Boats + Children = Wet Towels

It finally happened! No, not world peace. We didn't discover a vaccine to Covid-19 either. And they still haven't come out with a second season of Firefly. But the Erie Canal locks system opened!

There were a few last-minute preparations to work on before we could head off, so we spent Sunday night parked in our slip in Buffalo. While Justin finished up a few projects, Shianne and Makenna were itching to use the last few minutes of light to swim at a nearby beach. While they splashed, I enjoyed the stunning sunset as hundreds of bugs tried to suck out my blood.

I wasn't sure if that was Shianne or a lot of mosquitos in a giant clump.

Sometimes people will ask questions about how life on a boat is unlike regular life on land. With Justin's upgrades, there really aren't as many differences as you would expect. You do have to be careful not to drop things overboard when you go outside, and you get to throw cereal out the window when you're finished with breakfast. But the biggest difference is the towel consumption. I know these kids like swimming, and I know everyone showers every day, but I still had no idea there would be so many wet towels around all the time. There are towels clipped to our rails, towels draped over chairs, towels hanging in the bathroom, and of course, towels lying randomly on the floor. And none of them are dry. I think they're breeding.

When Shianne and Makenna finished their evening swim, I managed to grab two damp towels and wrap them up as we walked back to the boat and our last night onboard in Buffalo.

The next day, we took advantage of the bright sunshine to trim an old sail and bring it onboard. No, I'm not switching sides again; Dumbledore will never be a sailboat, but believe it or not, trawlers like Dumbledore were designed to carry a small steadying sail to help with rough seas. Most of these trawlers, including Dumbledore, have lost their sails over the years since very few people use them. But after those waves in Lake Erie, we decided it would be a good thing to have on the boat to help minimize uncomfortable rocking motions. We had a leftover sail from another boat, and we decided to trim it to a size that would be useful. Then we carefully folded it back up and stowed it away onboard.

The Makenna is not the most widely used unit of measure, mostly because it is prone to wiggling.

While we may no longer have a sailboat, Dumbledore does have a small mast to carry its steadying sail, radar, and a few other antennas. Instead of using a crane to take this mast down, like we had to do on the sailboat, we used a simple crank to lower it enough to fit under low canal bridges. Next, we needed to check Dumbledore's height with its new solar panels onboard. They were expensive, and I'd rather not smash them into any bridges, if avoidable. Our tallest member of the crew, Justin, held the tape measure up while Makenna checked what it said at water level.

Justin's height is...short.

The trick was measuring without dropping the tape measure overboard.

Once we had our measurement (14'10"), it was time to go! We pulled out of Buffalo Harbor and went north up the Niagara River. The first stop before the Erie Canal is the Black Rock Lock, which gave us a great opportunity to remember which lines to grab and where fenders are supposed to go in a lock.

Try saying "Black Rock Lock" ten times.

Everyone onboard is pretty familiar with the locking process, even though it had been a full year since any of us had been through one. Going through the lock was as routine as riding a bike, albeit most bike rides don't have much of possibility of falling overboard.

Never wear white after labor day, always wear unicorn skorts in a lock.

Shianne woke up just long enough the grab the line.

We went through the lock without incident, then continued our way up the Niagara River. On our first boat trip, Justin and I were in a rush to beat winter and make it to warmer weather, so we didn't have time to stop and explore. This trip, however, we're taking at a slower pace, and can take opportunities to anchor the boat, jump in the dinghy, and check out mysterious little islands.

There could be buried treasure on this island. Or empty beer bottles. Or both. 

In this case, we stopped at Strawberry Island: a small, marshy spit of land in the middle of the Niagara River. A sign marked a secluded beach on the island where we could tie the dinghy to a tree and splash in the crystal clear water.

We didn't find any strawberries. 

Eventually we pulled our mermaid members of the crew out of the water and continued along the Niagara River. We passed under one of my favorite bridges, the Grand Island Bridge, and once again, I couldn't help remembering the last time Justin and I passed through these waters.

Saaaay "sunburn!"

I will say, I like it a lot better with the extra crew members on board.

What a bunch of weirdos. 

Having done this trip before does mean we're a little more prepared for snapshot-worthy moments. We pulled as close as we could to the sign for the entrance of the Erie Canal and stayed until we got a passable picture. As we were posing, a coast guard boat drove by and I'm sure they thought we were weirdos.

"Juussttiinn, do we have to take another stupid picture?"

Our first stop along the canal was in Tonawanda. We pulled into town and tied Dumbledore to the first of many free docks on the Erie Canal offering power and water to boaters.

After 200 years, we're driving a boat that goes slower than the mules in that picture.

I'm sure you're shocked to hear that our boat was not originally named Dumbledore when we bought it last year. I know there's a complicated superstition about only renaming a boat when you smack it with a particularly expensive bottle of champagne, but since Justin and I rarely drink, we decided to just wash the boat and stick the new name on.

We had already put the name on our stern, but hadn't had a chance to get it on the sides. Since it was a warm, beautiful day, we decided this was the perfect opportunity to give the whole boat a wash. Unsurprisingly, everyone got sprayed with the hose at least once. I did not have the presence of mind to grab the towels hanging outside before Makenna got hold of the hose, but luckily Justin managed to find most of them before they became boat-washing casualties.

If I ever need a new job, I could get a career as a boat washer.

Justin went out in to dinghy with Makenna to put the final name on the boat. I think it came out pretty well.

The cursive font hides any spelling mistakes.

After everyone dried off (as much as possible with our moist towels) we settled in for a nice dinner. We had brought a new table onboard in Buffalo and set it up on the fly bridge, so the entire crew was able to eat together, relax, and share about our day.

I promise, we didn't force Shianne to sit under the table. It was all her idea. 

For our trips so far, our furry crew members have been pretty reclusive, spending most of their time buried in the blankets on our bed or lurking in random cabinets. But at the quiet town wall in Tonawanda, Tiny decided to take a stroll on the side deck and sniff the world outside.

We thought about giving her a tiny life jacket.

The next day we continued on the canal and hit the very first lock in Lockport. First we fueled up on some delicious pizza and wings, then the locking began. Lockport is unique with two enormous locks back to back. Between the two of them, the boat moved down almost 50 feet in the span of a few minutes.

This lock is one of the few things taller than Shianne.

Naturally, we attracted attention on our way down. I'm sure the flock of onlookers were captivated by my good looks.

I wish people cheered me on doing ordinary activities on land too. "Yaay! You drove to work! Way to go!"

One of the many benefits of having a trawler instead of a sailboat is the excess of storage space for all sorts of random things. At one point we accidentally had two toasters on board, and there are so many cabinets that it took me a few days to find the extra garbage bags. But my favorite thing we had room for are bicycles. We keep full size bikes for each two-legged crew member to ride and explore the new places Dumbledore takes us. All four bikes are neatly resting on our back cabin, and there's still plenty of room to sit and relax on deck, store sundry tools, and of course, hang towels.

Could you imagine if we had bikes for the cats too?

Just about the entire length of the canal is a smooth path for people looking to escape quarantine inside and stroll along without encountering too many people. Or it's for weird people who like to exercise. I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and bike alongside Dumbledore from near Middleport to Albion; a stretch of about ten miles. The younger crew members opted not to participate.

I started my ride at the Middleport lift bridge, and I was given a unique opportunity to see Dumbledore go under the bridge from shore. And because of the wonders of technology, you get to see it too!

Dumbledore's top speed is about the same as mine on a bicycle: about seven miles per hour. (Keep in mind, I haven't been to a gym in months.) I decided to make a race of our parallel ride and set off as fast as I could. Suddenly, I encountered an impasse; a flock of geese had settled in the middle of the towpath, blocking my way. I knew how mean geese could be, so I asked them politely to move. They ignored me. Then I yelled at them to move. They hissed at me. I edged my bike forward, hoping they would move just enough to let me sneak by, but one particular goose locked his gaze onto me. I stared into his beady black eye, and I swear I have never seen such depths of hatred and revulsion in my entire life.

I did not even consider trying to fight this goose. I decided losing the race with the boat was worth avoiding a confrontation with such a vicious creature.

Evil incarnate

Once the bike and I were back on board, we continued towards our anchorage for a couple of days. We decided to stay in a very large pond off the canal near Albion, NY. About a half a mile wide, Presbyterian Basin was the perfect place to anchor, swim, and relax.

We were definitely more than six feet away from everyone.

We tried turning the dinghy into a hot tub using excess water from the air conditioner. Shianne and Makenna took turns carrying buckets of warm water from the boat to the dinghy.

Not the most comfortable hot tub around.

Justin even hooked the inner-tubes up to the dinghy and pulled us around the lake until everyone fell off.

There are three people in that cluster of legs. 

After two days, everyone was pretty tired of swimming and ready to move on. Plus, we had cycled through all of our towels several times and we were starting to consider drying ourselves with the cats. Our destination for the week was Brockport, but on the way, we decided to stop in the minuscule town of Holley, NY. We ate one of our first dinners post-quarantine at the Holley Falls Bar and Grille, where we learned about a nearby walk to some local waterfalls. The next morning, we set out to find them, and we were not disappointed.

Don't go chasing waterfalls. It's illegal unless you have the proper permits. 

Finally, we reached Brockport, NY, where the boat would be tied for the weekend while Justin and I worked, Shianne and Makenna went back home to recuperate, and the towels could finally get properly dried in a dryer. Tune in next week as we continue along the canal!

tl;dr: We brought the boat along the canal to Brockport.