Sunday – Day 37 – 9/7/08
What a difference a day makes – I thought it was the title of a song, but in reality it’s the weather forecast on Lake Erie!
Barb and I have made it to the Erie Canal after waiting two additional days for the weather to break! Lake Erie settled down to 1 to 2 foot waves so we left port in Erie PA before 0700 and made a quick four and a half hour dash to Buffalo, NY. We then crossed the Niagara River to enter the Black Rock Canal with a strong current and one lock! An hour and a half later with heavy rain falling we entered the Erie Canal. The heavy rain made it difficult to see the buoys and channel markers, essential to safely making or way! We entered the canal without any problems and quickly found a canal wall to tie up to. It was raining so hard that we couldn’t see the cleats on the wall! Once we got our rain gear on and got our bearings the rest of the operation went smoothly. Gateway Harbor in Towawanda, NY is a beautiful park like setting on the Erie Canal, with water and electricity available for twenty dollars for an over night stay! We will spend an extra day here and see the sights then start to move east to experience the Erie Canal ---- a life time dream come true!
To get to the Erie Canal we have traveled over 1400 miles, crossed three of the Great Lakes cruised numerous rivers and
harbored in six different states!
What a difference a day makes – I thought it was the title of a song, but in reality it’s the weather forecast on Lake Erie!
Barb and I have made it to the Erie Canal after waiting two additional days for the weather to break! Lake Erie settled down to 1 to 2 foot waves so we left port in Erie PA before 0700 and made a quick four and a half hour dash to Buffalo, NY. We then crossed the Niagara River to enter the Black Rock Canal with a strong current and one lock! An hour and a half later with heavy rain falling we entered the Erie Canal. The heavy rain made it difficult to see the buoys and channel markers, essential to safely making or way! We entered the canal without any problems and quickly found a canal wall to tie up to. It was raining so hard that we couldn’t see the cleats on the wall! Once we got our rain gear on and got our bearings the rest of the operation went smoothly. Gateway Harbor in Towawanda, NY is a beautiful park like setting on the Erie Canal, with water and electricity available for twenty dollars for an over night stay! We will spend an extra day here and see the sights then start to move east to experience the Erie Canal ---- a life time dream come true!
To get to the Erie Canal we have traveled over 1400 miles, crossed three of the Great Lakes cruised numerous rivers and
harbored in six different states!- Buffalo Skyline
- Peace Bridge
