On September 27, 2020, we cruised from Fulton, New York to Oswego, New York. We stayed at the Oswego Marina. We went through five locks on the Oswego Canal. The interesting thing about this section of locks is that is no lock #4 so we went through Lock 3 then 5, 6, 7 and 8. Gold Loop – First Time Through Our first time through this area, we did it a little bit differently and went through seven locks to get to Oswego. July 16, 2019 – #15 Clay, NY to Oswego, NY. We went through seven locks (Locks 1-3, 5-8) on the Oswego Canal and stayed at Oswego Marina.  You can read about our trip h ..read more

On September 26, 2020, the crew of the Here’s To Us!! cruised from Brewerton, New York to Fulton, New York. We stayed on a free wall next to the town of Fulton. We went through the last lock on the Erie Canal (Lock 23) and then started on the Oswego Canal (Locks 1 and 2). Gold Loop – First Time Through The last time we were in this area of the Great Loop, we cruised from Winter Harbor in Brewerton, New York to Clay, New York and left our boat at Pirates’ Cove Marina for a month. Fulton, New York We hadn’t stayed at Fulton, New York before and to be honest, most people that we spoke to recomme ..read more

Facebook Twitter Gmail 4 LinkedIn 1 Pinterest Like 0 Special Blog Post From Captain Sam Well, it’s over! Two loops in three years, one month. It was the most wonderful experience as a couple of our lifetime. Traveling by boat challenged our skills, patience, and faith at times. We would not trade it for anything, and we would do it again all over the same way. Well, maybe without some of the “What Not to Do” scenarios! Boating Relationships We met incredible people, both in person and virtually through our videos and social media! While I had a 40-year career in aviation ..read more

On September 23, 2020, we cruised on the Here’s To Us!! from a free wall on Sylvan Beach, New York to Ess-Kay Yards in Brewerton, New York. We went across Lake Oneida on a mostly cloudy day. Gold Loop – First Time Through The last time we were in this area of the Great Loop, we stopped at two other marinas. First, we stopped at Winter Harbor after leaving Utica because we had some steering issues and wanted to be at a marina with mechanics just in case we had more issues. You can read all about it here. Or hear us talk about it here. We then made a short trip from Winter Harbor in Brewerton ..read more

The reason that our tag line for What Yacht To Do is “Learning As We Go” is because we knew very little about cruising in a yacht when we left the dock on our Great Loop adventure. Along with that, we knew very little about having a YouTube channel. But we wanted to do it anyway. So, we learned how to do it as we went along. Step 1: Deciding to Have a YouTube Channel This is a big decision. Sam did NOT want to have a YouTube channel. I told him that I was going to do it whether he wanted to or not. Somehow, he changed his mind. The reason I wanted to start this channel was to let our friends a ..read more

On September 21, 2020, the crew of the Here’s To Us!! cruised from our spot at Little Falls Canal Harbor Marina in Little Falls, New York over to Aqua Vino Restaurant and Marina in Utica, New York. Utica, New York Utica, New York is a memorable stop for us. Last time we were here, we met other loopers and had a fantastic dinner at Aqua Vino. We also, lost steering when we tried to leave the next morning. Oh yes. It was memorable to say the least but that’s a story for the next trip! You can read about our original journey from Ilion to Utica here or listen to us here. On this journey from Lit ..read more

One of our most frequently asked questions via crew email is about the fixed bridge of 19.1′ or so south of Chicago on the Cal-Sag.  Remember that this 19.1′ height is at the high water datum, so you might see other heights (19.6, 19.7 etc.) on the internet or in discussions. We get the questions mostly from folks who are getting ready to buy a boat and are concerned about air draft. Manufacturers vary on what they use for air draft of a boat. So it can be confusing to say the least if you are trying to calculate your air draft to see if you can get under that bridge. We passed under it o ..read more

On September 19, 2020, we cruised from Riverlink Park in Canajoharie, New York to Little Falls Canal Harbor Marina in Little Falls, New York. We went through Locks 14-17 on the Erie Canal. Lock 14 and 15 each rise only eight feet. Lock 16 rose 20 feet and Lock 17 goes up a whopping 40 feet! It was a lock day to remember. Little Falls, New York During our gold loop, we didn’t stop at Canajoharie or Little Falls. We went from St. Johnsville over to Ilion. It was trip #11 for us so still very new to boating and our first trip down the Erie Canal. You can hear us talk about that trip here. Those ..read more

On September 18, 2020, we cruised from docking at Guy Park near Lock 11 in Amsterdam, New York over to Riverfront Park in Canajoharie, New York. When we were in this area on our gold loop and went from Amsterdam and then, stopped at St. Johnsville, New York. You can listen to us here. We went through the Erie Canal Locks 12 and 13. This was a beautiful trip down the Erie Canal with trees lining each side of the way and a few bridges. Traveling down the Erie Canal is truly one of the highlights of the loop. Canajoharie, New York We found a place on the wall at Riverfront Park in Canajoharie to ..read more

On September 27, 2020, we cruised from Fulton, New York to Oswego, New York. We stayed at the Oswego Marina. We went through five locks on the Oswego Canal. The interesting thing about this section of locks is that is no lock #4 so we went through Lock 3 then 5, 6, 7 and 8. Gold Loop – First Time Through Our first time through this area, we did it a little bit differently and went through seven locks to get to Oswego. July 16, 2019 – #15 Clay, NY to Oswego, NY. We went through seven locks (Locks 1-3, 5-8) on the Oswego Canal and stayed at Oswego Marina.  You can read about our trip h ..read more