August 18 & 19, 2018. Erie Canal Locks 34 & 35, and Tonawanda, NY

Once the rains stopped, I left Middleport, NY late morning on August 18.  A course heading west on the Erie Canal  to Tonawanda, NY.  A twenty-nine mile run with the last two locks to transit and the terminus point of the Erie Canal ( 338 miles).  I stopped at the Nelson C Goehle Public Marina in Lockport, NY for lunch. The dock master there was very helpful with information about the area. This was the only stop on the canal that had its own beach.  The Wide Waters Drive-In Cafe was a nice place for lunch. Locks 34 & 35 are back-to-back locks that lift you up twenty-four feet and another twenty-five feet. As you motor out of one lock you enter the next lock. You can see the old five locks that were replaced by the two new locks.  I arrived in Tonawanda, NY in the early evening and tied up for the night.  Tonawanda is the end of the 338 miles Erie Canal when travelling westward. It’s the largest port on the canal with a lot of weekend boat traffic.  The canal divides Tonawanda, NY from North Tonawanda. I spent the weekend here waiting to find out which day RCR Yachts could put my mast back up over in Buffalo. I hopped on the bus and went to downtown Buffalo for two dollars.  The architecture of some of the buildings were amazing as well as the some of the schools and churches. While I waited for the bus on my return trip, there was a park across from the bus station with a lot of homeless people of all ages.  A pickup truck had set up a table and chairs in the park. Good Samaritan’s were handing out bottles of water and providing free hair cuts to the homeless people. The park was a busy place that day.

Here the photos for the two days: