Day 12: We made it out of the Erie Canal!

We went though a number of lift bridges today, it amazes me that these are cost effective to build and staff? Seems all the bridge operators run at least two and sometimes three bridges. We were pretty lucky as there were not many boats out and did not have to worry about timing these bridges when the operator was at the far bridge. We finally went though our last set of locks on the canal today. They were a set of double locks where one opens right into another, it was neat. We entered these locks with a tourist boat. Apparently the previous lock had radioed ahead and they had held them in the lock until we arrived. Needless to say there were 10-15 folks that video taped us coming in and going up in the lock. Luckily we managed these both pretty well and hopefully won’t be seeing ourselves on Americas Funniest Home Videos any time soon. I wish we would have had time to stop that the museum at the last set of locks to learn more about the history of the canal but once again the time keeper kept pushing us on.

We called Wardell’s ahead of time and planed to spend the night there and put the mast up in the morning. We got in around 6 and were really ready for some food and a walk on land. We found a few nearby restraints and a Dairy Queen, both were welcomed by everyone on board. Belle & I had really been craving some ice cream!

Wardell’s was not the best place to spend the night as they are right on the river and immediately after the last bridge you go under before one can put the mast back up so you hear both bridge and boat traffic all night. They did not have shower facilities, the light was out in the only bathroom & the only power they offered was a 110 extension cord but it was better then nothing and we plugged our battery charger and several other devices in to charge up while we were there. Next time I would look to spend the night at the city dock/wall or possibly another marina with a stepping facilities.