It's about time

You can't imagine the trouble I've had getting to the internet. The cruising guides are proving to be quite inaccurate. When they say a marine has internet access, or wi-fi, I get there to find out "Oh, we've been thinking about putting that in, but..."
Very frustrating, to say the least.
Well, finally, after miles and miles, I found a place that does have acess. So now I have to give you multiple updates at one time. Where did I leave off? Oh, yeah.

June 21, 2006
A great day! Ran locks 2,3,4,5,6,7 plus ran a total of 15 nm. Stopped in Schenectady. Walkure has a few scratches from my inexperience at "locking through," but otherwise, she's doing fine.

June 22, 2006
I thought the day was going to be a washout, but after chatting with the dockmaster, I set out. He told me that if there was too much rain, the locks might close for days or weeks, and then I wouldn't get anywhere. So I went and ran locks 8,9,10,11,12. I stayed at the upper wall of lock 12. A total of 23.3 nm run today.

June 23, 2006
T'storms predicted today, so I set out early to get ahead of them. Ran 22.6 nm to St. JOhnsville. Locks 13,14, 15 today.

June 24, 2006
Ran locks 16,17 & 18 today. Lock 17 is one of the highest in the world at 40.5 feet lift. Logged 17.9 nm today.

June 25, 2006
Ran lock 19 and stopped at Utica. I have mail waiting for me at the Post Office in Utica. The town dock at Utica is a bummer. It's free, but that's all I can say for it. No attendant, no bathroom, no shower, no electricity, no fuel, no pumpout - all of which were promised in the cruising guide. It seems it's a local political boondoggle. The taxpayers spent millions building the facility, but then it was leased to a guy who uses it as a catering business and pays no attention to the boaters. And he rents the facility for $150/mo including utilities! Somebody's gonna be voted out on that one.

June 26, 2006
What a hassle! I ended up taking a cab to the post office to pick up my mail, because, of course the "general delivery" post office was miles and miles away. It rained the whole day and by the time I reached Sylvan Beach I was exhausted. A gruelling day in the rainsuit all the way. But I did manage to run my first two "down locks." And I made it to the shore of Lake Oneida.

June 27, 2006
What a change from yesterday. Today was glorious. I ran the 18 nautical miles across Lake Oneida without a hitch. The lake is big enough that you can't see from one side to other, so I had to use my navigation skills to make it across safely. I watched the sky for a break in the weather. Then at the first sign of blue sky, I set out, the rain clouds behind me all the way. The wind was at my back, and I surfed on the rolling waves and made the whole trip in three hours. Tomorrow - Oswego!
I stopped for tonight at Kay-Ess boat yard. Nice place, a good ship's store where I bought some of the Canadian charts I will need. Canadian charts are expensive, over $150 just for the Trent-Severn Canal. (I paid about $50 for the complete NY waterway system.)
The Picture posted here is of the Hudson, NY lighthouse. Hudson - the little town with the big red-light district. For more pics, see the Yahoo group photo section.