Fortunately, our very first person encountered on the Erie Canal was not an indication of the remainder of people we have met. Unfortunately, I cannot in this blog use the specific four letters words I would really prefer to use to describe him. Here is the story: we were passing Wardell Boat Yard when we see a diesel fuel pump. We thought, this looks like a good place to stop and top off our tank........wrong. An old guy (Wardell??) comes out after we are at the pump and says "what can I do for you? (in a very unfriendly tone)", I said we need some diesel, his response (even nastier) was "we only sell diesel to people who have their mast unstepped here", hethen turned his back on us and he walked away. Two guide books list Wardell's as a place to stop to get fuel, they need to update it to say they will only sell you fuel if you step or unstep your mast there. Diesel locations are few and far between on the Erie Canal so the fact that he won't sell you diesel is a very important piece of information. I have read on other peoples blogs about the very negative experiences with this place, now we can be added to the count of people who think this guy is a TOTAL JERK.

Now for the nice people we have encountered - all the lock and bridge attendants have been very helpful. We our spending our first night at Middleport tied to the town dock. There is free electric, water, bathrooms and showers here. Nice little town. Not much in the way of a grocery store. I didn't realize that we would have so many bridges that need to be lifted even with our mast down. Looks like tomorrow we are going to try and get to Spencerport, with no locks but 12 lift bridges to go through.