Welland Canal

I havent written for a while, so we will catch up. After Detroit we went to Put-In-Bay and got a mooring and ate dinner on board. The weather has been good - (the only storms we have had the entire trip came after we were tied up and protected at marinas.) --Then on to Cleveland Aug 17, Geneva St. Park, Ohio Aug 18, and Erie, PA on Aug 1 9. On Aug 20 friends Joe & Kathy Burke arrived from Maryland via a one-way rental car from Hertz. Aug 21 Kathy & I shopped for food at Sams Club and Wegmans. --Had dinner on the wharf at a restaurant.

We took off Aug 22 for Port Welburne, Ontario and the lake was fairly rough, but we all weathered it just fine. Had a crock pot dinner on board, and left early Tuesday morning to position ourselves to enter the Welland Canal.

Once again we were lucky with good weather. We entered the locks with two other pleasure boats. I had the bow line & Joe had the stern, and Kathy fended off. We were required to hold on to these lines as we went down each 50-ft lock. Heavy gloves come in handy. We were all wearing PFDs as required through the canal. At one point we had to tie up and wait for a large freighter to come through a lock. (picture above)

We arrived at Youngstown, NY after 5:00, and clearing customs took a while because the video phone wasn't being answered. Seems to be a common problem. Anyway we had a late evening and got up fairly early to head 75 naut. miles to Rochester, NY. Winds are currently 14 knots, and are expected to increase, but the lake is fairly calm because the wind is offshore.

We will have another one of Kathy's yummy crock pot meals tonight, chicken cordon bleu, tonight after we reach our marina.