Great Escape: June 13 to June 16 - Oswego NY to Clayton NY

June 13th - Leaving Minetto, we headed through the last of the Oswego Canal locks toward Oswego and Lake Ontario. We arrived around noon on the 13th, locking through the last lock with a sailboat from Nice, France. We stayed the night on the west side of Oswego Harbor at the municipal dock which had electrical power. During the evening, the winds shifted around and were coming from the north, which meant Lake Ontario was blowing into Oswego harbor. A very uncomfortable night with Donald the only one getting any sleep (that submarine training came in handy). At 7 AM on the the 14th we moved the boat over to the east side of the harbor where there was no electrical power but a much more protected mooring, which meant that Teresa and the Boyz could get some sleep.

On the 14th, we rented a car, picked up our repaired propeller, and finished some last minute shopping.
On June 15th, we were underway from Oswego to Sackets Harbor, NY. It was still quite rough departing Oswego and the Boyz were giving us that look again, but it settled out for a pretty pleasant ride. Sackets Harbor is a charming, quaint and historical community on Black River Bay. When the US declared war on Great Britian in 1812, Sackets Harbor became the headquarters of the US military northern frontier. Thousands of troops and hundreds of ship carpenters poured in to the village, transforming it into a major military outpost and shipbuilding center. Sackets Harbor was attacked by the Canadian Provincial Marines in July 1812. In 1813, it was attacked again by the British and Canadian Forces in an effort to destroy its shipbuilding capability. However, the attack was defeated, but with great difficulty. Sackets Harbor continued to play a part in every major war through World War II. The battlefield and some of the original Navy Yard houses have been preserved. The town itself was very quaint, with several nice restaurants. We stayed at Navy Point Marine which was very nice but certainly a "sailboat haven."

On June 16th we moved on to Clayton, NY. We are now on the St. Lawerance Seaway and saw our fisrt couple of Great Lake carriers, the large ships that ply the lakes. Clayton is home to The Antique Boat Museum. What a find!! We have seen "Old Boat" museums in the past, but none of them came close to the number and diversity of boats that Clayton possessed. You will see lots of pictures below of old boats and motors, but two in particular were "La Duchesse," a 106' house boat that was built by Mr. Boldt of Boldt Castle fame. Although he never finished his castle, he spent many summers entertaining on this houseboat. It never had any means of propulsion and was towed wherever he needed it. The boat sank a couple of times and has been restored in great fashion. The other eye-catcher was the "CANGARDA", which is owned by a couple in Maine. Although it is not part of the Antique Boat Museum, it was moored at their facility. Check out the varnish !!

Tomorrow we are underway for Canada.