The Pre-Trip Trip
Our goals for this summer bring us East down the Erie Canal and the Hudson River towards the Atlantic Ocean. So naturally our first leg of the trip was West and South to Erie, Pennsylvania.
Covid has not directly affected our trip too much; social distancing on a boat isn't terribly difficult. (Especially when you can make any infected infiltrators walk the plank.) However, Covid did affect necessary construction to the Erie Canal. All canal locks were closed until the beginning of July, preventing us from getting any further than the disappointingly close town of Tonawanda. That made it an easy choice to take a slight detour and give us a chance to test all of our new equipment for a week, knowing we would be able to bring the boat back to Buffalo for a few days before moving on.
Sunday night we came onboard and everyone was bouncing off the walls, excited to get started. Shianne and Makenna were thrilled to see their bunks and organize their clothes and toys. It took a while for everyone to get to sleep, so Monday morning came a little earlier than everyone expected.
Once everyone was fully conscious, we sped off at our lightning-fast 6.5 knots across unusually calm Lake Erie waters.
While this trip is certainly going to be lots of fun, our younger crew members do have some responsibilities. Every day, they work on their summer homework before swimming, playing, or general mayhem can ensue.
One of my favorite parts of boat travel is visiting with people I don't normally get a chance to see. So of course the first friend we met up with was someone I see every weekend when we go home for work: my coworker Susan!
Susan lives in a gorgeous home on the lake, and I was too distracted by her impeccable decorating and design skills to take pictures of her home. But I did manage to grab a picture of her waving us in to shore.
After a lovely hour hanging out, we left Susan's with considerably more snacks than we brought and took the dinghy back to the boat to continue our journey. Our next stop was Dunkirk to wander, explore, and play at our first beach of the trip. Shianne and Makenna decided living on a boat surrounded by water would mean they could reach their goal of swimming 24/7. I'm starting to suspect the two of them have more fish DNA than they're supposed to. That would explain the gills, at least.
Dunkirk beach certainly wasn't the most picturesque place to spend an afternoon, with a power plant looming on one side and lake debris littering the sand, but Shianne and Makenna still managed to have a blast splashing in the cold water.
I started getting hangry and left our other crewmates in search of Mexican food. Naturally, the rainstorm that had been threatening all day started just as I was getting my food and walking back to the boat. Everyone met me back at Dumbledore and found my dampness pretty hilarious considering I staunchly refused get wet swimming. As I sat down to enjoy my enchiladas, Makenna ran back in to the boat to point out a stunning rainbow lighting up the harbor as the rain slowed to a stop.
That evening we moved the boat a little to the town of Barcelona while the waters were calm. There wasn't much to do in there, so we made our own fun on the boat with a personal spa day. Naturally, we had a wide selection of nail polishes on board, and everyone was able to get an on-board mani-pedi. Justin quickly established himself as the most talented nail painter and helped our other crew members with tricky spots. In return, Makenna and Shianne selected a lovely combination of hot pink for his fingers and sparkly aqua for his toes.
When we left Tuesday morning, the weather was clear, but waves were coming right at our nose. I started the day driving, curious to see how the waves would affect Dumbledore and our crew. There was quite a dichotomy in reactions. After about half an hour staring at our navigation screen and watching the world bounce around me, I was feeling pretty queasy. On the other hand, our younger crew members thought they were on a theme park ride. They ran out on deck, grabbed hold of the railing and jumped at every wave that crashed into the boat. They could have been in a splash zone at sea world. I could have tossed my cookies over the rail.
Eventually, the waves died down and we anchored in Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. The park forms a sweeping peninsula that protects cheap boaters, such as ourselves, who don't want to pay for a slip at a marina. We found a quiet lagoon to keep Dumbledore for the rest of the week and serve as our home base while swam and explored the park.
Once Dumbledore was safely anchored, our youngest crew members made it clear again that the only thing they wanted to do was swim. Whether it was in the green, seaweed filled waters of Misery Bay, the murky, muddy shores on the south side of the peninsula, or the frigid beaches on the outer rim of the park, the girls were itching to get in their swimsuits and jump in. I was willing to dip my toes in at each spot, but I draw the line at swimming in long, tendrils of seaweed; they touch you and it's gross.
I managed to convince Shianne to take a break from swimming and go on a bike ride through the main body of the park. We rode around a large, swampy nature preserve and had a great time checking out the local flora and fauna, including a very industrious muskrat.
We also stumbled across an old lighthouse near the main bike path. While the building itself was closed due to corona, we still managed to take a quick selfie.
We concluded our last evening in Erie at a sandy beach where we built a sand kingdom, complete with defensive moat, battlements, and serf houses. Eventually, Justin realized a lifelong dream and became a real-life merman.
The whole week, Justin and I were carefully scanning our emails and the Erie Canal website, waiting for updates about when the canal would re-open. Some locks were undergoing considerable construction that had been delayed for months due the pandemic shut down, and they were not scheduled to open until late August. When we left for our pre-trip, we had been told the majority of locks and lift bridges would open July 4th, so we planned on whiling away the last few days of June in Lake Erie. But then, the canal gods smiled upon us, and the email came through. The western locks would open a week earlier than expected! Justin and I gathered all of the sand toys, beach floaties, and crew members and set off back to Buffalo.
The ride back north was just as wavy as the way down, but the wind was at our backs instead of our nose. Shianne and I rode up top, blasting showtunes and belting along with them at the top of our lungs. Unbeknownst to us, Justin and Makenna were down below, reeling from the rocking motion of the boat. Luckily, no cookies were tossed, but Makenna had a few close calls, and I noticed Justin looking pretty green when I stopped downstairs for a snack.
When I called my mom to tell her we would be heading back from Pennsylvania earlier than expected, the first thing she asked was, "What went wrong?" It took me a moment to realize that the entire week, every single one of Justin's updates to the boat had worked perfectly. The two freezers were freezing, the air conditioner was conditioning, and the 19 batteries were...batterying? It was pretty clear that our pre-trip trip was a success, and we were ready to work our way east.
tl:dr; Before starting our trip down the canal, we went down the coast of Lake Erie to Erie, PA and back.
Covid has not directly affected our trip too much; social distancing on a boat isn't terribly difficult. (Especially when you can make any infected infiltrators walk the plank.) However, Covid did affect necessary construction to the Erie Canal. All canal locks were closed until the beginning of July, preventing us from getting any further than the disappointingly close town of Tonawanda. That made it an easy choice to take a slight detour and give us a chance to test all of our new equipment for a week, knowing we would be able to bring the boat back to Buffalo for a few days before moving on.
Sunday night we came onboard and everyone was bouncing off the walls, excited to get started. Shianne and Makenna were thrilled to see their bunks and organize their clothes and toys. It took a while for everyone to get to sleep, so Monday morning came a little earlier than everyone expected.
 |
| That tablet is worth its weight in gold. |
 |
| Shianne did not roll into the lake in her sleep....Mostly... |
Once everyone was fully conscious, we sped off at our lightning-fast 6.5 knots across unusually calm Lake Erie waters.
While this trip is certainly going to be lots of fun, our younger crew members do have some responsibilities. Every day, they work on their summer homework before swimming, playing, or general mayhem can ensue.
 |
| Okay, maybe the tablet isn't always so great... |
 |
| The hood contains the smoke coming out of her ears. |
One of my favorite parts of boat travel is visiting with people I don't normally get a chance to see. So of course the first friend we met up with was someone I see every weekend when we go home for work: my coworker Susan!
Susan lives in a gorgeous home on the lake, and I was too distracted by her impeccable decorating and design skills to take pictures of her home. But I did manage to grab a picture of her waving us in to shore.
 |
| Susan's too cool to wear anything other than black. |
After a lovely hour hanging out, we left Susan's with considerably more snacks than we brought and took the dinghy back to the boat to continue our journey. Our next stop was Dunkirk to wander, explore, and play at our first beach of the trip. Shianne and Makenna decided living on a boat surrounded by water would mean they could reach their goal of swimming 24/7. I'm starting to suspect the two of them have more fish DNA than they're supposed to. That would explain the gills, at least.
Dunkirk beach certainly wasn't the most picturesque place to spend an afternoon, with a power plant looming on one side and lake debris littering the sand, but Shianne and Makenna still managed to have a blast splashing in the cold water.
 |
| You can just barely see Shianne shivering here. |
I started getting hangry and left our other crewmates in search of Mexican food. Naturally, the rainstorm that had been threatening all day started just as I was getting my food and walking back to the boat. Everyone met me back at Dumbledore and found my dampness pretty hilarious considering I staunchly refused get wet swimming. As I sat down to enjoy my enchiladas, Makenna ran back in to the boat to point out a stunning rainbow lighting up the harbor as the rain slowed to a stop.
 |
| We had to stop Makenna from jumping off the boat to find the pot of gold. |
That evening we moved the boat a little to the town of Barcelona while the waters were calm. There wasn't much to do in there, so we made our own fun on the boat with a personal spa day. Naturally, we had a wide selection of nail polishes on board, and everyone was able to get an on-board mani-pedi. Justin quickly established himself as the most talented nail painter and helped our other crew members with tricky spots. In return, Makenna and Shianne selected a lovely combination of hot pink for his fingers and sparkly aqua for his toes.
 |
| Most manicurists don't have to worry about balancing on a moving boat. |
When we left Tuesday morning, the weather was clear, but waves were coming right at our nose. I started the day driving, curious to see how the waves would affect Dumbledore and our crew. There was quite a dichotomy in reactions. After about half an hour staring at our navigation screen and watching the world bounce around me, I was feeling pretty queasy. On the other hand, our younger crew members thought they were on a theme park ride. They ran out on deck, grabbed hold of the railing and jumped at every wave that crashed into the boat. They could have been in a splash zone at sea world. I could have tossed my cookies over the rail.
 |
| When you wave at a wave, does the wave wave back? |
Eventually, the waves died down and we anchored in Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. The park forms a sweeping peninsula that protects cheap boaters, such as ourselves, who don't want to pay for a slip at a marina. We found a quiet lagoon to keep Dumbledore for the rest of the week and serve as our home base while swam and explored the park.
 |
| The red star is Dumbledore! Also, I stole this picture from the internet |
Once Dumbledore was safely anchored, our youngest crew members made it clear again that the only thing they wanted to do was swim. Whether it was in the green, seaweed filled waters of Misery Bay, the murky, muddy shores on the south side of the peninsula, or the frigid beaches on the outer rim of the park, the girls were itching to get in their swimsuits and jump in. I was willing to dip my toes in at each spot, but I draw the line at swimming in long, tendrils of seaweed; they touch you and it's gross.
I managed to convince Shianne to take a break from swimming and go on a bike ride through the main body of the park. We rode around a large, swampy nature preserve and had a great time checking out the local flora and fauna, including a very industrious muskrat.
 |
| If beavers are busy, are muskrats musky? |
We also stumbled across an old lighthouse near the main bike path. While the building itself was closed due to corona, we still managed to take a quick selfie.
 |
| Shianne was annoyed we had to stop and take a picture and cut into her precious swimming time. |
We concluded our last evening in Erie at a sandy beach where we built a sand kingdom, complete with defensive moat, battlements, and serf houses. Eventually, Justin realized a lifelong dream and became a real-life merman.
 |
| Luckily, we made a top that would match Justin's nails. |
The whole week, Justin and I were carefully scanning our emails and the Erie Canal website, waiting for updates about when the canal would re-open. Some locks were undergoing considerable construction that had been delayed for months due the pandemic shut down, and they were not scheduled to open until late August. When we left for our pre-trip, we had been told the majority of locks and lift bridges would open July 4th, so we planned on whiling away the last few days of June in Lake Erie. But then, the canal gods smiled upon us, and the email came through. The western locks would open a week earlier than expected! Justin and I gathered all of the sand toys, beach floaties, and crew members and set off back to Buffalo.
The ride back north was just as wavy as the way down, but the wind was at our backs instead of our nose. Shianne and I rode up top, blasting showtunes and belting along with them at the top of our lungs. Unbeknownst to us, Justin and Makenna were down below, reeling from the rocking motion of the boat. Luckily, no cookies were tossed, but Makenna had a few close calls, and I noticed Justin looking pretty green when I stopped downstairs for a snack.
When I called my mom to tell her we would be heading back from Pennsylvania earlier than expected, the first thing she asked was, "What went wrong?" It took me a moment to realize that the entire week, every single one of Justin's updates to the boat had worked perfectly. The two freezers were freezing, the air conditioner was conditioning, and the 19 batteries were...batterying? It was pretty clear that our pre-trip trip was a success, and we were ready to work our way east.
 |
| Hello Buffalo! And soon, goodbye! |
tl:dr; Before starting our trip down the canal, we went down the coast of Lake Erie to Erie, PA and back.
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