We found the "Lady Jane" for sale on the internet in February, 2000. Right away we knew that this boat had to be ours. So we made the phone calls and arranged to see her....
Yes!! It was everything we had hoped for....LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!!
So we made an offer and then got her surveyed - all systems go! Soon it was April, and time to actually close and SEA TRIAL our new boat!
Jane and I took the day off from work and packed up the car for the LONG 4 hour drive to our new boat. The sea trial was wonderful, except for the 2 ft waves that had the seller a bit nervous!
So...now the sea trial is done, the boat is paid for, guess what - WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET HER HOME!!
THE PLAN...
We decide that we are going to take her home under her own power...GREAT! Except for one minor detail - The Great Sacandaga Lake is landlocked! SO...we contract with a boat transporter to take the boat overland 30 miles to the Mohawk River/Erie Canal.
We will then take the boat through 17 locks on the Erie Canal, through Lake Onieda, and eventually end up on Lake Ontario in Oswego. From there it will be 60 miles to our home port of Braddocks Bay. Total trip distance will be about 200 miles....LETS GET STARTED!!
THE TRIP BEGINS...
May 5 2000 - we pack up the van with food, supplies, kids, dogs and my unfortunate friend, Jeff, who I coerced into coming with us to drive the van back home. We arrive at the boat at around 10pm. Unpack the van, check all systems on the boat, stow our gear, walk the dogs and it's time to tuck in for the night and dream about our trip!
May 6 2000 - saturday morning. We wake up at 6 am and start readying the boat for her voyage - we take down canvas and radar dome. The transporter arrives at around 8:30 and loads the boat on a tri-axle trailer, straps her down and away we go! Jane and I follow behind our boat, Jeff rides with the transporter. The boat launch goes great, Jeff takes the van and we are on our way!!
We start around noon heading for home....
The journey that day is very nice - weather was warm and sunny. We pass through many locks and the villages of Fultonville, and Little Falls. About 3 pm, we are motoring along and the engine all of a sudden revs up...OH-OH!! What could be wrong now?? We stop the boat, check everything and start again. Hit 3000 rpms and same thing...lower throttle to 2500 rpms and everything is fine. We spun the prop hub!! A frantic search through the boat confirms my suspicions...no spare prop! Oh well, 2500 rpms will get me 9.5 mph...good enough for the canal. We decide to carry on and keep on eye on it. If it gets worse, we will arrange repairs, otherwise, we decide to continue and get it fixed when we arrive home.
We tie up for the night at the public docks in Herkimer...free dockage and power, but no restrooms. Beggars can't be choosy! That night we cranked up the a/c on the boat. Jane and Robbie walked to Burger King and got us Whoppers and fries for dinner. We followed that up with hot showers before calling it a night...We LOVE this boat!! A/C and hot showers were something we only dreamed about on our last boat..
May 6 2000 - sunday morning. We wake up once again at around 6 to get to the first lock by 7am. We talk to the sailboat owners docked behind us and they will be leaving and traveling with us today. We both pull out at around 6:30 and head to the first lock.
The journey today takes us through much wilderness. Not much of anything to see but forests on either side of the canal. We pass just outside of Utica, not close enough to see much. Locking is becoming second nature to us now, and the crew is doing a great job of locking us through with no problems. We stop in Sylvan beach for some fuel. Sylvan beach is right at the end of Oneida Lake, and there are boats everywhere here. We are not used to seeing other boats! After loading up with gas and water, we head out to Lake Onieda. WOW, was it rough!! We knew we were in for a ride when the sheriffs boat cruising next to us turns around and goes back in!! 20 knot winds out of the west made for a good 2-3 foot chop. It takes us about 3 hours to go the length of the lake - the boat comes through like a champ.
We make lock 23 at the end of Oneida lake and then make a right turn onto the Oswego River. After going through the first lock, we are out of time for the day (locks close at 5:30 this time of year!) and we tie up for the night on the wall at the second lock in Fulton. That night we have no power, so we walk into town for pizza at the local Pizza hut. When we returned to the boat, we listened to CD's and played a rousing game of Scrabble, Captain Ron beats the pants off the crew!!
May 7 2000 - monday morning. The usual, we wake at 6am and prepare for the day's voyage. 7 more locks to Lake Ontario! We arrive at the first lock right at 7am, where the lockmaster greets us and whisks us on our way. All of the lockmasters on our trip were friendly (or at least smiled at us!). The Oswego River is beautiful, we saw much wildlife here intermixed with huge houses set on enormous green lawns. The river twists and turns, very unlike the straight Mohawk River. After lock 3, we make our approach to the next lock. When I try to hail lock 4 on the VHF, I get no response. Guess what - there is no lock 4! I talked with the lockmaster about why no lock 4, and he explained that when the designed the canal they had built in a lock 4. However, as they began building the locks and damns they discovered they didn't need a lock 4. Since some of the locks where already in place, they decided just to skip the number 4....he said with a laugh that a running joke with the lockmasters is the opportunity to get assigned to lock 4!
After 3 more locks we are there! Beautiful Lake Ontario awaits the Lady Jane! We motor out of the last lock into the Oswego Harbor. At the entrance to the Lake there is a very picturesque lighthouse, which of course, we had to take a photo of. Our GPS reads 60 miles to Braddocks Bay, so we point the Lady Jane westward and begin the last leg of our voyage. Since we are still limited to 9.5 mph, this trip takes us about 6 hours to complete. Halfway home, we a deluged with FLIES on the bridge!! Help!! The captian and crew take quick refuge in the cabin - thank goodness for a dual-station boat!! We continue the rest of the trip below, listening to CD's and talking about what a great trip this has been! At around 3:30, we pull into Braddocks Bay....The Lady Jane is home!!
