Well, I guess you cannot have a perfect day every day. Bryce and I have a 740 S Garmin we will be approaching  lot 28 on the Erie canal soon after that till we get to Buffalo New York we have no charting software for our Garmin. I spoke with Garmin this morning and they had no answer of why there is a large hole in their charting software. I am thankful that I ordered the Cruising Guide to the New York State Canal System. It cost me 25 dollars but has the paper charts of all the Erie Canal. Back to shooting compass course.   Neither Active Captain nor OpenCPN has this region either.

 

So eventually we started our day going forward and making our way to Lock E-23 (Brewerton). It was only 4 miles away from the Free dockage.. I have to laugh having the guard gate in front of the lock remains me of a head chopping block. LOL    That they used in the French Revolutionary war. That was suppose to be kinder than using an ax. Anyways that is what the guard gate reminds me of…

 

The lock operator told me as we motored out of the lock that there was an other vessel coming around the corner. The Orange Caribe. He wasn’t joking. It was a cruise ship. I didn’t know they had such small cruise ship. I went to www.blountsmallshipadventures.com I had never heard of the small ship adventures and they started in 1966.

 

Look how low this ship is.  It can make it under all the bridges. Now, I don’t think it will have to share a lock with any one.  The locks are not wide enough. I wonder if they have to hold on to any lines in the locks or if the are a perfect fit? LOL  Notice they do not even have any bumpers!

 

If you don’t have a boat and you want to see the Erie Canal and all the places that the Small Ship goes check out their website. I’ll even give it to you again.  WWW.blountsmallshipadventures.com  or call: 1-800-556-7450

 

The State of New York is pulling out downed trees. Keeping it open for us boaters. We are so impressed the way they take care of the Erie Canal.

 

We are now headed to lock E-24 Baldwinsville.  Bryce noticed this sign on the water as the canal turned. In case you are not able to see it; the sign reads: “Erie Canal”: to the right is “Oswego 24 Miles” to the left is “Buffalo 192 Miles” and that is where we are headed.  (Buffalo)  Interesting to note that none of the miles in Erie Canal, Intracoastal Water Ways and the Mississippi are “Statute” miles rather than Nautical miles.  For those of us on the Great Lakes, Statute miles has always been the measurement of choice.

 

A man and his dog! And it is said that “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” by Josh Billings That could be true. George well, he is a cat.. LOL

 

I like these signs…They are so helpful indicating which way to go at river connections.

 

Well, I am not to sure about this poor boat! It is so sad to see this happen…

 

We came upon lock E-24 (Baldwinsville) See the bubbles in front of the doors? That means they are lowering the locks prior to opening the doors for us. This is an 11 foot lift.

 

We are now going back up in the locks. Lock-21 we started going lower in the lock now we are getting lifted up again.  I am really not sure which way I like: going up or down. But then again, it really doesn’t mater; I have to do it both ways. One thing I must admit, the gloves really work well. The lines can be a bit slimy so it helps to wear gloves. Just the other day a lady said “ I hate holding the lines” I don’t think it’s that bad . You just have to be prepared.

 

This is John & Dianne StAubin.,  John was kind and came over to see if Bryce and I needed any help docking up. Later the 4 of us got together and enjoyed cocktails on each others boats. We finally decided we needed dinner. We took a walk and found a bar that was still opened and had a hamburger. Ok, John had a hot dog. LOL

 

As always thank you for following us. Remember if you have any questions please reach out to us.