Messing
About in Boats, Boots, and Byways:
Archive of Erie Canal Journal entries for 2002:
08 September 02 |
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One
of our favorite destinations is the Erie Canal,
which originally began in downtown Buffalo, and
later when the canal was widened and renamed the
Erie Canal Barge Canal, the canal began, and still
begins, at North Tonawanda on the Niagara River
where Tonawanda Creek empties into the river.
We have biked in five-mile bites from Lockport
to Brockport, and we've rowed a time or two, too. |
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Canalboats
for all my friends!
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Flipper
did just fine with five aboard. The extra folk
didn't change the trim more than an inch or two.
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Pecker
is a houseboat with a huge pelican mural on each
side. We saw this craft last fall up on the canal
near Brockport.
Click
on pic to see larger version.
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Flipper
sits at her ease at the town wall. (The design
is called the Harmonica; our Harmonica we named
Flipper.)
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08
Sept. 02:
We launched at the North Tonawanda town ramp and motored
down to Erie Gateway Park to meet four friends. The goal
for the day was to give first rides to friends and to try
out the waterbikes that one can rent for $6 per half hour.
We had dinner nearby, leaving the Harmonica tied to the
town wall. It was a fine and hot afternoon, and we were
surprised by the funky little boat houses and cabins along
the canal on the north side. The grass gunk was a pain,
and there were a lot of boats, including my first witty
drunks. On the way back to the launch ramp, a Sheriff's
Department boat put the blue flashing lights on us for only
having a white light (not working very well). After a stern
lecture and the stated conviction that they should ground
us on the spot for an equipment violation, they went the
other way. I had gone to the state of New York website and
check on Coast Guard regulations, and it was my impression
that a white light was all I needed on the Harmonica. The
deputy said that I needed a green/red navigation light and
that I better have one before I go on the water again. Cops
can be such jerks sometimes; me, too ... . I think I'd rather
have a ticket than a ration of crap and a quick game of
Kick
Me. And I will get the lights in order. |
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Herkimer
&
Perkins
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