3 Jun 17

We had a very restful night alone on the dock and finally crawled out about 08:00. We were underway by 09:30 and passed uneventfully under 5 more lift bridges and finally, the last two locks of the Erie Canal - Locks 34 and 35; these two locks lifted us 50 ft to the top of the Niagara Escarpment. Nothing between us and Lake Erie now. After we passed through the top of Lock 35, we turned back and tied up to the wall on the other side of the lock, actually on the (no longer operating) old flight of five side of the canal. We were tied up to the wall by 12:35. This is great, as it places us right in the middle of the town of Lockport. As soon as we were settled, we walked up to the Lock 34 pub for lunch and a celebratory beer. Then we went on a tour of the Lockport Cave, which was drilled to provide water to the several water-powered mills and factories here. Afterward, I finally got a good look at the operation of the rack and pinion gear that opens the lock gates; very cool. We got back to the boat in time for Captain’s hour. On to Buffalo tomorrow.

43-10.219’N, 078-41.635’W; Log = 17.3 N-m, Sum (2017) = 441.6 N-m