Pals on the Canal

Whew, this has been quite a week on the canal! 

Honestly, I'm not even sure how much time we've been here. Our new gypsy lives have us constantly questioning and debating what day of the week it is.

I do know we set out on our adventure Tuesday morning, though! We pulled out of Buffalo on a clear, beautiful day and headed north from our slip at RCR Yachts towards the entrance of the Erie Canal in Tonawanda.

We went under the Peace Bridge. So close to Canada!

This meant going down the dreaded Niagara River. When we first started our sailing lessons, I distinctly remember our instructor pointing at the Niagara River and saying, like Mufasa to Simba, "You must never go there." The Niagara River is an extremely fast moving body of water that culminates with the overly dramatic Niagara Falls, which I had no intention of going over in a sailboat. The river moves much faster than our measly eight miles per hour, so it is very easy for sailboats to get stuck in the river and find themselves smashed against bridges or rocks.

Luckily, people realized this was a problem a long time ago, and a small canal was built to accommodate slow-moving lazy-butts like ourselves. This canal came complete with a lock for us to practice on before we reached the many locks of the Erie Canal!

Our very first lock! Ah, to be young again. 

For those of you who never attended fourth grade, or for those who haven't been there in a long time, locks are a safe alternative to hurtling over waterfalls. They're basically a giant bathtub you pull your boat into, then you politely wave at the lock operator, and he slowly drains the water out of the bathtub while you cling for dear life to very slimy ropes on the wall next to you. (Unlike a normal bathtub, being naked is not encouraged.) After a few minutes of draining, the water in the lock is at the same height as the water in front of the lock, so the doors to the bathtub open and you proceed on your merry way. Our first lock went quite well! (I would say swimmingly, but thank goodness, nobody went swimming.)

Our second lock also went pretty well, and the third one could have gone a lot better, but I'll get to that later.

It felt so strange, riding along on a beautiful Tuesday morning next to roads I used to drive for work on a daily basis. It wasn't that long ago that I would be crossing the Grand Island Bridge, glance down, see the sparkling blue water below me and wish I was there instead of on my way to meet some client. Suddenly, I found myself under the bridge, looking at those poor saps driving to work and feeling pretty glad I wasn't them.

No, I didn't jump off the boat to take this picture. This is courtesy of Eileen!

After passing through that first lock, we met up with our departing party, my friend Eileen from the Cheektowaga Chorale. She surprised us by pulling up alongside with her husband in a little motorboat and escorting us around Grand Island towards the entrance of the Erie Canal.

 

Looking good you guys!

This was the beginning of our fairly cheesy theme for this post: there are lot of really nice people out there.

After a lovely chat, Eileen and her husband wished us "Bon Voyage" right at the entrance to the canal.

It says "Welcome to the Erie Canal" (If you couldn't figure that out with context clues)

If you ever need a little staycation and don't know where to go, I have to recommend driving along the canal for a while. As long as the weather holds out, it's super pretty. You're shaded by plenty of trees on either side, herons appear out of nowhere (and sometimes move out of the way) and the water is as calm and peaceful as can be.

Egrets are much more photogenic than herons. 

One of the first Erie Canal adjacent towns we encountered was Lockport, where we went under a bridge that was at one point the widest bridge in the world.

There's a light at the end of the...bridge

Alright, okay. I guess I should stop with the pretty pictures and get to the juicy stuff: the slight mishap and near-disaster and daring rescue that was our third lock. This third lock is part of a double-lock system that we got the pleasure of riding through with another boat. Driving a large motor boat, these people had gone up and down the canal plenty of times and felt totally confident. Justin also felt confident because he's always confident. Me, not so much.

Justin being confident at the lock

Lock 34 was the dramatic one

We pulled up into the lock behind the motorboat, having just successfully completed another lock a moment before. Now, we have only one set of good fenders. (Fenders are basically big bumpers that you hang off the side of your boat so you don't run into anything.) In the previous lock, we had our fenders hanging off our starboard side because we were pulled up on the right side of the lock. Our buddy boat was on the right side as well, in front of us. As we were approaching the third lock, Justin decided it might be nice to give the other boat the full wall, plus it would be nice for us to have a wall to ourselves in case we lost our heads completely and ran into something. In order to pull up on the left wall, the fenders had to get to port. Gee, I wonder how they got there?

"Move the fenders!" Justin yelled to me.

I rushed to the side of the boat, grabbed the fenders, wrenched them off, hauled them to the other side of the boat, and tied them back on.

When the lock doors opened, lo and behold, there was something we had never encountered before: a boat coming from the other direction, bobbing along on the left side of the lock, exactly where we wanted to be. So Justin yelled to me, "Move the fenders!"

I rushed to the side of the boat, grabbed the fenders, wrenched them off, hauled them to the other side of the boat, and tied them back on. (And muttered a few choice words under my breath.)

Then, that boat coming at us from the other direction, predictably scooted out of the lock, leaving us plenty of room to park on the left side of the wall. So, naturally, Justin yelled to me, yet again, "Move the fenders!"

With epic levels of franticness, I rushed to the side of the boat, grabbed the fenders, wrenched off , hauled them to the other side of the boat, and tied them back on. This gave me seconds to grab my boat hook, hook the line on the side of the lock, and ride the lock down.

Naturally, in my frazzled state, I dropped the boat hook in the water.

Then, came the most daring rescue of our trip thus far. Accompanied by a chorus of Justin calling "Leave the hook! Just leave it!" In one smooth motion, I grabbed a broom from the deck of the boat, reach down to the boat hook (which floats, thank goodness) and scooped the boat hook out of the water with the broom and grabbed it with my other hand. I have never exhibited such grace and agility before, and I doubt I ever will again.

Lockport lock full

Lockport lock empty

Rear view of a lock...It looks like it's peeing...

So we made it out of that lock, and we made it through a few more. We also went through a bunch of really cool lift bridges. These bridges are normally just a few feet above the water of the canal, but raise up in the air when a boat needs to go through. We got a lot of practice using our radio and telling the lift bridge operators we were coming. Well, Justin got a lot of practice. When I hear people over the radio, it just sounds like "Waaaha aaah, ooooh, aha oh eh oooooh." But watching the bridges go up and down was definitely neat.

Our first stop of interest was Brockport, where in addition to visiting the quaint shops and restaurants, we spent most of our time in the very exotic Lowe's and Walmart. Our boat, while pretty big for us, is not big enough to carry a car, so it can be a little tricky getting around. Luckily, the town of Brockport is nice enough to offer free bicycles to people boating along the canal. Unfortunately, I haven't ridden a bike in about three years, and the canal wall is at the bottom of a hill. By the time we got to the top of the hill, my legs were screaming at me to find any other mode of transportation, but I made it.

I rode the pink one

Thursday morning, we ate a delicious early lunch at the Custom House, which I absolutely recommend, spent money at Liftbridge Bookstore, which is an addiction we have, and then made our way to Pittsford.

Thus I continue my theme of great friends along the canal. We met up with my best friend from first grade, Meg, and her boyfriend Matt for Thai food and cheesecake and plenty of laughs. It's great to know that whether we suddenly need an emergency ride to the AT&T store or a much more urgent stop for dessert, Meg will always be up for it. 

Sorry Meg, I don't have your filter skills.

After Pittsford, we headed out towards Syracuse and stopped...um... you know, I honestly can't remember where we were. But we pulled up to a lock at a few minutes after it had closed, so we tied up along the wall for the night. In front of us along the canal wall was a boat that looked a little familiar. Upon closer inspection, we discovered it was a sister boat to our own: it was a Morgan 384, very similar to our own Morgan 382. 

The crew of that Morgan, (called Rhythm) were some of the nicest people we have ever met. Aimee and Shane welcomed us onto their boat and we shared a delightful evening in their cabin exchanging stories, tips, and eating some of the best chili I have ever had in my life. It was so wonderful to meet a group of people who were so open and as excited about their own adventure as we are about ours. (And someone so good at driving boats backwards.) As the world outside got colder and darker, aboard Rhythm it was cozy, warm, and fun. I hope all of the people we meet along the canal are at least half as nice as the crew of Rhythm. (If you want to learn more about Rhythm's adventures, you can check out their blog at https://sailingrhythm.com/ or like them on Facebook. 

Foggy

Less foggy

Aaaand sunshine!

After a misty morning, we were B'ville bound! We ran into this sign, and it was weird thinking we had already come so far. 

183 miles already! Granted, that's only about two hours in a car....

My dad welcomed us to the Central New York by waving at us from a bridge over the canal, and snapping some amazing pictures.

This picture makes me feel good about spending so much time waxing the boat. 

Once we made it to Baldwinsville, we encountered a steady stream of friends and family. I was so glad we got to see as many people as we did, and I absolutely loved showing off our boat/new home to everyone! 

**SAPPY ALERT!**

Between family and friends, new acquaintances and long-known neighbors, we felt so loved and appreciated as we set off on our journey. I was touched by how many people turned up to see us off, and how genuinely excited everyone was about our new adventure. Here are some of the smiling faces we got to enjoy:

Mom: "What's that?" Justin "Land."

My dad is not a vampire, no matter how this picture looks.

Pirates!

The cat whisperer. 

Much better without the neck brace.

After Baldwinsville, we grabbed a couple of temporary crew members, Mikayla and my mom, and they stayed on board with us through Lock 24 to Lock 23. After another great dinner with my parents, we moved on to Brewerton, and then across Oneida Lake. But that's a story for the next post.

tl;dr: We've gone along the Erie Canal, saw family in Baldwinsville, and still haven't sunk.