October 1 - 4, 2007 - Brewerton, NY

October 1 thru 4 found the Monarch in Brewerton, NY at Winter Harbor Marina. We are having the marina quote some work (ie. painting the boat, etc) for next summer. The marina is only 15 minutes from the Syracuse airport, perfect for Marty to return to Michigan to attend the Michigan Tech Board meeting, the reason for the extended stay. We could not have picked a better spot. The staff bends over backwards to make you feel welcome and the rates are VERY reasonable. They also have the lowest diesel fuel rates on the Erie Canal


Here is Monarch docked in front of the marina owner's home. It is one of the nicest houses we have seen on the canal. His gardens are beautiful and he had tomatos, herbs and peppers growing on the fuel dock and told us to help ourselves to whatever we wanted. Marlene was tempted for the habenero peppers but we could not figure out what we would do with something that HOT!!!





This is Monarch at the end of the dock. For most of our trip we have been one of the bigger boats. When we went through Lock 23 on the Canal, we suddenly became one of the medium size boats by comparison - almost magical..... We know from past experience as you head South you start experincing larger and larger boats, but it was weird how in one lock this transformation happened.
While Marty is back in Michigan I have had my list of projects to complete. Today was mostly spent getting the solar panels hooked up. This - of course - involved a trip to West Marine. The marina has two courtesy cars handy for guest use. The keys are in the cars and you replace the gas you use. It has worked well for us, as we went out for dinner the first evening and there have been several trips to the Syracuse airport, along with the trip to West and Home Depot.


The sad thing about Brewerton is that Carl and Marlene left to return home to prepare for their upcoming trip to the Middle East. The nine days they were aboard just flew by. We will really miss them and look forward to them joining us later this winter for some southern cruising.