Day's 37-38

Gasport NY - Tonawanda NY Start 6:35 am End 10:30am Underway 3:19 Hours Locks - 2 Lift Bridges 1 Distance 21 miles Av Speed 6.2 knots

Tonawanda NY is one of the largest ports on the Erie Canal. It is where the Erie Canal meets the Niagara River. Both sides of the canal have several hundred feet of canal wall to dock on. Dockage is only $35 per night with electric. The interesting thing is the two sides are in different towns and counties. We chose the north side, as many of our friends were on the north side. In addition to the canal wall there are many marinas in this area.

We left Gasport at 6:30am, we wanted to get to Tonawanda as early as possible to get a spot of the wall. When we got there, Ginger Gale, Destined Nomad and Kay Dee were on the dock to help us. They moved two boats to make room for us. Getting a spot on a the canal walls is a lot like finding a parking spot in a crowded mall at Christmas time, a little strategy, a little timing and a lot of luck, especially on July 4th.

Between Gasport and Tonawanda you pass through Locks 34 & 35. They are staircase locks. The upper gate doors for lock 34 are the lower gate doors for lock 35. There is over 50 feet of lift between the two locks. There is a video of going through in the video page. The video is a time lapse video, the transit takes about 25 minutes.

Sunday we spent the day riding bikes with Nick & Ginger from Ginger Gale exploring the area. Tonawanda has many restaurants and supposedly they are great, but between it being Sunday, 4th of July and Covid most of them were closed. Saturday night we did docktails with eight other Loopers.

Niagara Falls is only 25 miles from us, so Monday we took and Uber to the falls. I wanted to do the Maid Of the Mist, but was overruled. (Really did not make sense to do it, we did it a few years ago, and we are on a boat every day) We did do the Cave Of The Winds walk, which I think was much better than the boat tour. It was very cool being able to reach out and touch the water rushing down the falls. I almost did not take the poncho they give you. That would have been a huge mistake. Even with it you get soaked.

I am not sure why, but the town did not have fireworks on the 4th, instead they had them Monday the 5th. We were able to watch them from the docks with Mark and Karen from Kay Dee. (We first meet Kay Dee in Delaware City, and we just crossed paths again)

Tonawanda has been the busiest port we have seen. All day long boats just cruise up and down the canal. Everything from paddle boards to motor yachts. It is very fun to watch.

Most of the Loopers we met up with here have left. We are waiting for a new refrigerator to arrive at West Marine in Buffalo. Hopefully it will be there Tuesday or Wednesday. Either way we will be leaving Tonawanda either today or tomorrow. It is only 20 miles to the West Marine.