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The Erie Canal from Blossom

Chapter 2 Erie Canal

Day 7: Sat. 8-4-07 Buffalo to N. Tonawanda

We were up early and accomplished a few more tasks that had to be done in preparation to have the mast taken down. Manatee left first, the Lady Love, who had a little boo boo (left the spring line hooked and had to go back in to get released) ended up leaving after us. We couldn’t help them, we were away from the dock and Steve had my step stool put away! (on these low floating docks, my short legs can’t reach and until Steve sets the stool for me, I’m stuck on the boat!) The engine was on at 8:15am and off at 12:23pm. We pulled out of the Buffalo Yacht Club and entered the Black Rock Canal again and traveled under the Peace Bridge, which crosses into Canada. This bridge ALWAYS has a mass of traffic on it and backed up! Next, we were to have the Ferry Street Bridge lifted so we could pass through. No one was on duty. Ed called the Coast Guard. They said it doesn’t open till 10am. Apparently, the Black Rock Lock doesn’t open until 10am either. So at 8:53am, we all tied off on the wall and waited. At 10:04am we turned the engine back on and they raised the bridge. Then there was a swing railroad bridge to go through. After that, we entered our first lock of the trip. The Black Rock Lock, say that fast three times! It was a 5 ft. drop and took 14mins. As we were pulling out, Lady Love and Manatee were having seaweed problems. Both captains jumped in and cut what they could from their boats. Steve called Wardell Boatyard again. I think it’s his 5th call to them. On his previous conversations they said no problem, just come in, you don’t need an appointment. This time they said they couldn’t help us until Monday! So we turned into the Erie Canal, went about 100 yards and tied up to the wall across from Wardell’s.

It really wasn’t such a bad place. We were in N. Tonawanda, NY. There was a paved path for bikes, roller blades, walkers/runners that goes back to Buffalo. There were shops very close by. Many folks stopped by to visit. In the morning, you can walk your dog on the path, so many dogs stopped to visit, which Hatch enjoyed. The weekend traffic on the canal was unbelievable! Even the sheriff boat stopped to say to Manatee’s crew, “why aren’t you fishing for walleye in Sandusky?” Obviously, the law enforcement doesn’t know what a sailboat does! Sailboats sail – they don’t fish! Jeff and Steve had left us to walk to town “looking for internet service” and any other trouble they can get into. (looking for internet service is becoming a major pastime) I have some cute pictures of Hatch ready to dive off the back of Manatee to catch a group of ducks. He almost jumped in two other times when Jeff went off the back and cut weeds and things off Manatee’s parts. There were two large catamarans, one at Wardell’s and one on the wall in front of us on the wall. One was from Florida and one from Germany. The couple from Germany have been on their boat since 2002. They are on their way to the Great Lakes for several years. Both boats needed their masts put up and, of course, they were there first, so he’ll get to us next. When Jeff and Steve got back, they couldn’t find internet access, but Steve did buy some transmission fluid! He downloaded the pictures I took so far, 183! That night there was a Three Dog Night Concert in the town of Tonawanda. (N. Tonawanda and Tonawanda are a bridge apart on the canal.) Manatee invited the crews from Presto & Lady Love to dine on their boat. Afterwards, Sandy, Jeff, Hatch, Steve and I walked up to the concert that was to start at 7pm. Well, the warm up band….warmed up for over two hours! The bridges and some of the streets were blocked off. And hundreds of folks were sitting, standing everywhere! Boats were parked every which way in the canal. They did leave an opening so the police/sheriff boats could patrol up and down. And motorcycles! I have NEVER seen so many. (I could have easily tested the domino effect and knocked down 50 bikes in a row! Then Steve would have had to get a new admiral.) Steve and I walked around a bit, then met back up with Sandy, Jeff and Hatch. Jeff said, “ if Three Dog Night doesn’t start playing at 9, I’m out of here”. Well, captains tend to stick together, so at 9:10 we were walking back to our boats. I heard them start their first song at 9:45pm. Steve was asleep by 9:46pm. Jeff and I think they only played 6 songs. The music was over at 10pm. The rocking of the mass of boats passing us on the wall put me immediately to sleep. I think we were all exhausted!

Out 4hr 8min top speed 6.48 aver 2.86 trip 13nm total 240nm

Day 8: Sun. 8-5-07 N. Tonawanda “rest day”

Our first day of rest, if you can really call this a restful day! Steve was up early doing things. He temporarily wired the solar panel and tied it to the bimini. It was drawing 3.2 to 3.4 amps, probably enough to run the refrigerator. Sandy, Jeff, Steve and I went to Tim Horton’s for breakfast. We all decided we would have one of their egg/bagel sandwiches. They were out of eggs! Now how does a breakfast place run out of eggs first thing in the morning? Oh, last night the two catamarans changed places. The one from Florida went in front of Wardell’s. He was by himself and he worked getting things ready to be stepped first thing Monday morning. At about 9am, Dennis Wardell had the mast up and stood there and watched the captain of the catamaran hook everything up. I think it took him about 20min. Then the captain spent the rest of the day hooking everything and putting his sails on. We wondered if the other catamaran was going to move over, but from the conversation Ed and Mike had with Dennis, the cat is going somewhere else to have his mast stepped because he has some structural problems to fix first. So the plan was our group would be first thing in the morning. Steve had a busy day. He cleaned the engine filter, ran the generator, dove under Presto and cut away weeds (with Jeff’s help) and put the fender board together. I did do my share of work, even though the captain doesn’t think so! (I can run the vacuum when the generator’s on, darn, he didn’t get the generator just so the admiral can run her hairdryer!) I also took a long walk down the path. I took some better pictures of the “Welcome to the Erie Canal” sign. I didn’t get those on the way in. I visited with Sandy and saw her sketchbook and a journal her teaching friends made her. WOW! We ate dinner aboard, a couple rain drops fell….I think maybe it was just sweat off of the birds! Talked with Jenny & Chris a bit. We walked over to the Dairy Queen with Ed for a sundae. It was a good day of “rest”.

Day 9: Mon. 8-6-07 N. Tonawanda to Tonawanda

Monday morning had sort of a slow start. We had a big breakfast of pancakes. Then sat in the cockpit drinking tea and coffee, waiting for the catamaran to move from Wardell’s. I assume Lady Love talked to them because at 8:30am, she was heading over with Steve & Jeff along to help. The crane started it’s engine at 8:32am. Dennis Wardell placed the line around the middle of the mast and then turned off the crane. Then the guys unhooked all the cables. Then the crane started and they guided the lines around and set the mast on the supports and the crane was off at 8:53am. 21min. They fastened the mast down and Lady Love was back on the wall by 9:06am! (Almost had another boo boo, Sandy had to yell at them to stop and take the line off the mast that hooked it to the crane!) We were next! Engine on at 9:12am. Dennis had to go up in the bosan chair to attach the line around our mast. They did the usual jokes of it’s free to get you up….. (Dennis has a good sense of humor.) Steve wanted the heavy part of the mast (the base) on top of the arch. They walked the mast around that way but it would not work that way. The spreaders got caught on the arch wrong. So they had to walk the mast back around the other way. By 10:20am the mast was laying in the supports. They tied it down next and then we moved to the fuel dock for fuel and to finish tying down the mast.

At 12:06pm, Steve was just finishing securing the boat. A slight problem, Dennis dropped our fuel cap into the canal! He was able to finally fish it out with a rake, but it did put up a challenge! (Steve was just glad he wasn’t the one to drop it in!) Manatee was the last and for the most part, it went a little easier. Her middle support was a little short, so they fine tuned and got things right! We turned our engine on at 12:39pm and back off at 12:54pm. So we were technically out for 15 min. and went .2nm. (we never even plugged in the GPS) We all tied up at the Gateway Harbor, which is just a little further into the town of Tonawanda. We plugged in and cooled Presto down and ate lunch. Talk about stress! I think Lady Love wanted to continue, but the rest of us were hot, tired, hungry and wanted to wash a go of clothes. (real exciting) So we tied up to rejuvenate. I asked the dock master where was a good place to eat. He suggested a local place, “Switon’s Beef and Keg”. Turns out they serve roast beef sandwiches and chili. That’s it! Poor Ed (who doesn’t’ eat meat) ate a roll and popcorn with his beer. Sandy and I stopped at the grocery store on the way back. I think we will all be ready to make a fresh start in the morning! Just when we were going to bed, Sandy called. She said to go out and look at our mast. All of these huge spiders (tarantulas I’m sure) were coming out of the mast and spinning away. When Steve threw one into the water the next day, I could actually hear a “plop” over the noise of the engine! Now that’s a big critter!

Out: from 9:12am to 12:38pm at Wardell’s taking down masts
Out: 15min. trip .2nm This will probably be our shortest day!!

Day 10: Tues. 8-7-07 Tonawanda to Lockport

Wild and wonderful days on the Erie Canal! Everyone was up early. Lady Love left
probably a half hour before the rest of us. We are hoping to travel further than .2nm today! So today marks the first item “lost to the canal Gods” for us. A connector on the bimini fell off as Steve was attempting to set up the back part for some shade for the admiral. Oh well, I’m sure there will be a whole list of items to order as we continue on the PMO. Oh, this is now the Presto, Manatee, Lady Love Odyssey, because Lady Love is probably not going to leave us. Removing the mast was a lot more work than Captain Ed had anticipated. After watching the catamaran spend a whole day and part of the next re-attaching the mast and lines, a team effort sounds more appealing. I figure at least till the end of the canal Lady Love will probably stay with the group. We started the engine at 9am and the last time we shut her off was 1:05pm. It was a pretty overcast day. The canal was very pretty. There were a lot of nice homes along the way. And, of course, a lot of old run down places. The canal itself was pretty dirty. We saw parks, a summer camp with kids and went under a guard gate.

Guard gates are used to close down sections of the canal during floods or maintenance. Several boats passed us going the other way. We tried to keep our speed down, but we still passed Lady Love. There was a cement wall on the portside before Locks 35 & 34 at Lockport. We wanted to stop there so Steve could walk up to the AT&T store and buy an air card for the computer. The wall looked to rough and ugly, so we opted to go through the first two locks first. We pulled into lock 35 and Hatch decided he wanted off. Jeff had to jump off and get him. As soon as our boats were inside the lock, the lock operator starts closing the gate. Even before Lady Love was secure on the wall! We dropped 35ft. Almost immediately, the opposite gates open and you start pulling out. During this entire procedure, it’s a balancing act to keep the five foot of mast hanging off the bow and the five foot of mast hanging off the stern, and the spreaders hanging over the port and starboard sides from touching the wall of the lock! (Yes, the captain did use some choice commands on the admiral! Poor Hatch is learning some new words!) Lock 34 was immediately after and dropped us another 25ft through the Niagara escarpment. It was stressful. There is a lot of current action in the locks, especially when they open and close the gates. Sandy was holding Manatee while Jeff took pictures! (he’s unbelievable!) (I grip the ropes in the lock like I grip my driver, too tightly! Jeff is relaxed and having a ball.) As we were leaving lock 34, the yelling began behind us. At first, Ed thought he lost his transmission. When he entered lock 34, he thought something was odd. He couldn’t get Lady Love to stop. Then he couldn’t get her to move forward. So he yelled at Manatee and they towed him out of the lock. Jeff pulled them down to the closest wall. Another really ugly, rough wall and it marked the port side of Lady Love. The lift bridge operator came down and told us we couldn’t stay there because it was a work area and would be locked off at 4pm. He said he would open the draw bridge and just beyond the bridge there was a wall to tie up to and have access to town. So when Manatee went to tow Lady Love again, Lady Love’s mast knocked off the windex on Manatee’s mast, but they managed to make it to the other wall. Ed immediately checked his engine and then dove under Lady Love. His propeller was gone. By this time it was after 1pm and we were all hungry. We ate a quick lunch and then packed up the computer in the backpack and started walking to the AT&T store. Thank goodness we brought our umbrella. Ed was walking with us and we were maybe 100 yards from the boats when a torrential downpour started. We stood in the gazebo by the lift bridge and waited for it to ease up. We left just before 2pm and were not back until 5pm. We purchased the air card, bought stuff to hook up the solar panel (can’t keep Steve out of the Home Depot!), and a few groceries. Oh, and stopped at a quilt shop, which really wasn’t a quilt shop! (she did alterations) We moved Presto down closer to the other boats after a powerboat moved. We plugged into the electricity between downpours. A bottle of wine tonight! Oh, Ed has divers coming in tomorrow to hook up a new propeller. He couldn’t hold his breath long enough to do the work! What an adventurous day!!

Out 4 hours 5 min. Trip 16nm Total 256nm top speed 7.41 aver. 3.38

Day 11: Wed. 8-8-07 Lockport day of rest

This was our second day of rest, if you can really call it that! The divers are coming around 4pm to install Ed’s propeller. Steve downloaded the air card disc onto his laptop. During breakfast we made a things to do list and then tried to get all those things accomplished. At 1:30pm, the Bacons and the Molnars walked over to take the Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride tour at 2:15pm. It was fascinating. We toured locks 34 & 35, walking along the open grate walkways. (Sandy doesn’t like those.) And no, we looked, but didn’t see Ed’s propeller. We walked past three old factories (what was left of them) that Birdsill Holly built in the 1800s. He held 150 patents, second only to his friend Thomas A. Edison. We walked through a 1600 foot water power tunnel blasted out of solid rock in the 1800s. This Hydraulic Tunnel provided water power to the three factories right there. Holly also invented the fire hydrant, central steam heat, and the rotary pump. It was really an interesting tour. The caves were cool, a relief from the high 80s temperature. The caves were very wet. We were “kissed” by the caves many times! Afterwards, Sandy and I did a little shopping. The Farmer’s Markets in these small towns are great! Delicious fresh vegetables! The best fresh peaches! We stopped at the Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises building. Had a snack there and then found a darling singing Pirate Bear with a Parrot for Christine’s birthday. When we returned to the boats, the divers were almost done hooking up the propeller. Sandy and I walked over to an “arts” store. Watched an artist carving a log with a chain saw. Unfortunately, the rest of the store had closed at 5pm. Guess we shall have to stop back here on the way back! Everyone came over to Presto for a happy hour! Hatch played with Pelee’s pink bone. He decided to remove the squeaker for her. Don’t worry Pelee, I stitched it back together! Everyone left at 7pm. It was more of a “happy time”, celebrating the fact that maybe things will be better from here out! The captains really didn’t decide where we are going tomorrow! We’re not even sure if Ed’s boat will work, since they didn’t give it a test drive! Steve stayed up late working on the computer. He couldn’t get the printer to work.

Day 12: Thursday 8-9-07 Lockport to Medina

I was up early. Walked down and spoke with the bridge operator in Lockport. A real nice man! Steve finally got up at 8:15am. He was up late trying to get the computer to work. Something is terribly wrong with it. We ate breakfast and had the engine on by 8:51am, for our 10th sail. Our “order of sail” was Manatee, Lady Love and then Presto. I think Captain Jeff and Captain Steve feel the need to protect Lady Love. It’s beautiful on either side of the canal: orchards, people walking, running or bicycling. Lots of kayaks too. We passed Middleport, a nice looking town. We turned the engine off in Medina at 11:25am. Sandy had us over for lunch. As we were pulling into Medina, a large trawler passed us going so fast! It rocked all of our boats. It almost rocked Lady Love’s mast off! Steve tried to reach someone at AT&T before lunch, but no luck. After lunch, we took the umbrella (looked a little threatening) and left to check out the stores. The first store was a really neat craft filled place. Even had some quilt fabric. Just as we entered, Steve got a phone call. I figured it was AT&T calling back, but it wasn’t. It was Sandy. Jeff had left with Hatch for a walk and didn’t take his cell phone. Their boat was just hit three times by one of the rental canal boats! It bent the radio antenna and made some marks on the hull. He docked between our two boats. It’s a miracle he didn’t hit us too. We won’t be able to know if there is any damage to the radio until the mast is stepped and hooked up. Steve finally got a hold of the AT&T store where he bought the air card on Tues. 8-7. They referred him to a tech-service number. That technician said he thinks the disc is corrupt! Steve ended up going to Lake Plains Software and Tony started fixing our computer around 4pm. He hopes to have it done by tomorrow around 11am. At $60 an hour, I’m hoping it’s sooner! We went to dinner with the “group” at Avanti’s. It was very good! Steve washed three loads of clothes while I did stuff on the boat. Manatee and Lady Love will leave early tomorrow and we will catch up. Two other things I almost forgot. After Jeff’s fiasco with his mast, we cut an old distress flag in half and tied it to the ends of our mast. And folks here have no idea how far things are from the canal. Like the grocery store: “it’s only a few minutes up the road”. Well, that’s by car, not walking! Ed walked to the Tops in the rain. He asked if there was a cab available to take him back. A VERY old lady driving a huge old station wagon gave him a ride back to the boat, after she picked up one of her girl friends. It was funny. While we were eating dinner, he saw her outside at the traffic light. Oh the happy memories we’re all making!!!

Out 2 hours 34 min. Trip 14nm Total 270 nm top speed 7.44 aver. 4.95

Day 13: Friday 8-10-07 Medina to Holley

We were up early, worried this guy between us and Manatee would take off early and hit us in the process. He did get up early and leave. But luckily, he didn’t have any problems. (There was no way he should have ever even considered docking between the two of us!) There were five power boats parked around us and we spoke with many of their crews. One gave us copies of the “Canal Times”, a little newspaper about the canal and it’s events. Everyone is so nice and fill us in on local places, where to tie up, where to eat. Sandy and Jeff came for a pancake breakfast on Presto. Lady Love left at 8:28am. Manatee left at 9:30am. They both ended up in Brockport. We made several trips to “visit” Tony at Lake Plains Software. It was the worse case scenario. The corrupt disc took away some of the functionality of the computer and it’s systems. No printer, no USB connections, can’t write to the CD, and some other stuff. Tony transferred our data to another hard drive, erased our hard drive, reloaded windows and some other programs and our data. He went on line and downloaded the stuff from AT&T for the air card to work. When Steve called AT&T and spoke with a supervisor, they basically said it’s our problem, not theirs! So after paying $210, he was back on Presto at 2:25pm. Ed called us and told us Brockport was full. So we decided to stop in Holley. Before we left Medina, we pulled over to the free pump out station. (yes, it’s self service, but free!) “Mom’s Money”, a powerboat from Port Clinton, Catawba Is., pulled up close to say hello! We ended up grouping with them at the drawbridge and following them into Holley. They are heading up to the Finger Lakes. We ate our dinner and afterwards at the dock-wall park, there was a wild animal presentation. It was really neat! There is a nice wood dock wall here and a beautiful park. We walked to town, lots of neat looking buildings, but most are empty. I’m always singing “nothin’ but the dead and dyin’ back in my little town”. It’s really sad to see these old towns. Some places are trying to get businesses back, but it’s hard. A small powerboat pulled in between “Mom’s Money” and us, providing us with the evening’s entertainment. The women were trying to step off onto the dock and were so drunk, they kept falling back into the boat. Drunk boating is everywhere! Steve put the fender board up since we will have two locks to go through tomorrow.

Out 3 hr. 18 min. Trip 18 nm Total 288 nm top speed 7.51 aver 5.04

Day 14: Saturday, 8-11-07 Holley to Brockport

We were up early. I made breakfast while Steve worked on the computer. (Thank goodness he had read somewhere that if you are planning a long trip with your laptop, be sure bring discs of the programs you use a lot in case you have to re-download them. He also regularly backs up all his stuff on the computer too. Sure, we lost some stuff, but not the critical stuff.) We wanted to leave before Mom’s Money. They go slower down the canal than we do! He told us yesterday, he doesn’t know how fast his boat is traveling, his speed indicator isn’t working. At 8:40am Sandy called. Lady Love just left and they want to spend another day in Brockport to go to the Arts Festival. So we hurried down and somehow (with Jeff’s help) managed to stick Presto in the spot left by Lady Love! Our radio antenna flirted with the end of Manatee’s mast. Oh, almost forgot! Right before we came to the drawbridge into Brockport, Steve yells, “come quick, look there’s a bear!” He was dead serious. Yes, it really did look like a bear! I grabbed the camera and took a shot. It was actually a big brown dog. He really did look like a bear. I wonder if the captain will keep that picture or delete it? After we docked, I met (took many pictures and a movie) Sampson and Dalila (sp?) the two golden retrievers on the powerboat in front of Manatee. (Not the same ones we saw in Canada.) They were beautiful, but I think Hatch didn’t think so. As we were pulling under the drawbridge, we could smell this restaurant at the edge of the canal. We walked over there and ate lunch at 48 Merchant Street. Their barbecue pork sandwiches were delicious! Then we walked around the festival booths and in a few stores. Sandy, Jeff and Hatch met up with us. We all managed to buy a few items. Have to do our part at supporting the local economy! I made Steve buy me a rock with my name etched on it. (for $4.50) Jeff thought that was pretty funny that Steve would buy a rock. He doesn’t understand there’s not many things with my name printed on them. There was a grocery store, liquor store, and even a place to buy propane within easy walking distance to the boats! Sandy, Jeff and Hatch came over at 6pm with a pitcher of Harbor Norths, chips and dip. I made ravioli and sauce, Sandy brought salad and Steve made fresh peach cobbler for dinner. Talk about the fullers! Lady Love called. They are in Macedon, one stop after Fairport.

Out 1 hr 2 min Trip 4nm Total 292nm top speed 7.16 aver 4.15

Day 15: Sunday 8-12-07 Brockport to Fairport

We were woken up at 3am. The fan had shut off. The electric plug had fallen out. Or some smart teenagers did it to us, hard to tell. Apparently, the kids like to untie lines, etc. for fun. A lot of powerboats use a long cable and lock their boats to the docks. Several folks told us they or people they knew had some wise cracker untie their lines and their boats weren’t where they had left them! Jeff got so worried one night, he brought his dinghy motor down below in the cabin. Anyway, we left Brockport just after 8am and headed for Fairport. I drove while Steve prepared the fenders and board. Steve also reset the offset on the depth meter. It’s reading from the water line now. This way, the depth alarm goes off less. Two powerboats did locks 33 and 32 with us.

The lock operator at lock 32 wants us to bring him back a bottle of rum next year! The powerboats took off in front of us. They’re going to Pittsford to refuel. Oh, found out today, MOST lines in the locks are NOT hooked at the bottom! Makes keeping your boat parallel to the lock wall a fun experience! (Mom, it means when I pull too tight on the line I pull the bow and the end of the mast into the lock wall, Steve tends to yell at this point. Of course the same goes for him, he pulls too tight and I almost lose my grip on the rope! If the bottom end of the line is hooked into the wall, it’s just a lot easier to keep parallel.) We pulled into Lockport and tied up on the wall behind the “Colonial Belle”. This is your basic fat ass party boat. It is an Erie Canal Tour and Dinner Boat. Manatee tied up across the canal from us. A little pontoon boat managed to squeeze in between us and the Belle. They were a party of six and were coming to eat dinner and then leave. It started to rain. Pouring rain as a matter of fact. The pontoon boat left later, in their raincoats. It was cool by then. Oh, and the two powerboats who had locked with us, they were tied up a few boats down from us. We visited for a while. They are traveling companions. Nice folks! We walked around a bit before dinner. The Manatee crew was asleep! Steve re-tied all the lines and put the power cord away. (The powerboat in front of Manatee had their power line unhooked and dropped into the canal by some gremlins. The captains are a tad paranoid, but for good reason!) It cooled down nicely during the night!

Out 5 hr 26 min Trip 28nm Total 320nm top speed 7.52 aver 4.94

Day 16: Monday 8-13-97 Fairport to Lyons

We were up early. Had a nice visit with the harbormaster. He is a member of some group, I can’t remember it’s exact name. But they are like the historians of the Erie Canal and they have meetings, etc. I asked him where is Lock #1 and #31. He said they just didn’t need lock #31, and no one ever bothered re-numbering them. And there is a lock 28a and 28b. Probably the same reason a 426 Hunter is now sold as a 44 Hunter! Anyway, Steve made a delicious breakfast of French toast made with the Monk’s bread we were given at the fair yesterday. Yum! We plan on going to Lyons today. This will be a five lock day. Locks 30, 29, 28b, 28a, and 27.

There is no lock 31. Yesterday, when we came through the Bates Road lift bridge in Fairport, that was our last lift bridge on the Erie Canal going east. We left at 8:28am. Locks 30 and 29 went fine. On 28b, Steve pulled his back out. After lock 28a, the Miller Marine came up fast on the portside. Manatee went in for fuel. We were idling, slowly waiting for them. The lock operator on Lock 27 called us and said to come on in he would wait for Manatee. After we went through we immediately turned to tie up on the north wall in Lyons in front of the Lyons Fire Department and American Legion Hall. We all ate a picnic lunch on the picnic tables in the shade behind the America Legion. We visited with the one fireman on duty and an older, local man, who I think was a councilman at one time. They were full of all sorts of information! Took a picture of Sandy and Hatch on the fire truck bumper. The captains did a little shopping. We took pictures of some of the murals in town. Lyons is trying to become the city with the most murals in America, I think. We ate chicken stirfry dinner on Manatee. Sandy made a wonderful banana cream pie! Nice evening!

Out: 4 hr. 47 min. Trip 23nm Total 343nm top speed 7.64 aver 4.64

Day 17: Tuesday 8-14-07 Lyons to Weedsport

Today Manatee is making their first mail pick up. They left Lyons at 7:25am. They’re heading for Clyde. There is a little piece of wall below a bridge and will tie up there and walk to the post office. Two horse and buggies were on the bridge when they were crossing. We ate our breakfast and left at 8:05am. At 9:20am we were entering Clyde and could see Manatee tied up in the distance. Jeff called on his cell. They were on the bridge looking down at us. We all had a Kodak moment.

By 9:35am, Manatee had caught up with us. A few minutes later, one of the huge working barges passed us. It’s so funny to see “construction” signs on the canal. We were pulling out of lock 26 at 10:00am. Steve took some pictures of Manatee in the lock. (Yes, we’re getting a little more confident in the locks.) At 10:28am, Ed called. He said EssKay Yards in Brewerton was a good place to fuel and spend the night. George “Pat” Mann owns the place and he’s originally from Hudson, Oh. Then, on Wednesday, they plan on crossing Oneida Lake. Ed also said going up in the lock is much harder. We were pulling out of lock 25 by 10:57am. The lock operator said, “Presto! Yeah, that’s the only way I could afford a boat like that! Magic – Presto!” (That’s the first time I ever thought of Presto like that! I must admit this whole trip has been a little magical.) We passed the Seneca Canal at 11:12am. Then we passed a HUGE trailer park and the “River Forest Marina”. (yes, Chris Farley “live in a trailer park, down by the river” SNL skit) Captain Steve teased Captain Jeff, “look it over and if you want to stay there, we’ll come back”. No, Jeff didn’t think it was very funny. We pulled up to the Weedsport Terminal Wall right in front of Devaney’s Riverside Grille. It was a challenging dockage! (First off, there was no dock or dock like structure, just a crumbling, rough cement wall. There was nothing to loop a line around on or near the edge, so Steve had to jump off and lassoed us in. There were two bollards a ways in and one signpost. Then he helped Manatee dock.) We all stopped for a quick bite of lunch at Devaney’s. It was really a good restaurant and a gathering place for the locals. We walked to town to pick up mail for Manatee at the local post office. We mailed the AT&T rebate in (get something back on that fiasco) and Christine’s package. It was quite a walk along the highway. Glad we left Hatch back on the boat. We were way too close to fast moving cars and tractor trailers! We stopped at Burritt’s Café, because we ran into the owner on the street and she said we had to go in there and check out the bathrooms! The ladies’ room was decorated in pink and darling. The men’s had a musical theme. They had wired reeds together and had them strung around the mirror, another Kodak moment for the group. There was even a brass sousaphone on the shelf out in the restaurant area. The coffee and homemade goodies were delicious! We stopped at the grocery store too. (funny, stopping at a grocery can be so exciting) Jeff found his favorite “red house” in the town of Weedsport. (it was so old, barely standing, picture time) We came back to Presto and the Manatee crew brought over salad to eat with our last calzone and I made choc chip cookies. Poor Hatch. He bumped the table in the cockpit and it came down on top of him. He flew off Presto back to his safe Manatee home. Almost forgot! Before we started to eat, Jeff made a presentation to Sandy. He gave Sandy a rock with Sandy written on it. (He and Steve were walking in Weedsport and found a flat rock along the road and couldn’t resist…good laugh. But does he really want to carry rocks on his boat?) We closed the boat up because rain was predicted, but never came.

Out 4hr 50min Trip 28nm Total 371nm top speed 7.41 aver 5.55

Day 18: Wednesday 8-15-07 Weedsport to Brewerton

We were up early. Saw the weather on the computer, there was a chance of showers. It was very overcast and cool, but no rain. Found a post office in Amsterdam to have some of our mail sent to. Steve went out to stretch his back, he pulled the wrong muscles going through the lock yesterday, it’s the pits getting old. Our 16th sail (motor) started at 8:14am. At 9:02am, we were crossing “Cross Lake” which was our first real lake crossing on the canal. There was even a sailboat at a dock with its mast up. Manatee called over the radio, they wanted to know what that strange thing was! (mast envy, it’s a terrible thing) At 10:48am we exited lock 24. (as we were entering, Hatch jumped off and checked out the lock) It was fairly windy and Steve had to take the blue tarp down. (after we the mast was down, couldn’t hook the front part of the bimini up, so Steve bought a cheap blue tarp (hillbilly) to keep the admiral in the shade and to help Steve stop banging his head on the spreader lines) Jeff and Steve will have permanent scars on their heads I’m sure. At 1:38pm we left lock 23, our first up lock! It went up 7.1feet. It’s definitely a little harder, but nothing we “experienced” lockers couldn’t handle! And like Sandy said, “Hatch didn’t think of jumping off into the wall!” At 2pm we turned the engine off at the EssKay Yard and topped off our fuel tank. This place is owned by George “Pat” Mann. He is originally from Hudson. He lived on Stow Road. His daughter, Kim, works for him. Kim graduated from HHS in 1973. We had a great visit and she had lots of info. Jeff, Steve and I walked to town to a canvas shop and bought the parts we needed to re-enforce the bimini for the solar panel installation. (Mom, they had a traveling sewing room in a trailer! Like Chris’s trailer with a cutting table, commercial machine, rolls of sumbrella and all the accessories!) At the dock, they had cable TV, but only 3 channels came in, one being Sponge Bob! Oh well, we’ve gotten used to not watching TV. Steve & Sandy washed their cockpits and filled water tanks. We had pizza and wings delivered and ate together on the picnic table with a few bottles of Yuenling (my new favorite beer). Then ‘art teacher’ Sandy gave a ‘Sponge Bob’ art lesson to an 8 yr old girl and her 7 yr old brother…sweet. EssKay has a great ‘Boat Store’. I bought a NY State Canal System flag. It’s kewl! Also, there is a big old powerboat in the garage on stands. It says “I (heart) Lucy” from New Orleans, LA. Kim said this couple (live aboards) made it through Katrina. At their marina in New Orleans, they were the only boat not damaged by the storm. They came to EssKay and have been there since the storm. Also, heard from Lady Love. They are 63 miles ahead in Herkimer. Tomorrow we are crossing Oneida Lake. Jeff wants to take off at 6am. High winds in an open lake in a motoring sailboat with it’s mast strapped over the deck, it doesn’t sound pretty and it definitely doesn’t move easily.

Out 6hr 7min Trip 33nm Total 404nm top speed 7.73 aver 5.28

Day 19: Thursday 8-16-07 Brewerton to Rome

Jeff was ready and pulling away by 6am! Steve got all bundled up and we turned our engine on at 6:03am. We were on Oneida Lake by 6:21am. It was COLD! It was probably 7 to 8 knots of true wind. Chris’s hand held wind machine (probably has a fancy name) read 13knots of apparent wind. Several large powerboats passed and REALLY made Presto rock. I stayed below most of the time. As a matter of fact, I crawled back into bed and fell fast asleep. Steve had to come below and shake me awake. (at least that’s what he says!) Like Ed said, it was a little difficult to find the entrance back into the canal, but we made it through at 9:10am. We went through locks 22 and 21. Ed called, he was at lock 16, about 50miles ahead. We passed some original parts of the canal and took some pictures. We passed Manatee at 11:37am. They think they’ve snagged some junk on their rudder. At 11:52am we were tied up on the north wall at Bellamy Harbor Park, in Rome. We threw the sunshade up and ate lunch in the cockpit. Hatch came over to eat lunch with us. Wish you could see him eat grapes. FUNNY A lot of boats tied up around us. ‘The Loon’, a solar powered pontoon boat (the first solar powered boat to cross the Erie Canal) was there too. The Mayor came down to welcome them. Of course he welcomed Manatee too! (Jeff has it ‘in’ with the mayors of Medina and Rome) There were quite a few folks there to see the Loon. The captain of the Loon is a man from Canada who designed and built the boat. He, his wife and daughter are making it’s maiden voyage. He hopes to build and sell lots of them. Apparently, it was written up in the newspapers and on TV. “A media frenzy”….we haven’t actually noticed the frenzy yet! Funny, when Steve and I got back from town, the Loon was plugged into an electrical outlet. We had walked to town to check out Rome. We toured the Fort Stanwix National Monument. It is a re-built fort from 1777 and a museum there too, very interesting. They had a great Italian market. Bought some items for dinner. Walked through another hardware store! Wish I had a penny for every hardware store I’ve visited! When we got back to the boats and saw the Loon plugged in, discovered some other outlets we could use, if we moved our boats back. Problem was it would put us up against old, rotted wood pilings which Hatch and I could not climb over or jump over to get to shore! At about 4pm it started thundering, but it never rained. We think that’s why at dinner Hatch would not stay on our boat. Bacons came over for chicken risotto and fresh peaches and ice cream. The farmers’ markets along the canal have been wonderful! The fresh peaches are delicious!!!

Out 5hr 49min Trip 31nm Total 435nm top speed 7.62 aver 5.57

Day 20: Friday 8-17-07 Rome to Ilion

We were all up early, except for Sandy, ha. Had delicious French toast for breakfast. Jeff and Hatch stopped by on their walk. I followed them up and took pictures of the dam, the dog, and Guard Gate #7. Both captains had to clean their filters before we could leave. It’s been amazing how much junk is in the canal. What’s more amazing is how many folks swim in it! The 18th sail began at 8:51am. It was fairly windy, which isn’t really fun when locking. Christine called to say she got her hot, hot, hot pirate bear for her birthday. It’s the one Sandy and I bought in Lockport.

We were through lock 20 by 10:35am. Nice whistling lock operator. He talked a lot with us. ALL the lock operators LOVE Hatch! We passed Utica at 11:09am. At 11:50am we ran into our first big traffic jam. A dredge, who was running a cable across the canal, contacted us. We needed to pass him starboard and then the barge and tug, portside and then another barge portside. The men were very friendly. Oh, then another powerboat was coming towards us too. It was a tad hairy. We left lock 19 at 12:27pm. It had both pipes and ropes in it’s walls. I grabbed the pipe and Steve grabbed the rope, then we switched places. He got a line around the pipe and we rode it down the lock wall. I got to drive out of the lock! Sandy wrote us a message in the slime on the wall. Captain Jeff has a great time in the locks. He jumps off, walks around, takes pictures, gets Hatch back on board, hangs off the ropes, and even lays on his back and takes pictures as the boat is going down the wall! All the while, Sandy is madly balancing Manatee on the wall! We were docked in Ilion and the engine was off at 1:22pm. (NOT our best performance at docking) This is the Ilion Community Marina & RV Park. Boats on one side, RVs on the other. There were restrooms with showers, a laundry, boat launch, picnic tables, fuel, pump out and a café there. Oh, and cable TV, with more than three channels! This is the home of the Remington Arms Factory. We both secured our boast and went to the café for lunch. It was delicious! Afterwards, we walked to town, stopping a few stores as we went along. When we arrived at the Remington Factory we discovered the tours are only Mon. through Fri. at 10am and 4pm, so we just walked around the museum. It was really interesting. On our return next year we plan on being here for a tour of the factory! Lady Love called, they are in Amsterdam. Sandy cooked a delicious pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potato dinner. We were going to eat on a picnic table set up between our boats, but the skies looked threatening. We moved everything below in Presto and it rained all through dinner. We had a great time anyway. This is a really nice place.

Out 4hr 31min Trip 23nm Total 458nm top speed 7.55 aver 4.94

Day 21: Saturday 8-18-07 Ilion Rest Day

Day of rest, yeah, right. Last night’s rain cooled things off nicely. We were up early and took a long walk. Steve made pancakes and we listened to the local news. It’s nice to have cable hook up. As of last night at dinner, our tentative plans: Little Falls on Sun.; Canajoharie on Mon.; Amsterdam on Tues. where we will pick up our mail. I started cleaning below while Steve took the tray in the arch that holds the light and speakers down. There was a bird nest and wasp nest in it. I took pictures (of course!). We need to call Kevin because I swore I had seen birds fly out of his arch and Steve thought I was crazy. Steve ran the wires for the solar panel through the arch to the back lazarette. He also wired a 12 volt receptacle into the tray from the light to use with that extra anchor light he bought. We did other work too and some shopping – just like living at home. Sandy did stop by and we figured out how to make/design a screen ‘door’ for her hatch. We all had planned to eat dinner at the café. They were having a ‘clam bake’ for $7.95. It included clams, fries, coleslaw and corn on the cob, but by 5pm they were already out of corn on the cob. Jeff had his heart set on corn on the cob. I think Steve did too. So I decided to make cavatelli and thaw some sauce. Sandy baked brownies and brought bread and oil to dip into. Oh, and I did another oops. I thawed the lasagna meat sauce instead of meatballs, sausage and sauce. So we had meat sauce and cooked some Italian sausage to add to it. (I still missed the meatballs!) After we ate, we cleared the table and cut out the screen for Manatee’s hatch. We pinned it together and Sandy will stitch it tomorrow by hand. (Maybe I should have brought a sewing machine, Patti!) I tried to call Peggy Ryan to tell her we’d be in her neck of the woods, but no answer. Tried to call Betsy too, but no answer. I thought they might still be in Duck, but she called back and filled me in on their adventures. It got a little cold. First time we plugged in the hearter!

Day 22: Sunday 8-19-07 Ilion to Little Falls

I just realized I start every one of these paragraphs with “we were up early”. Oh well. Ditto. It was cold and foggy over the canal. Heater was on most of the night. It was 63 in the salon area. Sandy wanted to sleep in. Steve made the rest of the pancakes for himself. I had Italian bread for breakfast. The Bacons and the Molnars have several things in common. We all love pasta, bread, and M&Ms. Don’t think much weight loss is happening on this trip!! The captains decided to leave between 10:30-11:00am since Little Falls is only 9.5 miles away. Steve worked on the computer and downloaded the 309 pictures I’ve taken so far. Our 19th sail started at 10:32am. As we left, a big flat boat (I’m a sailor, not a powerboater) honked and waved goodbye. We were through lock 18 by 11:57am. Sandy wrote another message on the lock wall slime. I took a picture of it and it sort of came out. We were pulled into Little Falls Canal Harbor by 12:30pm. (It says harbor, but a canal harbor is a wall of cement, sometimes there is a wood covering some of it and sometimes there is actually a wood dock that is hooked into the wall. But mostly, it’s against a cement wall. Thank goodness for the fender board. I’m starting to wonder how it will be to dock the boat without it!) This is a nice place. They have water, electricity, restrooms, and showers. It wasn’t free, but a dollar a foot isn’t bad. We ate our lunches and then all of us, Hatch leading the way, headed to town. The town of Little Falls is beautiful. We took tons of pictures, lots of things for Sandy to draw in her journal. Sandy and I walked through the shops at 25 West. They had lots of antiques, jewelry, beads, a (mini) quilt shop (only had fat quarters & misc. patterns), and lots of art work (Sandy took a lot of pictures for ideas). When we return next year, Sandy will need another year or two off to complete all the art ideas she’s been collecting on the trip! We went back to our boats and got cleaned up and then called the ‘East End Steakhouse’ in town to come pick us up. They sent Meagan (a waitress) who provided us with the local color. We had a wonderful dinner and four doggie bags full of tomorrow’s lunch. We were given a lift back to the harbor and finally, there was someone in the office to pay. It was suppose to be a dollar a foot, but if we didn’t use electricity, it was only $10 a boat. So of course the captains unplugged! THE BEST NEWS!!!!! Sandy and Jeff received a call from Beth and Eric. There’s going to be a WEDDING in December in the Bahamas!! Beth (their daughter) and Eric plan on getting married at Christmas, probably in the Abacos!

Out 1hr 58min Trip 8nm Total 466nm top speed 7.40 aver 3.97

Day 23: Monday 8-20-07 Little Falls to Canajoharie

When we got up the salon was 62. There has been a cool spell, but it’s nicer locking in cool air rather than humid, hot sun. Jeff wants to start by 8am. Our 20th sail started at 8:35am. At 8:52am we were approaching lock 17. The operator told us another sailboat was coming in behind us. We’ve gotten sort of used to doing the locks with just our two boats. Jeff and Steve got off and moved our boats closer together. The other boat tied up portside. We have always tied up starboard. At 9:12am the gates closed behind us. We dropped 41ft 6in.

Sandy wanted me to write her a message on the slime wall. Not an easy thing to do! The wall had water coming out of it, looked like it was peeing on our boats! The gate on the other side lifts up instead of swinging out. It was dripping, making a ‘boat wash’ for us as we left. Oh, and I had another oops. The end of the rope was caught on the fender and the lock operator called down to inform me! He was a funny guy. Said it was his first time at lock 17 alone. I think Sandy and my deep breaths in could be heard by him and then we teased him about being a new guy. He had actually been working for the canal system for the past 25 years, just his first time on lock 17 today. Steve took a break and went below. When he came back up, he had two mugs of hot chocolate!! YUM! At lock 16 I had to jump off Presto and grab the front line! (no, I do not jump off the boat as easily as Hatch) Got lock mud all over me! Steve did too. We have lock mud on our sweat shirts that will probably never wash out. (very professional looking) On lock 15, Hatch jumped off, they stopped the lock for a moment. We sat so high in this lock, our fender board was almost higher than the wall. It was an eight-foot drop. Steve didn’t have time to put the blue rubber gloves on. He ran below to wash his hands while I started to pull Presto out, but the engine burped two times! I couldn’t increase the RPMs. Steve worked with it and got it working properly. We have no idea what happened. Of course, when we docked he checked everything over! There was nothing wrong. We were through lock 14 by 12:49am, our 23rd lock so far. The Canajoharie Terminal Wall was right around the corner. We stayed on the floating docks and had electricity and water at no charge. The Beechnut Co. is right there and they were canning peaches. What a delicious smell! While we were eating our hot soup and sandwich lunch, Peggy called back. She lives very close to lock 7 and Waterford. Peggy grew up in Troy, Matt in Cohoes, and for their first 20 years of marriage, they lived in Waterford. We will call her when we’re close and get together. We walked into town. Took a picture of a CRAZY SIGN!

Tell me what you think it means. We walked through the Antiques & Butcher Shop, a unique combination. They have a beautiful library with an impressive art collection, but they suffered a lot of flood damage last year and are still trying to return to normal. We came back to Presto, napped, ate leftovers, baked cookies and share those with Sandy, Jeff & Hatch.

Out 4hr 23min Trip 18nm Total 484nm top speed 6.55 aver 3.82

Day 24: Tuesday 8-21-07 Canajoharie to Amsterdam

It was a little cool and overcast. We plan to go to Amsterdam, Kirk Douglas’s hometown. Steve was up early checking everything on the engine since it burped yesterday. We started our 21st sail at 8:22am. We were through lock 13 at 9:48am. I told the lock operator we’d see him next year, but he said, “no you won’t, I’m retiring in December!” So we wished him well. At 10:52am I finished the last Harry Potter book. Steve is very happy. He hopes now I might get some work done! On lock 12, they didn’t seem to be ready for us. Then when we got into the lock, I couldn’t pull the bow in. Jeff came to my rescue again! At 12:18pm we left lock 11, our 26th lock. We docked at the Amsterdam Riverside Park at 12:40pm, really a nice place. The woman who worked there, Karen, was very helpful. There was a free concert at the park that evening. The Schenectady Symphony was performing at 7pm. We walked to town to the post office for our mail. We were expecting two envelopes. Unfortunately, only one had made it. We walked all over Amsterdam. We bought some groceries. We ate a quick dinner aboard Presto, then set our blue chairs on the hillside of the park and listened to the first half of the concert. It was a nice concert, but getting cool. We walked back towards the boats and Sandy invited us to listen to the last half onboard Manatee drinking hot chocolate and coffee cake, wrapped in a blanket. After the concert, we went back to Presto, turned on the heater AND the electric blanket and slept well!

Out 4hr 18min Trip 19nm Total 503nm top speed 6.98 aver 4.45

Day 25: Wednesday 8-22-07 Amsterdam to Lock 7

Steve was up early and called the post office to see if our other mail arrived. It had, so Steve ran up to get it. I stayed got everything ready to leave when he returned. We originally planned to dock in Crescent, but Lady Love said their wall looked pretty crappy. So we switched our plan to Lady Love’s and will tie up at Lock 7. The 22nd Sail started at 9:14am. Jeff had already pulled off the wall when he realized he had forgotten to return the restroom key. So, as he’s pulling away, he runs below, grabs the key, steers the bow back towards the wall, runs to the bow, throws the key to Steve who’s standing on shore, runs back to the helm and turns Manatee down the canal! This was done so fast, I had no time to get the movie camera on! I’m sure it would have won money on America’s Funniest Home Movies. Another rather annoying thing about the canal, trains. They tend to run along the side of the canal in different areas. In Amsterdam, they are right up against the park. (To get to town from the park/dock, you climb steps in a tower, or take the elevator. Then you use the walkway bridge that goes over the top of the tracks and leads into a gate at the edge of a small strip mall. The gate is locked at night and the restroom key opens it, incase you come back from dinner in town late and would like to spend the night on your boat!) During the symphony last night, the train came through once and no one skipped a beat over it. Oh, and it’s the same train line that goes through Huron, OH! I took a picture of this train right before lock 10. Lock 10 is the lock that was basically destroyed in the flood last June. Several locks sustained damage, but lock 10 was the worse. A lot of cities along the canal had damage too. Lots of trees and debris is still being pulled out of the canal and piled along the edge. At 9:49am we were through lock 10. At 10:18am Hatch was barking! I wonder if he’s getting bored? We dropped 14 feet in lock 9. At lock 8 I asked the lock operator what is the proper way to address him. He said ‘lock operator’, but he’s actually the ‘chief lock operator’. Yet, he said he didn’t mind my name for him, ‘Lock Master’. We tied up at lock 7 before we went through and turned the engine off at 1:34pm. We were all pretty tired. Hatch got a walk over to the boat ramp and went swimming. Two little girls on bikes told Sandy there was a grocery store about 10 min. away. Later, we found out it was about 8 miles away. Steve made some phone calls. The marina in Catskill is penciling us in to step the masts on Saturday. That should be a good birthday gift for Jeff. We watched the action on lock 7, then the Loon came up and tied up behind our boat. They thought we were waiting for the lock to open. I guess they didn’t notice our three lines secured to the cleats and the big yellow electric cord plugged into the shore power. They did lock through and then Jeff came over for happy hour first. Sandy came a little later with artichoke dip! Yum! That, M&Ms, pretzels, and nuts were our dinner! Peggy called and said she would be right down to pick us up and take us to her home for coffee and a visit. We cleaned up and watched a bunch of kayaks lock through and then Peggy arrived. She gave us a nice tour of the area and showed us the front of a huge home (the Lawrence estate) we saw on the canal. She and Matt have a beautiful home. We had a great visit and plan on getting together when we get to Waterford tomorrow.

Out 4hr 20min Trip 22nm Total 525nm top speed 655 aver 4.85

Day 26: Thursday 8-23-07 Lock 7 to Waterford

We were up early because neither of us slept very well. I think we were both a little stressed thinking about 6 locks, 5 of them in a row. The 23rd sail started at 7:36am. This was our last day on the Erie Canal. We were through lock 7 by 7:58am. We had to radio Guard Gate #2 to have them lift it. We went through that at 9:10am and they closed it behind us, no turning back now.

Then we entered lock @ 9:20am. Then through locks 5 & 4 by 10:15am and then locks 3 & 2, our last lock, the 35th lock we’ve been through since our very first lock, the Black Rock Lock. We were on the wall in Waterford at the Harbor Visitor’s Center and had the engine off @ 11:09am. Right after we secured the boat, Peggy stopped by with her two grandsons. They missed seeing us lock through, but the boys came aboard to check out Presto. Peggy and Matt are coming back at 4pm to take all of us shopping and out to dinner. We showered and walked up to the grocery store. We pushed the shopping cart back over the bridge, right up to the boat and unloaded. Then we parked the cart at the visitors’ center, the store will come and pick it up later. While we were gone, the water level lowered, due to the water adjustments at the locks. Our boat dropped down lower too. Hatch went to jump up and off of Manatee and he hit the wall, slid down between the wall and the boat and Sandy somehow managed to pull him back onboard by the collar! Needless to say, Hatch is terrified about getting on and off the boat now! Peggy and Matt came and we all piled into their car. They gave us a tour of the area. We went to West Marine, Sandy went to the pet store, then we went to Walmart and many items were purchased! Then we went to dinner at Verdile’s, a delicious meal and great company! We stopped at the grocery store to fill Manatee’s pantry and then back to the boats. We said our goodbyes to Peggy and Matt and plan on seeing them next year! I stayed up and finally got all of my writing done on the Lake Erie portion of the PMO. Now, Steve needs to clean it up and send it out! Now, we are out of the Erie Canal and entering the Hudson River. I took a picture of the sign on this side of the canal, welcoming you to the Erie Canal!

Out 3hr 33min Trip 11nm Total 536nm top speed 6.55 aver 3.04

Since we left Lake Erie from 8-4-97 thru 8-23-07 we traveled 296nm on the Erie Canal and a total of 536 nm since we left Huron, Ohio. For those of you non sailors a nautical mile is 115% longer than a statue mile. So multiple 296 time 1.15 to do the conversion.

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