New York – Erie Canal – The Eastern half

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Waterford–flight of 5 locks: 13+ looper boats are headed west on the Erie Canal. We decided to wait for the second group vs rushing to get to Lock 2 at 8am with the 7 others boats. Flight of 5 locks + 1 lock with 5 other boats that very hot day. We cruised about 20nm and docked for the night at Donovan’s Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady (same owners as Donovan’s Shady Harbor). The harbor is shaped like a fish and is surrounded by apartment buildings on one side and a casino on the other. Tim & I enjoyed a walk around the area and even walked part of the Erie Canal trail thru this town. We had supper with looper friends (Oyster). My dinner was a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich with a side of greens…so yummy as I’ve been craving a cheese sandwich for days now. Not part of the diet, but so worth every bite. Of course the greens helped my guilty conscience. (sort of).

Erie Canal Lock #2 – The first lock leaving the Hudson River at Waterford. On the right is the original wall of the first three locks built in 1860 that lifted (or lowered) boats the same amount.
“Normal” flow of the canal overflow.
This is what it looks like when they dump the lock upstream.
This is the top of the 3 original locks. the Dam to the right is what defines the water level in the canal above this lock until the next one
the boats tied on the wall overnight to go up the next day.
The eager first batch ready to enter
Loading them in.
All 7, We were not in a big enough rush to join that crowd
View from the front.
The front gate before the lock is filled
At the top.
Tied up in front of the Waterford Visitors center
Approaching the second lock
Guard Gates – Used to control the level of water in the canal
The first section of the Erie Canal uses parts of the Mohawk River. Sometimes, where the terain is relatively flat, you are “in” the river. In areas where the river drops rapidly you are in a canal next to the river, going around a section of rapids, or even waterfalls. The Guard gates can be closed when the river rises too rapidly due to a big rains and forces all the water thru the river section to protect the locks.
The end of our first travel day on the very old canal was at a very new modern Marina. It was built on the site of The very Old General Electric Company Locomotive plant. Founded by Thomas Edison.
1. – The Sun shining thru the clouds. 2. – I was told this is a small Nuclear Power Plant. 3. – Reflection of the first picture in the water

Amsterdam: Up early Friday morning to conquer the next section of locks (#8-10) on the canal. We arrived at Riverlink Park in Amsterdam. Another hot day!! Even the nights are warm!! At least 7 looper boats docked here tonight. There wasn’t much in the way of historical places to visit, so we walked over the river on the pedestrian bridge to the town on the south side of the river. There was a building that looked like a castle, but was originally built as an armory, but now used as an B&B hotel. We then walked back to the north side of the river on the sidewalk alongside the bridge for vehicles. We decided not to walk up the hill to see more of the city, but settled on walking to the hardware store for a few things. We must have looked out-of-place because the cashier said “are you boaters”. Maybe it was the sunglasses and boating hats that gave it away. We then walked over another pedestrian bridge (over the railway tracks) back to the park. Three bridges in one afternoon…. Docktails that evening with the loopers and then up to the on-site restaurant for dinner….should have gone back across the river for supper. Oh well–lesson learned. Did a load of laundry and off to bed…long day tomorrow.

Riverlink Park in Amsterdam. A very nice facility between the river and the very highly used rail line carrying both freight and passenger trains. Roughly every 15-20 minutes one goes by at a very high speed.
The “Castle” built in 1895 as a National Guard armories was decommissioned and sold in 1994. It is currently a private residence and Hotel.
Well kept homes in Amsterdam

St. Johnsville: Locks 11-15 today. Long day with warm temps. Uneventful-thankfully. St Johnsville is actually a RV park with a dock for boaters. Very quiet except for the trains that pass by regularly. It is amazing how much freight is transported by trains. I’m assuming most of the trains are carrying freight from the New York harbor area. We enjoyed a quiet afternoon as we were the only boat docked until later in the afternoon. We walked into town to a restaurant called Parkside. We scored another good meal. I had a salad with fried chicken which was so tasty/Tim had a hamburger. Three more looper boats joined us at the dock that afternoon.

Pulling into St Johnsville
Downtown
The other half of downtown
The day started lonely, but there were 5 boats by evening.

Ilion: Locks 16-18. Left at 7am to travel in the cool of the morning. Uneventful day of travel. The one unusual lock was lock 18 just before the city of Little Falls. This lock didn’t have doors that opened/closed on hinges. But rather this unique lock lowered and raised guillotine type doors. It is unsettling to drive the boat under the doors to enter the chambers of the lock. We decided not to stay in Little Falls as we had visited there during our boat shopping days in and around Albany area. Anyway, we arrived in Ilion Marina where “Pony” and “Pickets Pub” were docked. Not much here, but we did find an Aldi’s to supplement our food on the boat. Enjoyed drinks (Diet Coke and Ice Tea) at the local McDonald’s. Another trip to Ace Hardware–always something to be fixed on a boat. A storm was predicted in the afternoon, but all we got was rain. Pump-out scheduled for first thing in the morning.

Just drive into the concrete bunker
The light is green, just duck and drive on in
The exit gate looks normal, a 40′ lift in this lock. the highest on the Erie Canal
The black part is a large steel gate that drops strait down. The white part is concrete counter weight that goes up
Almost closed. The white part will cover the green bar with yellow lines when the gate is fully down
Ilion Marina and campground

Rome: Locks 19-20. Our upstream elevation is 420 ft since we left the Hudson River. We stuck around Ilion until the office opened so we could get a pump-out. Once that was done we headed westward and enjoyed a cool day as well as a rainy day. Lots of rain and lots of flooding in places we had just visited. Thankful we are where we are, but feel for those who are experiencing hardship and loss. We are in Rome at a park with no services (no water or electric). Time to run the generator.

Rome, NY. The dock choice was 1. Nice floating dock w/o power or 2. Decaying wood wall and metal sticking out, with power. We went without power and used the generator
Make sure you catch the dates. The original 363 mile canal was dug in 8 years, BY HAND.
The importance of this area in the 1800’s cannot be overstated. The Mohawk River started here and ran east to the Hudson and then down to New York, and the world. Two miles East of here was the headwaters of a river system that ran West to Lake Ontario. All the fur trade in the Great Lakes flowed thru this area on its way to export to the city on the East coast and Europe. All the manufactured goods needed in the Midwest flowed the other direction. It was the only water route thru the Appalachian mountain range allowing “easy” transportation of goods from the coast to the Midwest and Great Lakes.
Fort Stanwix, reconstructed in downtown Rome, 1969-1976. The city literally bulldozed an entire city block and gave the land to the National Park service to reconstruct this fort that stood here and played an important role in the Revolutionary War. It guarded the land bridge (Portage), and trade, between the Mohawk River running East and the Oswego river running North West
These barges have been here a while judging by the size of the trees
they didn’t dig the whole canal, some is built above the ground level
Another train bridge
Just out mowing the weeds
Part of an old aqueduct that carried the original canal
Somethings in the river you just have to slow down for

Brewerton Marina: After a rainy day in Rome we are again headed west. The next challenge is crossing Lake Oneida. Fortunately, the lake is calm and we crossed without any problem. In fact it was a beautiful sunny day. We arrived at Brewerton Marina for a 1 night stay. Apparently this is a favorite stop for loopers because there were many in the transient slips. We topped off our fuel (about $600 worth) as this was one of the cheaper locations on the Erie. We walked into town for a bite to eat at a restaurant overlooking the river/canal. We were docked right next to another Nordic 37, so Tim and the other captain compared notes on their improvements on each individual boat. Our overnight pkg with Tim’s class charts that should have arrived on Monday, finally arrived Tuesday so we were able to leave the marina just before the official checkout time.

Wild Life along the river, at least those that stand still long enough for me to grab the camera
Even on the water you still have to mow! They have a weed problem on the western Erie Canal

About an hour out of Brewerton Marina, (headed west) we came to the crossroads of continuing on the Erie Canal or the Oswego Canal towards Canada. Most loopers turn north on the Oswego, but we are staying on the Erie Canal. Taking the road (canal) less traveled by loopers.

Note: We had heard such great things about the Erie Canal and how the local people were so friendly and accommodating towards loopers. Apparently our expectations were too high, but then we heard the following from one of the locals. The eastern half cities don’t need to cater to those on the canal because the cities are built around other transportation modes. The western half cities only exist because of the Canal and the visitors they bring in.

Almost a full year into the journey, and we finally are getting our ducks in a row.

See you on the western Erie Canal…..’til then….

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