By the Time We Got to Phoenix...

...we kept on going! Phoenix, NY, that is.

John says:

Phoenix was too close to Brewerton to stop because we lost a day at Brewerton; not due to inclement weather but to purchase a generator. I met a guy named Matt (in the slip next to us at Brewerton) who told me that everybody who visits the Thousand Islands has a portable generator if the one on their boat died like mine, or if their boat was too small to accommodate one. The marina owner was kind enough to let me use their van to go to WalMart and Home Depot to get a portable generator. I stowed it on the flybridge and it is out of the way yet easy to access and works great. Hoping the problem of the generator was solved we passed through lock 23 on the Erie Canal before heading up the Oswego river (canal) and two more locks to stop at Fulton. We got to Fulton as what seemed like the heavens opened up and we were drenched with, guess what, that's right, more rain. We had little time to check out the town and it's empty stores but had a nice dinner before dodging more raindrops.

The next day we left Fulton and went up the Oswego River, through five more locks and docked at the Oswego Marina. The wind gave us some trouble entering, within, and exiting the locks but Holly and I have learned what to do and how to handle this kind of situation. I guess one scrape on the side, which after cleaning proved very minor, is all it takes. We docked right next to the Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection patrol boats and they had four three hundred horsepower outboard engines on each 33 foot boat. The boats were a type of inflatable with aluminum housing. I asked them how it was in thunderstorms and they said that if they are not in pursuit they were to return to the dock in such a storm. Hey, good thinking as the entire boat was a lightning-rod! We had to stay another day at Oswego because of, guess what, rain and wind. The lake (Ontario) was too rough because of the wind. So, we had dinner and lunch in town.

We departed today for Association Island. We had 1 to 2 foot seas and swells that were 3 to 5 feet high and the boat handled the conditions admirably except in the following sea which you (boaters) know is always a pain in the rear (ha, ha). Association Island is not what it was promoted to be and we will be leaving here for Clayton and Alexandria Bay either tomorrow or the next day, depending on, of course, the weather.

Holly says:

The photo top right is the sunset as seen from Patz' Restaurant at the Oswego Marina. Oh yeah, the forecast for tomorrow is... RAIN!! :-(