St. Johnsville was a nice little town. Docked last night on the municipal dock wall. Payment is on the honor system; if you need fuel, you call and someone will come down and unlock the fuel pumps. Call a local restaurant and they will send a car for you and return you to the dock after dinner! I think this great! Met a fellow from Annapolis who is moving a 30’ center console boat to the UP. Met a couple from Muskegon, MI coming back from half the loop. They were in a sailboat.


This AM we were out and underway by 0800. We planned an 80 mile +/-, 7 lock day, similar to the day before. Well, today’s travel was not like yesterdays. Today, the water police were tracking your speed. It’s really a simple system. If the speed limit is X and the distance between locks is Y, then it should take you Z time to travel the distance. Up until Lock 15 the speed limit has been 45 mph. But beginning at Lock 16 the speed limit is 10 mph! MTB was not built to run at 10 mph. I was not aware of the change in speed limits, so I ran the first couple of legs as I had done before. Until I got to Lock 19 whereupon I was told I was early and that I couldn’t have traveled the route at the posted limits. Lockmasters have the discretion to deny you entry to a lock, delay your entry to a lock or hold you in a lock for local law enforcement to care of things. Not wanting to incur the wrath of any of the penalties, I obediently followed the limit. OMG - the last 20 miles of the trip took three hours +!! Nevertheless, we made it into Sylvan Beach, the east end of Lake Oneida without any issues other than being worn out.


A special recognition to my Admiral needs to be made here. Barbara did an outstanding job tending to lines and fenders through the locks today. Always ready and quick to move all fenders to port from starboard after the lockmaster did a last-minute change while we were approaching the lock chamber. She was prepared from beginning to end, from fuel up to final docking. Great job!


We’re hunkered down for the night as thunderstorms build in from the west. We'll eat the pizza leftovers from Schenectady. Tomorrow: Oswego to get Canadian currency and more “bump”. From there it’s on to Trenton, Ontario and entering the Trent Severn Waterway.