Pictures From the Trip October 3, 2001 Last Cruising Update - Summary October 1, 2001 Cruising Update - From Annapolis September 26, 2001 Home Strech September 19, 2001 Last Of The Erie Canal September 15, 2001 Back on the Eastern Erie Canal September 12, 2001 Finishing the Western Erie Canal September 10, 2001 Lockport to Fairport September 7, 2001 Western Frontier of the Erie Canal September 6, 2001 Back in the Canal System September 4, 2001 Leaving The Great Lakes September 1, 2001 In our 7th State August 29, 2001 Ohio Has Libraries August 27, 2001 Vermilion, Ohio August 26, 2001 Fox Haven Marina August 22, 2001 In Put-in-Bay August 17, 2001 The End Of Lake Huron August 15, 2001 Down Lake Huron August 13, 2001 North Channel and Lake Huron August 3, 2001 Gore Bay August 1, 2001 Keel-Haulings July 31, 2001 Rocks Everywhere July 28, 2001 On To The North Channel July 17, 2001 Wouldn't Change A Thing July 13, 2001 Speed Limit July 9, 2001 Thousands of Islands July 5, 2001 Out Of New York July 3, 2001 Typical Day July 2, 2001 Cold Mornings July 1, 2001 Phoenix NY And Beyond June 26, 2001 Through The First Lock June 25, 2001 Up Around Manhattan June 15, 2001 Daily Routine June 12, 2001 Strolling The Vineyards June 11, 2001 Sag Harbor June 9, 2001 Block Island & Beer Can Music June 5, 2001 Lessons Learned June 1, 2001 The Tides Increasing May 25, 2001 Up The Coast Of New Jersy May 21, 2001 Getting To Know The Cruisers May 17, 2001 And So It Begins!

 September 4, 2001 

The Great Lakes are now behind us. No, that is not a good thing - - not only does it mean we are definitely on our way home, but we have had such good weather (overall) and have had such a wonderful time on Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. We would highly recommended cruising the lakes to everyone.

After Erie, we left for Dunkirk, NY (Sunday). It was another perfect day for cruising. We got inside the breakwall and anchored - - we were especially excited to see that the harbor was a no wake zone (which meant very little rocking and rolling during the day). We were just starting to put the dinghy down when a gentleman in a Whaler came out to the boat and (much to our surprise) invited us to stay in his slip at the Dunkirk Yacht Club. Apparently, he also has a trawler (which he had just taken to Annapolis - - he and his wife are on their way to Florida), saw us anchor, and was kind enough to ask us in. Even better, the slip was right in between two other trawlers - - and all three of them are MTOA members! Eddie & Joan, Don & Judy, and Joe & Janet, we had a wonderful time at the Italian dinner and enjoyed talking with you. I'm sure we'll see you again at a MTOA rendezvous at some point.

From Dunkirk, we took off for Buffalo (Monday). Although the seas were 2 - 3 feet, they were following seas and we got to Buffalo in good time. We intended to stay in Buffalo but found that there is not much of a waterfront there ... at least not yet. So we continued up the Black Rock Canal towards Tonawanda, our destination being a MTOA recommended marina (Mid-River Marina). There, we were greeted by Mike and Loretta ("Dragon Keep"), also MTOA members. Again, we thoroughly enjoyed talking with them and exchanging ideas for future cruises (for both them and us).

(Just a side note: We were very surprised over the Federal Lock on the Black Rock Canal. Not only were the lines in bad shape (in fact, many of them missing), but it was incredably slow and with no assistance or guidance available from the lock staff for the boaters (some of them apparently first time "lock runners".) This was probably the worst lock we have been through on the entire trip - - and it was a Federal lock!)

This morning, we went a whole 6 miles to the actual town of Tonawanda. We are now moored on the town wall. It is good to be back on the canals again. We will do our first Erie Canal lock in the next day or so. We are even considering taking the bus to Niagara Falls tomorrow!

We intend to take 2 weeks or so to run the Erie Canal and then start heading down the Hudson River. As a follow up to our excitement over the fiberglass fish in Erie, if you are interested, check out Erie's web site and take a look at these fish (http://gofisherie.com/fish_pictures.html). There are 75+ of them and on 12 October, the city is auctioning off 35 of them. The proceeds will go to the Gannon University Scholarship program and to other art organizations in the city.

That's all we have for now. Hope you all had a good Labor Day.

Jeri and Brian