Monday, July 29: Time to Put Sal in the Barn - We Reach the End of the Erie Canal!

Date:                           July 29, 2013

Day on the Cruise:      105

From:                          Medina, NY Town Wall
                                       
To:                               North Tonawanda, NY Town Wall

Statute Miles:              34.6 SM

Time:                           5.5 Hrs

Cumulative Miles:       2,281.3 SM

On Board:                  Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

We are on the town wall in North Tonawanda, NY tonight, at the end of the Erie Canal!

North Tonawanda is about 12 miles North of Buffalo

On the wall at North Tonawanda, NY

The highlight of the trip today was going through the double locks number 34 and 35 at Lockport, NY (another "port"). We traveled about 17 miles from Medina to Lockport. We first went under two lift bridges on the East side of town, then right into Lock 34. The Locks are right in the middle of town, bifurcating the downtown area. The upper gate on Lock 34 is the lower gate on Lock 35, and it is very tall gate. Each Lock lifts you up 25' for a total lift of 50'. These two locks replaced a flight of 5 locks that were called the Lockport Flight.

The final Locks on the Canal....YEA!

Lift Bridges coming into Lockport

Then you see the Locks

Canal Corporation Dry Dock at Lockport

Campers along the Canal at Lockport

There were a ton of visitors at the Locks watching us go through. Looked like a youth camp had taken a field trip to the Locks. It was fun having all of the "watchers" and people waving at us.

We had met up with a sailboat from Scotland at our first lift bridge right off the wall at Medina this morning. They had come into the US from Canada through the Oswego Canal and they are doing the Loop on the same route as are we. We enjoyed chatting with this couple as we stopped for bridges and for the Locks. We both traveled at about the same speed so it was not a burden as the slow boat that we had to travel with a week or so ago became.

Goodbye Medina, NY

The sun was reflecting off this cross on top of a church steeple in Medina as we departed this morning

Apple orchards are big in this part of New York

The sailboat from Scotland "Scotia"

I just can't make much more than 8 or 8.5 mph in the narrow  "ditch" portions of the Canal that we are traveling in right now because the waterway is so narrow and not real deep. The wake is strong as it hits the shoreline. With the narrowness of the Canal, there is no room for the wake to dissipate. We also have to slow down very frequently for boats tied up to docks along the Canal. So, at the end of the day,the slower sailboat really did not impede us all that much.

Wake hits the rip rap along the "Ditch"

A view out the front door this morning

Interesting architecture along the Canal

Interesting old home being restored

Look at the size of this weeping willow!

Orchards along the Canal

Have you ever been right behind geese when they start to fly? It is hilarious!

Chasing geese as they "run" on the water trying to get into the air

Chasing geese

Interesting old home along the Canal near Lockport

In Lock 34, it was "Blue Moon" and the Scottish sailboat "Scotia". The turbulence was stronger than in the other locks for some reason. We rose up to the Lock 35 level, and when the upper gate opened, there was a tour boat in Lock 35 that had come down. We and the sailboat passed the tour boat in the Lock and went right into Lock 35. Both of us were lifted up to the upper level, and bang, there was the town of Lockport and a bunch of kids watching us in the Lock.

Coming up to Lock 34

In Lock 34 with the upper gate that goes into Lock 35

Ready for the gates to open into Lock 35

In Lock 35 looking at the upper gates

Here we are up at the town level in Lock 35

Waiting for the gates to open to leave Lock 35

More campers watching us Lock through. Hi Kids!

With the completion of Lock 35, we had no more Locks to navigate in the Erie Canal! We also finished our lift bridges at Lockport, so this town was a milestone!

Susan and I had visited Lockport in 2011 when we came up to Buffalo to look at a Mainship trawler that was for sale. We wanted to see the Canal and Lockport was only a matter of miles from where we were staying, so we got a good look at the Canal, and a Canal town, and the two Locks. Our picture of what every Canal town was like was predicated on Lockport. It has been disappointing that we have only seen a handful of Canal towns that lived up to Lockport and it's neat layout around both sides of the Canal.

Leaving Lock 35, we only had 18 miles or so to travel before we were out of the Erie Canal. These 18 miles were a slow go as we had non stop boat docks where we had to crawl with no wake. The first several miles out of the Lock had us going under a very wide bridge over the Canal in Lockport, then through a man-made straight stretch that was blasted out of rock with high walls on both sides. The final three miles or so was all under a 5 mph speed limit, so we crawled into Tonawanda, NY, which is at the confluence on the Niagara River and the Erie Canal.

Going under a very WIDE bridge in Lockport

It got dark as we went under this wide bridge

Leaving Lockport in a narrow Canal

This section of the Canal as we leave Lockport is very narrow and cut out of sold rock

The Canal widened as we got to Tonawanda, and we went under several bridges. We came to a nice downtown area with walls on both sides of the Canal. Another boater in front of us advised us to go to the North wall, which happens to be in North Tonawanda. So, we did, and we tied up along a very pretty low wall and nicely landscaped walkway along the Canal. As we tied up, the rain started, so we hurried to get everything covered.

Welcome to North Tonawanda and Gateway Park

The wall at Gateway Park in North Tonawanda

The wall at Gateway Park at North Tonawanda

That is Tonawanda across the Canal

Bridge between Tonawanda and North Tonawanda

Later in the afternoon, Susan finished cleaning the Isinglass panels that are part of the Flybridge. The plan is to put the Bimini and Isinglass back up tomorrow and then go about 12 miles down to Buffalo to a marina to stage to get out on Lake Erie on Wednesday when the weather is supposed to be good.

Dinner tonight was at a local Pub. Of course we had to have Buffalo Wings since we were in a suburb of Buffalo. They were good! We saw a old car cruise - in on the street here in North Tonawanda when we went to dinner. Hello Rod Siggers, who loves these cruise-ins. We thought of you!

Old car cruise-in on the main street in North Tonawanda

Thanks for Reading!