Lock 20, Center of the World

It has everything you need. A vegetable stand. A beer & soda joint that sells beer from all over the world. A barbecue place that does naked ribs (carb-free, so I can eat 'em!). Up the other highway is the town of Whitsboro which has a library, liquor store and bakery (extra-carby so Jim can enjoy a snack, too).
Why am I so thrilled? Well I am not thrilled, but content. You see the New York waterway has been brought to a standstill by a dam that suffered a sudden break. So the good folks at the NY Thruway Canals Dept. are hurrying their efforts to get a temporary repair done in order to get the transiting boats on their way. So far there are close to 70 boats waiting. Most are all parked much closer to the damaged area of lock # 13...how lucky is that? The canal staff will put us all through in three eight hour days. October 4-6. We arrived September 20.
So we wait.
We have all kinds of projects to keep us busy; we started by opening up our mast to find out what in blue blazes was making that infernal clanging racket. Did I mention the mast is a hollow, aluminum sound chamber? The noise invoked the Bells of St. Ives. Anyhow, we found a 20' length of conduit that had come detached sometime during our journey home. We knew we would have this chance to investigate while the mast was down for the canal transit. So we ripped out the rest of all that wire up there, except the feed to the steaming light. What a relief that will be!
I have done more scraping, fairing and painting of the cockpit boards and some hull areas. Jim has been re-doing the board that the battery bank sits on. We have been using our wood burning heater, so there is plenty of ash to flush off with canal water each morning. *sigh*! At least the weather has been fine.
Cooking, cooking, cooking. As some of you know I am on a special diet that promotes healing of the small intestine, its called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Google that puppy to find out ALL the details, but the upshot is...I eat vegetables. No starch. Which is why I am particularly happy about being stuck in the middle of no-where-upper-state-ny with this farm stand. The town of Whitsboro sold out to Walmart, so there is no longer a grocery store in town, but the gas station has eggs and some pretty good New York Cheddar, so we're doing all right.
In order to make up lost time, Jim has been doing some route planning. We are hoping to sail near shore from New York City to Hampton, Virginia, a two day passage that should get us below the chilly autumn temperatures of the northern states. We'll let the crush through, let them deal with each other and all those canal walls, before we slide through on the Saturday, this should allow us  to find room at the self-serve crane at Castleton to re-step the mast and get on our way down the Hudson River. Maybe this delay is sparing us having to dodge a hurricane or two?
As more boats come through, it becomes more apparent that Lock 20 really is a good spot, so more are tying off here. Party at our place tonight!