Tuesday – Sunday, July 2 – 7, 2019

We expected our trip from Sylvan Beach to Brewerton to be uneventful and it was. Bo was happy due to the calm ride. We traveled 23 miles across Sylvan Lake (no locks required) to Ess-Kay Yards, a marina which our research indicated had the expertise to help us resolve our aft head hose issue. Brewerton is a middle-class town trying to bring some tourist activity with its location on the Erie Canal and access to Sylvan Lake.

We pulled into Ess-Kay’s fuel dock to pump out and take on fuel in early afternoon. The marina is located right along the Erie Canal and close to town so the waterway is quite busy with locals and transients going by plus stopping for fuel. Ess-Kay has been family owned and operated for many years. The original owers’ five 5 daughters now own and run the marina. It is managed by one of the daughters (Kim) and her husband (Ethan), with other sisters’ and families working on the marina grounds to keep everything looking great.

Ethan arrived at our boat around 2:30 to discuss our head hose issue. After a brief inspection and discussion with Brian, it was agreed that major boat surgery was needed. All attempts to remove the blocked head hose had been futile, so drastic measures were needed. The plan was to cut a 6-inch diameter hole in the head’s floor so we could reach whatever was preventing the hose from being removed and pull a new hose through. Ethan went back to his shop for a large electric drill, a 6-inch hole-saw and a treat for Bo. (Bo finally stopped barking at him after discovering he could be a source of treats.)

Let the cutting process begin! Thirty minutes later, the hole was made, and the blocked hose could be reached. A new section of hose was connected to the existing hose. Ethan and Brian were able to work the old hose out and the new hose in (without dumping old hose contents into the bilge). They worked diligently until 5:45 when the new hose was finally in position.

At last it was time for dinner after a day of traveling and wrestling with hoses! We found a fantastic family run restaurant about a half mile walk from the marina, Mariachi Mexican Restaurant, with incredibly delicious food and interesting art on the walls that the owner had purchased in Mexico. Overly stuffed again, we called it a day.

The next morning was July 3rd, Brewerton’s official 4th of July celebration day. Ethan had about five other projects to work on so Brian made all the final connections and had the aft head operational by noon. Oh, happy day!

Kim had told us that the local fireworks would be great and that the marina hosts a bar-b-que dinner annually on the 3rd for marina slip-holders and transients. They provided the burgers and hot dogs and everyone else brought a side or dessert. It was a good sized crowd and we met some more interesting local folks. When darkness fell, the fireworks show was set off over the canal. True to their word, the show was great! We had front-row seats from our fly-bridge and Bo did a great job staying calm through the entire event while sitting there with us.

July 4th started and ended with a bang. We received a notice that our credit card information had been stolen. Citibank spotted the problem and froze the card before any damage was done. However, this was the card we typically use while traveling and for auto-payment of various bills. New cards were being sent to us in 2-3 business days, so we had to extend our stay in Brewerton until they arrived. Later that night, some nearby Brewerton neighbors created another fireworks display on the canal. They had some impressive fireworks and their close proximity to the boat made Bo very uneasy this time around. We don’t know exactly where they were being set off, but we had a significant amount of fireworks debris on the boat deck the next morning.

We used the extra time for planning and maintenance items as we waited for the new credit cards to arrive. The marina had two courtesy cars that allowed us to stock up supplies. A seam had let go across the lower edge of our windshield cover, so Sue spent hours over a couple of days hand-sewing the edging back together. Brian discovered that the charts in the chart plotter needed a major update before venturing into Canada. This led to a multi-hour search through the Garmin website for updates to old chart plotters, following a series of website instructions that proved to be incorrect, and then a trip to the store to get additional memory cards to download the new charts once the Garmin chart download system had been conquered.

The new credit cards arrived July 7th. We wrapped up our boat chores and prepared to depart for Oswego on July 8th. Our boat is too tall to follow the entire length of the Erie Canal, so we (like most Loopers), turn off the Erie Canal onto the Oswego Canal to get to Lake Ontario. Once to Oswego, it will be a relatively short crossing to Canada.