Baldwinsville

We left the wall at Sylvan Beach at 9:00 with Osimo following us across Lake Oneida. Brian on Serenity decided to stay behind. He needed to wait for the Oswego Canal to open; he's not interested in going to Canada like most Loopers. Instead, it will take him home to Sodus Bay, New York where he will cross his wake and complete his Great Loop Adventure. We bid him farewell and wished him safe travels. It was a pleasure sharing part of our Loop with Brian.

Heading out across Lake Oneida

It took us about 3.5 hours to make the crossing. We had wind in our face all morning but the trip was pleasant. We stopped at Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton. Bob and Sue wanteded to talk to a painter about work on Osimo. The gas prices were better than we'd seen in some time so we fueled our boats and filled our water tanks. Someone was flying a drone above us; of course, we waved exuberantly. A man approached me and asked if he could interview me for a video he was making for the Winter Harbor Marina website. He staged me in front of Mystic and made sure he got her in the video. 

Attaching the microphone

Preparing the camera

The Interview

Staging Mystic

We left Bob and Sue at Winter Harbor and continued on to Baldwinsville. Osimo is faster than Mystic; we knew they would catch up to us by days end. In fact, as we approached Lock 24, I got a message from Sue saying, "We're right on your tail." We couldn't see them in the serpentine channel but we told the lock Master that they were coming and asked if he would wait. 

The western part of the Erie Canal is beautiful. It took us away from the highway and out into farm country. We saw a ton of wildlife including American and bald eagles, osprey, swans, green herons and our first sightings of turtles on the Canal. It appeared to be a thing for the locals to put mannequins out to wave at the boats passing by. Bob told us he waved back at more than one. We passed the cut off to the Oswego Canal and the cutoff to Syracuse and the Finger Lakes. We even passed sailboat Treasure of Pleasure; this boat was with us at Waterford. It's always fun to see people we've met before.

Osprey carrying a fish

Treasure of Pleasure

No Wake - Slow down Bitches

Blue heron fishing in the reeds

The half house

Turtles on a log

Swan Pair

House along canal with "anchor" tree

We arrived at the Baldwinsville free dock and were greeted by John and Kathy on the Kadey Krogen, Free Spirit. They had been stranded here, all alone for almost two weeks. They told us that the Locks closed just as they arrived. Unfortunately, they were east of the lock and needed to get to the west side to benefit from the free wall with electric. They were very lucky to be allowed through after the closing was issued. Had they not, they would have been in the position we were in at Canajoharie, only for a longer period of time. 

The Baldwinsville free wall sits right next to the historic Riverside cemetery. An early settler, John McHarie, was the first to be buried there in 1807 in the section referred to as the Old Yard. Eventually, two private cemeteries were created next to it. One encircled the Old Yard; it was called Riverside Cemetery. Eventually, all three were combined. There are now over 12,000 graves. We walked through and marveled at the interesting monuments. There is a walking path between our boats and the cemetery. It is popular with the locals. We meet new people every day! They are fascinated by our little boat community and love to chat. 

John and Kathy organized a Looper Dock Tale party. We met Loopers Paige and Jim off of LegaSea, Jim and Kelly on Ecclesiastes and Marvin and Nancy off Crimson Tug. We also met Brian and Mary on sailboat Windward Passage. They are full time cruisers who were headed east. They fit in perfectly with the looper crowd. We formally met Ted and Sarah on Manatee. We'd been playing leap frog with them on the Canal up until now.

Dock tales getting started

The Wall

The Baldwinsville Lineup

Our Baldwinsville Fleet

Osimo and Mystic next to Riverside Cemetery

Manatee at Baldswinville

Sue and Bob Keehne - Osimo

The low spot at Locks 29 and 30 are just a few stops ahead of us. Word came down from the west that the free walls and marinas were full of boats unable to move further through the canal. We knew we had to decide whether we should stay or continue to get closer to the shutdown. The Baldwinsville free dock was more appealing to us. The cost of $5/day for electricity was hard to beat. The town is nearby and full of wonderful options to occupy our time. It was an easy decision to stay and explore this cute little canal town instead of moving up to overcrowded areas. 

We took a walk into town to explore. The historic homes were beautiful and reminded us of our home in Stillwater, Minnesota. We stopped for ice cream at Jessi-Cakes, a bakery and ice cream boutique. We had a haystack breakfast dish called a Freeda, at B'ville Diner, an authentic old greasy spoon. The food was delicious. We went for long walks into the old part of town as well as to the edge of town to find groceries. Like Canajoharie, we settled in. Baldwinsville became home for a few days.

Sign next to the cemetary

B'ville Diner Juke Box

B'ville Old Style Diner

The waterfront in Baldwinsville has a lovely park and amphitheater. The bathrooms are clean and have showers that cost .25 to unlock the door. We were delighted to have this luxury so close even though we had to walk over the Lock bridge to take advantage of it. The park sits next to the Seneca River Dam. A ton of water passes through right next to lock 24. 

Amphitheatre Park

Baldwinsville Amphitheater

Seneca River Dam

We love local Farmer's Markets, and for once, we were in town for one. We purchased fresh corn, squash, zucchini and cucumbers. We also purchased 5 pounds of raw honey for our son who brews Mead. Several of the Loopers made their way to WT Brews Microbrewery for a cold one. We sat outside under the shade of an umbrella and chatted about boats and cruising. 

On our third day at Baldwinsville, we sat together with our neighbors, enjoying dock tales and munchies. Everyone was telling Looper stories. Word came, via Notices to Mariners, that Locks 29 and 30 would open in the morning. We were free to depart this lovely place. We'd all be heading in different directions, knowing that some of us would run into each other again along the way and others we may never see again. A sigh of relief and anticipation rippled through our group. 

Good night Lock 24

Baldwinsville was one of our favorite stops. We loved the small town vibe, the history and the beautiful parks. The Looper community was the largest group since we were in Waterford. We were there long enough to get to know the town but not so long that we felt "stuck".