Depart: Oswego O-7 Lock Wall 7:45
Arrive: Sackets Harbor - Navy Point Marina 12:35
Distance: 37 nm
Locks: 1 O-8
We decided we needed an early start today to beat the rain to our next destination. With rain coming, Clark decided to keep our travels relatively short and planned our next stop as Sackets Harbor. Finally we are heading into "new-to-us" territory on our Thousand Islands exploration trip.
Before leaving Oswego, Clark reminded me to add Canada to our phone plan to avoid roaming charges. We did that last night to cover ourselves. Even when in the U.S., if we get too close to a cell tower in Canada, we might incur an international roaming fee. With the plan in place, we have no such worries.
Shortly after leaving the O-7 wall, we encountered our last lock for the immediate future. With only a 10-foot drop, it did not take long to transit the lock. I only wish that the lines hanging from the lock walls had a few more inches of length to make it easier to hold onto them as the water drops.
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| Entering Lock O-8 for a 10' drop |
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| Lock O-8 - Oswego NY |
Exiting the Oswego Canal and entering Lake Ontario, we passed a lighthouse to mark our passage.
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| Oswego - West Pierhead Light at entrance to Lake Ontario |
Looking back at Oswego, as we crossed a relatively short stretch of Lake Ontario today, the smokestack belching smoke / steam was a landmark that we could see the whole way!
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| Looking back at Oswego, NY from Lake Ontario |
We did not have any sun for today's travels, but at least we did not have rain either. I thought the clouds interesting as they looked like a painter had dragged a brush across the sky to lazily mix bright white with shades of blue for a stunning effect.
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| Clouds over Lake Ontario |
Having become used to water depths in the teens on the canal system, I was surprised to see the depth sounder register 300 feet on the lake. Clark "poo-pooed" it when I pointed out the depth saying, "We've seen more than that." About ten minutes after I insisted on taking a picture, I saw a reading of 350 feet.
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| Depth - 300 feet |
The charts on the chart plotter do not give any depth details as we do not have detailed charts for the waters we are currently traveling. (Note the White water and the brown land shown on the chart plotter above , i.e. no depths) Luckily, Clark has paper charts as well as charts on his iPad, so we are covered.
Even with the stabilizers on the boat doing their job, we had some rocking today. Whether due to conditions or it being a Monday, we had Lake Ontario to ourselves for our crossing. At one point the AIS indicated another vessel to our port side about 10 miles away. Clark said he could just make out the boat on the horizon using binoculars.
As we approached Stony Point, near today' destination, I pointed out to Clark that I could see a boat up ahead. He pulled out the binoculars and said, "There are lots of them all around up there." Aw! Back to civilization!
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| Approaching Stony Point |
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| Stony Point |
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| Aptly-named Stony Point |
As we rounded the corner on our approach to Sackets Harbor, the wave action subsided.
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| Approaching Sackets Harbor, NY |
When Clark spoke to the dock master at Navy Point Marina, he said we would be docking starboard side on a fixed dock. He told us to back down the fairway between two docks and tie to the wall at the end. He had a dock hand waiting there to greet us. After seeing what they wanted him to do, Clark decided he needed to circle around to get into the right position to use the wind to assist with the docking. While he did that, I reset my too-low fenders.
As he backed down the fairway and saw the width of the space he had to maneuver in, I heard him say, "Will we even fit!?" It was definitely a cozy spot. I compared the docking job to parallel parking in a tight spot. I was at the stern to throw a line to the dock hand when Clark asked me about room at the bow to make the turn. I said, "I can't see the bow, but you have ten feet of space behind you."
He quickly decided to go astern and take advantage of every inch of it! As he got closer to the dock behind us, I counted down the feet. When he got close to one foot of space I told him he better stop in a hurry. I guess the dock master was impressed with our docking job which went extremely smoothly given the circumstances. He said, "Now, that's how it's done when someone knows how to handle their boat!" Yay team Woodworth!
Once again Clark timed our race against the weather just right. Not until after we docked did we see any serious rain. It kept us confined to the boat for a couple of hours after we docked, and when it let up, we jumped off to go for a walk into town for a look around.
We started at the battlefield site and then walked the main street.
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| Navy Point |
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| Battlefield Map |
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| Battlefield Marker Commemorating Fort Tompkins - War of 1812 |
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| View of Lake Ontario from Battlefield |
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| "Smoothbore Muzzle Loader Cannon" 1812-era, 12-pound British Long Gun found in the St. Lawrence River |
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| Lieutenant's House at Navy Point Battlefield |
Walking into town we found the visitor's center which was originally the home of the town's founder.
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| Home of Col. Augustus Sacket (now the visitor center) |
Since it was after 5:00, the visitor center was closed. We walked around the grounds and found a very impressive commemorative, carved stone saluting the men who carried a 4-ton cable 20 miles to the ship "Superior" from Sandy Creek Battlefield in June of 1814 .
Also, on the visitor's center grounds, ...
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| Smoothbore Carronade on display at visitor center Found in Sackets Harbor in 1905 Typically used on top deck of a U.S. Frigate during War of 1812 |
Continuing our walk through town, I noticed the lovely gardens. A extremely well-tended garden behind the antique shop had a most impressive display of flowers! It reminded me of an English garden in appearance. Pictures do not do it justice!
On our stroll, we found an ice cream stand. Clark asked their hours, checked out their flavors, and told them we would come back after dinner. They said they closed at 10:00, which for a town with very little action on a weeknight seemed pretty late.
Taking a walk through town felt like going back in time. The well-preserved buildings reflect history with many proudly showing their date of construction.
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| Preserved home - built 1810 |
Wednesday 7/25/2018
Sackets Harbor, NY
No boat travel.
With rain predicted for today, we made the decision last night to stay here in Sackets Harbor for an extra night. We had more territory we could explore here if the weather gave us a window to do so. The rain came and went throughout the morning. I took advantage of the down time to do laundry while waiting for clearer skies and our hoped-for trip into town.
Finally, mid-afternoon, the skies cleared sufficiently that Clark said we should head out for our walk to take advantage of the break in the inclement weather. We headed back to the visitor center to see what they had to offer and from there continued on to the barracks on the northeast side of town. On our way there, we passed more buildings dating to the early 1800s.
We learned at the Visitor's Center that the town's boat-building and tourism businesses had all failed during the Great Depression. The buildings in town in the years that followed showed the lack of funds for upkeep. In the 1970s, however, an Historical Society was founded and, the members started the restoration process with one building in town.
Their success motivated others to do the same. Now, the town shows the pride that the folks have in the town. Many old buildings have been re-purposed. The old barracks, for example, are now privately-owned apartment buildings.
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| Built 1818 |
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| Brick decks on side of 1818 home |
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| "Old Mill" Bed & Breakfast |
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| Old Guard Gates at Entry to Madison Barracks apartments |
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| Army barracks converted to apartments |
On our walk around the barracks area, we explored the Fort Pike grounds.
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| Still-existing Lines of defense for Fort Pike |
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| View of Lake Ontario from Fort Pike grounds |
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| Parade Grounds with Officers' Quarters in Background |
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| Sign commemorating the water tower built to bring "pure" water from Lake Ontario two miles into town. I wonder how "pure" it really was. |
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| Observation / Water Tower |
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| as seen from a distance |
On our walk we saw one building converted into a fitness center for the barracks apartments as well as one that is now a hotel.
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| YMCA Health Club |
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| Marina Inn & Suites |
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| Madison Barracks Marina |
Boating on Lake Ontario is a critical source of money into Sackets Harbor's economy. I guess we are doing our part to help the town by coming to visit.
After our long walk exploring both the navy and the army forts at Sackets Harbor, we returned to the boat. As we entered the marina, we could look across the harbor to see where we had just visited.
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| Looking across the harbor at Restored buildings near Fort Pike in Sackets Harbor, NY |
We had our raincoats with us for our walk in case we got a downpour along the way. For parts of the walk it did rain lightly, but I preferred to be wet to hot. We both had our hats and that seemed to suffice to keep us reasonably dry and comfortable.
Later in the day, the skies even offered an opportunity for a sunset picture today. Something we had no hope of seeing yesterday.
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Sunset at Sackets Harbor, NY |
Thanks for sharing!
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