Erie Canal and Oswego Canal

An early start on Friday June 24^th got us into the first lock of the Waterford Flight shortly after 8AM.  Two hours later we had cleared all five of the flight along with Canadian Flyer and India Jayne. We are now 169 feet higher than when we left Waterford.

Entering one of the locks of the Waterford Flight behind Canadian Flyer and India Jayne

 

Fending off the lock wall on our way up

Made it to the top

 

 The Mohawk River/Erie Canal traverses a very pastoral section of New York.  The greenery stretches from the hillsides and, quite literally, right down into the water where dense green mats of water chestnuts clog the shoreline, stranding small boats moored along the shore. The plant was inadvertently introduced to a pond at Harvard University in the late 1800’s. A native of Europe, Asia and Africa, the plant is kept in check there by native insect parasites which are not found in North America. With little nutritional value to fish or waterfowl, this nuisance invasive species is spreading throughout the waterways of New York and much of the Northeast.

 

Carpet of water chestnuts

When the Erie Canal was first in operation in 1825, the traffic consisted mostly of small commercial barges transporting goods and people and powered by mules and horses along the towpath.  By the turn of the century and the advent of self-propelled vessels, the canal was rerouted to follow the natural path of the Mohawk River. The present day Erie Canal was completed in 1903 and intersects many times with the original canal.  With the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, commercial traffic rapidly declined on the New York canals and today the canal is used primarily by pleasure craft.

 

This week, along with modern motorized pleasure craft, the eastern Erie Canal also hosted the Mohawk River Bateaux, a group of reenactors navigating the canal in 18^th century replica boats.  These eight hearty folks began their journey on Rogers Island on Tuesday and will row their bateaux to Rotterdam, a distance of 65 miles to participate in a Revolutionary War Reenactment at Mabee Historical Farm on Saturday.  Their bateaux, Bobbie G and DeSager, are 23-feet long and about 5.5-feet wide.  These vessels are the 18^th century equivalent of today’s pickup truck.  We got a chance to talk with the crews when they stopped at Waterford and again today as they rested after locking through Lock E8 at Scotia.

The bateaux exiting Lock E8 - just a few more miles to row!
 

Approaching Lock E9 at Rotterdam



Mohawk River Bateau docked at Mabee Farm - they made it!!!

Just beyond Amsterdam Lock 11 is an interesting roadside (or in this case, canalside) curiosity.  A rusting red VW bug sits atop the smokestack of an abandoned carpet manufacturing plant.  This was a marketing gimmick erected by Gary Dudka over 40 years ago to attract business to his small auto repair shop.  Gary is no longer in business so who knows how successful this advertisement may have been.

Dudka's Advertisement

Town of Fultonville sits right along the Erie Canal

 

 As we travel further west on the Erie Canal we see less and less of the carpets of water chestnuts and more and more wayward tree limbs floating menacingly in the water, especially at the entrances and exits of the locks where they can do the most damage to unsuspecting boats.

Between Locks 13 and 14, the Erie Canal parallels the New York State Thruway.  Cars, trucks and RV’s race past me.  Wait, I am the one who is usually passing everyone on the highway. As I cruise by at a staidly 7 knots, I cannot get Sammy Hagar’s tune “I Can’t Drive 55” out of my head.  Ah, the irony of it all…

Lazy W cruising alongside the NYS Thruway

 

Next stop - the picturesque Canajoharie Riverfront Park.  We rewarded ourselves with ice cream from Stewart’s, just a quick walk across the bridge linking the towns of Canajoharie and Palantine Bridge.  Then it was time for a bit of culture so we perused the art at the Arkell Museum.  Bartlett Arkell was the founder and first president of the Beech-Nut Packing Company.  Within the walls of the museum bearing his name are the many pieces of art he collected including several pieces by Winslow Homer.  A special exhibit featured the circus-themed marketing materials used to promote Beech-Nut.  Also on display were the remnants of the mechanized miniature circus that traveled the U.S. in the 1920’s and 1930’s with the Beech-Nut “sample girls.”  These young ladies, dressed in the latest fashions or specially designed costumes, were employed for the sole purpose of distributing free samples of Beech-Nut gum.

The Beech-Nut Packing Company had been an economic mainstay in Canajoharie for 118 years. In 2009 the company closed their massive plant downtown and moved to a new modern facility in Florida, NY.  In its early years, Beech-Nut produced vacuum-packed hams, condiments, peanut butter, chewing gum and candies, and baby food.  (An unopened jar of baby food - liver and beef soup with carrots, rice and barley – was on display, yum!)  Today, doing business as Beech-Nut Nutrition Company, it is second only to Gerber in the production of baby food. Hopefully the liver and beef soup recipe has been permanently retired!

 Lazy W docked at Canajoharie Riverfront Park

 

While advertisements for chewing Beech-Nut gum promised it to be “a restful and relaxing experience,” our night at Canajoharie Riverfront Park was anything but restful.  The noise from the freight trains rumbling by on the opposite shore was LOUD and frequent all night long!  We were glad to leave the next morning.

Sunday, June 26^th (Happy Birthday, little brother George !) was the hottest day for cruising yet.  Unbelievably, it was 10 degrees warmer than Virginia Beach!?!?  We set our sights on Utica, 40 miles and 6 locks away.

St. Johnsville Marina - a 2002 stopover on our first Great Loop trip with Rich and Bryan Wills onboard

Approaching Lock E16 - St. Johnsville

Lock E17 - the lock gate is on the rise

Before long we were approaching Lock E17 at Little Falls.  This lock is the largest single step lift lock on the Erie Canal, lifting boats 40 feet.  It is also unlike all the other locks – it has a guillotine-like gate that lifts above the boats as they enter.

 

One of the few commercial vessels along the Erie Canal
 Governor Roosevelt, a canal work boat, docked at Little Falls
 

 

The Aqua Vino Restaurant in Utica hosts boaters along a long HIGH wall.  For the bargain basement price of just $1/ foot you get water and electric hookups.  An electric hookup would be essential for running the air conditioners on Lazy W this hot and humid afternoon.  We tied up, awkwardly climbed over the high wall and went in search of Trish to pay our docking fee.  Despite the restaurant being closed to the general public this Sunday, Trish graciously poured us some cold refreshments at the bar while the friendly staff prepped for two private graduation parties.  She even shared a platter of Italian cookies that were leftovers from the previously held bridal shower!

Leaky gates at Lock E21

 

Getting Lazy W away from the wall at Utica was challenging.  Even though the guidebook stated that there was five feet of water alongside the wall and Lazy W draws four feet, the stern of the boat was obviously sitting on mud.  Frank struggled to work her free while Tim from Near Miss stood on the wall and gave the boat a few good shoves.  Eventually we were on our way.

Five miles west of Utica we passed through Lock E20, the last of the locks on the Erie Canal that would lift Lazy W.  We were now 420 feet above sea level and ready to enter Locks E21 and 22 that would lower us 50 feet to the level of Oneida Lake, the largest body of water on the Erie Canal.

Approaching Sylvan Beach and Oneida Lake

 

Twenty miles long and three miles wide, Oneida Lake can be very choppy when the prevailing westerly winds are blowing.  The Captain had carefully plotted our course from Sylvan Beach on the east end to Brewerton on the west end and on June 28^th we left Utica under overcast skies, hoping that the calm Oneida Lake forecast would hold true when we arrived 29 miles later at Sylvan Beach.  And it did!  There were some issues picking out the rather small faded buoys along our route, but otherwise it was a pleasant cruise at 8+ knots.  WOOHOO!

We fueled Lazy W at Brewerton’s Winter Harbor Marina where we were warmly greeted by Trevor, the dock hand, and later, after tying up for the day, by Leslie whom we fondly remembered from our first stop here in 2002.  We reminisced a bit and were pleasantly surprised to find that the dockage fee was still the same as it was then – 90 cents a foot!

 

Winter Harbor is a very popular stop for ‘loopers’ and not just because dockage is so inexpensive.  The marina supplies two courtesy cars for the re-provisioning trip to Wegmans and the laundromat.  Their service staff is highly regarded and for those looper crews traveling without a great engineer onboard, it is a great place to have someone else attend to all those dirty engine room chores that have been put off for the past several hundred miles.  Luckily, Lazy W is lovingly cared for along the way by her captain!  None the less, the captain still found plenty to do in the engine room during our stopover here.

Since they are now boat-less, Patti and Alan, whose last visit to Winter Harbor was aboard their Monk, Fairways, found their way to Winter Harbor from Virginia by car.  After happy hour, we launched the dinghy for a short jaunt westward to Wild Horse Bar and Grill to partake in their Wednesday night ‘Clams and Cans’ special.  Several dozen little neck clams ($5/dozen), a plateful of wings, beer and wine – then back to Lazy W for a relaxing evening.  It doesn’t get much better than that!  As always, we enjoyed hanging out with these good friends and wonder - how long before they acquire another boat…

Looper boats lined up at Winter Harbor Marina



Winter Harbor was buzzing with activity as more and more looper boats arrived throughout the following day.  Boats were rearranged and tied up as close together as possible to maximize dock space.  Before the day was done, Winter Harbor was hosting a full house!  And no one seemed to be in a big hurry to leave anytime soon as there was a small craft warning issued for Lake Ontario in effect for the next two days.

 

Afternoon thunderstorms were in the forecast for July 1^st but several boats (including Lazy W) left Winter Harbor.  Some boats were continuing west on the Erie Canal, others joining the Oswego Canal at Three Rivers Junction where the Oneida, Seneca (western Erie Canal) and Oswego rivers meet.  From this junction, the Oswego Canal drops boats 118 feet through seven locks over 24 miles to Lake Ontario.

 

 

Our first stop on this route has always been at Phoenix, home of the Bridge House Brats. Throughout the boating season, this enthusiastic group of middle school kids maintains Henley Park, runs errands for the transient boaters, and delivers meals to the docks from area restaurants.  They will even walk your dog and clean your boat.  They are very professional and polite as they offer free lemonade and coffee upon your arrival.  We spent about an hour with them and visited the farmers market where we purchased some of the last of the season’s local berries. 

The Brat Shack

 Then we were off to Fulton where we would tie up to the wall north of Lock O-3.  It was a difficult tie-up as there are no cleats along these walls, just an occasional O-ring and some widely-spaced bollards.  The wind was forecast to pick up overnight and this lock would prove to be one we will long remember.

We awoke to gusty WNW winds of 16MPH.  And, while we should have known better, the decision was made to move Lazy W a mere six miles north to Minetto.  Frank went ashore to handle the stern lines tied around the bollard while I struggled with the bow line running through the O-ring.  A gust of wind blew the stern away from the wall a distance that even a professional long jumper would have difficulty spanning and Frank was no graceful jumper.  This would not be pretty!  However, he did manage to leap back on board at midship just as I was ready to lose the fight with the bow line.  Up at the helm now, Frank struggled to back Lazy W away from the wall and make a U-turn to head north to the next nearby lock.  Whether it was a strong gust of wind or miscalculation by the helmsman, Lazy W slammed her bow into the tall concrete unforgiving wall.  She now bears the scar of that ‘adventure’ until we get her to Lake Michigan for winter storage.  I guess, as Jalan Crossland would say, “we’re just creatin’ jobs!”

 

With adrenaline still pumping we entered Lock O-4.  The lock master there warned us that passage through the locks further north on the canal would be ‘tricky’ due to the blowing winds.  I had no intentions of going through any of those locks today or any other day until the winds settled down.  The Captain agreed and we traveled only six more miles to the floating dock at Minetto where we assessed the damage to Lazy W’s bow.

Minetto free dock

 

OOPS!

 

It's the 4th of July in Oswego, "Where the World Comes Together."  Where is everybody?  The town is deserted, the few shops in town are closed, and we found only one other looper boat waiting to cross Lake Ontario.  Tomorrow's weather looks ideal for crossing to Canada and the start of the Trent Severn...