Pictures From the Trip October 3, 2001 Last Cruising Update - Summary October 1, 2001 Cruising Update - From Annapolis September 26, 2001 Home Strech September 19, 2001 Last Of The Erie Canal September 15, 2001 Back on the Eastern Erie Canal September 12, 2001 Finishing the Western Erie Canal September 10, 2001 Lockport to Fairport September 7, 2001 Western Frontier of the Erie Canal September 6, 2001 Back in the Canal System September 4, 2001 Leaving The Great Lakes September 1, 2001 In our 7th State August 29, 2001 Ohio Has Libraries August 27, 2001 Vermilion, Ohio August 26, 2001 Fox Haven Marina August 22, 2001 In Put-in-Bay August 17, 2001 The End Of Lake Huron August 15, 2001 Down Lake Huron August 13, 2001 North Channel and Lake Huron August 3, 2001 Gore Bay August 1, 2001 Keel-Haulings July 31, 2001 Rocks Everywhere July 28, 2001 On To The North Channel July 17, 2001 Wouldn't Change A Thing July 13, 2001 Speed Limit July 9, 2001 Thousands of Islands July 5, 2001 Out Of New York July 3, 2001 Typical Day July 2, 2001 Cold Mornings July 1, 2001 Phoenix NY And Beyond June 26, 2001 Through The First Lock June 25, 2001 Up Around Manhattan June 15, 2001 Daily Routine June 12, 2001 Strolling The Vineyards June 11, 2001 Sag Harbor June 9, 2001 Block Island & Beer Can Music June 5, 2001 Lessons Learned June 1, 2001 The Tides Increasing May 25, 2001 Up The Coast Of New Jersy May 21, 2001 Getting To Know The Cruisers May 17, 2001 And So It Begins!

 July 5, 2001 

Belated happy 4th of July! We celebrated the holiday in Cape Vincent, NY, which is on the St. Lawrence River. Cape Vincent is a wonderful, little town - - very "all American". And, for the boaters, the town has room for approximately 12 transient boats between a town dock and a fisheries dock, no charge (no electric or water). We are at the fisheries research dock and it is wonderful. The water is so clear! And the temperatures have been in the mid-50s at night and low 70s during the day. It is perfect.

We spent one night on the lock 8 wall in Oswego before crossing Lake Ontario yesterday (4 July). We are now out of the locking business until we hit the Trent-Severn canal. Oswego is a nice town and we were able to stock up on supplies - - which we promptly ignored because we found free food at a Happy Hour at Admiral Woolsey's restaurant. We were also able to put the mast back up on the boat since we are out of the Erie Canal and passed the canal's low bridges.

We left Oswego early in the morning and although at noon NOAA was issuing a small craft advisory for the lake, we beat the wind and weather and were safetly docked in Cape Vincent before anything hit. Last night, we grilled BBQ chicken and corn-on-the-cob and watched fireworks from a town in the distance over the water. Oh, what a life ...

We plan to leave here tomorrow and head for Clayton and Alexandria Bay, still in NY. On Sunday/Monday, we will head a little north and be in Canada. It is hard to believe that we have been in New York for nearly 6 weeks - - I think we have seen every side of this state (NY harbor, Long Island Sound, canal system, Lake Ontario), all of them very different but wonderful!

We are still seeing other boats that we have seen along the way. In Oswego, we even ran across (no, not literally!) other MTOA (Marine Trader Owner's Association) members that we had originally met in Baltimore 2 years ago. They are in the process of doing the Great Circle (i.e. along the east coast Intercoastal Waterway, through the canals, through the Great Lakes, down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, and then back around Florida). Again, Brian was ready to jump ship and go with them - - what the heck's another 6 months off, right? ... I am starting to be convinced that I will be returning by myself in September/October!

All for now. We'll touch base again when we can. It will be interesting to see about the Internet access capabilities in the libraries in Canada.

Cruising along (... slowly ... ). Jeri and Brian