Hello, Great Lakes!

Today we boated in the rain through our last section of the Erie Canal, turned right at “Three Rivers” and cruised the Oswego Canal north to the city of Oswego on the shore of Lake Ontario.

Rhonda has become a pro using lines or cables to keep R&R at the lock wall despite wind and turbulence. Our first set of Erie Canal locks lifted us to Upstate New York mountain heights; today’s eight Oswego Canal locks dropped us 118 feet.

With the eight Oswego Canal locks we passed through today, we have locked through a total of 69 locks.

It felt good/familiar to see the “Big Lake” at the mouth of the Oswego River. Tomorrow we plan to enter Lake Ontario and head west toward Rochester or maybe beyond, taking advantage of low wind and waves.

Voyage summary from the Captain’s Log:

R&R: Oswego, New York – Westbound

Departed: September 8, 2019, Holland, Michigan

Travel:
-97 travel days
-654 total days since departure (including COVID delay)
-5,320 total miles
-512 total hours
-54 average miles per day
-5.2 average travel hours per day

Fuel:
-6442 gallons of diesel fuel
-14 average gallons of fuel per hour
-0.7 average miles per gallon of fuel

Locks: 69

Anchorages: 5

Waterways Traveled: Lake Michigan, Calumet River, Cal-Sag Channel, Illinois River, Mississippi River, Ohio River, Tennessee River, Tenn-Tom Waterway, Tombigbee River, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Gulf of Mexico crossing from Florida Panhandle to Tarpon Springs, Anclote River (Tarpon Springs), Manatee River (Bradenton), Caloosahatchee River (Fort Myers), Marco River (Marco Island), Gulf of Mexico crossing to/from Florida Keys (4x), Indian Key Pass/Barron River (Everglades City), Gordon River (Naples), Caloosahatchee River (Fort Myers), Okeechobee Waterway, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, Atlantic Ocean, Hudson River, Erie Canal, Oswego Canal.

Adventures, Lessons, Smiles, Friends, Blessings: Still too many to count!