Adventures on Slàinte Mhath

Day 12: July 30: We awoke to a beautiful morning; clear skies and comfortable temperatures in the 70's. Compared to yesterday's foggy, overcast skies and torrential rain today is glorious. This is a picture of our view from our tie up. Once we pass under this bridge we will head to our eventual destination, the town of Phoenix. We are still on the Oneida River which flows 18 miles from Oneida Lake's outlet to Three Rivers Junction.    We took a quick walk to a local convenience store to pick up milk and eggs. We thought we would walk around a bit more but there isn't much to see in Brewerton so we headed back to the boat and got ready to get UW. We headed to Winter Harbor Marina about one mile from Brewerton to take on fuel and water and pump out. I highly recommend this marina. It is a America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association (AGLCA) sponsor, offering members excellent service and prices. The young man handling the dock could not have been more attentive, he...

 Day 10: July 28: At about 5:30 a.m. I heard John get up and open up the engine room. Down he went to investigate the squeaking noise. After rumbling around down there he poked his head up and announced that the alternator was gone. It appears the bearings let go, resulting in destruction. And so the day began. In the meantime, Jonathan and Morgan got UW about 6:00 a.m. I'm sure they will have a smooth crossing of Oneida Lake; the skies are clear and the water is calm. We were sad to see them go as it's been fun having a buddy boat traveling with us through the canal! We will have to find someone else to play Blokus and Bananagrams with! Back to the alternator. Luckily for us we had alternators onboard. John got them out and noted the previous owner had them packed away with notation about them having been rebuilt. One was a perfect replica. He spent 4 or 5 hours taking the old alternator off and installing the new one. Removing an old part is never easy as it seems every bolt...

Day 7: July 25 . We woke to thick fog today and cooler temperatures. For a moment it felt like we were back home on Horseneck Road where our view to Cuttyhunk is often obscured by fog.  Not wanting to travel right away John started to work on making a screen for the bow window. We already have screens on the v-berth and state room hatches but if we intend on leaving the bow window or doors open screens will be needed. So far we haven't had a problem but I'm sure we will in certain areas as people have posted on the Great Loop Facebook page. Good day to get that project done.  After a couple of hours the fog began to lift and once again it got hot! It was already getting late to get UW as our plans were to travel to Little Falls (Lock 17) and spend some time there before heading to Lock 20 in Marcy, NY for the night. The lockmaster at a previous lock told us Little Falls was very nice place to stop to take a walk or grab some lunch. We also look forward to checking out Moss Isl...