Fourth of July boat ride

Yesterday we took my parents out for a Fourth of July boat ride.

They hung on for dear life and made it through okay.

You know we like to have a snack destination when we go boating. For this trip we took watermelon along.

June decorating theme: boating

I have a totally new decorating theme for this June! Boating. We have the boat out of storage and out on the water so it's a good time to deck the house out with anchors and boat's wheels.

Can't have too many nautical themed dishtowels.

I had a lot of fun putting together the boating mantelscape. The "Welcome Sailors" plaque is for Aaron's benefit.

Memorial Day: first boat ride of the season

Since Memorial Day seems to mark the beginning of summer, we took the boat out for the first outing of the season. Here I am at the wheel on Lake Conesus. I am a speed demon. (No, I'm not)

After two days of rain, the weather was just right. I was Snapchatting the scenery left and right (note I have discovered the cute stickers on Snapchat)

Look at these two! They have the pose down to a science.

As always we like to have a snack destination, so halfway through we stopped for a cheese plate. Boating works up an appetite!

Fall boat ride on the Erie Canal

Other folks may have put their boats away for the season but not us! (Hugo is supervising the process of getting the boat in the water.)

We took the boat out onto the Erie Canal today! We have walked and biked along the canal paths many times, but only been on the water a couple times - on the Sam Patch and the Colonial Belle.

It was very cool to take our own boat out on the canal. You can't go very fast but that is fine for an autumn afternoon cruise.

The Erie Canal covers 524 miles and goes from Lake Champlain (above Albany) to beyond West of Buffalo. I think it would be fun to boat from one end to the other. I haven't figured that out logistically but it would be interesting.

The pugs liked the slower pace and enjoyed watching people walking and biking on the canal path. (and barking at dogs)

We started at Lock 32 and made our way east to Schoen Place in Pittsford.

Our first stop was in Bushnell's Basin at Abbott's for some Pumpkin Custard.

Later on we stopped for dinner. I packed us some homemade chili and bread.

We topped the chili with cheese and sour cream and had cider to go with it.

There were donuts and hot chocolate too. Food is an important part of any boating excursion.

We took the boat all the way to Fairport and a little beyond.

The leaves weren't quite totally changed yet but it was still a beautiful day.

We got back to the boat launch just as the sun was setting. The canal water is so calm, it makes amazing reflections. I'm looking forward to taking the boat out on the canal again! We think we might try and tackle going through a lock!

Boating Canandaigua Lake

Today we took the boat out on Canandaigua Lake. It is about a half hour from Rochester and is the fourth largest of the Finger Lakes at 15 miles long.

We decided that we want to try and take the boat out on all the Finger Lakes so I'm starting to keep track. Lake Ontario isn't a Finger Lake but we boated there so I just wanted to note that.

The town of Canandaigua is at the north end of the lake and the town of Naples where we like to go for grapes in the fall is at the south end of the lake. I have heard that Canandaigua Lake has the cleanest water of all the Finger Lakes.

The tree covered hills along the shore make this one of the prettiest lakes to go boating on.

I bet it's a fantastic view in the fall when the leaves have turned color.

For supper on the boat we had cheese and charcuterie.

Oscar really enjoys being on the boat. Much more so than Hugo.

Maybe because he is old enough to drive the boat and Hugo isn't.

We were out long enough to catch a lake sunset.

Boating on Seneca Lake

So it rained all last night but today made up for it. We put the boat into Seneca Lake and pretty much stayed out all day.

Seneca Lake is the largest Finger Lake. It's 36 miles long and it's deepest spot is 618 feet.

Right before this trip we each got an inner tube. At the hottest part of the day we anchored the boat, tied our inner tubes to the boat and hopped in. The water was COLD! It was so relaxing to float and bob along.

I had totally forgotten about the legend of the Seneca Lake Sea Monster. Brrrrr.

The pugs kept looking over the edge at the boat at us. I think they were concerned something would happene to us and they wouldn't get back to the campsite in time for dinner.

This is where the pugs spent most of their time on the boat. Snoozing in the bow.

While we were cruising around the lake we went past another lake legend... the painted rocks. It was first believed that the Senecas painted this after they were displaced by Continental troops. This has been debunked due to the fact the Senecas lived in longhouses not teepees and they left by horse not canoe. The paintings were most likely created by tour boats for story telling.

It was still fun to see it. We almost went from one end of the lake to the other. Such a good day.

A day on the boat

Today we planned on spending the entire day on the boat so I made us cheese and egg sammies for brunch and packed seafood subs for a late lunch/early supper.

We put the boat in the water in the Irondequoit Bay and then went out on to Lake Ontario. There was a big Coast Guard boat in the lake.

It doesn't look as big in the these pictures but it definitely looked strange there. We are not used to seeing ships like that on the lake.

We did a little fishing.

But no luck today.

There was no wind and the water was very calm.

Almost... too calm.

Boat selfie.

Making waves.

The pugs found a comfy spot in the bow of the boat.

They even fell asleep there.

Oscar woke up in time to help Aaron pull the boat back in though.