Lake Oneida - Sylvan Beach

We left Ilion early, ready to make our way to Lake Oneida, the largest Lake in New York State. Sylvan Beach is a tourist town and a favorite free stop for Loopers. The waterway is lined on each side with a long fixed pier. Boats tie off with little room to spare between them. No electricity is available, but many boats carry generators. It is a busy place!

Approaching Lock 21 through a rock cut

Passing Utica, NY

While waiting for lock 21 in Rome to open, a big red Tug came up behind us. When we exited the lock we saw that it was Antares Star out of Hudson, Wisconsin the town just across the St. Croix River from where we live in Minnesota. We chatted with Captain Walt on the vhf.

Locks 21 and 22 lower boats rather than raise them. Going down in a lock is much gentler than going up. These two locks dropped us to the Western Erie Canal where the landscape changed dramatically and led us toward Lake Oneida.

As we approached the dog leg turn at Fish Creek, the boat traffic increased. We navigated the narrow left turn, then all hell broke loose. Hundreds of boats were coming at us from every direction. Everyone was going relatively slow in the no-wake zone but there was so much chaos it took our breath away. It was like entering a time warp into a different world.

The free wall is 700 feet long on the north side and 500 on the south. We looked for an opening on the north side so we'd be facing west. Antares Star was already tied to the wall. Captain Walt helped us into a sizeable opening. We motioned to Brian to bring Serenity in behind us. Osimo snagged a corner spot at the end of the wall. During all the commotion, we saw Heath and Joy, (from Canajoharie), cruise by in the opposite direction. They yelled a greeting to us as they slipped in front of Osimo. There was a lot going on.

Serenity keeping her eyes on Mystic at Sylvan Beach

Mystic at Sylvan Beach

Mystic and Serenity at the Sylvan Beach wall

Antares Star at Sylvan Beach

We sat on the wall next to Osimo, enjoying dock tails and relaxing after our chaotic arrival. The entire wall was full but boats arrived and departed continuously. We helped many boats tie off while we were at Sylvan Beach. The famous tug Manatee, was docked across from us on the south wall. Sarah and Ted are continuous Loopers who are on their 31st circumnavigation of the eastern United States. They told us it's already taken them an extra month to transit the Erie Canal this year, due to all the lock closings!

Little Manatee on the north wall
Manatee on the south across the canal

In the morning, we set off to explore the town. Sylvan Beach has a permanent Carnival, restaurants and gift shops that attract tourists. It is a resort town. There's a public beach with vendors who lease jet skis, showing them off by doing consecutive flips just outside the swimming area. Over 300 Corvettes were on display in the park. There was a silent auctions and an art festival. We'd arrived on a busy weekend!

A row of nice rides

One of our favorites

Beautiful home across from Sylvan Beach wall

Sylvan Beach Fun House

Lake House

Lake House

Marker 106 Garden

Park Fountain

It's July but the Mayflies are everywhere

Sylvan Beach sits along the shore of the beautiful Lake Oneida. Boats anchor off the beach near the Lake House. The people along the shoreline stop to stare then take videos of the fun! The water is shallow. We went for a swim to cool off and found we had to walk far from the beach just to get completely wet. 

Boats anchored off of the Lake House

Wading in shallow water at Sylvan Beach

We really enjoyed this stop, spending two days on the wall as we waited for the big lake to calm. It's relatively shallow, with an average depth of 22 feet. It is known for white water waves on windy days. As we prepare to cross we look forward to the western half of the Erie Canal.