September 15-16, 2024 Back for another visit - Newark, NY

Sunday Sept. 15, 2024   Fairport to Newark   20 miles and 3.25 hours

Slow Sunday morning but not in a big hurry as we'll only need a few hours for today's cruise.  Figured we would leave around 10AM.  About that time we heard radio chatter from some eastbound boats asking the bridge to lift.  Figured it made sense to fall in behind them so we could all go through the couple locks ahead of us together.   They had been having issues with the lift bridge since after our arrival on Friday and it refused to work again.  We waited a bit but finally decided we just had to go.  About 20 minutes after we left we finally heard the bridge tender saying he was ready to lift.   By then we were hoping we were far enough away the lock tender at Lock 30 wouldn't hold us up waiting for them.    It all worked out fine for us.  Lock was already filled when we arrived and tender simply needed to open the gates for us.    Got the same quick lockage at lock 29.   Made for an easy cruise to Newark.   We're back into more back river type cruising rather than cut in canal. 

Nice day, easy cruising, good scenery

Decided to make today's stop Newark.  We had stopped here for a quick pumpout going west and it looked like it might be a good stop returning.   Very accommodating town dock with power, water, bathrooms showers and laundry.  Best of all its all free.  Even had 50AMP power which is extremely unusual on the canal but was very welcome as we were able to run AC on this hot mid 80 degree day.    Checked out Runaway Blue Brewery hoping they might have the Jaguars game on a TV.  No luck with the game which may have been just as well since they lost.  Fairly limited beer offerings but it was nicely varied and pretty good.   Took a stroll through town - some nice older homes - to reach the Wegmans grocery store about a mile away. Then a nice return walk using the canal side trail. I always think our Publix is a pretty nice grocery store, but Wegmans takes it to another level.  Not many restaurants in town open Sunday night so dinner on board.

This pair of homes caught my attention.
.  Made me wonder if a father built identical houses for his 2 daughters.

Not sure what the significance of this was but it was an interesting detail

Decided to spend an extra day in Newark. Having A/C on these mid 80's days is nice.  Spent the morning visiting the Hoffman's Clock Museum housed in the town's library.  Was surprisingly fascinating. Augustus Hoffman was a successful jeweler in town and an avid clock and watch collector. He donated his collection to the town upon his death back in 1945. Fascinated to see some early American examples were made using all wooden parts including delicate hand-made gears.  Only one arm was used on the face with marks for each 1/4 hour.  Slower times when people needed a rough estimate of time - not living minute to minute like today. 

Collection of antique Grandfather Clocks.
 Most of these from mid 1800's or earlier

Martha being overwhelmed by all the clocks

Had to stay until father time rang the bell on this one. 
They keep most of the clocks wound and running

Very ornate antique French clock 

Detail of the inlay on the clock. 
Clockmakers made mechanisms but cabinetmakers made the cases

Spent the afternoon doing oil and filter changes on the engines.   Checked my maintenance log and last one was on May 17th back in Elizabeth City, N.C. We were just working our way up the east coast. That feels like an eternity as we've been to so many places since then.  We've been lucky with a lot of trouble-free miles under the keel in those 4 months.  No mechanical issues in the log book.  Replaced that vacuflush pump back in June, cleaned weeds out of strainers a few times, and added a few scratches on the hull.  Hope our good mechanical luck keeps holding out.

Journey for Sept. 15, 2024

September 13, 2024 Return stop at Fairport

 Thursday Sept. 13, 2024  Bushnell Basin to Fairport.   4 miles and .75 hours

We want to spend a few days in Fairport but know due to its popularity it can be tough to get a spot on their wall at times - especially on weekends.  The main summer boating season is winding down here so we're hoping we can get a spot with an early Friday arrival.  We phone the Main Street bridgetender around 10 who says there's currently a few spaces that will fit us.  Quickly, we cast the lines and head over.  The bridgetender welcomes us back to town as he raises the bridge and lets us through the last of the lift bridges we'll see.  Nice spot on the quieter south wall.  We're secured by 11 AM.   With plenty of time to explore, we check out the Tool Thrift Store.  All manner of donated used tools at a thrift store manned by senior volunteers with proceeds going to senior services. Saw a drill press, small lathe and scroll saw I would have liked to take home but instead settled for a like new short-handled hammer and a rubber mallet for $4 total.  

Checking out machinery at the Tool Thrift Store. 

Getting hot so stopped at Moonlight Creamery for a treat.  Dropped the tools off at the boat and took a walkabout. No historic downtown Main Street here on the south side. Sadly, a victim of 1970's urban renewal.  All torn down and cleared out for a parking lot and new Commons Building. At the time the thought was the old necessity shops (grocers, butchers, banks, etc) were no longer used or needed so had to go to make way for the new nicety shops (restaurants, salons, yoga studios, etc.).  Off the main street many of the older homes are still intact and being well maintained and worth the walk.  Wound up at Fairport Brewery for a flight. Housed in a 1930's vintage gas station.  Great repurposing of a building but not our favorite beers.  We've now sampled beers from 3 of the breweries in town having hit 2 others during our westward stop here. 

City Hall is one of the few remaining historic buildings on southside Main Street

Saturday morning had us visiting the farmers market.  One of the better ones we've seen.  Loaded with true farm produce that was surprisingly fairly priced.  Apples, pumpkins, squashes and mums on display as the fall crops come to harvest.  Still plenty of summer stuff.  Tomatoes looked amazing!!  And speaking of amazing, Amazing Grains Bakery talked us into a local favorite called Salt Bread. Good saleslady - "Most people buy two - pull one apart and eat it in the car then still have one for the family when they get home.".  We only got one, but it was pretty darn good!   

Apple season is here. Big variety. And all locally grown

Mums and pumpkins of all sizes and colors on display

Spent most of the afternoon relaxing. Then took another walk over the bridge to further explore the north side.  It was the more industrialized section of town.  Only real remnant of that is the old American Can Co. building which has been repurposed. They produced the first cans for packaging beer here.  Now houses several restaurants, breweries, and Iron Smoke Distillery.  Having sampled most of the breweries in town, we opted to try a flight of bourbons while listening to live music.  That cask strength 120 proof had a kick!

Premium bourbon sampler - Regular, Single Barrel and Cask Strength

Founders last name is Skully - hence the interesting logo

The very short Journey for Sept. 13, 2024

September 12, 2024 No love at Spencerport or Pittsford - on to Bushnell Basin

 Thursday Sept 12, 2024  Holley to Bushnell Basin  34 miles and 8.25 hours

The day started out wonderfully.  Beautiful morning.  Sunny and warm.  We decide to take a hike to see the falls that are the main attraction in town.  Not too far away from the canal and the trail was well marked. It led down to a nice open grassy park for viewing.  Nothing very big but scenic.  The hike delayed our start a bit but shouldn't impact an early afternoon arrival to Pittsford. 

On the town wall in Holley

Holley Waterfall

Several lift bridges to navigate today.  We hail the operator at the first one in Brockport for an easy passage.  Says he'll notify the Spencerport operator we're on our way. We arrive at the first of the Spencerport bridges called Adams Basin.  It's about 4 miles from the Spencerport bridge but we expect the operator to be in the control house since Brockport supposedly contacted him.   We radio on CH 13 as required but get no reply.  Politely wait a few minutes and radio again.  Still no reply.  We call the cell numbers listed for the bridge operator.  No replies there either.  We call the Brockport Operator to see if he knows anything.  Says he'll contact the operator.  We wait and wait and wait while keeping an eye on the parking lot below the control tower for a vehicle arrival. Nothing.  Call Spencerport numbers again.  Still no answer.  Call Brockport Operator -"Sorry for the delay.  I'll call them again".  He never has told us if he actually made contact with Spencerport which was odd.  We wait some more.  By now we have been idling at this bridge for well over an hour.   So much idle time that Martha gets the drone out and takes a few pictures.  We call the Spencerport numbers a third time.  Amazingly, someone answers.  It's the Spencerport Operator!!  His response - "Sorry, I was out cutting grass and didn't hear the phone.  Be there shortly".  Several minutes later a car comes wheeling into the parking lot and soon the bridge is up and we're on our way.  He meets us at the Spencerport bridge for a quick lift and we're finally moving again.

Martha's drone shot of us waiting at the Adams Basin Lift Bridge

Our idling track while waiting at the bridge 

Done with lift bridges for the day we now work our way to Pittsford which requires traversing locks 33 and 32.  Lock 33 needs to fill before we can enter which seems to take an unusually long amount of time.  He finally opens the gates and we get through.   Drop 25' and head for nearby lock 32.   Get the distressing message from lockmaster "Captain please hold your position.  We'll need you to wait a few minutes.  The Pittsford tour boat will be coming upbound, turning around and we'll have you go down with them."   So more delay on an already delayed day!  A half hour later we hear the tour boat captain stating he's headed to the lock.   We wait some more for the lower gates to close, fill the lock and raise him up. He does a quick circle in front of us and heads back into the lock with us following closely behind. We get locked through and finally make it to Pittsford.  

Tour boat Sam Patch circles around and heads back into Lock 32

More problems!! The south wall is the primary transient dock but no boats are there. Signs are posted along it "No Dockage Allowed until Sunday". Seems some sort of festival is starting and they need the waterfront clear.  There is a spot on the north wall that looks long enough for us but it's at the extreme western end of that wall.  We slowly approach.  Depths are reading good until they're not! We're within a few feet of the wall.  Then the alarm starts sounding and depths quickly disappear.  We're stirring up mud and I'm hoping that is confusing the alarm.  Nope. The bow thruster stops being able to push us sideways.  I'm assuming the stabilizer fin has made contact. Just then I feel the unmistakable sound of a prop strike and the starboard engine kicking off.  Thankfully, all this is happening at idle speeds.   We abandon the tie up and after a push off the wall by Martha using the extended boat hook pole, we are able to use the bow thruster and port engine to get away from the wall.  The starboard engine starts up fine.  It's getting late but we decide to push on to Bushnell Basin.  I remembered seeing the floating town dock there as we passed it heading west.  Seemed like it could have questionable depths but no mention of any issues there in any reviews.  It's just a few more miles down the canal.  The engines are running fine and I'm not feeling any vibrations. Once I can run higher rpms or get hauled for the winter we'll know if there is prop damage.  For now all seems OK. Approaching Bushnell Basin, we hear live music coming from a venue alongside the canal.  With the docks in sight but evening approaching, we see 2 canal boats coming the opposite direction and headed in.  We can only hope there is room for all of us as I'm not sure I've got a Plan C at this point.  The three of us do fit but fill the entire dock.  It wound up being a delightful night.  We headed down to the Aurora Brewery for a much needed drink and listened to the music.  Then enjoyed some Abbotts Frozen Custard from the shop at the docks before calling it a day.  And what a day it was!!

Journey for Sept. 12, 2024

September 11, 2024 Chased away from Albion we stop at Holley

 Wednesday Sept 11, 2024  Gasport to Albion to Holley   31 miles and 5.25 hours

Wound up making a very full day of it today.  Left Gasport and Seas the Dream behind with an early start to get to Albion before noon. Big plans for a bike ride to see the Cobblestone Museum. But first a quick stop passing through Medina for a pumpout.  Wound up being one of the best pumpouts we've used.  Quickly got the gauge to a rare "Empty" showing on the gauge. Albion is having the lift bridge on the western side of town replaced.  It was pinned in the up position so easy to get through and we settled in on the south wall. Construction equipment lined the north wall - 2 barges, a tug and a crane. As we were preparing for our bike ride, we heard a westbound call from a tow and barge to the second lift bridge on the eastern side of town.  Some discussion about whether there was enough room for him to get by us with those barges on the other side. As he approached, he told the bridge operator "Lift it up and let me see.  I'll let you know if I can make it".  Decided to give it a shot. Deckhands on the front of the barge on each side giving hand gestures of clearance to the captain as he slowly squeezed by.  Sorry, no pictures - too busy watching., 

Primary reason we stopped here was to bike over to the Cobblestone Museum in Childs about 2.5 miles away.  Our little folding bikes got a good workout as did we on the rolling country road! Cobblestone is an interesting artistic feature on buildings.  Stone buildings with 12" thick rough stone walls then had a facade put on with similarly sized smooth rocks. Mostly done in the period from 1820-1860 but seemed to have died out during the civil war period.  It's unique to a region within about a 100 mile radius of  Rochester. It's not an architectural style since it was done to all sorts of buildings - barns, shops, schools, churches, homes. Very labor intensive for collecting all the stones which were abundant in farm fields here.  But then the stones had to be sorted by size and shape. Masonry work was slow as only a few tiers could be done each day before allowing time for the cement to cure.

The museum is housed in the old Universalist Church

The old schoolhouse

Residential home 

Detail above the schoolhouse doors

Elongated stones were typically used with just the smaller ends showing. 
This provided a thicker and more solid facade

Corner detail on the schoolhouse

As we were getting ready to leave on our bike ride the bridge operator met us and informed us we probably didn't want to stay on the wall for the night.   Most of the bridge construction is done overnight from 7PM to 7AM.  Lights, jackhammers, etc.   Told us we needed to get moving by 4:30 to get through the bridge before she closed for the day.  On our bike trip we discussed alternative stops for the night and decided Holley would work - only an hour or so further down the canal.

After returning from the museum I headed downtown for a quick walkabout.   One of the best preserved collection of canal era main street buildings.  Most in decent shape but lots were empty.  Some lawyer offices as this is the county seat.    Nice example of Medina sandstone church with 175' spire.   There is another Universalist church in town that was funded by George Pullman of the Pullman RR Car Co. who was originally from Albion.  Contains 50 Tiffany stain glass windows.  Missed seeing it as the afternoon was winding down and it was time to go but pictures looked impressive. 

The Pratt Building had a large opera house on the 3rd floor

175" tall spire on this Medina Sandstone church

Interesting building - now a lawyer's office

Medina Sandstone was often used for roadbeds

One of the other things Albion was known for was resident Charles Howard (1896-1966).  He created the first "Santa Claus School" here in Albion in 1937 to teach the proper appearance and demeaner of Santa.  He was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Santa for 18 years until his death in 1966.  

Statue commemorating Charles Howard as Santa

Once my tour of town was done we fired up the engines and headed east.  Several more lift bridges to get through before the bridge tenders quit for the day.  Made it to Holley.  Very nice town wall and park.  Power, Water, bathrooms, etc. all free.  Short walk into a small downtown area.  Cute, couple shops, pizza place and ice cream shop.   Stomach satisfied, back to the boat.  

Right side of downtown Holley which was built around a town square
 rather than a Main Street on the canal front.  

 

Journey for Sept. 11, 20204

 

Sept 10, 2024 Heading Back East Tonawanda to Gasport

Tuesday Sept 10, 2024  Tonawanda to Gasport  26 miles and 5.25 hours

After a couple of cool, cloudy and occasionally rainy days it was nice to get back to sunshine and 70's.  Leaving the wall in Tonawanda we headed west for the last small section of the Erie Canal taking us out onto the Niagra River.  Dipped the keel there to complete the entire western side of the canal.  Then turned back around with intentions to make it to Gasport for the evening.   We'll try to stop at several of the towns we missed.

Wide open waters of the Niagra River

Screen shot from Nebo app showing us out of the Erie canal.

Lockport was the halfway point on today's trip.  Just like going west we hit the locks AGAIN when the tour boat was coming through. This time another boat Seas the Dream was also waiting to go eastbound.  Same process as last time.  We entered the top lock and waited for the tour boat to get to the lower lock.  Then raise them halfway and us down halfway.  Pass each other at the midpoint and then finally drop us through the second lock.   Decided since we had some extra time to tie up at the lower park wall and explore the old Flight of 5 original locks and the museum.  Pretty interesting that the original canal, the expanded canal and the final canal locks have always been at this location.  That was a result of the Niagra Escarpment - the same rock formation that extends to Niagra Falls and beyond creating a steep cliff like drop-off due to uneven rock erosion.

The flight of 5 "expanded" locks dating back to 1862

Locks were all constructed from cut stone.
Recreated to original specs and operational wooden doors

Floors of the lower chambers are ancient hardwoods that require constant water flow.
This prevents exposure to air that would cause them to rot and deteriorate 

Then on to Gasport where Seas the Dream was already tied up.. Small town with a short wall with power beside a park.  Quiet and peaceful. Martha had done some research and discovered the laundromat was in a building right beside the canal and had very good reviews.  We were well overdue for laundry day so no way she would let me bypass the town.  I had seen reviews talking about an old-fashioned hardware store in town.  Unfortunately, it had closed down and was replaced by a lumber yard. Only other businesses in town were 2 restaurants.  We opted for The Canalside Inn - Beef and Beer and some pretty good sandwiches for dinner.   Not the most interesting stop on our trip but served its purpose.  

Old steel canal workboat on display at Lockport

Journey for Sept. 10, 2024

September 8, 2024 End of the canal. Tonawanda NY

Sunday Sept. 8, 2024  Medina to Tonawanda  35 miles and 6 hours

Getting ready to leave Medina for the 8AM start of the lift bridge operators' day.  He had given us the phone number to call him before we left so he would be ready - just in case he was at the other bridge he operates.  Started talking to him on the phone when he said he was right outside the boat.  Doing his morning rounds at the harbor wall to find out everyone's intentions.  Two canal boats were also heading west at the same time, so we all got underway together.  They let me lead as we would be traveling at a faster pace once past the lift bridge.  Planning for a longish day but also hoping to get tied up in Tonawanda by midafternoon before the forecast rain started.  Scenery was more western NY farmland, corn fields and orchards.

Longer travel days and Martha finally gets her turn at the wheel

In between Medina and Tonawanda is Lockport.  It's a bigger town but has limited facilities for stopping.   This was a hub of activity during the canal days necessitated by a flight of 5 locks.  Because of the time to lock through it was designed with 2 sets of flights.  One for boats westbound and one for eastbound.  Over time the system was modernized, and the east bound locks were turned into a set of 2 large locks that could accommodate the traffic going both directions.   The other flight of 5 locks was left intact but unused and is now a historical site and tourist attraction.   We get delayed due to a tour boat who was topside.  He had just exited the upper lock and would be turning around and coming back down. As a "commercial vessel" he got priority.  An interesting design of the locks is a "pool" between the upper and lower locks. We were raised up to the midpoint, they were lowered down to midpoint, and then we swapped chambers and proceeded.  Topside we were at our highest elevation on the Erie canal at 580'.  

Looking at Lockport locks headed westbound.
New lifts on left, old power plant and Flight of 5 original locks on right

Passing the tour boat in Lockport. We came into the chamber to go up. 
Then he exited into his downbound chamber

Once past Lockport the scenery changed back to more rural river cruising.  Wider, meandering but also getting more and more inhabited with more frequent required slowdowns for docks and tied up boats.  From here there is direct access to Tonawanda, Lake Erie, Buffalo, etc. No more locks, just a few bridges. 

We got to Tonawanda and had no issues finding a spot on the south wall which is the quiet side.   There are town walls on both sides, but each side is a different town.  The north wall is in North Tonawanda. They both charge and both have their own dockmasters.   During the prime season this is a busy place with both walls filled. Plenty to do with several restaurants and bars lining the waterfront and more just a block or two away.  

The Riviera Theatre in Tonawanda.  They have an amazing schedule of shows. 
Many are tribute performances - ABBA, Rush, Elton John, ELO, Prince, etc

One attraction in town is the Carousel Museum.  The town was known for carousel manufacturing with the Allan Herschell company at the forefront.  Back into the mid 1800's they began manufacturing carousels with beautiful hand carved horses.  In their day they were actually adult thrill rides as they spun at much higher speeds than we see them going today. Over time they added other animals - zebras. giraffes, ostrich, lions, frogs, etc.  The original factory is now a museum with a 1916 carousel. The workshop with period machines shows the processes for making the rides and featured the artistry of hand carving the final products.  Also included are additional rides they manufactured over time. After WWII and the start of the baby boom, they began manufacturing rides for Kiddylands.  Basically, anyone could buy a series of rides to create a family friendly roadside attraction.  As a young kid I fondly remember outings to Rye Beach Amusement Park in NY and riding the kiddy coaster, kiddy train, kiddy cars, kiddy helicopter, and kiddy wet boats. 

Original factory is now a museum

The restored 1916 carousel. 

Museum used old photos to recreate the actual workstations for making the horses

They had an area outside with several restored Kiddyland rides. 
I still remember pulling back on the bar and making the helicopter "lift off"

My personal favorite Kiddyland ride and the thing that may have started
 this crazy lifelong boating fascination. A 1957 Kiddie Wet Boat Ride.

We planned on staying an extra day to make a day trip over to Niagra Falls.  Neither of us had ever been there and it seemed a waste not to since we're only 13 miles away.  Easy Uber ride over and back.  Rain was threatening off and on most of the day but held off during our visit. But winds were gusting and carried a lot of mist around to all the viewing areas. The rapids and falls were quite impressive. Just a shame both US and Canada sides have gone so commercial with big buildings ruining what should be the same incredible natural views and beauty experienced by the famed Hudson River School artists of the 1800's

The obligatory selfie pic!

We have been enjoying our share of wings at pubs along the way as we get closer to their birthplace in Buffalo.  Noticed that drumettes here seem to be larger and meatier than back home.  Also, only blue cheese dressing offered - never ranch.   Found out there was a local delicacy we needed to try here in Tonawanda.  Beef on Weck.   I had never heard of it in all my travels.  Basically, thin cut tender roast beef, dipped in au jus and piled high on a soft bun and served with horseradish.  The bun is what makes it special. It has a heavy coating on top of coarse salt and carraway seeds. Swiston's Beef and Keg has been serving them for over 50 years. Highly recommend giving it a try.  Also recommended is District 37.  A new restaurant in town with an extensive tap lineup.   Finally able to get a flight of dark beers which was perfect on this cool rainy evening.

Swiston's famous Beef on Weck.  Now THAT'S a sandwich!!

Met  a lady at the docks who's brother is doing the loop. 
Since we had mostly cloudy and rainy days during our stay,
Sue sent us this picture of the town docks with a nice sunset

Journey for Sept. 8, 2024