Day 6 Oswego Canal

Day 6 Oswego Canal:  We now have traveling companions.  The couple we met last night suggested we travel together as much as possible though with our timeframe vs. theirs we know we will have to leave them      behind at some point along the way.  Certainly today we navigated the Oswego Canal together.  The two captains exchanged boating knowledge last night, and my captain was excited to learn of some free navigation software online which he downloaded before leaving our overnight dockage point.

The continually flow of water into the “basement” of the boat aka bilge is a constant concern.  The captain spent several hours last night trying to isolate the root cause and thus far it is inconclusive as to where the water originates from.  In our home boating territory, we boat in salt water, and the captain uses the fact that water is fresh or salt water to help diagnose problems.  Here we have fresh water and fresh water so no help in that quarter.  Before leaving the marina this morning, the captain bought a length of exhaust hose (4” diameter x 27.5” long) as “insurance”.  The marina was a good one to stay at since they work on boats and sell repair items, so having them cut the exhaust pipe to size was not a big deal. 

If you read one of my earlier blogs, I talked about the captain calling a friend to meet him at a raft-up with a length of exhaust hose.  That was several years ago and that was the starboard side.  The exhaust hose on the port side has never been replaced, so it is a potential source of the water appearing in the bottom of the boat.  I guess we’ll see what happens but I may find myself in the engine compartment helping to uninstall / install exhaust hoses.   Yay!  Can’t wait for that vacation treat!

Sleeping last night was problematic.  First the captain was up until who-only-knows what hour poking around the engine compartment / bilge trying to isolate his leak, and then during the night the temperature dropped into the 50’s.   I was too sleepy and too cold to get myself out of bed for another blanket so instead I was just chilly and uncomfortable all night long.  When we got up, we dressed in long-sleeved shirts and jeans only to discover that the main salon was toasty warm due to the sun having heated it up for us.  We quickly changed to our short-sleeved shirts and shorts and discovered at the first lock of the day that we were very glad we had changed to cooler clothing.  Fickle weather!

The trip along the Oswego Canal was picturesque and should have been a very relaxing ride; however, during the trip, the captain monitored the bilge for water seepage.  After we went through Lock 5 we heard a high-pitched screech (twice) that we couldn’t identify followed by a vibration of the boat.  The captain decided that we might have picked up some of the floating weeds or snagged a log, so before we got to the next lock, he slowed the vessel and then ran the boat in reverse to see if he could dislodge anything that might be caught underneath.  After that we didn’t hear any more screeching or feel vibrating, so we thought we were okay.  Then a little further down the way I heard a thunk, looked out the back of the boat, and saw one of those rather large branches we’ve been taking pictures of.  I thought it might have hit a prop, but the captain felt it more likely that the branch had struck the hull, so he went down below while I steered to see if he could see any damage, i.e. any more leaks in our boat. 

In addition to our adventures with the hull, leaks, and noises, the captain has been concerned with the new battery we purchased for the trip.  It appears to be over-charging, so as we were going along, the captain was reading the Yanmar Engine Maintenance book to see if he could disconnect the alternator from the battery to stop the over-charging.  When we hit the branch, the captain was taking a picture.  We’re lucky we didn’t hit anything while he was reading the manual.  He was able to “pull the plug” to disconnect the alternator and is happy with the results.  He said that the impacted battery is only used to start the engines whereas our other battery is used for a variety of purposes. 

We made it through 8 locks today and we are in Oswego right on Lake Ontario.  Tomorrow we will cross to Kingston, Canada.  I had to laugh when the captain said the weather report is for “2 foot seas”.  For those of you who have read my earlier post by this name, you’ll know why I suffer from skepticism regarding how calm that trip across will be.  I believe I heard someone say the trip is 52 miles.  We will cross at, most likely, 14 kts so somewhere close to 4 hours. 

I may try to find a Laundromat tonight to wash out one load of clothes before going into Canada.  The dock hand said he knows there is a Laundromat in Oswego but he doesn’t know where, so picture me with my laundry and Wisk wandering around town trying to find it.   Actually, I guess that’s why they have the internet and gps so there should be very little wandering aimlessly these days.  Well, the captain says that even though we are tied up for the night we have to move to a different marina which is cheaper, so here we go again!