Buffalo, New York

We left Dunkirk by 8:30 headed to Buffalo. It was a mild chop, we sailed for a touch and we did not have waves until later in the day. This made Oliver happy. Here are our parting shots of Dunkirk.

After crossing Lake Erie's east end we spotted Buffalo.

This is when the winds picked up behind us. We kept motoring instead of changing course to get the wind in our sails because we had some new experiences coming up. As you near Buffalo, you have to watch for buoys so you avoid the Niagara River entrance which has shoals, rapids and a current you do not want to be caught. Instead you take the Black Rock Channel.

Once safely in the channel we saw this ship docked off a separate channel. Not sure if it is navy or coast guard.

 Our new experiences began. First you go under the Peace bridge between Canada and the US. Then you have the Ferry Street lift bridge which we have done. When I radioed in to request a lift, the tender was so kind and said he spotted us coming and he would lift it right away. Then we continued down the channel and a swing bridge (new)  for the railroad moved as we approached. Talk about great service.

Now we were ready to transit the Black Rock Lock, say that fast 3 times. We all put on life jackets as required.

I radioed and asked for permission to transit. The lock tender said to pull forward to the lights they use and wait for a green light to pull into the lock. I also told him we have never done this before. I am not proud to get extra help and guidance. He said to grab a line and if I miss one try to grab the next one. They have lots.  Following is the approach to the locks and us leaving. I did not get pictures during the process. My hands were full holding the lock wall line and using my boat hook to keep us off the wall. Dale was doing the same. It was recommended you buy work gloves for this process as the lines get slimy and they were right.

Now here we are at Rich Marine. We are prepping the boat for the mast to be taken down to transit the Erie Canal. We have already started. Dale climbed the mast to get the instruments down and we started the frame. Oliver supervises.