Phoenix New York (2013-09-27)

N 43° 13.647', W 076° 17.926'

 Another day's travel and we find ourselves in Phoenix.  That would be Phoenix New York, not Phoenix Arizona. :-)  Actually I think that this will end up a running gag as there are so many similar names everywhere.  Just a short distance further up the river is a 'Pirates Cove Marina', which is a name very close to that of our home marina in Kemptville.


When we woke on Thursday morning both of us were still feeling a bit tired from the lake crossing, so we decided to take a down day.  We relaxed for most of the morning, and then in the afternoon we went for a walk.  I had noted that there was a Radio Shack not too far away, so we set that as our destination.  Well, not too far away by our standards, as we like to walk, but it was about 12 blocks away.

As we got to where the Radio Shack was located we saw that there were quite a few stores, including a Price Choppers, but best of all we saw that there was a Ponderosa.  We really miss Ponderosa restaurants since they closed the Canadian locations, so any time we're travelling in the US and spot one we usually make a stop.

One of the reasons that I wanted to hit up a Radio Shack (other than the 'kid in the candy store' :-)) was to check on prepaid US cell phones.  Well, it's just as hard to figure out cell phone plans in the US as it is in Canada, and we spent almost an hour looking at different provider's plans, comparing this feature to that feature, and on and on.  Finally, feeling a little mentally burnt out, we decided to do some more research online for a plan that fit all of our needs.

We had received a suggestion back before we left from a couple at our home marina, Brenda and Richard on M/V Trading Places, who had cruised for many years in the US on their boat, and who still winter over in the US in their RV.  They had told us about a pay-as-you-go provider called 'Tracfone' that they had used for many years.  Simple inexpensive phones, and pay as you go minutes.  Well, they would be proud of us, as we ended up picking up a Tracfone cell to at least get us going with a cell phone and give us an inexpensive and convenient way to do our Customs check-ins.

Our first 'burner' cell... ;-)

The phone itself was on sale for $10, and we bought a 60 minute card for $20.  This phone has a 'double minutes' feature included, so the 60 minute card gave us 120 minutes, and the 10 minutes that the phone comes with is doubled to 20 minutes, so we ended up with 140 minutes.  The 60 minute card is good for 90 days, but that time got tacked on to the time for the included minutes that came with the phone, so those 140 minutes are good for 150 days!  That really is a great deal for a basic cell phone.  It reminds us of the old Bell Solo pay as you go phones we had many years ago.

There are some limitations with the phone though.  No data for one, and we can't send SMS messages back to our family in Canada.  One nice feature though is that we can call back to Canada at the same per minute cost as a local call, by using a 1-800 calling number.

Friday morning we continued our journey up the Oswego spur of the NY Canal.  It was a very nice day, with highs forecasted to be in the low 20's.  Well, actually the highs were forecasted to be in the low 70's, but my brain had to convert that from Fahrenheit to Celsius to register properly.  It's funny, but temperature was one of the few bits of the conversion to the metric system that happened when I was in grade school that actually stuck with me.  I still look at measurements in inches and feet, and fuel consumption in miles per gallon rather than litres per 100 kilometres.

A beautiful morning on the Oswego River

Interesting sights on the river

We had looked at stopping at the free dock in Fulton, but as we were locking other boaters kept suggesting Phoenix, which also had a free dock.  As we passed Fulton we saw the free docks there, and while we had heard they were small, that was an understatement.  We decided right there to bypass Fulton and go to Phoenix.

The town dock in Phoenix ended up being quite nice, and quite full when we arrived.  We tied up to the wall south of the lock and found out that one of the boats would be leaving shortly.  When they left we moved into the spot they were in.

The town dock in Phoenix

We had heard about a group of teens called the 'Bridge House Brats' that work at the dock here in Phoenix helping out the boaters.  Now that summer is over they are all back to school, but we hear they should be around during the weekend.

While locking we had heard from the lock staff that a canal cruise ship named the Grand Caribe had arrived in Oswego and would be travelling up the canal.  We had seen this ship in a Distant Shores episode about the Erie Canal, and while we knew it was big, seeing it first hand is much more impressive.

The Grand Caribe leaving the lock

People on a boat taking pictures of people on a boat taking pictures of people on a boat...

We're going to stay here a couple days and take advantage of the amenities that the town offers for free.  We have power at the dock (albeit only 15 amp) as well as water and free wifi.  There's not a lot in Phoenix, but there is a great restaurant (with an excellent Friday night fish and chips special btw :)), some shopping and a laundromat.


We're keeping an eye on the canal closure and what the backlog of boats is that it has caused, but so far we're only hearing that there is about a dozen boats waiting for the opening next weekend.  When we continue moving in a couple days we're going to check with the canal staff as to where we should be trying to end up to wait for the opening so as to be able to get through it okay.