Life on the Erie Canal

We LOVED the Erie Canal. It's a great piece of history, it's complicated, the locks are huge and make loud scary sounds, sometimes it's a river, sometimes it's a canal, and sometimes it's just a ditch, we did take one wrong turn (quickly corrected), it's filled with fun boats and quirky characters, the towns along the way are nice to visit - what's not to like?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izuheawFCGY

Here we are tied up at Brewerton on a lovely evening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R2FOcgNFvw

Tuesday we left Brewerton and entered Lake Oneida which is part of the New York Canal System and a part of the Erie Canal. There was a strong following wind which help push us along, even without sails. As we neared the end of Lake Oneida, all we could see was solid shoreline. It's kind of disconcerting to be driving a boat that draws 7 feet straight towards a tree-lined shore. But Pat motored on and if he felt fear, he didn't show it. Rob started to assume the brace position for a crash; Tom was already at the rail ready to jump, and then we started to see the channel open up and the bridge we would go under. Here is a short video we shot as we neared the end of the lake and realized we were not going to end up in the trees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYdhIsnjB9Q

We saw all kinds of homes along the sides of the canal. Some are big and expensive, some are fun and funky, and these folks have their own little shore-side Tiki Bar.

This guy has a cooler of beer and his Crackberry and looks set for the evening.

And in some places, if the spot is right, all you need is a couple of chairs and the view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgx-Hx0Yid4

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At the start of our trip we were locking up, and then we began to lock down as we made our way down to sea level. Here is a video of our last lock up and it shows how we come out of this dark cave-like lock and see our surroundings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y0dwWkOltc

Lock 17 is one we won't forget. It is one of the biggest locks in volume of water. We approached it with strong winds blowing the boat, lots of current moving us around, and the lock doors still closed. Remedios got sideways in the channel, which is NOT supposed to happen. Rob and Tom are happy to report that in times of stress, Pat is not a screamer, he just gets real quiet and says stuff like "We have a problem, boys." That's Rob's queue to grab some ropes and Tom's cue to grab the Depends, just in case. Here is a video we shot after we were at the bottom of the lock. Those big holes in the back of the lock are where the water flows in - you don't often get to see them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm77fnUu71I

Some of these bridges are for cars, some are for people and the one right in front of Rob is an Amtrak bridge and we were startled when a high speed passenger train went right over our heads.

The canal has what they call Guard Gates at various places. These gates are used to control the flow of water, and also to keep boats out of areas where one-way traffic is required. They look scary and of course everyone calls them guillotines and is scared they will come down when the boat is underneath. We managed to pass through them all unscathed. Here is a video of us passing under some guard gates and through a small gorge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUT4HXc62ow

Another neat feature of the canal is free places to tie up and spend the night.  Most of the tie-ups have small parks next to them with tables, garbage cans, and sometimes, grills for cooking. These places are great to wander around and meet locals, and boaters.

A regular marina, which will provide water, electricity, security, laundry and showers can cost around $60 per night for a boat our size. These are nice when we have laundry to do. But, $60 per night adds up. The canal usually has free canal wall tie-ups both before and after the locks; and it has tie-ups when there is a small town close by. It's usually a short walk to town and all there is to do and see. Here are a couple photos of Remedios tied up along some canal walls with some other folks. At one stop we made friends and shared wine with Andy and Sue, who gave us lots of advice about crossing the ocean since that is how they got to the Erie Canal from England. Here is Andy in our cabin. Andy didn't think we were nuts.

At each lock along the way there is a sign that tells you where you are, where the next lock is, how far they are going to drop, or lift, you and anything else you need to know. Here is some of the machinery that makes all this work. In case you want to know... each lock only needs power to open and shut the doors; water and gravity do the rest. Each lock is powered by one 5 HP GE diesel motor that dates back to 1911. Some of the lock tenders look that old, too - they are real characters sometimes.

Here we are at the end of the canal and entering the Hudson River. We passed a vintage steamship gathering that was getting set up for the weekend of the 4th - here are a few of the boats all lined up - some have their boilers going and the smell of wood smoke was kind of fall-like.

Here is where we got the point that we were headed out for the deep blue ocean. Here is Albany, NY and its protector...