Leaving Sylvan Beach and heading west involves crossing the 22ish miles of Oneida Lake. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a big enough lake that it could be uncomfortable with winds and waves. The past few days had been so windy that there were quite a few loopers waiting to cross the lake. We wanted to make it to Oswego, but didn’t know if there would be room. There are a lot of little places to dock along the canals, but not a lot of anchorages. With limited space, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to find a spot.

We decided to leave at about dawn at 0530. When we got up and got moving, our new friends on the Cat were also getting ready to go. They got out before us. As they passed, I told them that we would probably yeet past them on Oneida Lake to get one lock ahead of them. They were as friendly and accommodating as ever and responded with a friendly, “whatever, man!”

We had an easy time off the wall and were underway about 25 minutes after the cat. We were the only loopers on the move at the time. The lake was cooperating, so after we cleared the breakwater, we pushed it up to 2,400 rpm to plane for a while at 19-20 mph. We hadn’t gone that fast since the Chesapeake, I think, but it’s good to run the engines to exercise them a little. After going at that speed for about half an hour and passing the cat, frugality overcame fun and we backed down to our normal cruising speed.

We exited Oneida Lake and had to idle through several miles since the shores were crowded with homes. It was a pretty cruise as we approached our first lock of the day. We were alone through the lock and transited without any issues.

A few miles after the lock, we reached the junction of the Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal. This was our time to leave the Erie Canal because our boat is too tall to get under the bridges of the western Erie Canal. And, of course, we are looking forward to going through the Trent-Severn Waterway in Canada. It is supposed to be one of the highlights of the loop.

The next few locks were picturesque in neat little towns. The Lockmaster at Lock O-3 is a looper friendly who takes pictures of loopers as they pass through his lock and posts them to the Great Loop Facebook page. He also chats with the loopers and offers friendly advice and stories. It was neat to see ourselves from a different perspective!

We caught up to another looper at Lock O-5 and cleared the last three of the day with them. When we pulled out of Lock O-7, we could see a line of boats on the starboard wall. Locks 7 and 8 are very close and boats can moor all along the starboard wall. The trick is that the half of the wall near Lock 7 is smooth and the other half is in rough shape. As we inched forward and saw the long line of boats, we were debating whether to pull up to the rough wall or just go through Lock 8 and find a place on the other side. Thankfully, we were able to get into the very last spot on the smooth wall closest to Lock 8. Another looper was kind enough to come out and catch our lines.

After tying up, we had to ship something in town. We took care of that, had a nice lunch, and then walked around the waterfront a bit. Oswego is a charming town and the walking trail includes a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the river.

Returning to our boat, we had a get some writing done, had dinner, and settled in for the night.