We woke to a chilly morning with light showers off and on until the sun popped through in the afternoon. It was very cold whenever the sun slipped behind the clouds. We are in a beautiful area of the canal; it's narrow, no longer the wide river section. For the second day in a row, we see tons of wildlife. People on shore wave to us as we pass. The canal tow path is busy with dog walkers, runners and bikers. There is so much to see.
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| Locals, so excited to see us pass |
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| Blue Heron |
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| Osprey |
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| Green Heron |
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| Eagle on fence |
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| Eagle on tree stump |
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| Eagle on treetop |
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| Deer getting a drink from the canal |
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| I spy... |
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| Crane pair |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Buck with rack |
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| The things you see on the Canal |
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| These saucer flowers are everywhere |
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Calm waters, impressive reflections
Note the high water line |
We locked through #27 in Lyons at 9:15 with Scandia and Osimo following behind us. We had four more locks including the low spot between numbers 29 and 30. We were told that 29 and 30 were one way travel on the half hour so we had to time our arrival for 1:30. We were running a few minutes behind but called ahead on the vhf to see if they would wait for us. He told us he had a boat in the chamber but they were willing to wait. We were nervous and ready for trouble but everything went smoothly. The Lock Master at #30 instructed us to stay away from the temporary green markers on our port side. Following that direction we never saw depths under 8 feet. We made it! As we entered the Lock we saw that it was Manatee tied off and patiently waiting.
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| Osimo following Mystic |
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| Smiling after getting through the low spot at Lock 30 |
We're in lift bridge territory now. There are 16 verticle lift bridges on the western Erie Canal between Fairport and Lockport. We have to request passage under each one. The Fairport bridge is a through-truss mechanical lift constructed in 1913-1914. It is famous for not being level and for having no two angles the same. It crosses the Erie Canal at a 32 degree angle with the south side higher than the north. There were a lot of boats on both sides of the canal, tied to the wall at Fairport. This is a popular stop but we are set on getting to Perinton.
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| Very calm canal |
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| Side crossing train bridge |
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| Newark, NY Mural |
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| Newark, NY Mural |
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| The first Fairport lift bridge |
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| Fairport wall |
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| Fairport Wall |
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| Going under the first lift bridge in Fairport |
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| Very busy place |
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| Popular stop for cruisers |
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| River cruiser Dragonfly |
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| Beautiful boats |
The famous uneven Liftbridge in Fairport
We made it to the Bushnell Landing floating dock and tied off then ran to grab Osimo's lines. All of a sudden we heard loud slamming and looked up to see Mystic dancing and twisting at the dock. We had no idea why; there weren't any boats passing by to cause such a wake. Later we heard that the pair of locks, numbers 31 and 32 sitting two miles west of us cause these rogue wakes. The power of the water is funneled down the narrow channel and builds speed and power. Mystic's rail took a beating! The pull on our lines ripped the varnish down to bare wood. I was not happy about this!
We took a walk through town grabbing coffee and donuts for the next morning. It's quaint but lovely. Seven Stories Brewing is just west of our dock. They have a floating stage with live music. We walked over and grabbed a lovely SSB stout to enjoy on the high patio. Cool river boats hang out near the stage, enjoying the show close up. It was a great evening of relaxing after a long day on the water.
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| Mystic at Bushnell Basin |
Seven Stories Brewery
The band at Seven Stories Brewery
Travel on the Erie Canal can be difficult but we're starting to enjoy easier days! We try to keep our travel to about 30 - 40 miles per day. Sometimes we have to go further. Tomorrow we'll explore Brochport. We're looking forward to it!
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