Day 2-229 to Fairport, NY in warm and sunny weather

We left Lyons, NY at 8:25 am and travelled 25.8 miles to Fairport, NY. In Fairport the canal walls on both sides have power, but the north side has more foot traffic and loud music so we opted for the south side where us old retired folks might get more rest... After leaving our mooring on the wall in Lyons, we went through 2 locks in the first 1.5 miles. At the west (upside) end of the second lock there was a huge dry dock for the canal system. It was large enough to hold many canal system tugs and barges for repair or winter storage at one time. It is an interesting dry dock in that it was like a one ended lock that was self draining out the down stream end.

 

 

We also saw the cutest little tug, and for lack of anything better, I named the picture "Little Toot" after the children's book. Yes, you guessed it. This is a picture specifically for Grandson Will.

Speaking of locks, we went through 5 more locks today with a total lift of 76.4 feet. The lockmasters talk to each other to tell them of approaching traffic, and indeed they are often waiting for us with the lock open and the green (OK to Enter) light on. One of the lockmasters "reminded" the Admiral that the speed limit was 10 mph and that he thought that we "might" have gotten to his lock a little early. She gave up after she had told him three times that we cannot go 10 mph let alone more than that. Maybe he was just bored?
Since we re-entered the Erie Canal from the Oswego Canal, we have had a lot more bridges to pass under. In the eastern canal the bridges uniformly had a clearance of 20 feet or more. In the western canal there have been many more bridges, for example, today we went under 26 "bridges", including 2 pipelines and one pedestrian bridge. About half of the bridges have a clearance of 20 or more feet, but the remainder of the bridges have clearances down to 14 feet, which is the reason for lowering the radar mast and removing the bimini top (see the last few days posts).

In the past few years several companies have begun chartering "European" style canal boats on the Erie Canal. They come complete with air conditioning and even bikes and solar panels on the cabin roof. They look like a fun way to cruise the canal, and with a 10 mph speed limit on the western part of the canal, they fit right in with the traffic.

 

Otherwise, it was not a productive day in terms of wildlife sightings unlike yesterday.

 

Fairport has done a great job of creating a boater friendly waterfront. The only charge is for electricity and that is based on boat length, which is a reasonable $11.00 per night for Lucky Us. In the picture at the left, Lucky Us is framed by nautical art in the form of navigation buoys. There is a small grocery about a block away along with numerous little shops. We visited several of the shops while in search of dinner. We ate dinner at the Fairport Village Inn (and bar but no hotel?). Great food, and we each ended up bring enough home for lunch tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we may stay here an extra night since the weather prediction for tomorrow (some rain and thunderstorms) is not great. Neither of us would be disappointed if we ended up here another day...

 

I will close today's post with one more photo of an "oddity" along our trip. One of the bridges in Fairport is a one-way bridge with alternating directions controlled by traffic lights. The ramp on either side is very steep so that you cannot see traffic coming the other way. Must be fun when the power goes out or starting up the steep incline must be a challenge when the roads are icy...