Day 366 – Oswego, NY to Islander Marina, Clayton, NY - July 6, 2012

Today is the last day of the first year of our Great Loop adventure!  We are up and off the wall just before 7:00am and we lock through to Lake Ontario with three other boats.  One boat heads to a marina in Oswego, two head to Kingston, Ontario and we head toward the 1000 Islands.  Lake Ontario is a bit rougher than we thought it would be – apparently it didn’t calm down quite enough overnight, but the wind and waves are mostly behind us so the rocking isn’t too bad.  We have waves in the one to two foot range while we are on Lake Ontario, but we are soon in the St. Lawrence River and the waves become just a very light chop.

After a bit of waiting around for help from the marina staff, we are finally tied up along the transient wall of Islander Marina.  The bay outside the marina is not a “no wake” zone, so Boreas rocks against the wall whenever boats pass – it’s a good thing we have lots of fenders!  We enjoy an evening walk through town (with a stop for ice cream) and comment on what a nice place Clayton, NY is.  They have worked to make their waterfront beautiful and accessible and there are many nice shops and restaurants.

So, the end of the first year – we are at 366 days instead of 365 because 2012 was a leap year.  The statistics for the first year are as follows.  We have traveled 5807 nautical miles (that’s 6678 statute miles) using 2842 gallons of fuel.  We have locked through 69 locks and gone under 588 bridges (the bridge number also includes the gates we went under along the Erie Canal).  It has truly been a spectacular year and we are in no way ready to be finished with this amazing adventure!
 
            Miles: 52.2      Bridges: 3        Locks: 1          Gates: 0

Oswego Harbor Lighthouse

Wolfe Island (a Canadian island at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River)
is covered with windmills

Tibbetts Point Lighthouse

Tibbetts Point Lighthouse from another angle