Phoenix to Cape Vincent -- out in open water again

Saturday, July 22 -- Phoenix, NY to Cape Vincent, NY -- 69 miles 

We got up early knowing we had a long day on the water, with 22 miles of slow speed canal and six locks to go through before we reached Lake Ontario. Most of the locks went smoothly except locks 2 & 3, which were operated by the same guy so he had to drive between them (about 1.5 miles apart) every time a boater wanted to pass through. It chewed up about an hour of our time. We left the lock dock at 8:15, entered Lake Ontario five hours later, and pulled up to the town dock in Cape Vincent three hours after that. 

Here is the view of Lake Ontario -- our fifth and final Great Lake -- from the last lock on the Oswego Canal. Also photos of downtown Oswego from this lock, and looking back at the Oswego as we head out into the outer harbor. And of course the Oswego Lighthouse. Can't forget the lighthouse.

The forecast for Lake Ontario called for one foot waves out of the west. We had a 45-mile run almost due north to the start of the St. Lawrence River so the waves would be off our beam and it would be a rocky ride. We peeked out into the lake and didn't see any whitecaps so we decided to go for it. The rocking was pretty bad so Janet stayed in the cabin and John took the helm up top. 

Sights once we reached the opposite shore of Lake Ontario included the lighthouses on Galloo Island and Tibbetts Point. The former was built in 1867, automated in 1963 and deactivated in 2011. The latter was built in 1854, automated in 1981 and is still active.

The town dock at Cape Vincent was brand new -- so new that water service wasn't hooked up yet, but electrical was, so we could have AC on the boat. Cape Vincent is a nice little village, with a few nice shops and restaurants, and a Saturday night concert on the village green. We keep running into live music, like it or not. But the band wasn't too bad (a bunch of boomers playing old boomer songs reasonably well) and they finished up at 5:30. We found a lovely spot for dinner -- the Coal Dock Restaurant and Bar. They also had live music, but it was just a quiet electric piano played by a boomer lady who mainly did American songbook classics, so it was okay. 

We forgot to take pictures of the town or the dock or the restaurant, but did get this shot of a freighter passing by downbound. It was the Algoterra (built in Shanghai in 2010), which we saw three weeks earlier to the day anchored off the entrance to the St. Clair River at the lower end of Lake Huron. Wonder where she's been in the interim?