September 5, 2003
Erie Canal, Lock number 20

We took off early in the morning to cross dreaded lake Oneida. Clouds were heavy and some boating friends we had met the day before advised us not to cross the lake when the wind blow is blowing westwards. Old legends tell stories of careless sailors who lost their mast during heavy weather and we had heard that this little lake has its own little attitude.

The wind came NW so we crossed the lake playing backgammon, enjoying big waves pushing our back. Took us quite a while, 4 hours. After that the Canals became kind of boring, just straight waterways for hours. We decided to stop in Rome and do some shopping. Surprisingly, we found a huge fort, restored and fully equipped, so we honked around inside, playing with old cannons and toy weapons. As we moored in an industrial area we didn't want to leave the boat alone for too long and headed towards lock 20.

In the evening I tried to cut my own hair without a mirror and it kind of went out of control. Apart from that I got eaten by bugs while testing our solar shower equipment in some industrial backyard. And again, no luck with the fishing.

(J)