Champ III: Going Places

The adventure starts here.

Gateway Park Marina, North Tonawanda, NY to Erie Basin Marina, Buffalo, NY — August 1, 2014

01-Leaving-Gateway-Park-Marina-On-The-Erie-Canal
01-Leaving-Gateway-Park-Marina-On-The-Erie-Canal
02-Boat-Houses-Along-The-Erie-Canal
02-Boat-Houses-Along-The-Erie-Canal
03-On-The-Niagara-River-With-Erie-Canal-Behind-Us
03-On-The-Niagara-River-With-Erie-Canal-Behind-Us
04-Grand-Island-On-The-RIght
04-Grand-Island-On-The-RIght
05-Homes-And-Condos-Along-The-South-Shore-Of-The-Niagara-River
05-Homes-And-Condos-Along-The-South-Shore-Of-The-Niagara-River
06-International-Bridge-Over-The-Niagara-River
06-International-Bridge-Over-The-Niagara-River
07-Passing-Under-The-International-Bridge
07-Passing-Under-The-International-Bridge
08-Flower-Gardens-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
08-Flower-Gardens-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
09-Flower-Gardens-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
09-Flower-Gardens-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
10-Carved-Images-Of-Historical-Figures-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
10-Carved-Images-Of-Historical-Figures-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
11-Looking-East-On-Buffalo-River-At-Erie-Baisn-Marina
11-Looking-East-On-Buffalo-River-At-Erie-Baisn-Marina
12-Sunrise-In-Buffalo-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
12-Sunrise-In-Buffalo-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
13-Sunrise-In-Buffalo-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
13-Sunrise-In-Buffalo-At-Erie-Basin-Marina
14-Erie-Basin-Marina-Looking-Southeast
14-Erie-Basin-Marina-Looking-Southeast
15-Entrance-To-Erie-Basin-Marina-Looking-East-With-Condos-On-RIght
15-Entrance-To-Erie-Basin-Marina-Looking-East-With-Condos-On-RIght

Had a good time in North Tonawanda. Gateway Park had another event on Thursday with a couple of singers on either side of the river playing and singing to the crowds along with food trucks all over the place.  Not quite the production of the Wednesday Concert but still a pretty nice surprise for us.

We decided that the forecast for Saturday was good enough to move.  Were thought we could get to Erie, PA.  We got onto the Niagara River and entered the Black Rock Canal.  This Canal is about 7 miles long and has one lock that raises you 5′ to Lake Erie water level.  You do not need to use the lock but the stretch of the river is 7 miles long and drops 5′ in that distance.  That means going against a current of about 7 knots.  We thought the canal was a better choice.

Lots of activity in the canal in that there were at least 6 rowing sculls out practicing along the canal.  I think they use the canal because the water is calm and the only issue would be boat wake and there are not many boats in the canal.

The Black Rock Canal ends at what is called the Erie Basin and the Buffalo River.  We stuck our head out into Lake Erie.  The winds were supposed to die down during the morning and afternoon.  The winds was out of the Southwest and the waves were 3′ to 4′ on the starboard bow.  We decided to go back and find shelter for the night. We called a couple of marinas and did not have any luck.  We went into Erie Basin Marina where we did not get an answer to our phone call and after a quick stop at the fuel dock we got a place on their entrance wall.

Erie Basin is a marina and a park with gardens. The people of Buffalo use the park and it was busy both on land and water during the day.  The wall we are on is on a peninsula that separates the marina from the Erie Basin and Lake Erie. The people like to walk along the peninsula to the end and back.  There were even 3 school buses in the parking lot.  There is a concession stand and a upscale restaurant on site.

For a Friday afternoon there was an awful lot of boat traffic in the harbor.  I wonder if anybody in Buffalo works on Friday, certainly the ones with boats do not.

We took a look at the weather on Saturday morning and there were some thundershowers out in the lake.  They were not near us but the forecast is for scattered thundershowers all day so we will sit till tomorrow. Well we sat on Sunday also because it was raining in the morning and there was the afternoon forecast for pop up showers and thunderstorms.  Monday is supposed to be dry.