June 11:  Lock 17 & Dinner on the Dairy Farm

Lock 17 on the Erie Canal has one of the highest lifts of any lock anywhere - 40 feet.  The lockmaster at Lock 16 told us that all boats must enter along on the port wall (we were favoring the starboard wall in the locks) so we had to switch over all our fenders from one side of the boat to the other.  This lock also has a gate raises and lowers as opposed to two large doors that swing open.  It’s impressive to see and more impressive to be inside.  A good thing the water fills slowly!  We entered with our companion Intrada, with whom we have been traveling in the Canal.  

We tied up for the day at a small town-owned marina in Little Falls, NY.  Dan has another friend from his Coast Guard Academy days in nearby Richfield Springs, and Tim came to pick us up for dinner at his home.  He and his wife Sue and their two kids Mike and Megan own and run the TM Cantwell Dairy Farm.  Sue made a great impromptu dinner for us and afterwards Tim and his son Mike gave us a tour of the cow barn and saw how a dairy farm works.  Tim’s 100+ milk cows provide a steady supply of milk that goes to the nearby Chobani yogurt factory.  We’re so lucky to have friends in all these places we’re going, and happy to be able to visit them.