Summit Day

Sylvan Beach

As we were rafted up to Vita Dolce, they were planning a 6:30 a.m. departure, so Next Chapter would be getting underway at 6:30. We had a significant threat for severe thunderstorms beginning around 3 pm so an early departure was not a bad idea. Well, sort of. We cast our lines, and within 20 minutes, we were in a small pop-up thunderstorm. The pleasure in pleasure boating was beginning to fade. Good news was it was short-lived and was not too ferocious. Our trip plan was to make Sylvan Beach, which was 36 miles away plus 6 locks. That meant we would be pushing the weather window closer than I like, so we had a bailout port identified at Rome, NY. As things would have it, we did not need it as the weather cleared, and we had a wonderful cruising day.

We reached the summit on the Erie Canal at lock E20, raising Next Chapter to a height of 420’ above sea level. Whew, we were bushed! You guys won’t recognize Sailor Sue when you see her. She is ripped! We spotted numerous bald eagles along the way and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Sylvan Beach is one of those NY towns frozen in time. It has one of those tiny vintage 1940s amusement parks that generations of families have visited year after year. Local restaurants are much the same.

The Canal View Cafe is one of those places where two generations have run the place since the 1940s with Mary, the owner, still at the hostesses’ stand greeting patrons as they enter. The weather did finally catch up to us about 5 pm but we were already at port and even had time to get in a short bike ride to explore the very small town of Sylvan Beach. Since a storm was about to interrupt our docktails, 12 loopers decided to move happy hour into the Canal View and have a dinner to boot. As the name suggests, Sylvan Beach is a beach town that swells with thousands of summer vacationers and fades away in the fall as the chill hits the air. It is situated at the southeast end of Lake Oneida, which is 20 miles long and fairly shallow. It too can show a lot of attitude in a strong west wind. If a front moves in, boats can get stuck at one end of the lake for days. We had a front approaching the next day, but it looked like we could sneak across early in the morning. We would just have to see how things looked when we got up.