Tuesday 060215– in Lockport NY

Weather/Sea   Cloudy and then sunny good day 50 to 62

Captain - John C. Kwak crew Paul Berthe

Yesterday we traveled in a drizzle and cold from Spencerport mile 271.2 to Albion free dock mile 293.06 and today we traveled in sunny cool weather to Lockport free dock mile 320.65.

At Albion we were between the 2 lift bridges on the Canal wall in Albion Canal Park we hooked up to power but there was no Wi-Fi and the bathrooms were inaccessible because we did not get the codes from the bridge tender. Paul made chicken stew from one whole chicken. We had it for dinner and froze 8 more portions. Cook ones and eat 4 times, the benefit of having a separate freezer.

Albion and Medina are the source for the brown sandstone that the brownstone buildings all over New York State and City are made from. They could mine it here and send cut stone down the Erie Canal to their customers. Without the canal that industry would not have existed.

In Lockport we are at a free dock with NO services and a very poor dock. We passed many docking possibilities. One could travel the Erie Canal all summer back and forth for a $100.00 season pass and not spend another hundred on dockage.  Most locations have a 48 hour limit but some have no limit that we could find. You can visit all these historic old towns and not spend a lot. We were told that the weekly rental for the Canal boats is $2,700 fuel included.

From Spencerport we passed thru Brockport and Holley from Albion we passed thru Medina, Middleport, and Gasport and went under 15 lift bridges but NO locks. The lift bridges are manned and must be called to open, many have a roaming operator for 2 or 3 bridges, and he follows you from bridge to bridge.

Tomorrow we pass thru the last locks #34 and #35 located in Lockport and then on to Tonawanda and the end of the Canal. These are staircase locks, which means that the exit gate for one is the entrée gate for the next.

John