Friday, August 28, 2009

Blue Blazes is now a river boat.


We said good-bye to our friends Marg and Steve on Lion's Paw two days ago because they were planning on spending some quality time with their family before they take off, indefinitely, on their adventure. Marg and Steve, if you are reading this, we miss you already and thanks so much for taking us shopping in your rental car. We owe you big time. That was so nice of you.

Our trip over to Buffalo, the Niagra River, and eventually the Erie Canal was wonderful and we enjoyed every mile. Sailing into Buffalo Harbour and going under the Peace Bridge was exciting. I don't know what it is about bridges, but every time I go under a major bridge I get excited and again Harley and I started reflecting on what a cool thing we are doing.

After two swing bridges and one lock along the Niagra River we made it to the Erie Canal. The Niagra River wasn't nearly as intimidating as I had expected. I had visions of us being swept away by the current and going over the falls but of course that was not the case. Instead it turned out to be a lovely scenic trip.

As soon as we arrived in Tonawanda we did our Video Customs check in and that went well. Again, we heard stories but all they wanted were names, address, and passport numbers. We also needed to get a boating permit.

The next day, which is today, we had the boat demasted and what a chore that was. If anyone knows Harley, constructing a cradle to hold the mast was like making a piece of fine furniture and it took longer than I, or Denny, (the owner of the boat yard)expected. Every now and then Denny would come over and hurry us up. Anyway, six hours of our hard labour and $430.00 later we were done. I am still in shock over the price. I figure for that price we should have been able to sit back, have a beer, and let them do all the work. But it's done now. Hopefully now we can relax and have a nice 320-mile trip along the Erie Canal.


Our plan now is to spend another night in Tonawanda and chill out. Tomorrow the adventure continues.

Cheers,
Janice

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