Visit to Frenchman Island

One of the newest State Parks here in Central New York is Frenchman Island at the western end of Oneida Lake.  The romantic history, enhanced by the hazy truth that survives, lends this little island a dimension of mystery and charm, but for us it served as a challenging destination.  Located 13 miles from the marina where we dock our boat, the island offered us the chance to sail westward, anchor out, and explore someplace new.  (Nobody told me there were snakes, though.)

The westward sail was not smooth, as we battled strong winds and 2-foot waves, often tilted to a 35-degree pitch and soaked from the spray.  Although our GPS informed us the distance was 13 miles, we sailed for a total of 21.7 miles and had to make 10 tacks.

The sun was setting as we drew near the islands.

The photo below shows Frenchman Island on the left, just behind privately-owned Dunham Island.

And as the sun sank lower...

... the full moon rose!

That night, the full moon hovered above a quieting lake.

By morning, the water was still as glass.  We had originally planned to tie up to the dock, but in the failing light, that looked too risky.  Instead, we sailed over to our friends' boat, anchored out in deeper waters, and tied our boat to theirs -- a move called "rafting out."

Here's a look down between the boats: we used fenders (cushions) to prevent the boats from damaging each other.

Saturday morning, we looked toward the island to see what appeared initially to be a layer of snow on the dock -- seagulls had settled down there for the night.  By the time we arrived the birds were gone, but plenty of evidence remained.

We rowed over to the island on Jim & Nancy's groovy little inflatable dinghy

and ventured forth on the trail.  At the outset, there was a neatly-trimmed wide pathway lined with jewel weed; the trees on the island were giants -- Nancy and I both gathered up a supply of acorns and jewel weed seeds as we hiked around.

Although no campfires were allowed, we found two well-used fire pits.

In another spot, the ground was thick with mussel shells -- this spot, on the north shore, was even visible as we sailed past:

Eventually, after hiking through the poison ivy, we arrived at the base of the lighthouse.

Kevin also spotted what was clearly intended to be a geocache.

Normally these things are cleverly hidden, but this one was open and scattered like so much litter.  He tidied it up, but we hope whoever set it on the island comes back to re-stash it soon.

All too soon, we reached the south shore again and saw our boats:

Kevin and I sailed westward -- getting a good view of the top of the lighthouse peeking above the treeline:

and rounded the western end of the island to take a northern route for our homeward trip.  If you look closely, you can see Nancy and Jim's boat in the distance here:

Just the start of the weekend for us, though it marks the end of the summer in so many ways.