After we had our boat shipped out to the east coast early in 2006, we spent most of that year completing the Great Loop trip which took us up the eastern United States and Canada and then back down through rivers that run through the heart of this country. 

Last year we did what is known as the Little Loop which took us through the Erie, then up through Oswego onto Lake Ontario, up through the Thousand Islands, then onto the Rideau, Ottawa River and St. Lawrence - finally coming south down through Lake Champlain completing the loop where the Champlain Canal and Erie Canal meet in Waterford NY. 

To be honest, we are not really sure where our little boat will take us in 2008, but we would really like to spend a good portion of the summer on the Erie canal.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent on the Erie Canal in the summer of 2007.  Most of the towns along the way were interesting and welcoming to boaters.  From talking to other boaters while we were there, we learned that the western half of the Erie - the portion after the Oswego cutoff that we did not get to this past year - is even nicer than the area that we saw.  There are two lakes - called the Finger Lakes - that are accessible from the Erie which provides access to the New York wine country.  Niagara Falls, which I've never seen , is very close to the western end of the Erie.  

The Erie and Oswego canals as well as the Finger Lakes are marked in red on the map of New York to the left.

As always, our plans are written at low tide in the sand...  Where ever we end up, we will keep you posted with pictures and stories of what we discover along the way...