The Canals Part Two: Erie

The Canal

The Erie canal system is  321 miles long, contains 34 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of 565 ft.   We bought a ten day lock pass as we wanted to slow down and enjoy the beauty of the canal and the towns along the way. We were able to hop on at Lock E23 just south of Phoenix, NY.

While the Erie Canal locks heading east are both ascending and descending, the line and pole systems offered on the Erie Canal is similar to the Oswego, but far fewer of the locks offered poles. That was okay as poles are really only needed when ascending and only the first five locks we did were ascending.  Also, the descending locks were so gentle that we didn't even have to snug the line under the cleat for leverage. We just held the line and let it slide through our gloved hand or boat hook as we went down, making sure we kept the boat at a safe distance from the wall. As opposed to the ascending locks, in the descending locks the outgoing water pushes the boat away from the wall, so it’s a simple deal.

Jeff ensuring he is far enough from the Lock wall as we leave.

Good view as we leave of the lock lines hanging against the wall. You can see the water line near the top. 

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 Locks six through two (the last lock on the Erie Canal) are called a flight and they must be done all in one day. It’s boom, boom, boom down the locks at a 33-35 foot drop each in rapid succession

You can see how close the next lock is.

View of Dam as we sit in lock ready to descend. 

Often times the very.same locksman quickly drove from one lock to the next and readied the next lock without delay, pretty amazing! Jeff would yell out to them, “We just saw your twin brother at the last lock!”

The Flooding

Apparently our timing was excellent arriving on the canal because a few weeks prior there was some serious flooding along the canal that rendered the locks inoperable. We heard stories from the locals and boaters along the way. Apparently many boaters were stranded for over a month. The canal waters rose up over the dock walls in many towns and halfway up the first floor of buildings along the water.

This light in the middle of  town in Canajoharie was surrounded by water up to the top of the pedestal.

 Many of the townsfolk had to abandon their homes and seek higher ground. The harbor master in Little Falls told us he had one 74 foot boat that rose up with the water over the docks and they somehow were able to secure the boat to a van on shore. There was another couple that decided to pay the big bucks to ship their boat via truck down to Chesapeake Bay. In any case we saw a lot of post flooding debris in the water and many new markers were in the water to narrow the channel as there was a lot of shoaling along the banks.

There were the only two times that we had to tie up on the starboard side of the lock wall and that was due to the locks being under repair due to the flooding.

Lock Docking

I lost my canal docking virginity on lock 16 of the Erie Canal. I decided that while it looks so intimidating, it can’t be much different than pulling up to a dock. After all, it’s exactly the same process.  Well knowing this intellectually and doing it for the first time is slightly different. I’m thinking “HOLY SH**!” over and over in rapid succession in my head while Jeff is shouting in encouragement from the bow “BREATHE”. Turns out, the hardest part of the whole experience was catching the hanging line at the stern with the boat hook. For a moment there I morphed into Curly, my favorite stooge, dueling with the stern rail and bimini frame, "WHY YOUUUUU!"  But isn’t some clumsiness expected the first time?  As we were leaving, I thanked the lock operator for being so gentle…

The Towns

I will briefly summarize the docks/towns we stayed at along the way with thumbs up or down

Sylvan, NY - old fashioned amusement part, beach, free wall tie-up. 2 thumbs up 

Rome, NY – great Italian everything! 2 thumbs up  

Little Falls, NY – very picturesque. 2 thumbs up

Little Falls

Canajoharie, NY-Friendly, free including AC power supply - 2 thumbs up

We gained another fender in Canajoharie- fat round one on the bow-keep em' comin'! 

Amersterdam, NY - In between Conajaharie and Lock 8 we pulled onto a wall in Amsterdam, NY, took a walk around the town and quickly high-tailed it out of there. Extremely run down town, lots of boarded up buildings, lots of neglect, did not feel safe- 2 thumbs down!

Lock 8 wall- quiet, secure, beautiful and free - 2 thumbs up

Approaching Lock 8

Docked at wall outside of Lock 8

Good view of Lock interior

Lock 8 bridge and dam

Waterford, NY- Shopping, restaurants, laundry, wall tie-up at $10 AC power/48 hrs - 2 thumbs up

The Beauty

The Erie canal offers an abundance of opportunities to enjoy and capture the beautiful Heron,

the not so beautiful Turkey Vulture,

and a trio of geese.

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The topography of the Canal changed as we progressed East.

Ah Walmart and McDonald's in one shot! Can't all be gorgeous!

So here we sit in Waterford, NY on the Hudson River. We are now in brackish water!  We have one more lock to go through, Lock 1, a federal run lock, before we start experiencing tides. A brand new experience for us! Stay tuned...

A wondrous journey to all,

Pam