So time to catch up.
When I left off we had just enjoyed the second night in a row of fireworks in Lyons, NY and the after hours party. Which might expain why we only went 26 miles to Fariport, NY the next day. This was a stop we had specifically targeted because of its proximity to Rochester, NY. Ever since committing to joing me on the boat, Ron has been canvasing upstate New York for potential record buys. In case you didn't know Ron buys and sells vinyl albums. Maybe you remember that format. Anyway, he had been in contact with a few sellers in Rochester and this was a good stop for him to meet up with them.
Those Dole banana boxes do not have bananas in them. Later that same day he had another seller come by and pick him up to take to his house to root through his albums. That experience has its own story. In both cases we added ballast to the boat in the form of vinyl records. While Ron was off buying records, Mark cleaned the boat and I did laundry at a "nearby" laundromat.
We pushed off the wall at Fairport and the first thing we had to do was request a bridge opening. The Fairport lift bridge is the first of some 16 lift bridges that we will encounter from Fairport to Tonawanda at the end of the Erie Canal. I don't have a picture of the Fairport bridge, but apparently its in Ripley's Believe it or Not because it is 72 tons and is lifted by a 40 horse lectric motor. Also because there are no two angles on the bridge that are the same.
We had two locks to get through on our way to Albion, NY. There are two ways to hold the boat while in a lock. Sometimes there are simply lines hanging down the walls and you grab one on the bow and another on the stern. In some locks there are secured cables or pipes that you can loop a line from the boat around and tie off. The boat then rides up, or down, on the the cable.
From Fairport to the end of the canal there are 15 more lift bridges, but there are also still a lot of fixed bridges and other structures that are under 16 feet, so we had to leave the mast down. Like earlier in the canal, there are alot of interesting bridges.
We planned a short stop in Brockport, NY because the guide book said there was a grocery store very near to the free dock tie up. Ron needed worchestershire sauce for Bloody Mary's. I couldn't have one because of my still adhered to rule of no drinking until stopped for the night. We also finally took the opportunity to take our bottles and cans in for deposit redemtion. We thought about pulling a Kramer and Newman routine and saving these returns until we get to Michigan, where the deposit is 10 cents vs. NY's 5 cents, but the back deck was getting a little clutered and we also weren't sure would survive on the back deck on Lake Erie. We ended up with $7.50 at 5 cents each, you can do the math.
We stopped for the night at another free town dock with water and electric in Albion, NY.
This was Tuesday and Ron wanted to see at least part of the baseball All Star game. Mark and I seperately walked into the downtown to scout possible locations. We found only one establishment that would have the game on, but the owner said he would have to turn the sound down at 11 PM because it was karaoke night. I didn't quite get how karaoke starting at 11 PM on a Tuesday night could be a big draw, but what do I know. The guide said there were numerous restaurants near the dock, but as it turns out there was only the karoake bar, whch didn't have food and a sandwich / pizza restaurant. Everything else was several blocks south.
So we chose the only choice and watched the game at the karaoke bar. At around 10:30 we were still the only people in the bar, but a few minutes before 11, people started showing up and by 11:15 the place was hopping. Needless to say, we had to stay for awhile and be entertained by the local talent. It was entertaining, but only a few people with any talent. It turned out to be another late night. A theme with this crew. There were only two more locks on the canal and they were together as a step lock, so the crew had lots of down time.
The stretch from Albion to the western end provided a change in scenery from the east end. We started seeing more farming, especially produce and orchards and even grapes for the wineries.
There were still more bridges. In many cases two bridges are operated by one person. I thought maybe they operated the second bridge remotely, but that wasn't the case. The operator had to drive to the second bridge. In one case the two bridges were only a few hundred feet apart, so we had to idle while waiting for the operator. In another case, the operator was at his other bridge for an east bound boat and we had to wait for him to get back. In one case we tied to the wall below the bridge to wait, but all in all the waits were fairly minimal.
There is even a spot where the canal becomes an aqueduct and goes over a road.
I record each days mileage and where we started and stopped for the day. Along the way on the last day in the canal I remembered that we were getting close to somewhat of a milestone of the total loop trip and went to the page on the gps that has mileage, average speed and other information. It just happened to be right when we reached this milestone.
We came to Lockport, NY where we found the last two locks, which are relatively new and these two locks replaced a 5 lock step. We went up a total of 49 feet and unlike the step locks in the eastern canal where there was usually a few hundred yards between the locks, in these two we went straight from one into another.
There is a four mile stretch of canal that followed that was cut from solid rock.
The canal ends at the Niagra River in Tonawanda, NY, about 10 miles north of Buffalo. We knew there were free town docks there, but we didn't know there were Wednesday night concerts on the waterfront and the docks were filled with local boaters. After cruising through and looking for a space, we found a spot that was on the borderline of the sign that said no mooring, but we tied up there and were able to stay just inside the limit, however, this spot did not have any electric.
The original plan was for at least Ron to get off the boat here and rent a car or truck to collect his records and continue on his buying spree all the way back to Wisconsin. Mark had committed to staying aboard for a little longer as I headed across Lake Erie. Ron, however, was enjoying the trip more than he thought possible. One of the collectors he was going to visit back in Rochester had had a change of heart and wasn't selling, but Ron did find a local collector in Tonawanda who came by the boat with some records that Ron bought. He made a number of additional calls and found collectors in and around Cleveland, OH, so decided to stay aboard to Cleveland. The other issue with Ron staying aboard was his problem with motion sickness. Before coming he was pretty certain that he would not be able to handle to choppy seas in Lake Erie, but at this point he wanted to try.
So we planned to spend another day in Tonawanda to reprovision and prepare for Lake Erie. I had been in contact with a friend of mine in Canada who lives in Hamilton, but works just across the boarder in St Catherines, Ontario. He drove down after work and we all went to dinner in downtown Buffalo. In addition to the Wednesday night concert in the park, this was the start of a week long annual festival in Tonawanda call Canal Days. So most of the boats there for Wednesday were not leaving anytime soon. We wanted to find a spot with electric, so Mark took a hike up and own each side of the canal and though he didn't find an open spot, he did find a guy on a boat called "Big Kahuna" who said he didn't mind if we rafted with him. Rafting is tieing up to a boat that is anchored or in this case tied to the dock. We were able to plug in and get some electicity too.
The weather forecast for the next three days were quite favorable for Lake Erie, so we made plans for an early departure with intentions of going 89 miles to Erie, PA. Even though it was another late night we were up and heading toward Lake Erie before 7 AM.
We came to the junction of the Erie Canal and the Niagra River.
It was important to turn left here. The Niagra River has a very swift current as it heads north to Niagra Falls and Lake Ontario. Turning right and not realizing it for a few miles could have unwanted results.
After a few miles we exited to the Niagra River to the Black Rock Canal, which includes another lock. For some boats and adventurous crews it is possible to stay on the Niagra River and avoid the canal and lock. At this point the current in the river is quite strong and builds to as high as 15 to 18 knots. Even at maximum speed it would be hard for Tranquility to not go backwards in this current. The guide book says that each year someone gets in trouble in this part of the Niagra River. We could see it flowing by while we were in the parallel canal. There are few more interesting bridges, I190 which crosses to Grand Island and the "Peace Bridge", which is one of three bridge crossings into Canada in this area.
In addition to the lock, there were two bridges that needed raising for us as we had put the mast back up in Tonawanda. One a railroad swing bridge and the other a draw bridge.
Just as we came to the Buffalo waterfront, we found our canal exit and headed into Lake Erie.
We had favorable easterly winds and the seas were barely 1 foot, A very comfortable ride, but trouble loomed. Just 30 or so minutes into the lake I noticed that I was losing oil pressure on the starboard engine. I shut it down and restarted, but nothing changed. I shut it down again and Mark took the controls and I went below to investigate. At first glance, nothing seemed unusal, but when I checked the oil, there was none. Upon further investigation I found the missing oil...in the bilge. Uh oh.
After numerous calls and advice from Geo I found the problem. A small tube on the front of the engine was leaking. All this time Mark has continued to man the controls and even though on just the port engine we were still making over 8 miles an hour. I didn't want to backtrack, so we identified a marina in Dunkirk, NY, about 45 miles on the southeastern shore of Lake Erie and still on our way to Erie, PA. Our speed actually picked up a little and we were single engine cruising at 8.5 to 9 miles an hour. I called ahead to the marina and found out that they wouldn't have any parts for my Yanmar engine, but would still look at it and see if it was a minor problem with a loose fitting or something simple. The mechanic in Dunkirk quickly identifed a crack in the tube and told us that this marina was affiliated with a marina in Erie that was a Yanmar dealer. He called, but the part still had to be ordered. We decided to keep going on our single engine and headed back out into the lake and set a course to Erie.
We arrived in Erie after 7:30, but tied up at a marina. I had called the Erie marina to see if the part could be air shipped and while he tried, it didn't happen, so here we are in Erie, PA. These things seem to happen on weekends, so we're stuck until Monday, when hopefully the part will arrive. The 89 mile trip became an even 100 with the diversion into Dunkirk. By far the longest day with this crew and even a few miles longer than a 93 mile day with Denise back in North Carolina and Virginia.
Being the middle of summer, there is always something going on, especially on the weekends. We soon found out that this was "Bike Week" in Erie and the town is filled with motorcycles. Hundreds of them.
Ron made the decision to rent a truck and head out on his record buying adventure with several collections to look at between here and Cleveland. He probably won't be able to meet back up with us as he has a large collection in Chicago that he needs to get to by the middle of next week.
Mark and I strolled a few blocks into downtown Erie to see what Bike Week was all about.
It looks kind of crazy and there is live music tonight, so maybe we'll head back into town to see how much crazier it might get.
Check back in a couple of days to see how this might turn out.
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