
It's not a circumnavigation or a major sea voyage or even a significant navigational feat. But we did make it to the western end of the Erie Canal and back before putting it in at Pittsford again for a few days in preparation for some family time. The trip was a delight, and we would do it again in a heartbeat. We saw a completely different view of this western part of NY than we had seen in all the years we lived here.

Traveling the Canal
To make the most of the time we had between family events, we decided to limit our travel to the ports west of Macedon. Our goal became simply to reach the western end of the canal and "touch" the Niagara River. That way if our travels bring us back to these parts with Orion Jr's mast in place, we can simply start where our track left off and put her in the water with her mast up. With that lofty goal in mind, we had about 160 miles to cover and a week to do it. At 20 miles a day, it would just be exhausting.
To make the most of the time we had between family events, we decided to limit our travel to the ports west of Macedon. Our goal became simply to reach the western end of the canal and "touch" the Niagara River. That way if our travels bring us back to these parts with Orion Jr's mast in place, we can simply start where our track left off and put her in the water with her mast up. With that lofty goal in mind, we had about 160 miles to cover and a week to do it. At 20 miles a day, it would just be exhausting.

The canal west of Macedon has 95% of the lift bridges and 10% of the locks on the entire canal. The overall rise in level on this section is 100ft with almost exactly 25 ft rise in each of the 4 locks (#32 - 35). After Fairport, most of the lift bridges look identical to one another. They sit low on the water when closed so that only the smallest of vessels can pass beneath. To open, the central span rises to a height of approximately 15 ft above the water. When raised, pedestrians can still cross it via stairs on either end.

With the small volume of traffic on the canal, the bridge tenders tend multiple bridges. This can make for some interesting passages. Sometimes, the bridges are so close together that you have to work to stay in place while the one bridge is lowered and the tender races to the 2nd bridge to stop traffic and raise it. At other times, this multi-tasking results in there being no one to answer the hail when you're calling the bridge right in front of you. Luckily the phone numbers for the bridges are published. So, you can call the bridges up and down the line until you get someone at his post. Then that person can either come to your bridge or call the right cell phone to get someone there. On our westward journey, the process worked smoothly. Each bridge called the next and let them know we were coming. No waiting. However, on our return trip, the operators always seemed to be somewhere else, despite our attempts to give them a heads up.

We've been through locks before, but none as tall as these, especially the 2 in Lockport. These locks all have lines and cables that run from top to bottom of the lock wall. Snagging one fore and aft, we tend the boat as it rises and falls. Since these lines spend much of their life in the water, they and the walls they rest against, are disgusting. So, we have work gloves for tending the lines, and boat hooks to keep the boat fenders off the wall. That doesn't mean we didn't get the slime on the bimini, the flag and the screens. Another new feature was the speed of the water's rise/fall, which was fast. To accomplish the 50 ft rise over the Niagara Escarpment in Lockport, the 2 25ft locks share a common middle gate. It is a massive door. As the lock gates open and close, the sound brings to mind a large metal monster, echoing around in the nearly empty chamber. Our eastward trip through the lock was the most interesting as we were locking down in lock 35, while 2 boats were locking up in lock 34. We passed each other inside the lock. It was pretty cool.

Traveling down this section of the canal, we passed miles of farms and about a dozen small historic towns, each with docks that are free to the boats traveling through -- most with power, water and showers. Its elevation relative to the surrounding land varied dramatically. West of Rochester's Genesee River and west of Lockport, we traveled through mini-canyons, the tree-lined rock walls looming above us. At other times, we were soaring above the land below, passing over creeks, farmland, houses and even a road. With rare exceptions, it was peaceful and beautiful. The sad thing is that we went miles and miles withough seeing another boat. This is an amazing treasure, and there are lots of boaters who are not taking advantage of it.

The Ports
Spencerport, Brockport, Middleport, Gasport, Lockport. Are you starting to see a pattern? We spent some time at all of them and a few more. For many of them, their prosperity as canalports in years past has given them treasures of grand main streets that still have many of the original buildings. Some of them are still bustling towns: Spencerport and Pittsford as Rochester suburbs, Brockport as a college town, Lockport with the locks and the tourist traffic, Tonawanda as a Buffalo suburb with its own industries. The rest are quieter, more rural towns: Holley, Medina, Albion, Middleport, Gasport, each to varying degrees developing the canal as a resource for their economy.
Spencerport, Brockport, Middleport, Gasport, Lockport. Are you starting to see a pattern? We spent some time at all of them and a few more. For many of them, their prosperity as canalports in years past has given them treasures of grand main streets that still have many of the original buildings. Some of them are still bustling towns: Spencerport and Pittsford as Rochester suburbs, Brockport as a college town, Lockport with the locks and the tourist traffic, Tonawanda as a Buffalo suburb with its own industries. The rest are quieter, more rural towns: Holley, Medina, Albion, Middleport, Gasport, each to varying degrees developing the canal as a resource for their economy.

Each port had something that made it unique. Gasport had fresh vegetables and herbs growing in pots next to the dock. Holley had a beautiful park nearby with a waterfall and some fresh black raspberries growing along the path. Of course, it was helpful that the path led to a Save-a-Lot. Medina had the Model Train Museum and Sandstone Hall of Fame, which were just a short walk from the dock. Albion had Friday night movies at the library, complete with popcorn. Lockport had the famous Flight of Five original canal locks, which were being reconstructed. It also had some amazing ice cream at Lake Effect Artisan Ice Cream and a unique winery named after the original locks. Tonawanda had the Herschell Carousel Museum, a unique collectible train store, called Jack's Trains (next to a candy shop, called Barb's Sweet Treats).

But, by far our favorite port was Spencerport. OK. You probably think we're biased because it's where we used to live, but it had everything we could have asked for. The facilities and docks were excellent (and free). They have restored and relocated an old Trolley stop to serve as a museum and boater welcome center. Within a short walk are some great restaurants (the smoky smell from Texas BBQ was a pretty effective advertisement) and another Abbotts within a short walk. Most everything you need to provision is an easy walk: groceries, fuel, drug store, Dollar Store. There was a walking tour of the town and an amazingly good band playing on the canal the Sunday night we were there. One thing that was incredible is how many store fronts had changed in the 15 years since we lived there. There were probably only 3 that held the same business that was there at the end of the last century. Time does move on.

Friends and Family
It's been fun re-connecting with friends as we travel our old neighborhood. Gary, a fellow scoutmaster and his wife Karen, joined us on a ride from Spencerport to Brockport. Carol, a friend met in our early days at Kodak, biked to meet us in Middleport and rode with us to Medina. After a Sunday brunch at her house, we managed to track down the mysterious Soldier's monument in Brockport a few days later. Dave's dad helped us through the 2 Rochester locks on the trip west to Spencerport and Mark, Cathy's J&J co-worker did the same on the way east (after biking from his house in Penfield out to Spencerport). Since we found ourselves in Spencerport on 2 successive Sunday mornings, we attended the Spencerport UMC, which we used to attend and saw many of our friends there as well.
After a few days away on the road, we'll have another week to explore before Jr has to be hauled and we head south again.
It's been fun re-connecting with friends as we travel our old neighborhood. Gary, a fellow scoutmaster and his wife Karen, joined us on a ride from Spencerport to Brockport. Carol, a friend met in our early days at Kodak, biked to meet us in Middleport and rode with us to Medina. After a Sunday brunch at her house, we managed to track down the mysterious Soldier's monument in Brockport a few days later. Dave's dad helped us through the 2 Rochester locks on the trip west to Spencerport and Mark, Cathy's J&J co-worker did the same on the way east (after biking from his house in Penfield out to Spencerport). Since we found ourselves in Spencerport on 2 successive Sunday mornings, we attended the Spencerport UMC, which we used to attend and saw many of our friends there as well.
After a few days away on the road, we'll have another week to explore before Jr has to be hauled and we head south again.