September 4, 2003
Erie Canal, Lock number 23

Well, guess it pays off to get up in the morning and walk up to the lock I was about to go through. Lock master at Oswego Lock number 3 was so friendly that not only he sowed me all the engines and original electrical systems from 1900's but in fact invited me inside for a coffee. Now I am not a big coffee drinker but just to make Johannes envy I accepted invitation and sipped my coffee. When one sailboat pulled into the lock. Lock master told me that one of the valves was not working properly so he had to shut it down and all water was coming from one side of the wall of the lock creating quite a pinch pushing the boat against the wall. How this affected boats inside the lock was very evident when these poor souls tried to exit the lock. Motion of the water was pushing them against the wall making the exit impossible. After watching them hitting the bow on the lock's wall I thanked God and the lock master for the kind invite and a warning. In a few more minutes we ourselves were finished with breakfast and went into the lock. Seeing what another crew was going through I positioned our boat carefully and got us a boat hook and a broom to push against the wall when the pinch would come. Being ready made the whole thing a breeze. After lock's gates opened I waited a bit for the water motion to subside so we would not be pinched against the wall like the previous boat did.

Soon we came to the junction called Three Rivers where Oswego Canal joined the main system of Erie Canal. When we arrived at our first lock in this canal we instantly fell in love with the place. It was placed in a very beautiful forest and there was nothing that would disturb amazing silence around this place. No traffic, no roads just the lock and our boat and us, and some overactive squirrels. Even though it was only 1pm we decided to spend the rest of the day veggin' and chillin' - reading books and attempting to fish. I also took couple of hours to scrub our boat. It was awhile since she got a good cleaning. Once again I was very proud of my girl. She shined and looked her beautiful self. (M)