PLANNING THE CANADA LOOP

Saturday, July 22, 2023

I bought Freedom in the summer of 2020, and over the last three years, I’ve taken her from Maine to the Dry Tortugas, up the west coast of Florida, east to Nantucket, north to Lake Champlain, and across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

Each of those trips was easier to plan than our current journey –which I’ve come to think of as the Little Loop…folks up here call it the Triangle Loop.

We’ve been surprised by the number of folks we’ve run into who set out on this journey with only a skeleton plan – playing it by ear.  That is NOT me.  I am a planner.  I enjoy the process of planning; it is enjoyable to anticipate a trip or vacation in advance; and it increases my confidence as we depart.

But this one was tough.  I am accustomed to traveling the Atlantic ICW, where you can find everything you need in just a few documents, but this has required us to construct our own mile-by-mile guide on a lengthy Excel spreadsheet. (now 14 pages)  We had to note our allowed speed every mile of the trip, and then plug in each marina / anchorage / tie-up spot along the way. And one final complaint: despite all our efforts, the information is STILL incomplete.  We are STILL learning critical pieces of information from folks who have traveled this route before us.

We didn’t bother to stop at Uncle Joe’s Trading Post, but it might have been fun!

Having said all that (sorry for the rant) the last few days have been a PLEASURE.  The Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal were lovely, and the lockkeepers couldn’t have been nicer.  

One of the prettiest locks we went through on thru on the Oswego Canal-

there’s a dam at every lock which makes sense or it would be a rough ride!

After our stay at the Lock 22 wall, we motored on to Oswego, NY, on the shore of Lake Ontario, where we celebrated with a filet mignon dinner that Lynn cooked on board.  She is amazing. 

Today (Sunday), we took a weather delay, waiting for optimal conditions on Lake Ontario, and once again, we lucked out!  The captain on the sportsfisherman in the next slip is a Marine Surveyor!  He checked out the damage from Lock 9 and suggested some repairs we could do ourselves, which we did.  (Rod is amazing, in case I haven’t said that before!)

So we leave tomorrow for Clayton, NY, in the heart of the Thousand Islands!