The Explorers are getting back on track with their travels after a break that turned into a whole week of standing still. They didn’t make a lot of forward progress on their route, but, more importantly, they saw a lot of friends.
Last weekend, Sidekick Sue went to her girls’ weekend with 8 other friends from Clarkson University (and they found one more while watching the Bills game in a bar in Old Forge). The lodging in Old Forge was a beautiful home on Second Lake that was “loaned” to them by a friend. The girls were very grateful to be gifted such a nice place to stay for their weekend of stories, recollections and laughs. Because they didn’t have to pay rent, the girls rented a pontoon boat and travelled north from Second Lake to Third Lake to Fourth Lake, where they had a great lunch before heading back south to First Lake and then to their homebase again. Sunday was full of shopping, football, food and drink. It was a marvelous weekend that ended much too fast; everyone should laugh until it hurts at least once a year with the best of friends.
Captain Mark’s weekend was spent with siblings. He spent a day with his brother, getting reprieve from the boat life to visit his brother’s house. Captain Mark’s brother and family returned to the boat for a boat ride from Pittsford to Fairport, enjoying the trip under the squeaky lift bridge in the village of Fairport. Sunday was spent with his sister, first attending a polka festival and dancing with “Polka Patty”, and then repeating the boat ride to Fairport and back. The bridge tender at the squeaky bridge was probably amused at Captain Mark’s passing back and forth so many times.
The rest of the week was filled with numerous visitors from the Rochester area. After Captain Mark took a bike ride to Spencerport and back with his sister, Sidekick Sue returned to the boat in Pittsford, dropped off by her old Clarkson roommate, Maura. Later that night, Mark’s sister returned for a trip to Pittsford Dairy.
On Tuesday, the Explorers moved the boat to Fairport for a change of venue, passing under the squeaky bridge one last time. Sidekick Sue caught up on email while Captain Mark ventured out for a bike ride. Potsdam friends, Jane and Glen stopped by for lunch, and Sidekick Sue’s brother Rob stopped by with his girlfriend Kelly and his son Peter. They had a late dinner at the Irish Pub across the street. Wednesday found Captain Mark biking back and forth to NAPA to stock up on marine anti-freeze in preparation for the upcoming “winterization”. After, the Explorers enjoyed a quick visit from Captain Mark’s fraternity big brother, Al, who works in the building right next to the canal. Dinner was with some of Sidekick Sue’s high school friends, Carolyn and Gregg. Thursday was another day of visits, Captain Mark walked with Al in the morning, Sidekick Sue’s sorority friend Kim K. stopped by after yoga, the Explorers joined Al for lunch, another sorority sister, Paula and husband Rich visited, and then finally, dinner with Al, his wife Becky and son Jackson. The Explorers are so grateful for so many lifelong friends. It was definitely worth the delay to spend time with so many treasured friends and family members.
Today, Friday, the voyage started again. The Explorers passed through two locks without incident (there was a sailboat that was slightly out-of-control, but its occupants managed to recover). They stopped in Palmyra so that Sidekick Sue could do a Zoom meeting, but it turned out she messed up the time and the meeting never happened. So within a half hour, the Explorers were underway again. Ooops!
The Explorers arrived in Newark, NY where they planned to stop for the night. It was still fairly early in the day, so the Explorers registered at the dock office, and set off to find the Wegmans that was just over a mile away. When they returned, Sidekick Sue took advantage of the free laundry machines provided for boaters. She was happy to give a donation to get the laundry done, with hopes that this would be the last time that laundry would be necessary on this trip. Captain Mark whipped up some mini-pizzas for dinner, and the Explorers had a nice, relaxing evening in Newark.
The Hogger Girls go boating.
Ten of the ladies of Moore House III at Clarkson University. This is the 33rd gathering.
Meanwhile, Captain Mark is doing the polka.
A visit from Jane and Glen.
A stop in Palmyra for the Zoom meeting that didn’t happen.
Driving by a spillway that seems a little too close.
The Explorers left Spencerport for another short day of motoring. The main business of the day was to cross back through Rochester and get through two locks to get back to Pittsford. Again, they crossed the Genesee River, this time there was no traffic and no scullers to dodge.
The first lock was a little bit of a mess. Traveling east, Lock 33 drops boats 25 feet. As the Explorers entered the lock, they were planning on grabbing lines on the port side. The problem was… the water was so high that the boat sat high above the cables, and the cables didn’t terminate in loops like many of the other locks. Sidekick Sue tried using the boat hook to grab a line. She managed to get the hook around a line, but the boat starting pulling away from the wall. Captain Mark announced that the current or wind was pulling them to the starboard side, so the new plan was to now grab the lines on the starboard side of the lock. There was no one else in the lock yet, so there was no danger of hitting anyone, so Captain Mark let the boat drift over to the starboard side. Unfortunately, Sidekick Sue could not unhook the boat hook and when she ran out of length, she had no choice but to let it go. Luckily, it stayed hooked on the cable, sort of protruding from the wall, instead of sinking.
Sidekick Sue switched over to the starboard side, and because she still couldn’t reach the cables, she stepped off the boat onto the lock wall to wrap the lines around the cables. To do so, she literally had to lay down flat on the lock wall and reach down to wrap the lines. Luckily, the locktender was waiting for another boat that radioed ahead, and it wasn’t yet in sight, so there was no particular hurry. Still, it wasn’t exactly the smoothest maneuver the Explorers had done.
Once the boat was secure, Sidekick Sue noted that the other boat was still not in sight, so she flagged down a locktender on the port side of the lock and asked if he could retrieve their lost boat pole. He kindly retrieved the pole and walked it over the closed lock doors at the front of the lock. Sidekick Sue was happy to have her boat hook back. Even though she has a spare, she likes to keep one on each side of the boat for quick access.
When the other boat reached the lock, Sidekick Sue watched to see how they would handle the situation (not being able to reach the cables). The woman aboard struggled with her boat hook, similar to Sidekick Sue, except that they had immediately aimed for the starboard side (so no lost boat hook). The captain jumped off the boat and held the boat to the wall. After the water level dropped a few feet, he hopped back in, and his wife was now able to grab a line. Sidekick Sue tucked this solution into her memory banks, in the event this same situation ever happens again; she was actually surprised that the locktenders started lowering the boat while the captain was still on the lock wall. She recalled that in Canada last year, in a similar situation, the locktenders actually walked the lock wall, hooking ropes and handing them to the boaters. No such service at Lock 33. Maybe, this is the difference between having locktenders that are grumpy old state workers instead of energetic college students on summer break like they saw in Canada.
The next lock was about a mile down. Again, this lock would lower the Explorers another 25’, but it had the traditional loops at the top of the cables, so it was much easier to grab the loops with the lines to hold the boat against the lock wall until the water level dropped enough to wrap the lines around the cables. The Explorers were able to manage the lock without any loss of equipment or leaving the boat.
A short time later, they pulled into the dock in Pittsford. A fellow boater shouted warning that the water was shallow by the wooden dock that they were headed for, but since they had parked there last week, they decided to proceed. Luckily, they did not hit bottom, but the bow thruster was kicking up a lot of mud, so the Explorers acknowledge that it is indeed shallow. They manually pulled the boat back a bit, into the same parking spot they had used the week before, and settled in. The boat will be parked here for several days, as Sidekick Sue is getting a lift from her college roommate, Maura, to go to “college girl’s weekend”, while Captain Mark hangs out in Rochester and sees some family members and friends. Sidekick Sue finished writing about yesterday’s escapades while Captain Mark got in a conversation with a fellow boater and went down to troubleshoot a problem with water seeping in around the propeller shaft. He diagnosed the problem (packing needs to be replaced), but he didn’t want to offer to help fix it while their boat was in the water. It requires pulling out the existing packing material and re-packing with new material. He has done this before on the Explorer’s sailboat in California while the boat is in the water, and it makes Sidekick Sue very nervous because water leaks in until the space around the shaft is sealed and the bilge pump has to be able to handle the flow during the process. This is obviously not a risk to take with someone else’s boat.
Late in the afternoon, they took a bike ride from the Pittsford docks to the Genesse River. The ride was about 14 miles out and back. They passed through the town of Henrietta along the way. As a child, Sidekick Sue lived in Henrietta for 15 years, attending Henrietta schools from K-12. In all that time, she never realized that a small section of the Erie Canal passed through the northeastern portion of Henrietta, with one of the locks being physically in the town. The Explorer’s bike ride took them past some landmarks that Sidekick Sue recognized like the Jewish Community Center, the old county building on Westfall Road where she worked one summer, and Genesee Valley Park, where the Explorers turned around. It was a nice bike ride, but as with the ride the night before, the Explorers ingested more than a few gnats.
After they returned to the boat, they made dinner and ate. Captain Mark took a walk while Sidekick Sue worked on the bills and packed for the weekend. Captain Mark’s sister, Christine (aka Pooh) stopped by to say “hi”, as she saw the Explorer’s bike ride show up in her Runkeeper App. Afterward, the Explorers got things ready for Sidekick Sue’s departure in the morning.
Boat passing the Explorers. Looked like some kind of students studying something.
Lock 33… where the Explorers had a few problems.
Sidekick Sue manning the lines after a few bumps in the road.
The Explorers left the Medina boat basin, passing through the aqueduct they seen on their walk the previous day. The boat ride for the day was short and uneventful other that all the lift bridges (at least a half dozen) they had to pass under. There was no delay or waiting at the bridges, and the ride into Spencerport was calm and peaceful.
In the canal boating world, Spencerport has a reputation of being the nicest, most inviting stop along the canal, and the Explorers have to agree. There is free electricity and water and a wonderful dock that is in really nice shape. There is a Visitor Center with nice bathrooms and showers, where the Explorers were presented with a “boating packet” that included loads of information, but most importantly, the code for the locked bathrooms at night. There are restaurants on the water and the walk into town (groceries, laundry, etc.) is a mere 4 minutes. There is docking on both sides of the lift bridge, very convenient for the traveler that might arrive after the bridgetenders have gone home for the night. The Explorers arrived early, so they requested a bridge opening and docked on the east side, in a position to leave the next morning without delay.
The Explorers took advantage of their early arrival to take care of some chores. They carried their laundry to the laundromat and started up the washers. Sidekick Sue is usually adamant about staying to monitor laundry because she HATES when people leave their laundry unattended and cause delays for everyone behind them. Today, because the laundromat was nearly empty and the walk back to the boat was only 4 minutes, Captain Mark convinced her to use the 30 minutes to walk to Tops (next door) and bring a load of beverages back to the boat. Beverages are one of the most challenging items to keep in stock on boat trips because they are heavy and the grocery stores are often not quite so convenient. So Sidekick Sue agreed, and they carried a load of fizzy waters back to the boat, grabbed their grocery bags for food shopping, and walked back to the laundromat (by way of the post office). They still arrived with 10 minutes left on the wash cycle. Once the clothes were in the dryer, they repeated the process, this time picking up a few food items and some snacks to offer some friends that were meeting them that evening in Spencerport. They easily made it to the boat to put away groceries and back to the laundromat before the time ran out on the dryers. Shortly after, they were walking back, carrying their clean, folded laundry…. very proud of themselves for simultaneously getting their laundry done, their shopping done, and their 10,000 steps for the day.
Sidekick Sue took advantage of the time they had earned from their efficiency to do a quick sweep around the boat, inside and out, knocking down all the spiderwebs and tidying up the cabin. One of the parts of boating the Explorers still don’t understand, is the number of spiders that take up residence on a boat. Every day, they knock down the webs and dispose of all the spiders they can find, and every morning there are brand-new webs and brand-new spiders. Who knew that spiders liked boats? And why?
After she finished work, the Explorers friend from college, Cheryl, and her husband Ron, came to visit and see the boat. They brought their bikes, so they all took a bike ride east along the canal to Hen Peck Park. It was an easy ride, with no elevation changes, and the path was quiet enough that they could ride side-by-side and chat, except when switching to single-file to let the occasional biker pass. The bike ride was enjoyable except it was a little chilly and the riders rode through many swarms of gnats; Sidekick Sue definitely ingested a few. The riders turned around as it started to get dark, and headed the 4 miles back.
Back at the boat around 7:00, they headed over to a local BBQ joint where the Explorers ordered Yuenglings and shared a huge stuffed potato with even more comfort food on the side. After a great dinner filled with conversation, they all returned to the boat and the Explorers offered a short tour of the vessel before enjoying a night cap on the flybridge. The Explorers were grateful for the company of good friends. The evening was chilly; Fall seems to be coming right on schedule. After Cheryl and Ron left, the Explorers tucked in to bed; this would be the first night on the boat that Sidekick Sue felt compelled to wear her long underwear to bed.
Wayward Explorer being passed by a barge, luckily in a wider part of the canal.
Bike ride selfie by Cheryl. Sidekick Sue’s face looks like she’s preparing to ride through a swarm of gnats.
In the morning the Explorers walked to Tim Hortons to splurge on some treats for breakfast. Afterward, they cast off from Tonawanda; leaving under the RIGHT side of the bridge. Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks?
A few miles before the lock at Lockport, two approaching tour boats passed the Explorers in a very narrow canal, forcing them dangerously close to the side of the canal. The first of the two tour boats was a paddle boat and it churned the water up to the point where anything unsecured was falling in the cabin. Because the canal was so narrow, the waves just bounce back and forth for a long time, creating a very choppy surface that lingered well after the paddleboat passed. A short time later, Sidekick Sue looked out the back window and the same two tour boats had apparently turned around in the canal and were approaching from the back.
As the Explorers approached the lock, Captain Mark radioed ahead, requesting a lock opening. The locktender informed him that the tour boats had priority and needed to pass us to enter the locks first. This was a bit of a conundrum because the canal was still very narrow and there wasn’t much room to let them pass. To make matters worse there was a barge tied up to the shore on the port side. The locktender suggested we pull out of the way in front of the barge. Captain Mark tried to pull over in front of the barge, but the water was rough and there wasn’t much room to straighten out. The Wayward Explorer ended up pointed nearly sideways as the tour boats passed behind her stern. So far, so good, but now Captain Mark had to get his boat straightened out. He couldn’t turn clockwise 90° because there was a dividing wall that jutted out from the lock, so he backed up a little and tried to rotate clockwise 270° to pull in behind the tour boats. There was a tense moment when the stern got a little too close to the shore and a rock that was jutting out threatened to catch the kayak that was strapped to the boat. Luckily, all the Wayward Explorer hit was some branches and they were able to get into the lock behind the tour boat.
The tour boats were already both tied to the starboard side of the lock. Captain Mark asked if he could park on the port side and was told he needed to stay on the starboard side because another boat needed the port side. Captain Mark grumbled, but complied, even though there was barely any room on the starboard side and the Wayward Explorer didn’t have access to convenient dock lines that were spaced appropriately for its bow and stern. They were further surprised when “another boat” did not show up to occupy the port side of the lock before the doors closed and the water started pumping. Being near the front or the back of a lock tends to be very difficult because the water being pumped out (or pumped in) often churns up the water in the front and the back, creating very strong currents. With the poorly placed lines and the strong currents, the Explorers really struggled to keep the boat steady in the lock.
The Explorers remembered from a few days ago, that this was a double lock. So they hoped they would get a better position in the next chamber. As the doors of the second chamber opened, they finally understood what the locktender meant by “another boat” that needed the port side of the lock. The locktender was locking another boat through in the opposite direction at the same time. So as this boat entered the first chamber and settled on the Explorer’s port side, the Wayward Explorer and the two tour boat all moved into the next chamber. Since they could “spread out” now, the paddle-wheeler took the port side, leaving plenty of room for the other two on the starboard side. The Wayward Explorers were happy to have more lines to stabilize the boat and a better position, away from the back of the lock.
Once back on the canal, the Explorers noticed that the two tour boats were from the same company. The names of the boats were Lockview IV and Lockview V; clearly, they were tours for people that just wanted to experience the locks. Shortly after they all passed under a lift bridge, one of the tour boat captains radioed captain Mark and asked him to “hold back” because the boats were turning around again to go back through the locks again. Sure enough, they rotated around right in the canal. Captain Mark pulled over as far as he could so they could pass safely, going back the other way, still churning up the water terribly. The Explorers were glad to part ways with these huge tour boats that were too wide to easily pass and played havoc on the water around them.
There were several more lift bridges, but the Wayward Explorer had great timing, and there was only one more slight delay. Captain Mark passed a firetruck that was testing its pump by sucking water from the canal and spraying it back into the middle of the canal. He had to stop and wait until the firefighters diverted the water stream so he could pass. The scenery of the day as a well-defined, narrow canal passing mainly through farm land.
Just before 2:00 PM, the Explorers pulled into the basin in Medina. The timing was good as Sidekick Sue had another HOA meeting… this one she had to conduct rather than just listen passively. She was glad they could turn off the diesel engine before the meeting. While she had her meeting, Captain Mark went for a 10-mile bike ride. When he returned the meeting was breaking up, and the Explorers decide to have an early dinner on board before going out to explore the town. As it was approaching 5:00 PM, most of the stores and attractions in town were closing up. That was fine with the Explorers, as they just wanted to walk along the canal and through the very cute downtown area. The town has a nice Railroad Museum, but it was closed on Tuesdays anyway. They were able to walk through a couple of gift shops that were open a little later. On the canal route, they walked to see a local waterfall, which like the one in Holley, had a spillway from the canal into a river below which fed the waterfall. The river than passed under the canal which is contained in a huge aqueduct at this point. They ran across a “Big Apple” sculpture and passed a lot of interesting architecture and churches that seemed super-sized for the town. Many of the buildings in town have blocks from a sandstone quarry nearby that was discovered during the original building of the canal. The town’s claim to fame is being the source of stone for many famous buildings all over NY state and beyond.
After the walk, the Explorers returned to the boat. Several other ships stopped in Medina for the night. It was a very peaceful night on the dock.
Following the lock tour boats under a lift bridge.
The Wayward Explorer trying to “hold back” in a little wider opening of the canal while the lock tour boats change direction.
Captain Mark waiting for the Fire Dept to divert their water stream so he could pass.
The Explorers left Holley right after 7:00 AM when the lift bridge opened for the morning. They quickly negotiated several other lift bridges on the way to Albion. As they were waiting for a bridge opening, another boater (aka Grumpy Guy) pulled up alongside the Wayward Explorer to scold Captain Mark for driving too fast and “waking” him and the two other boats that he was traveling with as they were leaving their dock. The idea that the Wayward Explorer could actually “wake” anybody with its speed limitations is somewhat humorous, but the canal IS narrow in parts and the water can get a little crazy as the waves bounce off of the sides back and forth, so Captain Mark graciously apologized and slowed down a little whenever he was passing any docks (which happened more and more as they got closer to Buffalo). That didn’t stop Grumpy Guy from referring to Captain Mark as Speedy Gonzales when communicating with a bridge tender over the radio.
Still not happy, Grumpy Guy later radioed Captain Mark to let him know “you can speed up now”, to which Captain Mark replied “this is as fast as my boat can go”. Sidekick Sue wondered if Grumpy Guy had second thoughts about the “Speedy” nickname he had assigned to Captain Mark. She also hoped that Grumpy Guy wouldn’t try other parts of the Great Loop where the Wayward Explorers have experienced what it REALLY MEANS to get waked by another boat, which usually involves being passed by a speed boat travelling on plane (not a trawler running at 5-6 knots).
So, Grumpy Guy’s impatient group of three boats passed the Wayward Explorer. Captain Mark gave a friendly wave to each of them, and each one of them ignored him and refused to wave back. A short time later, the Explorers caught up with the Grumpy Gang as they were waiting for a lock to open. The entire group was stuck there for quite awhile because it was a double-lock, and they were currently locking through a tour boat. That meant that they all had to wait while the tour boat was raised twice (and they were tall locks), and then both locks were emptied to make room for the next load of boats.
Grumpy Guy was shouting out orders to his two travelling companions (ie. who should park where, who should leave the lock first, etc.). The lock was easily big enough to hold all four boats, and luckily one of Grumpy Guy’s friends moved up far enough to leave room for the Wayward Explorer, so they took their spot on the starboard side in the back of the lock. They thought it was somewhat amusing that the group pretended like the Wayward Explorer wasn’t even there; Sidekick Sue figures they were either furious over the alleged “wake” or they were embarrassed at the way Grumpy Guy had behaved. Either way, the Explorers were happy when the Grumpy Gang pulled into their home port near Lockport.
When the Explorers started this journey, they admittedly did very little planning and weren’t even sure how far west they were going. They assumed the endpoint was in Buffalo proper. However, a few nights ago, when they were visiting with Captain Mark’s family, their sister-in-law told them that she had done a tour on which she was told the Erie Canal officially ended in Tonawanda. The Explorers did some research and learned that she was correct; they learned that the Erie Canal used to parallel the Niagara River to the Buffalo River to Lake Erie. However, with the advent of modern powered-vessels, that were capable of navigating the Niagara River, the portion between Tonawanda and Buffalo was abandoned; the canal was connected to the Niagara River and water traffic now uses the Niagara River to navigate in to Buffalo. The formal end of the Erie Canal is now Tonawanda where the Erie Canal meets the Niagara River. The Explorers decided that since their goal was to traverse the Erie Canal, their canal trip should end in Tonawanda where the formal canal ends. They may have also been influenced by the fact that the Niagara River is fast-moving, the Wayward Explorer is slow-moving, and they know that the Niagara River ends in a huge waterfall. While they undoubtedly could have made it into Buffalo without incident, they were happy reaching the end of the canal.
There are not too many locks in the span from Holley to Tonawanda, but there are numerous lift bridges. Some of the sights they passed were a vineyard and the only road that runs UNDER the canal. Captain Mark noticed lots of people touring on bicycles. By the looks of the bags and loads they were hauling he assumed they were bike-camping. He talked to a few of them, very interested in what they were doing, as the Explorers also do some of their exploring on a tandem bike with their camping equipment in tow. In order to get through all the lift bridges on the way to Tonawanda, the Explorers did not stop to bike today. (The time spent during yesterday’s bike ride prevented them from getting to Albion last night). The Explorers decided to power through to Tonawanda and then take a rest day, when they could do some walking and biking to make up for the missed exercise today.
As the Explorers approached the dock in Tonawanda, it was very busy, and there weren’t a lot of open parking spaces. It appeared that there were a lot of folks watching the Buffalo Bills game at the shoreside bars. The Explorers passed a few potential spots that would have taken significant maneuvering to squeeze in between two boats. Captain Mark thought it looked like there were more spots right under the bridge ahead. This is when the Explorers hit their worst disaster of the trip (so far). The Explorers were so busy hugging the dock area, looking for a parking spot, and they had gotten so comfortable knowing they could fit under all the 15’ low bridges, that they didn’t notice the particular span of the bridge they were passing under was lower than the main span to the left (where they were supposed to go). At the very last moment, they noticed how low the bridge was, and they were just (barely) clearing it by a fraction of an inch. Unfortunately, their luck did not hold out and about halfway through, their canopy started scraping against the bottom of the bridge. Chunks of rusty bridge were raining down on Sidekick Sue. Captain Mark did his best to back up (which caused additional problems as the back of the canopy caught the underside of the bridge), but they were able to back the boat out from under the bridge and maneuver under the correct bridge opening. To the Explorer’s embarrassment, since Tonawanda was bustling with canal-side activity, they had an audience to watch their faux pas, and emerged from the bridge to jeers and slow clapping. Ugh. With their tails between their legs (if boats have tails), the Explorers pulled into a parking spot to evaluate the damage.
When they parked, they realized the canopy frame was a little crumpled and there were some tears in the canvas top. It was a disappointment, but not enough to deter them from their original mission. It was getting late and Captain Mark was tired from driving such a far distance, so they decided to ignore the damage until morning since they had conveniently planned a break day, so they would have time to deal with it. The Explorers found a highly-rated local restaurant and indulged in some “Beef on Weck” as was recommended several days ago by their friend, Sue (in Cayuga), who grew up in the Buffalo area. The Explorers were hungry and enjoyed the roast beef, although Sidekick Sue had to peel some of the kosher salt off the Kimmelweck roll because it was just too salty for her taste.
After dinner, the Explorers checked in at the Visitor Center; the parking and electric in Tonawanda were not free, but the fee was well worth it to have a safe haven for a couple of days, along with clean restrooms and showers. There was no TV watching that night; the Explorers hit the hay early, exhausted from driving all day as well as the incident at the bridge. Sidekick Sue’s “magical thinking” hoped that somehow, the canopy would be healed overnight.
In the morning, Captain Mark got to work taking the canopy down piece by piece and doing his best to straighten out a few of the supports that had bent. The Explorers had some flexible solar panels on the top of the canopy, which were a bit scratched from the bridge, but by some miracle, they were still putting out some power (reduced, but still working). Sidekick Sue helped him put the canopy back together, and beside a few rips in the canvas, it looked almost back to normal. Sidekick Sue was worried that she would have to add “sew a new canopy” to her task list, but Captain Mark indicated that if it was to be replaced, he really wanted to install a hard top, so he could mount more efficient rigid solar panels, so Sidekick Sue breathed a sigh of relief. Still, it goes to show that a few minutes of inattention and carelessness on the water can result in very costly repairs. Luckily, no one was injured, and it just meant living with a few more cosmetic blemishes on the canopy for now (which actually matches the condition of the rest of the boat with its peeling paint and leaky teak decks).
After the canopy was fixed to their satisfaction, the Explorers took a bike ride further in the direction of Buffalo. They initially hoped they could bike all the way north to Niagara Falls, but the bike path didn’t go that far, and they would have had to navigate city roads, which is not very relaxing. They preferred to stay on the bike path, so instead they went south toward Buffalo. They went 7 miles out to Black Rock Canal Park, which almost brought them to the Peace Bridge to Canada. They could see rain in the distance over on the Canadian side and they didn’t particularly want to get caught in it, so they turned around and headed the 7 miles back. Along the route were signs for the historic canal that used to run parallel to the Niagara River. They stopped a few times to read the plaques and look at the sites, but there wasn’t much to see as the historic canal had been filled in many years ago.
Once back to the boat, they took advantage of the nearby Tops to stock up on groceries and came home to make salad with chicken chunks for dinner. Captain Mark made a second trip to the grocery store to stock up on beverages while Sidekick Sue did a bit of work on the monthly bills and took a long shower in the shower room provided by the city of Tonawanda. She was a little disappointed because she was hoping for a better shower than the boat, however, it ended up taking forever to get any hot water, and the pressure was no better than the water pressure on the boat shower. At least she had room to move around instead of the tiny half shower on the boat.
They settled on a movie, watching Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill, another pick by Captain Mark. It was a fairly stupid movie but Sidekick Sue enjoyed picking out all the actors and actresses doing cameos and spent most of the movie looking at IMDB figuring out which parts each actor played in all the other Adam Sandler movies. For example, there was Otto, the homeless guy, who was the same Otto, the homeless guy from Happy Gilmore. Al Pacino played himself, and the Explorers wondered how Adam Sandler ever got him to agree to play the part (ironic as the whole movie was about Adam Sandler trying to get Pacino to do a commercial for Dunkin Donuts). Another day in the books, another bad movie watched. Sidekick Sue is not sure how many more times Captain Mark will be trusted to make movie choices before she picks a new streaming series to watch. Feel free to leave recommendations.
Passing Albion where the main street bridge is being rebuilt.
A bunch of geese trying to get out of our way.
Passing a vineyard.
The only road running UNDER the Erie Canal.
A couple of riders doing a bicycle-camping tour.
Following the Grumpy Gang under a long bridge.
And there’s the whole Grumpy Gang!!!
Our canopy looking a little crumpled.
Chunks of rusty bridge that hit our deck.
Sidekick Sue at Black Rock Canal Park. The storm is gathering; rain is falling in Canada.
Plaque about the old Erie Canal (which is just a field now).
Awesome bike path and park along the Niagara River.
The Wayward Explorer with its canopy straightened out. Notice the rip on the front right corner. 🙁
The Explorers left the dock in Pittsford, already looking forward to hanging out in Pittsford again on the way back. It was a very comfortable dockage right in the town center with lots of businesses around. They passed through Lock 32 in Pittsford and Lock 33 in Rochester. Passing through Rochester, the canal is much more defined, with rock ledges on both sides. There are numerous low fixed bridges (most around 15’ clearance) through Rochester.
As the Explorers crossed the intersection with the Genesee River, Captain Mark stopped to wait for some scullers to pass by. It reminded the Explorers of the scullers on the Charles River in Cambridge when they lived in Watertown. Unfortunately, as Captain Mark pulled out to cross the Genesee, there were other sculling boats that had been obscured, that he had to negotiate around. It was unintentional, but nerve-wracking for Captain Mark, and probably just as nerve-wracking (and annoying) to the rowers.
The Explorers stopped in Brockport with the intent of riding west to Holley NY to see a waterfall that is fed by a spillway along the canal to control water levels. In this area of the canal, the bike paths are much more developed. The surface alternates between asphalt, brick and packed gravel, and was easily wide enough to pass pedestrians and other bikers (or in the case of the Wayward Explorers on their folding bike with small tires, it was wide enough for others to pass them). The Explorers encountered many friendly bikers and pedestrians before reaching Holley, where they had to cross a bridge to pass through the town and then down a hill to the park where they could see Holley Falls. It was a lovely place to take a break and enjoy the natural surroundings. After a pleasant break, they biked back. Sidekick Sue enjoyed all of the ride except for the initial hill to get out of the waterfall park. The total distances was about 12 miles with Captain Mark using the waterfall as “a carrot” to motivate Sidekick Sue to bike 2 miles more than their daily rides had been.
Back in Brockport, the Explorers cast off with hopes of making it to Albion for the night. They arrived in Holley (were they had just biked to) around 4:00 PM and needed to pass the lift bridge they had just biked across. However, they were advised by the bridge tender that he would not be opening the bridge for them because they didn’t have enough time to negotiate all the lift bridges to Albion before they closed for the day, and there were no public docks along the way. Apparently, they don’t want boats stuck in between lift bridges where they would have to anchor in the canal LOL. So, the day’s trip landed them in Holley for the night where there was a nice dock wall, next to a park.
Captain Mark walked to the Dollar General while Sidekick Sue did some writing. The Explorers have noticed during this trip, and also their prior experience in the North Country of NY, that many of these small towns have no grocery stores and depend on chains like Dollar Store, Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Tree to server as their “general store”. The Explorers complain sometimes about their small, limited grocery store in their hometown in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but trips like this remind them that they are actually lucky to have more than their Family Dollar; they not only have their small Price Chopper, but also a hardware store for those last-minute purchases.
Once settled in for the night, the Explorer watched a bad Jennifer Aniston movie (Dumplin’). Maybe it wasn’t really “that bad”, it just wasn’t the movie for the moment. They were expecting a comedy, and instead got a movie with very serious and sad undertones. At least it ended on a positive note, but they failed to understand why it was labelled a comedy. They called it an early night, intent on getting up to go through the lift bridge when it opened at 7:00 AM.
Just a few of the low bridges in the Rochester area.
Giving some room to some scullers while crossing the Genesee River.
Docked in Brockport, getting the bikes ready.
Captain Mark at Holley Falls.
One of many lift bridges in the western side of the Erie Canal.
It was a very chilly morning when the Wayward Explorers awoke, their first preview of Fall weather. Sidekick Sue pulled out some cold weather clothes, while Captain Mark (still wearing shorts) ventured out to use the facilities at the Fire Department and mail his mother’s birthday card.
The morning was relatively uneventful. The Explorer navigated through three locks without incident. As they passed through Newark, they made a mental note that it looked like a nice location and they should stop there on the way back east. Sidekick Sue enjoyed watching a great blue heron that kept flying up ahead every time the Explorers got close enough to disturb him. They finally lost sight of him when the canal opened up wide in Port Gibson; he must have taken a left turn away from the canal channel.
The Explorers were starting to see signs of a semi-consistent bike path along the canal, and planned to stop in Palmyra for a bike ride. The dock in Palmyra was hidden off to the left-hand side in a small basin that jutted out from the canal. It was a nice little park area that even had restrooms, water and electric, but the Explorers did not need this for a short daytime stay.
The Explorers unfolded their folding bikes and started east along the canal path. After a very short time, they encountered a piece of construction equipment (no one aboard), surrounded by yellow tape in the middle of the trail. There was another side trail, so it was easy to get around. About a mile up the path, a truck came by to let them know the path was closed for construction; apparently, that was the intent of leaving a little Bobcat on the trail. So the Explorers turned around and biked the mile back. They picked up the trail in the western direction (which had a construction detour, but was passable), and biked out 4 miles. Part of the bike path was on the functional Erie Canal, but part of it steered back to the old canal towpath. They passed some relics of the past: an old aqueduct that the old canal used to pass through, a bridge that crossed nothing but a grass field (that used to cross the canal), and finally an old historic lock where they stopped and turned around for the day. They biked the 4 miles back, negotiating the detour in reverse, and only once getting off the correct trail, only to be re-directed by another construction worker.
As the Wayward Explorer approached Fairport, NY, the walls of the canal were more consistently stone and rock instead of looking more like traditional riverbank. The area became more urban with a lot more boats on the canal, and a lot more people on the paths. The Explorers also encountered a lot more rented canal boats, which moved a few knots slower than the Wayward Explorer. All afternoon, they would pass the canal boats, only to have to wait for them in the next lock. In Fairport, there was also a lift bridge that the Explorers had to radio to ask for a lift.
The Explorers stopped for a night in Pittsford. The area was nice with comfortable recreational boat facilities on one side, and commercial traffic parked on the other. The restaurant across the canal had live entertainment and the Explorers had a nice walk around, exploring the area. They even ran into the occupants of one of the canal boats they had passed all afternoon. Captain Mark’s brother, wife and son came for a visit and brought some delicious snacks. We had a nice time catching up and enjoyed all the people-watching in the area. The whole area was alive with activity, music and people, but it seemed to abruptly stop exactly at 10:00 PM. Captain Mark’s family headed home and the Explorers headed to bed.
At the dock in Palmyra.
Sidekick Sue along the trail.
A bridge the Explorers crossed while biking.
Another old preserved lock.
Historic Lock 60
Lift bridge in Fairport.
A bridge to nowhere. The Erie Canal used to run under it.
The Explorers left Seneca Falls after taking advantage of their wonderful facilities once again. The Explorers have made some decisions about their schedule. They have to be in Rochester in a week because Sidekick Sue is taking off for a few days to go to “girl’s weekend” with her college besties, and she is hitching a ride from her old roommate in Rochester. The Explorers will be in Rochester in one more day, so they could either park there, and hang out for over a week before heading to Buffalo OR they could use this week to go to Buffalo and back and then take their time in Rochester next week. They opted for choice #2, so they will spend only one night in Rochester for now (and see Captain Mark’s brother Dan and family), and then press on. With this schedule they can take their time once they get back to Rochester and then decide later whether to go back toward Seneca Falls and the lakes, or whether to try to visit a bit of the eastern canal before the locks close for the season.
With this in mind, they headed back through the double locks and the single lock that had taken them to the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and turned left to head west. Sidekick Sue had to attend an HOA meeting through Zoom, and to avoid the loud roaring of the diesel engine, she had asked Captain Mark to find a quiet spot where they could dock for a couple of hours. He found a nice empty public wall in Clyde, NY. While Sidekick Sue was having her meeting, Captain Mark headed into town in search of some frozen chicken (think Tyson chicken strips) to add to the salad that Sidekick Sue had made for dinner. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in Clyde except a Dollar General, and their entire freezer section was down, so he struck out with that task. Sidekick Sue was still on her meeting (which Captain Mark pointed out was lasting longer than planned), so he took advantage of the time to do some exercises.
When the meeting was finally over, they proceeded into Lyons, NY to stop for the night. They really didn’t manage many miles today, between a late start, backtracking to get off the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, and stopping for a meeting that dragged on for 2 hours, but they still had a little time to walk around Lyons. While they were still tying the boat lines, a friendly fellow popped out from somewhere and introduced himself as a member of the “welcoming committee” of Lyons. The Explorers had never been greeted this way; apparently the boat traffic is very important to Lyons and they certainly go out of their way to make the experience positive. He gave the Explorers directions to Aldis and pointed them to the Fire Station where they needed to register and where they were allowed to use the bathrooms and showers. When he learned they had started in Massena, he mentioned some names of people he knew from Massena that went to Ithaca college with him many years ago. As it turned out, the Explorers knew the people… not really personally, but by name. (Massena is small, and has only gotten smaller over time).
The town of Lyons was charming; it would make a wonderful movie set for a film set in the 1950’s. The Explorers crossed a bridge over the canal and walked to Aldis and managed to find some chicken strips (not Tyson, but there was no room to be choosy now). They went back and heated up their chicken for their salad and enjoyed a quiet night in a new little town. They finally made it through the last episode of Ozark. Their review? It was a fun show, with plenty of action, suspense, drama and murder. But, it wasn’t as well-written as some other shows (Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders, etc.) and it definitely had some plot holes that didn’t make sense, but it was fair entertainment and the Explorers made it to the end without completely losing interest (really had to push through the final season). They suppose, maybe 3 stars.
Getting back on the Erie Canal.
Back on the Erie Canal locks.
Parked in Clyde while Sidekick Sue took a Zoom call.
In the morning, Captain Mark walked to Dollar Tree to get some Diet Coke, while Sidekick Sue did a little work to get ready for an HOA Zoom meeting the next day. Shortly after casting off from Baldwinsville, the Explorers saw some interesting contraptions, floating down the waterway, removing algae blooms from the water. It was finally a nice sunny day, so Sidekick Sue accompanied Captain Mark up on the flybridge for longer lengths of time.
Like the day before, the Explorers approached another low bridge and Captain Mark asked Sidekick Sue to climb up on the cooler and make sure there was clearance. And just like yesterday, the bridge was higher than posted. Sidekick Sue speculates that officials do that on purpose, because they know that some folks will push the envelope and try to “squeeze” under bridges that they shouldn’t…. therefore they set the the numbers artificially low to decrease incidences of collision.
After navigating Cross Lake, the Explorers stopped for a bit at a wall in Weedsport because it looked to be “somewhat” close to the bike trail on the old Erie Canal. They put their folding bikes together and rode through a place called Brutus which seemed to mainly consist of a race track. After about a mile of biking they joined the bike path along the old Erie Canal. The trail itself was not very sophisticated; it was really just a worn-out groove in the grass, with puddles every now and then that created mud puddles that threaten to suck their tires into the muck. Luckily, the Explorers had thick tires and managed to plow through without incident. In spots, the path widened a bit, sometimes with even a little gravel or asphalt, mostly near the road crossings.
After biking another 4 miles, they reached a great spot where one of the old Erie Canal locks was preserved. The vegetation was purposely groomed so that the Explorers could walk right down into the ditches of the former canal. The lock had two passageways, possibly the eastbound and westbound traffic each had their own lock instead of taking turns locking east and west. After a short visit at the lock, the Explorers turn around and biked the 5 miles back to their boat.
The Explorers cast off from Weedsport and headed to Seneca Falls. To reach Seneca Falls, a boater must enter a smaller “side” canal off of the Erie that connects to Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. It passes through the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge which is mainly a big swamp. The Explorers saw some majestic birds: white herons, great blue herons and a couple of bald eagles. They passed under two more bridges which required Sidekick Sue to once again climb up on the cooler for a bird’s eye view of whether the boat canopy would pass under the bridge. Both of them had a minimum of 2-3 foot of extra clearance, despite the warnings.
The Explorers parked on the dock wall in Seneca Falls. Most people in New York State know about Seneca Falls for two reasons…. it was an important location in the fight for women’s rights and it is rumored to have been the town on which Bedford Falls was modeled for the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The Explorers have been to Seneca Falls before by car, even attending the “It’s a Wonderful Life” Festival several years ago, the highlight being the night-time 5K run/walk through the town lit of by Christmas lights which followed a route through the neighborhoods where residents burned bonfires and handed out shots of Peppermint Schnapps.
The amenities for boaters are wonderful in Seneca Falls. The Visitor Center hosts a wonderful museum with exhibits about the canal, industry, women’s rights, historic route 20, and the changing waterway over the years. Under the Visitor Center is a special area with free restrooms and showers and a coin laundry just for boaters. The wall where boats can park has free electricity and water spigots. Seeing this wall on earlier trips to Seneca Falls was one of the sparks that motivated this adventure down the Erie Canal… the Explorers are delighted to have actually reached the town by water after dreaming about it years ago. Due to their love for Seneca Falls, the fact that they have been motoring every day for a week, and the need for clean laundry, the Explorers decided to take a little break and hang out in Seneca Falls for an extra day. The only negative attribute of staying on the wall was that their Starlink kept cutting out, presumably due to the trees lining the dock wall. They figured they would have time to turn the boat around in the morning or part on the opposite wall for better reception.
Because the Explorers decided to take the extra day in Seneca Falls, they reached out to a college friend who has a lake house on Cayuga Lake. She and her husband offered to come out and meet them in the afternoon of the following day. So the Explorers headed to bed to get an early start in the morning.
The next morning, they took a long walk around downtown Seneca Falls, enjoying the stores and landmarks dedicated to “It’s a Wonderful Life” including the Bedford Falls Bridge on George Bailey Lane and a collection of bell sculptures with sayings from the movie. They also walked by the famous statues of Susan B. Anthony and the Suffragettes and walked a short path along the canal dotted with mostly woman-created sculptures recognizing women rights or the history of Seneca Falls. On their way home, the Explorers found a liquor store to pick up some wine for the afternoon and visited a café that helped put together an offering of wonderful desserts to bring to lunch. In the remaining time before lunch, Captain Mark went on a 12-mile bike ride past Waterloo and heading toward Geneva, while Sidekick Sue took a shower and did some writing. Captain Mark showered as well, and the Sidekick Sue climbed out of the boat, onto the tall wall above to wait for her friends.
A short while later, Sue and Dave arrived. After a quick tour of the boat, they headed back to the lake house on Cayuga and had a delightful lunch, with wine and desserts. They all spent a relaxing afternoon sitting outside on the deck enjoying the views on the lake and the unpredicted burst of amazing weather. As the day wore on, they headed back to Seneca Falls for dinner at Parker’s Grille & Tap House. The beer was delicious and they enjoyed more conversation; they even got involved in helping their neighbors at the bar who had signed up for trivia.
After dinner, Sue and Dave dropped the Explorers back at their vessel. It was already dark and too late to try to move the boat to improve the Starlink reception. They still managed to watch an episode of Ozark while doing laundry at the Visitor Center. They may have even munched on a few left-over desserts from lunch. In the morning they will set out west towards Rochester.
The contraction that was “harvesting” the algae blooms.
The first chamber of a double lock heading into Seneca Falls.
Crossing Cross Lake
An old section of the old abandoned segment of the Erie Canal that still had some water in it.
Inside Lock 51 of the Old Erie Canal
Wise words from Clarence.
The Wayward Explorer on the wall in Seneca Falls
Sidekick Sue making friends in the sculpture garden.
Walking George Bailey Lane
Many of the industrial buildings have been knocked down. The Seneca Knitting Mills building is being renovated to be the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
Downtown Seneca Falls.
We owe a lot to the brave women that came before us and started a movement (which continues today).
The Explorers decided they are only going to Baldwinsville today. That will only be about 4 hours of motoring, leaving plenty of time to smell the roses. They started the day by walking into Brewerton to see the small town and buy gloves at Ace hardware to protect from the slime on the lock walls (which is also getting all over their docking lines and fenders). They ate a hearty (?) breakfast (Sidekick Sue may have eaten one of Cheryl’s half-moon cookies that she left behind) and cast off.
On the way out of Brewerton, they stopped for diesel. They pulled up on the dock next to a huge 50+ foot yacht which was on their annual trip down to the Bahamas for the winter. They were getting 500 gallons of diesel split between 3 tanks. The Wayward Explorer’s dreams were far smaller this year and they took advantage of the great price ($3.79) to put 70 gallons in their starboard tank and 60 in their port tank, both tanks had already been half full. The Explorer’s don’t have any fancy gauges, so they have to check a sight glass in their tank to watch the tank fill to make sure they don’t overflow. This will easily be enough fuel for the entire trip with fuel left-over and since they will be wintering the boat nearby, they can fill up again at the end of the trip.
The Explorers passed back through Lock 23 which lowered them back down, and returned to the intersection of the Oswego Canal and the Erie Canal. The short jog eastward had really been just to get gas, but the Explorers were grateful from a visit from their friends, so it was well worth it. Now the Explorers are finally heading westward; their original plan was to prioritize the westward branch which is closer to Sidekick Sue’s childhood stomping grounds and will be their priority if they don’t have enough time to traverse the entire canal before the locks close in October.
At Baldwinsville, they passed through another lock which raised them back up meaning the section they had just traversed must be a low section on the canal. The docking wall in Baldwinsville is wonderful, surrounded by parkland and it even has power pedestals to hook up to shore power. The Explorers walked around Baldwinsville, which was a cute little town. They found a lovely park and some walking trails around the lock area, but the trails were too short to bring out the bicycles. The Explorers have their folding bikes with them and have been a little disappointed to learn that some of the canal bike path follows the old, defunct parks of the Erie Canal, so they have not yet docked at an area with a bike path. They think that tomorrow, they will be within a mile of the path and can finally get their bikes out. Anyway, they finished their walk; Sidekick Sue found a Ken Follet book in a “Little Free Library” that she hasn’t read yet, and Captain Mark found the donation box for the $5 suggested donation for electricity.
It was a quiet night with no visitors. The Explorers cooked dinner, took showers (Sidekick Sue took an especially long one tonight to remove all vestiges of green and orange slime) and watched an episode of Ozark. The Explorers are two episodes away from finishing the series and are ready for it to be done.
Leaving Lock 23 outside of Brewerton
Low bridge. Navionics says it’s only 15 feet clearance, but Sidekick Sue climbed up on a cooler to watch over the top of the canopy and it was at least 19 feet. No worries.
Captain Mark took a picture of these “swans”, but Sidekick Sue suspects they are white geese because of their size and their necks aren’t curved. Does anybody know?
Signage at the intersection of the Oswego Canal and the Erie Canal. We are heading to Buffalo.
One of the walking trails in Baldwinsville.
Picture of the Wayward Explorer from Mill Island in Baldwinsville. The island is a nice little park with restrooms, showers and an outdoor stage (which was occupied by a bunch of high-school aged kids, hanging out).
