We did it! Dale, Oliver and I made it to the end of the Erie Canal as you head east. We are in Waterford, NY. We traveled 338 miles on the canal at 5-7 mph, went under 16 lift bridges, through 35 locks and met some of the kindest people. In Buffalo we were at 572.4 feet above sea level and now we are at 14. We also had many great history lessons. Oliver is on overload with all the new parks, smells and dogs. Dale and I are amazed at the opportunity we have had to travel to so many places and meet new people. We liked the western half of the canal better because it was small towns, friendly people and easy to walk to everything. Dale remembered many of the places we visited as he was born in Oneida. His family lived there until he was age 4, then many summers were spent with his grandparents. We are doing well. Oliver is now down to 106 pounds with all the activity. Dale and I think we are a little thinner or our clothes are stretching.
I will only bore you with a few Erie Canal facts. It opened in 1825 and was called Clinton's folly. It cost 7 million dollars. Clinton was governor of New York and he thought commerce would grow in his state with the canal and he was right. It was enlarged twice in 1835 and 1900. From 1905-1918 it was enlarged again an much of original dug canal was abandoned for the rivers in the area. We met two gentleman kayaking the canal. There is also a bike trail by most of it. It is now a National Heritage Corridor. Clinton was not so stupid now was he.
Here is our trip summary and pictures.
We ended up staying in Baldwinsville the 25th. We were invited to munchies and cocktails by John and Maureen who currently live in North Carolina. They have sailed the Atlantic Coast many times, had a boat in Europe for a while and our now exploring canals. They were delightful and wish they were headed our way. Unfortunately the next morning they took off west and we continued east.
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| sleepy puppy |
Some of our canal pictures.
We put up at EssKay Marina in Brewerton. Our Muskegon friends Laura and Tom recommended this. Kim now runs the family business and is so knowledgeable. She recommended 2 anchoring books for me for the ICW. We used the courtesy car and stocked up on groceries, prescriptions and a bottle of wine for me. In the state of New York you cannot get wine at the grocery store, so you have to go to a special liquor store. This is making my life difficult.
The 28th we were ready to cross Oneida Lake. The west winds picked up and a chop developed about half way across. by the end we had 2-4 footers , but made it safely into the canal channel. Sylvan
Beach is at the entrance. It was a quiet vacation spot before they added the amusement park before the depression. It is kind of like Ramona Park was in EGR.
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| Canal entrance |
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Verona Beach lighthouse at west end of Oneida Lake
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| Sylvan Beach |
We made it through Lock 22 fine, then came Lock 21. These locks raise you up. As we were pulling out of 21, Dale yells to me on the bow that he has no throttle, which means no speed. OOPS! Any way, I was talking to a woman, Brenda and flagged her down to help us tie up outside the lock. She would drive to a lock and climb on board to help her husband lock through then get in the car for the next lock. They were from Canton, Ohio. She offered to help us in any way and gave us her phone number. Dale diagnosed the problem and rigged the throttle up with a string from the engine, through a window to the cockpit so we could move forward. MacGyver strikes again. We made it down the canal to Rome where we thought we would tie up. Didn't look so good so we went to Lock 20and tied up by a park. They had electrical, so we felt lucky. Next day Dale located a part near Keith and Brenda. They had called earlier to check on us and offer to bring us whatever we needed. They were headed to Utica for dinner with friends so they brought us the new throttle cable and Dale went to work. they were such a blessing during a tough time.
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| notice the string throttle |
We took off the 30th for Ilion where they had washers and dryers. It was a great stop. Many people go by because they think it is shallow,but they dredged and we had feet to spare. I checked out the dockside grill for dinner and the owner and I chatted. Back at the boat later, she came with a special fried doughy treat with powdered sugar for Dale and me. She said she bet Dale hasn't had one since he was a kid in NY. I could barely eat half. We had dinner later at the Dockside Cafe. YUM
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| Ollie and Dale bringing laundry back to boat. |
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| All done, it's Miller time! |
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| Dockside Cafe |
The 31st, we put diesel in and went through 5 locks to reach Canajoharie. We were thinking of stopping in Little Falls , but wanted to get some miles in so we went by. Traveling down the canal we saw General Herkimer's house built around 1764. He was a Revolutionary War hero who did not get to enjoy the house for long as he was injured, lost his leg and then died.
We also went through lock 17 which is a 40 foot drop.
In Canajoharie, we enjoyed the park, met again with our Kayak guys and 2 other boats that came in. We stayed two days so we could tour the Arkell Museum know for its Homer Winslow collection as well as other artists such as Mary Cassatt, John Sargent, George Innes and even a Grandma Moses.The museum was founded in 1924 by Bartlett Arkell the 1st president of BeechNut Company. Loved it, unfortunately Oliver was not allowed to go.
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| museum entrance |
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| museum gardens |
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| our "home" from the bridge |
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| canal pic |
On September 2 we were in Amsterdam. We met an elderly man (90 yrs) with his nephew and his wife . He told us he was the oldest member of the Schenectady Yacht Club and his boat was 100 years old. He lost his wife and loves to have people go boating with him. We said we would see him tomorrow too, which we did. He pulled into the yacht club hot, but the docks survived. Later we hear this bang,bang,bang on out boat. It was Clarkston with his cane wishing us safe travels and saying good bye.
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Clarkston's 100 year old boat at Schenectady.
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| lock gate |
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| leaving a lock |
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| Ollie ready for the locks |
The 4th we took off for the end of the canal. It was rainy, but pretty calm. We had 6 locks including what is referred to as the "Flight of Five". These locks are in succession for a mile and a half and drop you 33-34 feet each lock. The booklet says to expect 2 hours but we made it through in 1 1/2 hours.
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Ollie checking in with lock operator
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We tied up at the Waterford Welcome center for 2 nights. We have been cleaning, shopping and Ollie made it to the vet for an immunization. We met 2 families traveling by sailboats for the Bahamas from Quebec with their children. Tomorrow we have to leave, some welcome center, because a big tugboat rendezvous is going on here.
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| Waterford Welcome Center |
We will travel down the Hudson to Catskill where we will step the mast (put up).
Cliff and Betsy's picture.
