the lock. The Lock Master was a something else! He was a great
guy. He gave me coffee and some cookies for my morning trip. He was also
very interested in my mission and took a filer to make copies and pass out.
From Lock 23 to Lock 1 on the Cayuga Seneca Canal it’s 5.5 hours of the most
beautiful canal / Seneca River scenery you can imagine. It was close to what
you see on the Waccamaw River in SC or the Dismal Swamp in NC. I passed
through Lock #1 at 1230 hours, after 7.5 hours of travel with 2 more hours to go
before I reach the lake house. Just before I entered Cayuga Lake for the final
stretch, Jason, my son-in-law called to tell me that the lake had north to south
winds with a mild chop in my favor. As I started into the lake, he was right on
and I set my GPS as meth straight down the lake to my location.
At 1530 hours I was tying up at my dock. Wow, I was at the lake house, what a sense of relief and
a long moment of thank you’s to the Creator and Mother Nature for taking me on
this wonderful 27 days of beautiful weather, adventurous and challenging boat
ride. No more long boat rides for another 3 weeks
Oneida can get very strong and that I should leave early to cover the 30 mile lake
before the winds pick up. Well, we were off by 0530 on a very cool morning and
as soon as I left the harbor protection, I headed into mild northwest winds coming
straight at me and making a medium chop on the lake. I had to endure these
not so pleasant conditions for the next two hours and even put on three wind
breakers. Yes, my hands were cold!
As I approached the end of this 30 mile journey, the sun started coming out and
the lake became calm. I entered the channel to Lock 23 and started calling the
Lock Master. By the directions on the chart and my GPS, the lock was only a
few miles up the canal but a few miles on the chart made out to be 30 more cool
minutes before I reached the lock. The Lock Master was a something else! He was a great
guy. He gave me coffee and some cookies for my morning trip. He was also
very interested in my mission and took a filer to make copies and pass out.
From Lock 23 to Lock 1 on the Cayuga Seneca Canal it’s 5.5 hours of the most
beautiful canal / Seneca River scenery you can imagine. It was close to what
you see on the Waccamaw River in SC or the Dismal Swamp in NC. I passed
through Lock #1 at 1230 hours, after 7.5 hours of travel with 2 more hours to go
before I reach the lake house. Just before I entered Cayuga Lake for the final
stretch, Jason, my son-in-law called to tell me that the lake had north to south
winds with a mild chop in my favor. As I started into the lake, he was right on
and I set my GPS as meth straight down the lake to my location.
At 1530 hours I was tying up at my dock. Wow, I was at the lake house, what a sense of relief and
a long moment of thank you’s to the Creator and Mother Nature for taking me on
this wonderful 27 days of beautiful weather, adventurous and challenging boat
ride. No more long boat rides for another 3 weeks
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