The Wayward Explorers spent the morning in Brewerton. Sidekick Sue had rescheduled her failed Zoom meeting from last week to this morning, and wanted to be standing still for it (the diesel engine is quite loud in the background). Captain Mark used this opportunity to bike 14 miles roundtrip to Wegmans to pick up some things at the grocery store. Shortly after Captain Mark left, Sidekick Sue got an email that her Zoom meeting was canceled (again), so she used the time to get caught up on some writing. After Captain Mark returned, they ate lunch and set off.
The entire trip today was crossing the wide-open span of Oneida Lake. The lake was extremely calm, and the day was extremely sunny. The Explorers have really been enjoying a week of summer weather in October. As the Explorers approached Sylvan Beach, they encountered a huge cloud of gnat-like bugs that lasted for the last few miles on their approach. Sidekick Sue quickly hopped into action, hiding in the cabin with the doors shut, leaving poor Captain Mark to endure the bug storm alone. As they re-entered the canal on the Sylvan Beach side, the bugs were suddenly gone, and the Explorers marveled at how many bugs were caught in the spider webs that appear daily on the boat. The spiders were going to have a feast (and probably multiply like crazy).
As the Explorers docked on the wall in Sylvan Beach, they noted that there were no power pedestals, and since the Explorers were only motoring half the day, their batteries weren’t fully charged. They had to power down luxuries like the ice-maker and the Starlink. With the trip winding down (the locks close in 8 days, and they have scheduled to have the boat pulled out in 6 days), the Explorers sat down to plan their route for the remainder of the trip. While driving (and fighting bug storms), Captain Mark had been looking at weather predictions, and realized that the summer-in-October was quickly coming to an end. Rain was coming in 3 days and was going to continue for the next forecastable future. The Explorers had wanted to use their last few days motoring to Little Falls, and then swinging back through Utica (with any luck, catching a stand-up comedy show that their friend Brenda was performing in) before re-crossing Oneida Lake and returning to Baldwinsville to pull the boat out. Unfortunately, the rain in the forecast was causing a “rain on their boat parade”. They weren’t so opposed to traveling in the rain, but they were warned by friends Jane and Andy, way back on their first trip through Brewerton, that Oneida Lake was relatively shallow and could really kick up waves in bad weather. If it was earlier in the trip, and the Explorers had more flexibility, they could simply “wait it out” if the water was rough, however, with an appointment to pull the boat out in 6 days and the locks closing in 8 days, they made the responsible decision to stop moving east and to save the eastern branch of the Erie Canal for a future year. It just wasn’t worth putting themselves in the position of crossing the lake in bad weather, or worse, getting stuck on the wrong side of the locks. Had they not lingered so long in Rochester, with Sidekick Sue taking time off to go to girls’ weekend, they could have finished the whole canal, but they have no regrets, having seen many friends and family members. So, the end result, is that they decided to turn around and work their way back to Baldwinsville, even though it will mean holing up in the boat for a few extra days in the rain. With any luck, the rain won’t be constant, and they’ll be able to get out and walk and ride their bikes.
With the hard decisions made, the Explorers chose to enjoy the rest of their day in Sylvan Beach. The beach season was obviously over; almost all the restaurants and shops were shut down. They still enjoyed walking around the town and looking at the attractions. The beach was nearly empty. The amusement park was being disassembled and looked like a bunch of steel skeletons of what it must look like in the summer. They stopped at a fun consignment shop and bought a ceramic turkey to add to their Thanksgiving decorations. The Explorers intentionally scheduled this trip off-season in order to avoid the crowds and the trouble of finding places to dock. The downside of that is arriving at all the portside towns after they have “rolled up the sidewalks” for the summer. The Explorers don’t really mind, as this adventure is about exploring new places, not riding Ferris wheels, going to rowdy bars or roasting on the beach.
When they got back to the boat, they ran the generator for the first time on this entire adventure so they could cook dinner without draining the batteries, and left the generator running a little while more to charge up the batteries. Usually, they avoid using the generator at the dock because it is noisy, but there were no other boats nearby, and the restaurant across the way was closed. As they were cooking and eating, two HUGE (55’+) luxury yachts (generators blaring) parked in front of the Wayward Explorer; Captain Mark was envious of all the thrusters that allowed them to pull up to a space and just move sideways into the spot. The Explorers figured these huge vessels must be heading out east to the Hudson River to head somewhere warm, like the Bahamas, for the winter.
After dinner, the Explorers took another walk through the town to pick up something at Dollar General. There were a few more restaurants and bars open in the evening, so the town was a tad livelier, but it was still clearly off-season. The Explorers had a quiet evening… no TV in order to save battery power for lights and refrigeration.
Crossing Oneida Lake
Closed for the season — the amusement park at Sylvan Lake
Nearly deserted Sylvan Beach. Look closely to see one person at the edge of the water.
Some cute pastel beach houses on the beach.
Captain Mark can never resist a picture of the Wayward Explorer from a bridge.