31 May 17

Finally, a warm, clear day to wake up to. After breakfast, I fiddled with the Auto-helm for a while and had an inconsequential phone call with Raymarine, who are convinced there is something in proximity to the flux-gate compass that is causing the problem; we cleared everything out of the stern cabin closet (where the compass resides) to see if there was an improvement. As the Peppermint Museum was closed today, we finally got away about 10:00. After the first lock, we topped up the diesel tank (last chance for diesel at a fuel dock with 6’ water depth until Buffalo), then proceeded through another 4 locks and a lift-bridge (at Fairport) before fetching up at the free Pittsford Town Dock at 15:45, parked right in front of “Daddy’s Dream”. Just after Lock 29, we passed the last of the Genessee Brewer beer vats; these 6 vats have been in the news locally (and even as far as Houston) as some of the most significant commercial transits of the Erie Canal in a long time. Genessee Brewery in Rochester has received a huge amount of publicity as a result, with hundreds of people showing up at locks over the past weekend to watch the barges and tugs pull by. Pittsford, which is apparently a bedroom community of Rochester, is a very lively town, particularly compared to some of the towns on the eastern half of the Erie Canal; lots of restaurants and bars and shops and lots of people, mostly locals, walking along the canal path. We had a drink at a local pub and then came back to the boat for dinner aboard.

43-05.524’N, 077-30.851’W; Log = 31.1 N-m, Sum (2017) = 374.8 N-m