Erie Canal Complete! Onto Lake Erie

On Tuesday, 07/02/2025, we completed the Erie Canal, the ENTIRE Erie Canal (east and west) on the 200th anniversary of the canal.  We are stoked.  At 12:30pm, we exited the Erie Canal and entered the wide open Niagara River for a short ride through a lock and down to Buffalo, NY.  The day went better than expected and we arrived sooner than anticipated in Buffalo.  We completed the final three locks, which raised us up another 56', passed through the final two lift bridges, and covered 43 statute miles.  The guidebook said to plan on 12 days to do the Erie Canal and we completed it in 10, not counting the weather delay that closed the canal.  There is so much more to see along the canal and we are already talking about a return trip. Albeit not by boat, but by eBike and eScooter in 2026.

Signpost at the end of the Erie Canal directing us to turn 
to Port (left) to enter the Niagara River to Buffalo and Lake Erie.

Summary of the final day on the Erie Canal.
We exited the canal and entered the Niagara River
for a short bit, passing through Black Rock Lock and ending
in Buffalo, NY.

We looked back on our time in the State of New York.  We entered New York on May 1st and crossed the state line into Pennsylvania today, July 3rd.  A little over two months invested in New York, which is a beautiful state.  We also looked back at the miles traveled from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY.  This in essence is the Erie Canal plus a few miles on each end.  In total we covered 363 statue miles and passed through 34 locks.  Go us!

We took a day of rest in Buffalo after traveling for seven straight days.  We had no idea there was so much to see and do in Buffalo.  Along the waterfront, we walked to the Buffalo Naval Park upon arrival.  It is the largest inland Naval Park in the United States and is the home of several decommissioned Naval vessels.

Buffalo also seems to be home of Buffalo Chicken Wings, which we LOVE!  We walked to a local venue near the ballpark and had the most amazing Chicken Wings!  During the day, we also took the city bus to Aldi to do a bit of re-provisioning for the next few days and had an amazing, unexpected, home cooked Polish lunch at a very obscure lunch counter inside a flea market housed inside of a long abandoned department store.  The area of Buffalo we took the bus to for Aldi and lunch was a bit out of our comfort zone, but we felt safe overall and had an amazing time.  Let's say we experienced the non-tourist part of Buffalo and we would go again.  We also enjoyed a nice sunset at the marina after we got back to the boat.

After a day of rest in Buffalo, we started our journey across Lake Erie today.  It was a long day but Lake Erie was kind to us overall.  We had 1 - 3' seas on the bow for the day.  The wind increased as the day wore on and the ride got a bit sportier, but we arrived safe and sound.  It did take us three tries before we got the anchor to hook.  Our fortress anchor is set up for sand/mud and this bottom has more that its fair share of grass.  It's been a long time since we anchored in freshwater.

We covered 71.63 nautical miles (82 statute) over the course of 10 1/2 hours.  We departed Buffalo, NY at 6:30am and have a pleasant anchorage in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, PA this evening.  We hope to see the fireworks show if we can stay up that late.

We plan to be on the move for the next several days and keep moving our way along the southern shore of Lake Erie while we have a good weather window.