August 20, Rome, NY to Ilion, NY 27.3 miles

After resting on the train for the day I felt refreshed and ready to row. Heather’s day in the Hampton Inn in Utica playing with her new laptop had also been more restful than a day rowing. So we expected to have a long day and set out early.  We did several long stretches in which miles piled up quickly. We passed the city of Utica where we had stayed two nights and kept on going. I will confess I probably disqualified myself from any Olympic hopes by drinking a Rockstar, an energy drink probably loaded with illegal stuff to make you strong. It did. And when we stopped after 27 miles I felt like I might have been able to do a few more!

Some of the most pleasant parts of rowing the canal have been our rests or as Heather calls them: Butt breaks. After rowing for an hour or two rocking back and forth on the sliding seat, even though it is well padded, one’s butt gets painfully sore and one feels a need to get off it. Surprisingly even five or ten minutes lying back and putting the sliding seat under ones lower back completely relieves the pain and allows another hour of rowing. These breaks usually were taken along the side of the river in the shade provided by an overhanging tree which also allowed me to tie the stern line to a branch which kept us from drifting onto the shore or back out into the sun. We would sometimes get out a piece of cheese and some crackers and eat our lunch. I never feel terribly hungry while rowing.  Hopefully my metabolism is burning up some of my belly instead!

Harriet Haines from the Herkimer Habitat affiliate had volunteered to meet us at the Ilion Marina which looked to be the first place we could take out beyond Utica. It was a full 27 miles before we arrived. The Ilion Marina was a very nice facility and we noticed several boats tied up there which had passed us earlier in the day.   Harriet stayed with Heather while her husband, Roger, a very nice retired Chemistry professor, drove me the 40+ miles back to the car. We returned to find Heather talking to the people on the boats which had passed us. There seems to develop a natural camaraderie among those that are all going the same direction.  We packed up the boat and followed the Haines to their home where a home cooked dinner had been waiting. We shared a long conversation and then went to sleep in their upstairs guest room.