Middleport, NY

Everything is so green along the way.

Rowing team was our only traffic.

We arrived in Middleport, NY mid morning on Friday.  It was all of 1 hours worth of cruising. (5 miles to be exact.) The only traffic on the canal we encountered was a group of gentlemen rowing and their follow behind boat.  Upon arriving at Middleport we knew we needed to pump out (remember we wanted to avoid DEFCON 1) so before docking we made a quick trip to the other side of the canal to the pump out station.  Now we have pumped out many times but this was the first time we would be using a manual pump.  Well I should say this would be the first time Mike has used a manual pump.  Firstmate does not pump I man the stations in the head and run water through it.  We had a bit of a time getting the pump to work in the beginning but once the bridge tender came to help clean out the hose things went much better.  Once completed we docked on the opposite side of the canal.  There were no boats around so we had the pick of any spot.

Mike operating the manual pump out.  He did a great job.

Docked in Middleport, NY

I had remembered from our stop here last year the laundry facilities were the best I had seen so I decided to get caught up on laundry detail.  Change bedding, towels and any thing else that needed washed was going to get it today.  Okay I must admit I enjoy doing laundry specially when I have the pick of all the machines (not another sole around).  I was able to get everything completed in an hour.  Woo Hoo!  It also helped that the laundry facility was right across the parking lot from where we were docked.

Captain caught me making the bunks, which is pretty much like an olympic event when you are my height.

Enough about laundry.  We started out for a bike ride late afternoon, when we were stopped by a very nice woman who asked if we were leaving soon.  (in our boat that is)  Came to find out that she takes photos of the bridges and other sites around town and sells them.  Yes folks she is a photographer, just like me.  She wanted to photograph our boating coming to and going under the bridge.  Since we didn’t have plans on leaving until Sunday she gave us her card and said to call her when we were getting ready to leave.  How exciting will that be if we can actually get a picture of us on the boat while we are cruising.  We ended up talking with this lady for over an hour.  We had a lot in common and really enjoyed our time visiting with her.  If this all works out I’ll share the photo at a later date.  

We then ventured out for a 6 mile bike ride around town.  Middleport is needless to say not that big of a town, we were able to cover pretty much most of it by bicycle.  We returned back to the boat for some dinner and then walked across the street to the new ice cream place in town.  Oh yes we will be going back there again this evening.  YUM!

Mike working on some adjustments to our fender boards.

Laying out the fabric to make some cuts.

First time for outdoor sewing.  I actually really enjoyed it.  

Saturday morning we awoke to cool temperatures (56 degrees) just wonderful!!!!  We had one project we wanted to get started and this was going to be the perfect place to start it.  Yes even while living on the boat we have “projects”.  The current project is a sun shade for the rear of the boat so that the sun is not heating up the stateroom.  We had one LARGE clean drop cloth and some old flexible poles from an old tent Mike used to own.  After putting in about 3 hours of work, and making great progress, we decided to quit for the day, grab a bite to eat and head out over to the library in town.  You see there is a little internet access where we are on the boat (and I do mean little), but at the library it has free wifi and and it’s a wonderful place to hang out for a couple of hours to get out of the mid day sun. We had email, facebook and blogs to get caught up on. 

Getting caught up on email at the local library.

I can’t believe how laid back things are and how much time we have to relax.  And yes I am actually learning to relax.  Not sure when we will have good internet access again, but when we do I’ll be filling you in on our whereabouts.  Until then we would love to hear from you.  Please don’t hesitate to comment on the blog, it helps us know someone is actually reading it.

Evening on the canal, Middleport, NY.