Cruising the Erie Canal … Turn your volume down slightly!
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Whoa! These gates are REALLY high!
It’s legendary! It’s history! It’s amazing. I cannot believe we cruised the famous Erie Canal! How COOL is that!
Nice sign directing us so we don’t miss the Erie Canal!
Did you know that every canal system we’ve transited so far has a missing lock? The Erie Canal is missing Lock #31! And the Oswego Canal is missing Lock #4? When construction was underway, both locks were planned but never constructed. AND the upcoming Trent Severn Canal system in Canada is also missing a lock? Sounds like a deliberate plot to me!
The Waterford Visitor Center Free Wall – within sight of Lock 2 (where did Lock #1 go? We think it must have been the “Federal/Troy” Lock that we did the day before…)
The Erie Canal Song, “Low Bridge, Everybody Down” typlifies early 1900’s life along the Erie Canal. The song was written when mule powered canal boats were converted to steam and diesel.
Waterford Visitor Center – where for $10 you can have power … or not & it’s free!
People liked riding on the roof of the boat but the low bridges presented some challenges … as they still do for us today! Bridges are reportedly 20 – 23 feet, but there are no boards indicating real time depth. Our radar mast is 19’4″ – we’ve measured and remeasured – especially since we got to fresh water. Fresh water is less buoyant than salt water, so we were hoping we sank the waterline a bit, but I’m not sure it happened.
Many LOW bridges — but clearance was listed overall at 20-21 feet & the water was down a foot when we went through in June 2018.
“Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge for we’re coming to a town
And you’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal”
Waterford Visitor Center can provide a map and sells Skipper Bob publications on the Erie Canal. Plus free info direct from local volunteers!
Stopping at Waterford was an unplanned stop for us, but as it turned out was a great idea. The next 5 locks are known as the “Flight of 5” and are one after another. Lockmasters claim that even though you’re only covering 1.5 miles and 5 locks, it’ll take 2 1/2 hours. And it did!
The first 3 locks raised us 34 feet each. We thought that was a LONG way up … until we got to Lock 17 …
Figure about 15-20 minutes a lock if there’s no waiting going in. The little book/map provided by the Waterford Visitor Center showed us the mileage between locks and allowed us to plan our days. We also used the Cruising Guide to the New York Canal System that was a valuable addition to our Erie & Oswego canal experience … I ordered it from Landfall Navigation. It also contains the rest of the NY Canals such as Champlain and the full length of the Hudson River. We kept it at the helm and followed along page by page.
More photos & captions …
Locking with other boats is an interesting experience. This is Voyager, a beautiful Grand Banks 45 (?). Wow!A typical line to grab in the Erie Canal — several on each side of a lock.David holding on the stern – I grabbed the bow line & then David got the stern.Upper and Lower Flood Gates allow control of the canal in the event of a flood – not all the locks may be impacted. Not sure what the clearance height is, but we didn’t have any trouble with our 19’4″ mast up.Many locks are accompanied by dams which are also operated by the Lockmasters.Stopping in Amsterdam at Riverlink Park was $1/ft and one of the more expensive places to stay… but it’s a nice park with an overlook and pub/beer/wine restaurant. Also a nice walk and landscaped pedestrian bridge to the other side.Riverlink was the only place that the “marina office” was in the restaurant kitchen….The infamous Lock 17 –first there’s a low bridge (imagine that on the Erie Canal…)Lock 17 is the only lock that we experienced that has a “garage door” that lifts at the eastern end – not a gate. Be prepared to be “dripped” on as you enter the lock.Lock 17 … 40.5 feet up… the most up (or down for that matter) we had during our Erie Canal transit to the Oswego Canal.UP is a LONG way with a 40 foot lift!Boys having fun swinging into the canal.Parts of the canal were very “river-like”.Who knew New York had Amish country! Kids “mooning” the boats going through the canal. ??? 🙂Lots of Amish fishermen in aluminum skiffs with paddles.Rock climbing just outside Lock 17.Some of the locks have concrete “sills” so boats have to be sure to be inside far enough… the Lockmasters will let us know.Crossing Lake Oneida delayed us a half day because it was too windy & rough when we arrived. So we stayed in Sylvan Beach for the evening and left early in the morning. This is the lighthouse leaving Sylvan Beach on Oneida Lake.After staying 2 nights in Oswego, catching up with friends & doing laundry and chores, we crossed Lake Ontario – the Oswego Lighthouse – gateway to Lake Ontario.Raising the Quarantine & Canadian Courtesy Flags when we crossed the international border into Canadian waters! HELLO CANADA!!!
That’s it for the Erie Canal! We’ve now traveled over 2000 miles on our 6000 miles Great Loop … the last two weeks have been amazing… hopefully there’s more good stuff to come!
Do you have more info on the Erie Canal to share with readers? Please leave a comment and share! Cheers! Jan
Loved seeing the pictures of your transit! I grew up and went to school in central NY, owned and operated a farm just a few miles south of the canal near Utica later on in life. And yes, there is a huge population of Amish in central & western NY – when development pressures in Pennsylvania made farmland unaffordable, they began moving north and started communities throughout the Finger lakes and Mohawk river regions.
Thanks for bringing me along!
Loved seeing the pictures of your transit! I grew up and went to school in central NY, owned and operated a farm just a few miles south of the canal near Utica later on in life. And yes, there is a huge population of Amish in central & western NY – when development pressures in Pennsylvania made farmland unaffordable, they began moving north and started communities throughout the Finger lakes and Mohawk river regions.
Thanks for bringing me along!