We did it! It really feels like our trip has finally begun. Melissa gave a great update yesterday that really captured how much transpired in the past few days. It was dramatic with massive highs and lows. The border issue was a memory that will stick with me forever. All I can say is a massive thank you to the customs supervisor and the border officer who made that call.

I also want to note just how professional and competent the team is at Oswego Marina. It starts with Bernie…I don’t often get envious of someone but I sure am of Bernie. He possess that rare quality of simply being cool and calm at all times. The dude showed up wearing a fantastic aloha shirt, looking as if he just came from Jimmy Buffett concert. This man deals with “skippers” who likely tell him every day what to do and yet has vastly more knowledge than any of them. And how does he handle it? Well. Calmly. Professionally. This is not a skill I possess. Anyway, they’re great. They did a great job and I’m going to leave an online review because people like me should know they can relax and leave it to this great team.

And now on to the locks! We got a bit of a later start than we had hoped as we were simply exhausted and needed to deal with a clogged sanitation hose. It’s still clogged. 🤷‍♂️ We were also a bit concerned by the radar which had a lot of green and a fair amount of yellow and a smattering of red. We decided we’d plunge in to the locks and perhaps tie up after the 1st or 3rd lock if things started to go sideways with the weather.

The first lock was everything you’d imagine. Cool AF. Anxiety producing. Fun! Tough! With 2 kids, a dog that decided he’d start doing laps around the deck while locking through, unpredictable currents and 2 adults who’d never done this before, the first few locks were a learning experience. No damage other than my own bruised ego after I dropped my boat hook in to the lock. Both boys were really entranced by the first few locks. By the third lock they’d completely moved on. Melissa and I still enjoyed the marvel that these things are. The engineering, being just feet away from a waterfall while on your boat, it was all just so cool. But, as expected and as we’d been warned, it becomes a bit of a chore. And we’ve only done 8 locks so far. We’ve got 22 more to go. We’re getting better. We’re making use of our fenders and know we’ll be fine. But I can’t say I’m excited to do 22 more locks. No matter, Melissa and I are really enjoying this.

The feeling of accomplishment once we were tied up was pleasant. We had just experienced something we had only ever read about and had achieved our goal of getting through the entire Oswego in one day. It had poured rain for the final 3 hours and the boys had gone below and enjoyed the fruits of my cellular internet system…streaming Disney+ in 4k on the TV down below while Mom and Dad managed things in the pouring rain. Once tied up we kicked on the dehumidifier and fired up the oven for dinner, nicely warming and drying out the cabin. Melissa and I cracked a couple of Coors Lights and took some deep breaths. This was a good day. A hard day. A fun day.

We’re currently in Brewerton, NY at the head of Lake Oneida. We’re taking a day off today. We need it. Everyone needs to get off the boat, the boys need some attention and mom and dad need a mental health day. We plan to walk in to the town to kill some time, straighten up the boat and do some administrative work. Tomorrow we’ll cross Lake Oneida first thing in the morning to try to beat any sort of winds that stir up mean little waves. After yesterday’s 8 hour transit we’ve pledged to try to keep the future days to no more than 6 hours. That should get us through the Erie Canal in 4 days at that pace. Then it will be a few days in Catskill, NY as we do some rig maintenance and then step the mast. Then it’s down the Hudson, the promised night on anchor next to the Stature of Liberty (please cooperate, weather! Not sure the kids will be able to handle that disappointment…), NYC and on to LIS and seeing friends. And that much needed generator repair.