STUCK IN THE MUD! - Fairport, NY

Well today was in interesting day. We left Spencerport in the morning and motored down to Pittsford, NY. Stopped for lunch at the Village Coal Tower Restaurant, very good food at very low prices. The restaurant is built inside an old coal tower, kind of like how they used the storage mills at Quaker Center down in Akron, Ohio.

Todays pictures show the depth of the rock they had to dig down between mile markers 260 to 264. This area is called the Rock Cut. The other photo shows some kids swimming and diving in the Canal from one of the Guard Gates. The gates help control any water flooding problems during Spring rains and also to section off parts of the Canal for any needed dredging. We understand they drain the Canal in the winter.

We left for Fairport right after lunch. When we got there, the bridge operator said that there was only one spot left on the eastern side of the bridge.
There however was one spot left west of the bridge on the north wall so rather than trying to fit into a tight spot on the east side, we opted for the north wall on the west side. BIG MISTAKE.

We landed the boat and got next to the dock, tied up the lines and then tried to pull the boat closer to the dock. It would not move. Looked at the depth meter and it read 4.3 feet. BAD NEWS. We need 5.5 feet. It had gone from 7 plus to 4.3 in the space of about 3 feet from the dock. We were stuck on the side of a mud bank.
Both of us could not move the boat closer to the dock. We left and went looking for the Harbor Master. Could not find him. Located the office of the Colonial Belle, a tour boat parked on the south wall on the east side of the bridge way at the end.
They said we could park next to them, just leave them some room.

Went back to High Spirits with our fingers crossed. Joy tried to push it off the mud, would not budge. I pushed the throttle up to full power and it slowly pulled free after a couple of anxious seconds. Depth went from 4.3 to 7+ in about 1 foot of sideways movement. Fortunately no damage or sucked in mud into the engine intake filter. That was an experience.

So we are next to the Colonial Belle waiting for Nick and Sue to show up tomorrow.

Lesson learned for today. Sometimes your first stopping point is not the final one.
I have been thinking about that a lot. Joy and I have stopped a lot of places in our lives and met a lot of great friends, but our journey is not over yet. We are still moving forward and looking to meeting new friends down the road, but will not forget any of our friends we have met in the past.

Joe

ps. The wife of one of my fraternity brothers died of cancer on Friday, she was our age. We are grateful we have this opportunity at this moment in our lives.