The Erie and Oswego Canals

We arrived at the junction of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal on 17 June 07. The only directional sign on the entire trip so far was this sign telling us which way to the Erie Canal.

Our first stop in the Erie Canal was in Waterford, NY, at the Visitor’s Center at Mile 0. They have a free dock with water and 50/250 electric available, and so far, this has been the only freebee we have encountered since we departed Knoxville. There are free docks along the way here and there, but not free water and electric. The staff at the Visitor’s Center could not have been more friendly and welcoming. They were very nice people who will do nearly anything to make your stay a pleasant one. For example, we needed to go to the NAPA Store for fuel filters, and when Mike asked one of the volunteers, Frankie, for directions, he put us in his car and took us there. Frankie is a delightful older gentleman who served in the US Navy on warships in both the Atlantic and Pacific during World War II. It was a pleasure to meet him.

Wandering around Waterford was fun and interesting. We saw the remnants of the original canal. The original canal was only four feet deep and forty feet wide. Back then, canal boats were pulled on towlines by mules and horses, working shifts of six hours on and six hours off. Waterford is a pretty little town, a bit old and decaying, but making a comeback.

After walking around Waterford for a couple of hours, we stopped at Kielty’s, an Irish Pub, for a cold beer. The owner is from Ireland and spoke with the Irish brogue. His brother, Liam, was visiting from Ireland, and helping out at the Pub. Liam’s Irish brogue was more difficult to understand. We enjoyed their tales of Ireland. Ireland is on our list of countries to visit and talking to them only wetted our appetite to visit there soon (when we finishing this boating adventure). After this stop, the Captain was well rested.

While at the dock in Waterford we met Don and Teresa, who own GREAT ESCAPE, a Gulfstar 44 that is similar to ours, and of course we had to see each other’s boats. They are a very nice couple, both retired Naval officers, who are “doing” the loop as well. It was great to meet and hang out with them for a while. I’m sure we’ll see them again.

We began our trip west on the Eric Canal on Tuesday, 19 June. The first thing we encountered was the first “flight of five” locks we had to traverse. The locks on the Erie and Oswego Canals are much different than other locks we have encountered. Once in the lock, you either tie a line around a vertical three inch pipe, a vertical half inch, rubber coated cable, or worst of all, grab and hold on to ropes that are hanging down the sides of the lock. Imagine Pat and Mike holding 40 thousand pounds of boat with just two ropes hanging down, with the wind blowing like crazy. It was not pretty, to say the least. Going through these locks with other boats only increased the stress level. Keeping your boat off other boats and other boats keeping their boat off ours was definitely challenging. After a day of these locks, everyone was exhausted!

We didn’t have it as bad as some others though. One boat behind us in these first series of locks was a catamaran, a very wide boat, and as is characteristic of catamarans, there is not much boat in the water, since their draft is very shallow. This makes for a boat that can be captured by the wind and moved all over the place. This particular boat had a bad time, since the wind was blowing pretty hard. The captain could barely control his boat. He got sideways in each lock, as you can see in this picture.

Another great aspect of the NY State Canal System is their free docks at each lock, and also in some of the small towns along the canal. While there are no amenities such as water or electric for boaters at the locks, they do have long walls on the east and west sides of each lock that boaters can tie up to for the night, which saves you from getting your anchor dirty, or going to a marina and paying to rent a piece of water for the night. We stayed on the free lock walls on both the Erie and Oswego Canals every night, with one exception.

In Little Falls, NY, we stayed at a small marina, so we could pump out our holding tank and fill our water tank with fresh water. BUBBLES and GREAT ESCAPE also stayed at this marina for the night. Since we had been traveling with Roger and Dixie, the crew of BUBBLES, and since it was Dixie’s birthday, we all went to a restaurant for dinner to celebrate. In many places, Little Falls included, restaurants and other commercial establishments will come to the marina and pick you up, and then bring you back to the boat later. It is a very convenient arrangement. We also replenished our supply of Captain Morgan’s Rum while in Little Falls.

The Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal are beautiful bodies of water. With the exception of the locks, a total of 29 to get through both canals, we had a very pleasant voyage on these historic waterways. We saw very few boats, maybe one or two a day, going east, and only a couple of working boats that were dredging along the way. All in all this was a very nice trip.

We arrived in Brewerton, NY, on Thursday, 21 June, and spent the night on the free dock which they provide. On Friday we made our way a few miles to Winter Harbor Marina where we fueled the boat and pumped out the holding tank, and then made our way to the intersection of the Erie and Oswego Canals. From there, we headed north through seven locks to the south shore of Lake Ontario. We tied up to the free lock wall and spent the next three days exploring Oswego New York, and waiting for a good weather window to cross Lake Ontario. Next stop is Canada.

Since phone service and internet service is very expensive in Canada, we will be adding more to our blog as we have the opportunity to plug into a Wifi net. Stay tuned.