Erie and Oswego Canals

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Today we move just 11 miles from Albany Yacht Club to Waterford NY at the junction of the Hudson River and Erie Canal.  It's been raining all morning but has stopped for now, so we get a late start.  We soon approach the Troy Lock, on the right side of the photo.  The dam and spillway are to the left.  After a lift of 15 feet, we will no longer be in tidal waters until we reach the Gulf of Mexico in the fall.  Hooray! 

Troy Federal Lock, Hudson River

Two and a half miles further, we make a left turn into the start of the Erie Canal.  Had we continued straight on the Hudson River, we would have arrived at the Champlain Canal system, leading to the St Lawrence River.  We stop for the day on a free dock at the Waterford NY Visitor's Center, in sight of the first lock.

Waterford NY Visitor's Center

We tie up the boat, then go for a walk into town.  The city is a sad reminder of the hard times still evident in this former industrial area.  It is a preview of things to come on our trip along the Erie, but we do not yet realize what lies ahead.

Downtown Waterford NY

We head back to the waterfront, where we can walk to the first lock (lock 2 - there is no longer a lock 1).  When first opened, the canal facilitated boat traffic between the Great Lakes and New York City via the Hudson River.  The state of New York prospered as a result.

Erie Canal Lock 2

Today the state of New York maintains and operates all these canals and locks except the Troy Lock, which is federal.  The canal system serves only pleasure craft, no commercial shipping, and is open seasonally from mid May to mid October.

Erie Canal Lock 2

Here's a view of the inside of the lock.  This lock will raise our boat 34 feet.

Erie Canal Lock 2

It's definitely spring here in the "north country".  Canada geese are everywhere with their young.

Canada Geese, Erie Canal

Monday, May 28, 2018

Memorial Day and we are on the move, cruising toward Lock 2 with another boat, Proper State of Mind, whom we have met at the Waterford Visitor's Center.

Erie Canal Lock 2, open and waiting for us

Soon we reach Guard Gate 1.  These appear to be flood control gates; all are open as we pass beneath.  We will go under many bridges, 82 total along the eastern Erie and Oswego Canals.  Most of these bridges are barely high enough for us to fit beneath and we have lowered our tallest antennas in preparation.  Still, as we approach, they look way too low for us and we ease underneath cautiously.  Anxious moments!

Erie Canal Guard Gate 1

The canal shores are largely undeveloped with gorgeous scenery at every turn.  The first 90 miles follows the Mohawk River with lots of twists and turns on this meandering waterway.

Erie Canal

A few small towns appear along the banks.  We plan to stop for the night in a few of the towns along the way, but spring runoff has caused shoaling and few towns have deep enough water for us to safely access the marinas.  At first we are disappointed we will miss seeing these towns, but as we travel west we realize most of these places are sad reminders of what they once were, before industries closed and jobs went away.  The Erie is no longer the busy commercial route for shipping of bygone days.  Open just 5 months per year, businesses must have a hard time surviving on the seasonal boating customers.

Dunsbach Ferry NY, Erie Canal

We approach Lock 7.  The dam and spillway are the most evident features from a distance.  Our lock will be on the far left side of the spillway, our elevator to the next water level.  In all, we will use 20 locks to rise 420 feet from sea level below the Troy lock on the Hudson, then 10 locks to lower 171 feet to the level of Lake Ontario.

Erie Canal Lock 7 Spillway

Today we have risen 210 feet using 7 locks.  It has been a very tiring and stressful day as we have not used locks in a long time and never so many in one day.  We usually have to wait for the lock to open, then hold the boat close to the lock wall as water fills the lock.  Some locks have cables or pipes mounted on the wall, running vertically, that we loop a rope around.  The rope then slides (hopefully) along the cable as water lifts the boat.  This wall looks pretty clean but most are nasty and dirty and we wear heavy gloves.  Ugh!

Line around cable in lock

Other locks have ropes hanging down the walls at intervals that we grab and hold.  Water filling the lock can cause a little or a lot of turbulence; its hard work to keep the boat straight, especially with several other boats in the lock with us.  We are thrilled to finally be tied along the Lock 8 wall, a concrete wall just past the lock.  We are allowed to stay overnight, since the locks only operate between 7 am and 5 pm.

Lock 8 Free Wall

We get off the boat to stretch our legs and walk back to look at the lock we just exited.  These appear to be the only controls:  Left Gate - open / close, Left Valve - open / close, Right Gate - open / close, Right Valve - open / close.  Pretty simple!

Lock 8 Controls

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

A foggy start to our day, we hope this lifts soon!

Erie Canal

More beautiful scenery!

Erie Canal

This impressive spillway is bypassed by Lock 9.

Erie Canal Lock 9 and Dam

Dense trees have given way to farmland.  Looks like planting season in upstate New York.

Erie Canal

We pass more abandoned industrial sites, this one a former power plant.  These sites are few and far between with most of our route passing through scenic countryside.

Abandoned power plant

We pass Amsterdam NY and Riverlink Park.  This was a possible overnight stop for us but it is too early in the day, so we press on.  Today we plan 5 locks with a total lift of 61 feet.  All these locks have shorter lifts, between 8 - 15 feet, so a much easier day than yesterday.

Amsterdam Riverlink Park

We finally find a small town with deep enough water at the town dock for us to tie up safely!  With free dockage and power, the town of Canajaholie proves a welcoming spot.  We stretch our legs by walking into the nearby downtown, or what is left of it.  Another sad place with boarded up buildings next to a few struggling businesses.  A lovely art museum and gallery is sadly closed for the day, but we enjoy the nicely landscaped grounds.  We are again across the canal from a very busy rail line and hear a constant stream of trains, both passenger and freight, going by.  Could have done without the train whistle at 4:30 am!

Canajaholie Riverfront Park

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Today we will lock up a total of 134 feet using 7 locks.  Lock 15 is immediately after our town dock in Riverfront Park, past this railroad bridge.  We are having difficulty getting the lock tenders to respond to our hails on our VHF radio, which is the "standard" way to let them know we want to lock through.  We also have a cell phone number to call, but they often don't answer so we have to mark time, hoping they are getting the lock ready for us.  Today is no exception and we idle and drift and finally see the gates open!

Railroad Bridge and Erie Canal Lock 15

At least the scenery is non-stop gorgeous! 

As we exit Lock 16, we have transitioned from the Mohawk River into the actual Erie Canal.  This stretch is much straighter than the river.  It also has shoaling problems from spring runoff that has not yet been dredged.  We have been advised to expect a "controlling depth of 8 feet", as opposed to the normal depth of 14 feet.  Yikes!  We're not sure what we will find ahead.  We do cross several spots where creeks empty into the canal with uncomfortably shallow water, but these are occasional and well marked with buoys.

Erie Canal

We approach Lock 17, our largest lift of the series at 41 feet.  We've been warned to expect lots of turbulence in this lock and have been dreading it for days. 

Erie Canal Lock 17

We are locking through with another boat so we have to pull further forward than we prefer to avoid the turbulence.  Instead of the rough ride we expect, the lock tender was great and gave us a nice, slow, smooth ride up.  Piece of cake!

Erie Canal Lock 17

We have just exited Lock 19 with 2 other boats.  The railroad bridge in the foreground crosses the canal at a sharp angle, creating an odd visual effect.

Leaving Erie Lock 19

A long day, we are relieved to stop for the night after exiting Lock 20.  We are tied to another concrete lock wall with a small park nearby.  With no cleats on the wall, we have to get creative, tying multiple ropes together to reach the few large bollards, designed for work boats' use.

Erie Lock 20 wall

This lock area appears to be a major staging area for maintenance equipment used by the NY State Canal Corporation.  We are amazed at how little security is present around the locks and related facilities.  A hike & bike trail runs along much of the canal and is very nearby here, so lots of joggers and bikers passing by.

 Erie Lock 20 maintenance area

Some interesting old boats are tied up here.

Erie Lock 20 maintenance area

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Today should be an easier day with only 2 locks.  We have reached the top of our ascent and will be lowered a total of 50 feet.  Locking down is much smoother than locking up.  We will need to cross Lake Oneida but winds are forecast to be light so the lake should be calm.

Shortly after we leave the Lock 20 wall, we pass some men fishing from row boats along the side of the canal.  By their appearance and clothes, we assume they are Amish or a similar religion.  Sure enough, not far downstream, we pass these carts and horses.  We're still not sure how they got their boats to the canal and in the water, as the banks are somewhat high through this stretch.

Amish carts and horses

Two locks take us down to the level of Lake Oneida.  We pass through this funky, waterfront getaway, Sylvan Beach, with a 50s feel, or so we are told.  We consider stopping here if the lake is rough, but calm winds and smooth seas dictate we press on.

Sylvan Beach NY

As we idle through town, we see Proper State of Mind, whom we met at the Waterford Visitor's Center 4 days ago.  They are leaving a lunch stop and heading across the lake.  We exchange pleasantries on the radio as we cross Lake Oneida together.

Lake Oneida

Twenty miles wide, we cross the lake in a little over 2 hours.  As we approach the waterfront town of Brewerton, some nice homes are evident.

Brewerton NY

We pass through this very busy town, lined with homes and marinas.  Boats everywhere! 

Brewerton NY

We stop on the west side of town at Winter Harbor Marina.  The marina is a popular winter storage location, providing heated indoor storage for boats of all types and sizes.  We have access to loaner cars to go grocery shopping and run other errands as needed.  We spend two nights here for a much needed break.

While at Winter Harbor, we recognize boaters we met almost a year ago at Liberty Landing when we visited New York City.  They own a 58 Selene, Bella Vita, a larger model of our boat brand, and have just launched their boat from storage for the season.  We share docktails on board and catch up on our past year's cruising.

Winter Harbor Marina

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Today is Robert's birthday!  But I'm afraid the Captain has a long, hard day ahead.  Oh well, we will celebrate another day!  We leave slightly behind our friends on Bella Vita, heading west again.  After one lock, we reach Three Rivers, the junction of the Erie Canal, Oswego River and Seneca River.  Here we turn north, following the Oswego Canal / River to Lake Ontario.

Three Rivers

We are soon at Oswego Lock 1.   The yellow bascule bridge just past the lock has a closed height of 7 feet.  It is lifted in coordination with the lock so we proceed out the lock and under the bridge without stopping.

Oswego Canal Lock 1

The Oswego Canal is much more populous than the Erie Canal.  We pass some very nice homes along the way.

Oswego Canal

We haven't lost our gorgeous scenery, though. 

We catch up with Bella Vita at Lock 2, where we must wait what seems like forever for the lock to open.  Finally we learn the lock tender is having to operate both locks 2 and 3, 1/2 mile apart, and is driving between the locks to move boats up and down stream.   An hour and a half later, we are finally past Lock 3!

Oswego Canal

We plan to lock through Lock 5 with Bella Vita and another boat, both in front of us.  With no warning from our guide books, we are surprised by strong cross currents just before the entrance to the lock.  We have the advantage, being the third boat in sequence, to watch the other two boats struggle to maintain control and decide to let them lock without us.  

Once we get our turn to enter the lock, we realize the cause of all the current.  Water is flowing over dams immediately on BOTH sides of the lock, causing cross currents across our path.  The old power plant on the left sits over an old dam, hidden from our view.  The new dam is on the right.  Water is pouring over both sides.  Yikes!  Glad we waited!

Approach to Oswego Lock 5

We  finally get through the last three locks, completing a total of 8 locks and lowering 121 feet. 

Oswego Lock 7 spillway

We tie up for the night at the Oswego Marina, on the shore of Lake Ontario!