2022 Erie Canal

[colbysmith]

Yesterday afternoon I managed to lose my sliding window latch overboard. It has come off twice before, but while on the trailer over hard ground so I was able to retrieve it. Somewhat of a lousy system and I’m not the only C-Brat to have it come off and fall in the water. I’ll come back to this later. This morning we already had another boat waiting for our spot before we pulled out. He had come by yesterday late afternoon asking if we were spending the night and when we might be leaving. A local boater hoping to score our spot right next to the park where the last concert of the season will be tomorrow evening. I told him then between 9 and 10am. He showed up about 8:45 this morning and waited until we left. He was a pretty happy camper to get our good parking place!
As the Erie Canal ends just west of Tonawanda into the Niagara River, our plans were to cruise out into the Niagara, then down through a lock and the Black Rock Canal. Finally ending up abeam Buffalo, and then sticking our bow out in Lake Erie briefly. Current was about 3mph against us while in the Niagara. All that water heading towards Niagara Falls! The Black Rock Lock and Canal gets boaters out of the current, and parallels the Niagara to abeam Buffalo and then out to Lake Erie. Prior to getting to the lock I called the lock tender to see if we would have a delay. He had another boat to lock through from the other direction and told me to plan on 10:30. Soon after I spoke with him, we passed a marina that had a West Marine store. I swung in there and picked up some Marine Adhesive (4000 UV) and a very sharp putty knife, with plans to remove the window latch from a back sliding window I don’t use, and place it on my window where the latch came off. Timing worked out well, as that placed us at the lock with a green light to enter. However, as we were approaching the Lock, the tender asked us if we could rescue a small dog that was in the water just before the lower lock gate. Apparently several lock workmen saw the dog. I was already driving from the cockpit (back) helm, so would be easy for me to reach over and grab the dog. When I got up next to it, I reached down and first patted its rear. It turned its head and snipped at me, so I decided grabbing it wasn’t a prudent idea. The workmen hollered for me to see if I could just herd it to the shore on the other side, so I proceeded slowly to do that. Several times the dog looked at us, and appeared to want to come on the boat, but was very likely scared and tired. He did make it to the other shore, and managed to crawl out on the rocks. Not sure where he ended up after that, but I sure hope he made it to wherever. There was no collar on it, and I never did learn why it was in the water.
It was pretty stormy today in Buffalo and on Lake Erie with high winds, waves to big for us, and rain. So we pretty much went as far as the last break water, and then turned back rather than going any farther out into Lake Erie. Rained most of the way back through Tonawanda and stopped just before we got into Lockport. We’re back on the dock behind the lock wall that we stayed at two nights ago. Didn’t see any other boats traveling on the water today, nor have any gone through the lock since we got here. I was able to remove the window latch from a back window and adhere it to my window. After 24 hours of curing, I’ll keep my fingers crossed it holds up! After supper we walked up for some ice cream and then to the post office to drop off some letters. Colby

The Peace Bridge between Ontario and Buffalo


Several sets of dry docked sailboats between the Black Rock Canal and Niagara River channels.


Lake Erie looks a little angry today!


Our westbound Erie Canal track ends at the bottom of the green line. Before you ask about Paddywagon and the seastate, it looks like he stopped his Nebo app there earlier this month. I don't believe anybody was out there today!


Fall colors already along the Erie Canal.


End of the rainbow

[Dora~Jean]

Very interesting trip Colby, thanks for all the pictures and great narrative.

[ssobol]

I put my window latch on with 5200 a few years ago. It's still firmly attached. Prep of the surface is crucial for a good bond.

[colbysmith]

Winds were a howling again today. Fortunately a tailwind! Easy day as we traveled 12 miles from Lockport to Middleport, going under two lift bridges. I am kind of surprised at the lack of boats traveling on the canal. Today we didn’t see anyone else. No one came through the two flight of locks at Lockport while we were there, and we didn’t pass anyone between there and Middleport. There were two boats on the wall at Gasport that looked like locals, and one boat here on the wall in Middleport that looks like a local. After we tied up here and had lunch, we took our bikes down and rode into town to drop some letters off at the Post Office, and then out to Dollar General to replace a tea pitcher that broke. Then we rode the Canal trail back to Gasport. Along the way, searched for and found a geocache. Then there is a Pirate ship playground there that I had to let the kid in me come out. Lol. There was another cruiser on the wall here in Middleport when we got back, that came in from the east. We have seen several bicyclists traveling and camping on the Canal path, and we have one single gal right next to us tonight camping out. I’ve always thought it would be pretty cool to ride my bike across country, but think I’ll stick with the boat (or a motorhome)! One thing that has stuck out to me is there doesn’t appear to be the homeless camps that I’ve seen along waterways in the West and Midwest. In fact, I hadn’t seen any homeless at all along the Canal until we turned around yesterday. We did see a gentleman sleeping under one of the bridges today, and it didn’t look like a biker or hiker. Looks like we have a spell of good weather for the next few days. Colby

Aye there matey, I'm a pirate. lol


How a pirate disembarks his pirate ship! lol


C-Traveler tied up to the wall in Middleport.

[gulfcoast john]

The Erie canal after Sept 1 is a totally different experience than the peak July-August time. Kids are back in school (or Zooming). All the Loopers are closing in on Mackinac or close to it heading south.

Therefore our standard advice to ‘get on a free town wall by 2PM’ no longer applies. There are so many town walls so close together on the West Erie canal, that if one is full (call the Lockmaster) just get the next one. Calling the listed cell phone of the next Lockmaster is fair game here and very helpful. They too are very helpful in wanting cruising boaters to have a very positive experience, and as you guys have found, generally go way above and beyond what US citizens expect of government employees.

Superb coverage and pics, Colby!

You put my Finger Lakes/West Erie Canal Adventure post (under Grand Adventures) in fourth place in comparison.

When we are advising ‘newbie’ Segment Loopers, we don’t suggest going into Lake Erie because it (like all Big water) can turn nasty very fast, and therefore terrify the inexperienced crew too much. You guys have so much time in difficult conditions that I fear you might minimize to a ‘newbie’ how terribly exciting it can be.

We know it’s a lot of time and work, but please keep posting about your cruise! I think you guys have the very best post on this to date!

Cheers, and Safe travels!

John

[jkidd]

Nice write up and great pictures Colby.

[colbysmith]

Thanks John, Jody, and everybody else reading through my wordy blog in this thread! (It's pretty much a repeat of what I'm posting on my Facebook, but with a lot fewer photos. Sorry, but I'd probably blow up the C-Brats server if I posted all the same photos that I'm uploading to Facebook. ) As several of you told us earlier, we are very much enjoying this trip. Other than our one experience in the lift in Lock 34, this has been a very gentle and calm water vacation. And while we were in some 1-2 foot chop out in what I'll call Buffalo Bay (behind the breakwater walls), that's hardly anything to be concerned with. The Buffalo portion of our trip was just an add on to say we boated all the way to Buffalo! So far this trip has been one with lots of history to explore and several if not many New Yorkers (Canal workers and others) that are very knowledgeable and willing to share their interest and information with us about the Canals and area! We've had to walk a little and bike a little to get to some of the many museums or old locks and cross bridges, but it's been worth it. (Especially to burn off all the ice cream calories. ) Still more to come, but spending a little more time just relaxing and biking on the way back, so the blogs will likely get shorter and photos fewer. Colby

[ssobol]

[colbysmith]

We departed Middleport this morning rather quickly. Had planned on leaving around 9am, and about 8:45 Rosanne went for a short walk. As she was coming back to the boat right at 9, we noticed the lift bridge just in front of us that we would have to go under, raising for an oncoming boat. I asked the bridge operator if she could hold it up for us, or if she preferred for us to just wait a few minutes. Since Rosanne was just getting on the boat, I said I just had to untie and push off, about 30 seconds. That worked for the bridge operator, so a quick untie and push off, and we were on our way. That was one of two boats we saw today, both what I’ve been calling Canal boats, but recently learned the locals call them Packet boats. (Not sure why.) We had two more lift bridges to go under, before arriving 12 miles later in Albion. Along the way I got another photo of Culvert Road, the road that goes under the Canal. We also saw the two prisons of Albion today, from the Canal. The other day when our friends from Attica came to pick us up in Medina, we drove by the prisons. Terry retired from the Attica prison, so is familiar with prisons in the area. His word of advice to us was not to pick up any folks along that stretch of the Canal. Lol. I forgot to mention yesterday, that Middleport strongly suggests a minimum donation of $20 for the use of their wall and facilities. Well worth it in our minds. I’m still surprised at how many of the little towns around the Canal offer the facilities for boaters that they do, many for no cost, a few with a very reasonable cost or request for donation. Here in Albion, there is no charge or donation request, and yet the facilities are quite nice. Electric, water, bathroom and showers. The bathroom and showers are usually equivalent to, or much better than, what you would find in a state park campground.
Rosanne had made us an appointment for a guided tour of the Cobblestone Museum here. So after lunch we rode our bikes the 3 miles to the museum north of here. It took just about two hours for the tour. Very interesting education on the use of Cobblestone for buildings, and also a lot of historic artifacts of life in the 1800’s. https://www.cobblestonemuseum.org/
After the museum tour, we returned to the boat, then rode another mile and a half to a grocery store to get a few groceries. Again, so many neat homes and buildings to see. Oh, the second boat, another Packet boat, joined us on the wall here today. We’re the only two here.
Colby

Here is another view passing back over the Culvert Road tunnel. I took it while standing on our roof, and had the boat perpendicular to the canal.


We didn't notice this prison when we were heading west, but Terry drove us past it when he, Debi and Jay came up to meet us in Medina earlier. This is near Albion, and there are actually two prisons near each other. Terry's words of advice to us was not to pick anybody up along here.


C-Traveler in Albion. We are between two lift bridges on the wall here. Very nice facilities.



While in Albion, we rode our bikes to see the Cobblestone Museum. Here is an old church made of Cobblestone.


Anybody want to take a guess what this contraption is? I'll answer in my next post if nobody knows.



How about this?

[thataway]

Great documentation.... It should be required reading for anyone who wants to do the Canal. Sure wish we were there! Thanks Colby.

[Avidmagnum12]

Sure enjoying your voyage. Brings back a lot of great memories of when we boated the west end of the Erie a few years ago. We will be in Alton Illinois for about 2 more weeks before continuing down the Mississippi. Keep having fun!

[colbysmith]

So that first photo I asked if anybody knew what it was, is a early vacuum cleaner. One person pumps the handle while the other works the suction hose! The second photo that looks like a coffin, will that's a body freezer. In the old days it might take a while by wagon ride to get to burial. So this contraption allows the body to be stored in an inner container, with ice placed around it for preservation. So much interesting history and education to be found if you get off the water and visit some of the many museums. We've either walked to, or riden our bikes to. (The Erie Canal in itself is a very relaxing cruise. But if you have the time, there are so many interesting museums and artifacts of not just the Canal, but of early life in the area in general!)

Ok, today:

While Rosanne enjoyed attending the local Catholic Church Mass this morning, my morning didn’t start out well. Those of you that have cruised with me know I like to get underway at 9am. That’s especially true when my Midwest body is on East Coast time! Well I’ve been having some trouble with my Webasto heater. Seems the fuel pump is not working. Not that I have needed it on this trip with the coldest night only being in the upper 50’s so far, but the heater is suppose to be ran for 20 minutes once a month for lubrication. I ran it once last month and it worked fine. I had some issues with it working a few days ago when I ran it, but I eventually got it to light off and heat. (The Webasto is a diesel heater). The night before last it got down to 57 so I started it up and turned the heat up just to make sure it would work. It did, so I turned the thermostat back down, but it never kicked on when the temperature fell. So I tried messing with it again today, and while the fan runs, it appears the fuel pump is not kicking in, so it won’t provide heat. I’ve tried a master reset (which is pulling the fuse while it is turned on), but no help. I pulled the fuel lines apart today and blew through them. Finally I pulled the pump out and was going to use my VOM to test the voltage coming off the main board. Day only got worse. I haven’t used my digital VOM I keep in my boat’s tool kit in a while and when I pulled it out of the bag, it was kind of tacky. Probably just heat and the ziplock bag around it. The watch batteries in it hadn’t leaked any acid, but the meter wasn’t working, so I figured I’d replace the batteries. Will the battery compartment has a tiny screw and I know I have an eye glass repair kit on this boat somewhere, but couldn’t find it. Finally I found a tiny screw driver set in my tool box. Replaced the batteries. The digital readout sort of worked, but not well, then didn’t work at all. Back to square one…. I finally had breakfast around 10am and we were ready to leave by about 10:30. My day was getting better slowly. A packet boat was coming from the west so we told the bridge tender we’d just fall in behind them when they got here. (Lift bridges just a half block behind us and half a block in front of us.) We eventually overtook the Packet boat as we were running about a mile per hour faster than them, but still pretty much stayed with them through the next couple of lift bridges. About half way between Albion and Brockport, we passed Kittiwake. Nice seeing another C-Dory on the Erie Canal. Chatted very briefly with them on the radio as we passed. At Brockport we had to wait at the Main Street Bridge as the bridge tender was raising Brockport’s other bridge two blocks away for two more boats coming at us. I think that’s more boats we’ve passed or ran with today, than any other day we’ve been on the Canal. Perhaps due to Labor Day weekend? After passing the Brockport Main Street Lift Bridge, we pulled in and tied up along the wall here right in front of the welcome center. The noon to 2:00 volunteer in the Welcome Center was absent so we waited until 2p to check in. It’s a flat $20 fee. Electric and water on the pedestals here, and there are two bath/shower rooms in the welcome center, one downstairs right beside us, and one upstairs. There is also a laundry facility, just downstairs, with one coin washer and coin dryer. I think it was just shy of about $3 each per load. (We’ll likely wait until we get to Newark, as the washer and dryer there was free.) They use fobs for the door locks, so you have to check in to get the fobs. (We like the coded locks much better, as it’s easier to get the codes from the bridge and lock tenders than worry about volunteers being available at the welcome centers.)
Our friends Terry and Jay again along with Terry’s significant other Debi, drove up to visit us again. Terry took us to Runnings, a really great department/sports store, where I could buy a new digital VOM. And do any other shopping. (Rosanne found me a new shirt for my Birthday, -this Sunday-.) We came back to the boat to visit for a short bit, while I also checked the voltage at the Webasto fuel pump. It’s reading about 12 vts, so I plan to check the fuel pump after I’m done with this. We left to meet Terry and Jay’s sister, Mary, at 4:30 at Millhouse Family Restaurant for Friday Night Fish Fry! (Glad we went early, It got busy soon after 5.) Had a great meal with friends, then we all went out for ice cream! (yeah, yeah, I know. But we haven’t had any in two days, and we’ve been riding our bikes or walking a lot, so trimmed down for it. Lol) We really enjoyed seeing Terry, Jay, and Debi, the past two times, and meeting Mary this evening. I’m in a much better mood now than I was this morning, but still have the Webasto issue to figure out. And, I found two dimes in the shower room. Lol. Colby

Packet boat coming under one of the Albion lift bridges.



Passing Kittiwake near Holley Canal.


Gotta be the best fishing setup I've seen, for comfort!


On the wall in Brockport. This is a typical wall in the communities along the Erie Canal. You can see it's a little bit of a climb to get out of our CD-25.


Fish fry at Millhouse Family Restaurant with Jay, Mary and Terry, Debi, Rosanne and myself.


ITS THERAPY!!!


Just in case you're looking for some weird knowlege.

[Dora~Jean]

That fish dinner looked incredible. Interesting Ice Cream history and facts, thanks. I see the temperature in your area is in the low 80's, maybe even cooler, waaay better than us in SoCal, 100+, we can fry eggs on the sidewalk or bake cookies for free. Arrrgh.

[colbysmith]

I've heard it's been a little warm out west. (My folks live in the Phoenix area. I grew up there, and don't miss the summers!)

Departed Brockport right at 9am this morning. Traveled about an hour and a half (8 miles) passing under three lift bridges, before tying up on the wall at Spencerport. When we were here last week, the little museum at the dock was closed. We also wanted to have lunch at the Taste of Texas BBQ that we could smell from the docks! A number of boats transiting the Canal again today. Has to be Labor Day weekend! While we were getting ready to depart Brockport, we had one other eastbound boat go by, and two waiting to get under the bridge westbound. I think we passed a total of 6 boats today. The museum had some interesting artifacts and information, worth the stop. The BBQ joint didn’t open for another hour, so we walked some along the Canal trail, and found a geocache. I believe the trail is the old tow path from earlier days, where the mules would pull the boats along the Canal. Great BBQ for lunch, and then continued another three hours (18 miles) to Pittsford. That brought us across the Genesee River and through two locks. Both these locks, 33 and 32, have leaky upper gate seals, so makes for some nice waterfalls. Pittsford is relatively busy with boats here today. We got the same spot on the south wall we had last week when we stopped here briefly. While there is no power box or water here, there is a pavilion with an 15 amp outlet just across the sidewalk that I am able to plug into. Also, where I’m at there are no bollards (which are far apart where they are), or cleats, but there is a guide wire pinned into the wall face that can by tied to. No bathroom or shower house available here, but still a nice location. A couple things about the locks I keep forgetting to share. First, the lines (or ladders that I like to grab on to) are very muddy and slimy and that’s the reason I’m wearing gloves in the locks. Also, the spacing of the lines to grab in the docks are about 30 foot apart. So it’s pretty hard to grab two lines. Thus the reason I had that problem in lock 34 during the lift last week. I’m taking a line just behind my cabin next to my cockpit helm. Or about 2/3 the way back in the boat. So if there is turbulence, it’s hard to keep the bow on the wall. For my C-Brat friends reading this, while I haven’t tried it, I’m thinking it might work a little better using the lock’s taught lines (as opposed to the weighted lines) to run a bow line behind that lock taught line, and then to the boat’s back cleat. The only problem then is keeping that taught line centered between your two cleats. In any case, going down in the lock doesn’t present much if any turbulence. So it’s just the rise that you have to pay attention. Rosanne made it to the 4:30pm Catholic Mass when we got here, and we’ll go to the Methodist/Baptist service at 10am in the morning. (Apparently the Methodist Church here is a combined church with American Baptist… Should be interesting.) This evening there was some music on stage just across the Canal. Very relaxing evening! Finally, I’m pretty sure my Webasto fuel pump is working as I connected it directly with a 9 volt battery. It’s a pulsating type pump and I was able to get fuel flow from it by tapping one of the wires to the battery. When I read the voltage from the ECU, it shows a straight 11 vts or so, but reading one article said that a regular VOM wouldn’t be able to register a pulsating voltage. So I’m not sure what the ECU is doing with the pump hooked up. Whatever, the Webasto still isn’t lighting off, so guess I’ll be talking to a tech when we get home. Thankfully don’t think I’ll need it this trip. Colby

Busy day in Brockport!


C-Traveler still tied up at the wall in Brockport.


Very sad accident! (Photo was one of several on display at the little Spencerport Museum.)


The upper gate seals in Locks 32 and 33 leak a bit, forming a pretty waterfall.


I'm pretty relaxed waiting for the water to start draining in the lock. You can probably notice the difference in the lock walls. 33 was recently resurfaced, whereas 32 is still rather rough.



You will be watched going through many of the Erie Canal locks. Visitors can get up pretty close to the action. In fact civilians are allowed to walk across the closed gates on many locks.


Just a pretty picture of C-Traveler!


The other boats on the south wall in Pittsford with us.

[ssobol]

According to the information we received about Pittsford, there are public restrooms in the public library building just to the south of the canal. There is a Starbucks in the building and they maintain the bathrooms. These are open when the Starbucks is, not the library hours. The restrooms are nice, but there are no showers. We used these restrooms when we were there in 2020.

As for the locks. The ones that have the rail are the best. It is inset in a groove in the wall. The weighted lines are easier to grab though. We found that one person holding the line at the aft cabin bulkhead and one on the bow worked well for our 22. We were more concerned with keeping the bow off the wall rather than the bow getting away from it. One thing they tell you is not to tie off to any of the things on the lock wall. If things get hung up and you cannot get free fast enough it will be a problem.