Mike and Beth's Adventures

Departing Oswego to cross Lake Ontario June 22nd, 2022 We are always a bit anxious prior to crossing a large body of water.  It is probably a control thing.  What makes us anxious is weather.  Conditions can change.  You can start a voyage with acceptable weather, and then Mother Nature changes her mind.  The longer the duration of your voyage the higher the risk that conditions can change.  To counteract this, you prepare for the worst and hope for the best.  We did our preparations, put everything away that could get tossed around in rough seas, triple checked the forecast against our criteria of winds less than 15 knots and seas less than 2 feet.  All looked good, so we cast off and headed 54 miles north to the far side. We were fortunate.  Mother Nature was kind.  The winds remained between 10 and 15 knots, and seas we mostly less than 2 feet.  All in all - a good passage.  One of a Ranger Tug's characteristics is that trav...

Mike and Beth at Oswego Lock 2 in Fulton New York June 21st -25th, 2022 We turned right when the Erie Canal headed left.  This route took us to the shores of Lake Ontario and set us up for our crossing in to Canada.  This is a major milestone on our odyssey.   Life is about choices - We chose Oswego as our next destination Phoenix: Small Town America As we walked around the charming town of Phoenix New York, John Mellencamp's song,   Small Town  , kept running through our minds.  The town is a celebration of community, people who work hard, and strive to make the world a better place for themselves and their kids.  It also reminds me of the small midwest town in which I spent the first ten years of my life - over a half a century ago.  We loved it! The first thing we noticed when we arrived was how much effort the town invested in making their waterfront welcoming.  After being on a boat all day, getting off the boat and on to shore...

We departed Little Falls New York along with 4 other Boats The weather and wind finally cooperated to provide a good travel day.  Our time in Little Falls was well spent.  We enjoyed exploring the area by foot and bike.  After a couple of days in one spot, the travel lust returned and we get antsy about moving.  This was fueled by the arrival of blue skies and light winds.  Time to move on! We made an effort to pump out at the Little Falls city dock prior to departure.  With the Docents assistance, we just couldn't get the pump out to work.  So we had to "catch-up" to the rest of the gang before their arrival at the next lock.  We arrived just as they were loading, so we were able to lock through with the group. We passed through the town of Ilion.  It has a free wall at which boaters can tie to spend the night.  We also passed through Utica and Oriskany. The convoy passed under a railroad bridge to load the next Lock.   In thi...