Baldwinsville, NY on the Erie Canal

Saturday, August 30^th was a long day as we pulled away from the dock at 6:30 am and travelled 42 miles today with two locks.  I did get a great picture of the sunrise over the canal.  We passed by the remains of the Montezuma Aqueduct where the canal of 1862 crossed the Seneca River.  We were lucky that we were able to get a spot on the wall in Baldwinsville.  This is a holiday weekend and many boaters are out on the water.  We are tied up right near the next lock – Lock 24.  We have also been traveling with another boat called “Cavalier” and tonight we had an ECP (Emergency Cocktail Party)!  We are still traveling with Don and Kathy on “The Last Rambler” and they are wonderful people and have many great stories to tell!  We are now halfway through the Erie Canal.

Lyons, NY on the Erie Canal

We arrived in Lyons, NY on the Erie Canal on Friday, August 29^th after going through five locks!  This is a small town and the restroom for the boaters are in the firehouse!  However, there is a pharmacy/gift shop and a hardware store that has just about anything you could possibly want or need.  I was told that Lyons was the town that created the painting of murals on buildings.  We were the only boat along with "The Last Rambler" on the dock!  We found a nice restaurant “The Growler” that had beer flights and good cheeseburgers!

Fairport, NY on the Erie Canal

We arrived in Fairport, NY on the Erie Canal on Thursday, August 28^th.  This is a great town with shopping and many restaurants.  Fairport is known for the only lift bridge in the world built on an incline according to “Ripley’s Believe It or Not”.  The bridge is an irregular decagon, having no two angles that are the same and no square corners.  We met a wonderful couple, Don and Kathy on “The Last Rambler” and they have been very helpful with their numerous trips on the Erie Canal.  They are more accurate than the “Skipper Bob” book!  We enjoyed a bottle of wine and great conversation with them on their boat with live music from a nearby restaurant.

Spencerport, NY on the Erie Canal

We departed Medina, NY on Wednesday, August 27^th and made a stop in Brockport, NY to visit the Welcome Center and take a walking tour of the town.  The people are very friendly and welcome all guests to Brockport.  We found a great bookstore and homemade ice cream!  We moved on to Spencerport, NY to dock for free and spend the night.  The town has a lift bridge that divides the canal and we tied up on the west side.  It seems that almost every town also has an Irish Bar!  As you can see, it is not crowded as we are about two weeks ahead of everyone else going south for the winter.

The Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is quite different than most waterways.  It is over 340 miles long and was opened in 1825.  The minimum depth is 14 feet and the minimum bridge height is 15.5 feet and is very narrow in places.  There are numerous bridges, some are fixed and some open and contains 34 locks.  There are many guard gates which lift up vertically and are used to control floods.  In some places, the canal is higher than the surrounding land and roads.  There is one place where the Erie Canal crosses over Culvert Road on an aqueduct and this is the only place where you can drive under the Erie Canal – I tried to take a picture of the road as we crossed over it.

Medina, NY on the Erie Canal

We departed Tonawanda, NY on Tuesday, August 26^th and arrived in Medina, NY.  We went through our first lock today on the Erie Canal in Lockport, NY and actually it is two locks stepping down from one to the next for a total of 50 feet.  We stopped in Middleton as we had to mail an envelope and the lift bridge operator travels from one bridge to another and we had to wait for him to drive back to Middleton to open the bridge.  They are roaming bridge operators that have to operate more than one bridge.  The lift bridges actually go straight up and and down and the minimum height is about 15 1/2 feet - this is why we had to take our mast down!  There are many towns with free dockage on the wall on the Erie Canal.  The dockage was free in Medina with power and water and restroom facilities.  Medina is a very old, historic town with sandstone buildings.  We only encountered one boat today during our 8 hour trip. 

 

Tonawanda, NY on the Erie Canal

We departed Buffalo, NY on Monday, August 25^th.  Our boat neighbors on M and M gave us the most thoughtful departing gifts – homemade sausage, sauce, and bread.  We enjoyed the most wonderful dinner tonight.  We traveled north on the Niagara River and then turned east into the Erie Canal.  Tonawanda is very busy and one of the largest docking facilities on the Erie Canal.  Although this is Monday, there are so many boats and people here it looks like a Friday night!  On the Erie Canal, boats tie up along the wall and there are some places where the dockage is free.  Within less than 1/4 mile we have crossed under three bridges.  Only 338 miles and 35 locks left to go in the Erie Canal!

Niagara Falls

We rented a car in Buffalo, NY and went to Niagara Falls on Sunday, August 24th.  We parked on the American side and walked across the bridge to the Canadian side.  The last time we saw the Falls was in February with below zero temperatures and mostly frozen (us and the Falls!).  Niagara Falls is a wonder to be seen.

Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie

Thursday was another motor sail day with 2-3 foot waves.  Just as we passed the Buffalo Harbor Light, we fueled up at one of the few places that have diesel fuel.  We went up the Black Rock Canal through two opening bridges and one lock to arrive at Rich Marine where the mast was taken down to prepare for the Erie Canal.  We tied up next to the most wonderful couple living on m/v M and M.  Mario and Maria have been living on their boat for some time and invited us over for dinner with their relatives, Joe and Rosa, and Peter and Agnes.  We had the most awesome dinner with some great people and everything was homemade, including the bread and the wine.  How lucky were we to have these fantastic boat neighbors!  We rented a car as we will be here until Monday to give us time to re-provision, shop and buy more boat supplies.  The mast was taken down on Friday – Silent Dream doesn’t look the same!  

Dunkirk, NY on Lake Erie

On Wednesday, August 20^th, we motor sailed with less than 2 foot waves and winds 10-15 knts to Dunkirk Harbor, NY past the Dunkirk lighthouse.  We can’t believe we reached a speed of 8.3 knots, although the picture we took shows 8.1 knots.  We stayed at the Dunkirk Yacht Club where the first night is free.  There are a few harbor shops within a two block walk where the “smallest bar in New York” is located with eight bar stools. 

Erie, PA on Lake Erie

On Tuesday, August 19^th we departed Ashtabula and headed for Erie Bay (Presque Isle), Pennsylvania.  The winds were on the nose again and less than 3 knots and the lake was flat.  So much for sailing Lake Erie!  We got a picture of Presque Isle lighthouse as we motored past it to enter Erie Bay.  We were able to get a well at the Presque Isle Yacht Club located on the Bayfront.  Silent Dream is located right in plain view of the new Sheraton Convention Center.  There is a walkbridge from the convention center to the hotel that we had to sail under to get to the yacht club.   The facilities here were very nice and clean and the people friendly.  Smugglers Wharf has good seafood- try the She Crab Soup.

 

Ashtabula, Ohio on Lake Erie

On Sunday, August 17^th was another motor day, no wind and the little we had was right on the nose!  There was an unmarked bridge on the charts, and even though it looks like we might not make it, the height was 100 feet.  The next bridge was much shorter and we had to wait for the bridge to open before we could arrive at the Ashtabula Yacht Club.  The members at AYC were very friendly and hospitable.  Everyone was helpful and friendly and several offered their cars for us to drive to the stores.  We highly recommend a stop at this yacht club and town.  Ashtabula is a harbor town with several restaurants, bars and ice cream shops and all were very good!

 

Fairport Harbor, Ohio on Lake Erie

On Saturday we motored 47 miles to Fairport Harbor, Ohio on the Grand River, as the wind was behind us and only at 5 knots. We experienced the stalling engine again, but this time we found the issue.  We have some bad fuel and it is clogging the check valve.  Now that we know the source of the problem, it can be fixed!  There is not very much at Grand River, however, the gem of a restaurant and bar is called Pickle Bill’s with live music and four bars.  Their specialty is live, fresh seafood and as you can see the décor is quite different!

Lorain, Ohio on Lake Erie

Weather did not improve until Friday when we were able to leave Put in Bay and headed for Lorain, Ohio.  Spitzer Lakeside Marine is huge- just to get to the bathrooms you need a pair of roller skates!   We met a lovely couple from South Padre Island, Texas, who have been living on their sailboat for six years and are doing the Great Loop.  We wish them the best and a safe trip. 

Put In Bay on Lake Erie

The crossing on Monday in Lake Erie to Put in Bay was a bit rough – heavy storms with thunder and lightning, 3 to 5 foot waves, and engine trouble.  What should have taken 6-7 hours, took us 11 ½ hours.  To top things off, our front hatch wasn’t completely closed, so all the bedding and mattress was soaked!  We had to re-group on Tuesday and hopefully fixed the stalling engine and washed and dried everything at the Laundromat.  We celebrated with drinks at the Blue Luna with live piano music and at the Longest Bar in the Guiness Records.  That evening the 31^st Annual Bartender Olympics were held at the Roundhouse Bar – fun and entertaining!  Wednesday’s forecast for Lake Erie – 20-25 knot winds and 3-5 foot waves with small craft warnings and water spouts on the lake.  Another day in Put in Bay!  All of our chores were done, so we relaxed and took the train tour of the island.  For those of you that don’t know, there are hundreds of golf carts and they are everywhere – this is how just about everyone gets around.

 

CRCA Cruise Weekend at DYC

Our sailing club, CRCA (Clinton River Catalina Association) held a weekend cruise event at the Detroit Yacht Club this past weekend.  The weather was perfect, the drinks were awesome (try a Mai Tai at the pool bar!), the food was good, and the CRCA friendships are the best.  The only part we didn’t like was having to say goodbye to our wonderful friends as we planned on leaving for Lake Erie on Monday.

 

Departure Day

Departure Day is finally here!  Ready or not here we come!  We left Markley Marine at 9 am, Friday, August 8, 2014 headed for the Detroit Yacht Club for a cruise weekend with our sailing club friends at CRCA.  Life is Good!