Friday – Day 56 – 9/26/08

We did it -----we completed the Erie Canal! This morning we refueled the boat in the rain and didn’t get underway until 1030! It didn’t take long, an hour and forty five minutes to enter the canal and drop the 169 feet through five locks! To date we have passed through 62 locks!

As we entered the port of Waterford there was a line of boats (picture below) on the wall with room for one more which we headed straight for and low and behold - we recognized Mike and Tammi from Seneca Lake State Park 13 days prior! They are the couple that put us into a slip next to theirs when we were running out of places to stay. As before Mike was there to help us get the boat tied up and make us feel welcome! Their on vacation and said they had been looking for us since leaving home a week ago! Tonight were doing cocktails on our boat and staying dry.


From the time we went out side of our boat this morning, we have been cold and wet. Even the inside of our rain gear was wet. While in the locks it poured buckets to the point that we just laughed and passed each other dry towels as we made our way. We are moored to a wall 100 feet from the welcome center in Waterford, NY. Waterford is considered the gateway to the Erie Canal. This is a free marina for the first two days and then a $10 fee is charged per day! We have electricity for all of our needs including heat! We’ve decided to spend a few days here to rest, warm up and dry out!

Thursday – Day 55 – 9/25/08

Fog starter our day but we got underway before it lifted completely. It was interesting winding our way through the channel only seeing a few hundred feet ahead. It was very peaceful and dream like! The fog did dissipate and the remainder of the day was great!

There wasn’t any reason to stop along the way except for a few abandon locks from the first canal. As you can see (attached pictures) they were built to last but very small compared to later versions. Our goal was to get as close to the “flight of five” locks that drop 169 feet in close succession to each other. We ended up a few miles away from entering the flight and spent the night. The marina owner was very kind and offered to drive us to a local restaurant for dinner. We did just that and had a wonderful meal after a long day passing through seven locks and traveling 56 miles.

We received a call from our good friends the Burdick’s who just happen to be vacationing in New Hampshire! If every thing goes well we should connect with them while they are still here. Tomorrow we will attempt to complete our trip on the Erie Canal and rest up in Waterford, NY for a few days prior to entering the Champlain Canal.

Wednesday – Day 54 – 9/24/08

Fog again early in the morning! I was told by a lock master that will happen for the next month or so. What that means is our cruising day has been shortened to a seven hour day, and that’s a big impact. The locks don’t operate after five so we need to be tied up some place before then. It’s time for Barb and me to adjust our schedule, if we ever get one!

Today we traveled 25 miles and visited The Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY. The originals were donated by the family that founded the Beech-nut food empire. The factory is still across the street from the gallery and is scheduled to move within the year to a new modern facility 20 miles away. Considering the size of this town they will turn the power off on their famous street light off in the center of town. The town claims that there are more original buildings still standing from the canal era than any other town. Another point of history - just about every famous person that helped shape the nation from George Washington on has passed through this place. What made it so appealing way back then --- a pub and meeting house! Some things never change!

Tuesday – Day 53 – 9/23/08

When I got up this morning and stumbled to the door, all I could see was fog and when we left the 73 ft. boat (Seas the Moment) we were docked with. Yes it was cool in the boat due to having a single 30 amp circuit available, but this time I started the generator turned on the heater and the chill was gone in fifteen minutes. The fog lifted enough that we were able to get underway by 0830 and by 0930 it had completely disappeared leaving us with a beautiful blue sky and temperatures in the low 70s. We stopped for a few hours in a town called Ilion, NY, home to the Remington Arms Factory. We walked to their museum which was next to their factory. It turned out to be well worth our time and effort. We dropped another 20 feet thru one more lock (picture below is of leaving one of the many locks we have passed through)into the Mohawk Valley and decided to stay in a town called Little Falls, NY. The scenery (right) is spectacular. The valley is flanked with very high tree covered cliffs. If I were to compare it to Starved Rock, the cliffs are twice as tall and go on for as far as the eye can see! The town is now quiet but in the past it was a leader in manufacturing and the biggest producer of cheese in the U.S.! With the Erie Canal available the cheese was shipped to New York City then exported to Europe. As we continue to move east we are reminded daily of our heritage with numerous historical land marks and home sites of famous people from the 1700’s. I think of all the hours spent studying history in school and never connecting the dots, then taking a trip like this and everything falls into place.

Tomorrow we will leave Little Falls and drop 40 feet through the deepest lock in the Erie Canal system. Instead of having doors that swing open to let us out of the lock, the lock has a lift gate that is raised for we can pass under it when leaving! I was told there are only two locks in North America constructed like this.

Monday – Day – 52 – 9/22/08

Today started out slow. I walked out of the boat and could see 50 feet at best into the fog! Within in an hour the fog was gone and we got underway under a very dark overcast sky. It was so cold and damp that I actually put on long pants for the first time since we left Chicago. As we entered Oneida Lake (below) the clouds moved to the east and the sky cleared ahead of us and the sky became blue. The lake was well marked with buoys to help in crossing. The lake is known to get rough and dangerous, but today she was flat and very pleasant. The day warmed up and turned out to be very pleasant as we rejoined the canal a few hours later. Today was a day to move east while enjoying the scenery. As we slowly moved down the canal, we’ve noticed that there is less water foul and other wild life around, maybe its our location? We have seen so much wild life in the past few weeks that a reduction in it, is very noticeable. The fall colors are now starting to show and we are beginning to see a little more color each day. We don’t want to move east to fast as we may miss the peak of New England’s fall colors!

Tomorrow, we will decide if were going to take a side trip down the Hudson to NY City. We both want to do it and know it would be fun, but I think were starting to run out of steam --- the cold weather isn’t helping either. It was 56 degrees in the boat this morning when we got up. Normally we turn on the heater but we were limited to one electrical circuit last night and the refrigerator took preference. Neither Barb nor I like cold and damp. It’s probably time to purchase some additional clothing! S--T!

Sunday – Day 51 – 9/21/08

The weather today has been unique – dark, overcast, misting on and off most of the day with the sun coming out just before sunset! We moved from one lock to another in less than perfect conditions. We locked up one additional lock on the Erie Canal today, that’s a total of eight locks today.







































We then decided to stay at Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY. I think this is the largest inside heated boat storage facility on the east coast. This place is very impressive to see, considering where it’s located, in the middle of nowhere! For us to store our boat here for the winter we would have had to have our contract signed and paid for prior to July 15th. Now that’s a good business to be in! If I could have, I would have wintered over here!

Tomorrow we will continue to move east on the Erie Canal after crossing Oneida Lake. The east half of the Erie Canal is supposed to be different than the west half which is unpopulated and is true to the original canal in its hay day. We have noticed a major difference with the amount of buildings, bridges and people. I guess that’s progress! Every day we can see the trees beginning to turn to their fall colors. We hope that our timing is good and we have the opportunity to see the fall colors of New England!

Saturday – Day 50 – 9/20/08

Today we got an early start and left the harbor at first light. There are two reasons to get up and leave early. The first is the days are getting shorter and the extra daylight can be most helpful if problems arise. The second is there’s little to no wind at sunrise! The sky was filled with color and wispy clouds as we turned north.

We entered the Oswego Canal an hour later and began another adventure. This canal is large and drops 118 feet into Lake Ontario. We turned another mile stone as we entered Lake Ontario today. That makes four out of five of the Great Lakes since departing on this trip. We will get to number five, Lake Superior next summer on our return trip home from the east coast. We refueled the boat then rented a slip for the night. We took the time to walk around the lake front in Oswego then walked to Fort Ontario. Life was hard during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries as compared to today. The Fort has had a colorful past and was well worth our time to visit.

Picture on left is Fort Ontario.......................on the right is a view from the fort of Lake Ontario

This evening when its cooler we will do some of our domestic chores - adjust a few hinges, tighten a few screws, do some laundry clean this and that and you know the rest ----. There comes a time when you must stop moving around and take care of business!

Tomorrow we will enter the Oswego Canal to rejoin the Erie Canal! In the process we will be lifted 7 times in as many locks. The Oswego Canal has a few locks that are not for the weak at heart! The locks are next to large dams with hydroelectric plants, resulting in fast water with strong currents. I will be happy to rejoin the quiet and peaceful Erie Canal tomorrow. It’s time for chores, then a late dinner some where in town.

Friday – Day 49 – 9/19/08

For you that know Mr. Rogers from TV – It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! We jumped on a bus and went into Syracuse to locate the Erie Canal Museum. At one time the canal passed directly through the city of Syracuse. Actually the town of Syracuse is here because of the canal! The city is old but well maintained and clean. The buildings are mostly under ten stories tall so the sky line is long and low. We located the museum and were very pleased with its content. I’m a canal Geek and very hard to please.

Later we went to visit a salt museum 200 yards from the marina our boat is in. I’ve never thought much about salt, but it’s been a big industry here even before the canal was dug! Barb and I were both intrigued by what we saw and learned. Later we went to a famous hotdog stand that has been open since 1917 and I’ll take a Chicago dog any day! We heard so much about the restaurant we had to try it ---- Mr. Rogers would have liked it!

Tomorrow we plan to leave early before the wind picks up and head for the Oswego Canal that connects the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario. This will be our last side trip off of the main canal. The Oswego canal is 24 miles long with 7 locks each way, as we will back track on this side trip when returning to the Erie Canal. With our current non schedule we will probably reach Waterford in about ten days plus or minus a few. Waterford is the beginning of the Erie Canal, and where the Erie Canal connects to the south flowing Hudson River and north flowing Champlain Canal.

Tuesday – Day 46 – 9/16/08

Today was a day of little news to report. We departed about 0845 with the help of Howard who arranged for the State of NY dredge crew to move a few large pieces of equipment. By doing so, it allow us to pass from the club into the lake and proceed north. We took a leisurely cruise never exceeding 8 mph and enjoyed every minuet of the day. Slow is a very nice way to cruise up a lake for four hours. The weather was cool and overcast, but presented us with a light breeze and flat water. On the way south we favored the east side of the lake and on the way north we stayed to the west side of the lake. In the middle of the lake is an active US Navy research platform anchored in 500 plus feet of water doing something “Special”! Once at the north end we fueled up and passed through lock #4 dropping 16 feet. We arrived in Seneca Falls early enough in the day to visit the Women’s Rights National Historical Park and walk down the town’s main street. We did a little grocery shopping, picked up a bottle of wine and returned to the boat to cook and enjoy dinner. The boat is tied up at Seneca Falls Canal Harbor on the wall for the night, where water and electricity are furnished. Again the space is available to boaters at no cost.

Considering the cost of the season pass this is an unbelievable bargain. Tomorrow we plan to enter the double lock numbered #3 & #2 dropping 50 feet to enter Cayuga Lake. At the south end of the lake, 35 miles away, is Ithaca, NY.

Wednesday – Day 47 – 9/17/08

We traveled the length of Cayuga Lake (pic on left) and reached Ithaca, NY in the afternoon. The trip was uneventful but pleasant. When we docked at the state park, we got the bicycles out and rode into town. That didn’t last very long due to a bad knee so we returned to the boat stored the bikes and called a cab! We went to the Ithaca Commons that is the towns gathering place for Cornell University and Ithaca College. We had a great meal in a vibrant community then returned to the boat via cab. Tonight will be an early night as we will depart extra early if possible to move north and return to the Erie Canal to continue east.

Bald Eagle

Thursday – Day 48 – 9/18/08

Barb and I were up early and on our way about 0630. We had a little bit of trouble getting away from the dock due to the wind, but we did and it worked out without incident! The weather improved as the day went on, so we moved north and rejoined the Erie Canal about 1130. As we moved east on the canal there wasn’t any reason to stop in this stretch of canal so we made better time than we had expected. When our day came to an end we tied up in Onondaga Lake Park Marina a little north of Syracuse, NY, we had covered 79 miles and passed thru two locks. We went out for dinner then walked around the town of Liverpool. Tomorrow we will go into Syracuse and visit the Erie Canal Museum and a few other sites. We are still looking for a place to hook up to the network. Not every marina has wireless ----- we wish they did.

Picture as we approached Syracuse---------------

Monday – Day 45 – 9/15/08

Is our glass half full or half empty after the market tanked today? We can’t control what the market did, but we can control how we live our lives and were doing a hell of a job enjoying this beautiful country! We have cruised longer and further than last summer and were not done yet! Our glass is truly half full!

Last night the wind was strong and blowing out of the southwest and didn’t subside until early this morning. I was up a few times during the night to check lines and add a few additional spring lines. Other than loosing a little sleep it wasn’t too bad!

We had a great day hiking through the canyons at Watkins Glen State Park. We knew it was special but didn’t realize just how beautiful it is! Howard a WGYC member drove Barb and me to the top of the canyon and dropped us off for we could hike down the trail past many water falls to a State Park center. For those who have bad hips and knees stay home and watch a travel film, this is not an easy climb or decent. There is over 800 stairs most wet and made from flag stone or natural rock formations. (more pics below)

After our hike through the park, we walked around the town - up and down Main Street and discovered a delightful coffee house/bakery/deli, and sandwich shop. After our hike I was ready to sit down and chill out! What ever you want to call the coffee shop, it had it all! While standing outside looking in through the window the smell of fresh baked bread and fresh brewing coffee, drew us right thru the door, to a small table where we enjoyed a very good lunch.

Tonight we will join some of the club members for a cook out that they are having for a crew of NY State workers that are dredging the channel leading to their club. Again the people of NY, especially the members of WGYC, have extended a warm welcome to Barb and me.

Weather permitting we will leave tomorrow and head toward the north end of the lake.

Sunday – Day 44 – 9/14/08

Today we didn’t leave the harbor (picture is our view from the harbor to Seneca Lake) until 1130, after saying goodbye to new friends. Again the good people of New York were their, to help us get safely out of the slip with the wind blowing and we headed down the Seneca Lake. The lake is 500 plus feet deep with clear water. Yes - there are places with clean water! As we slowly cruised down the 37 mile long lake we enjoyed the many vineyards (picture below) visible from the boat. Our destination was to visit the Watkins Glen Yacht Club and surrounding area. As we cruised down the lake, Barb recognized a boat to be the boat of Terry and Rhonda the couple that had extended an invitation to visit their club. We circled around and exchanged greetings then Rhonda called the club and confirmed that we were on the way. By the time we got into the channel and were looking for where we should be, club members were there waiting on the dock to direct us to where we were going to reside for the night, as well as handle lines, wish us welcome and drink a cold beer after a long day. We will stay two nights and visit local points of interest. One of the club members has offered to drive us to the top of a popular water fall for we can walk back one way “down hill”! I believe in gravity assist!

Considering the terrible weather that the mid west is having we have been avoiding most of it. High winds are expected in this area tonight so will add a few fenders and additional lines to secure the boat to the dock.

Enjoying the view on Seneca Lake

Saturday – Day 43 – 9/13/08

Today we started down the canal just after 0730 with haze and light fog. The water was like a mirror reflecting everything on the water surface which made you think you had double vision. We motored east and then south entering the Cayuga-Seneca Canal heading to the Finger Lakes. We entered six more locks two dropping us 12 feet on the Erie Canal then the last four on the Seneca River lifting us 72 feet to Seneca Lake. The lock before the last one was a double lock that lifted us from the lower cell at the same time that the upper cell was lowering three boats to a common mid point. The center door opened and the three boats moved into our cell and when they were secure we moved our boat into the cell they were in! A cell on the canal system is much narrower and shorter than what is on the Illinois River. There isn’t a lot of room to pass other boats considering the turbulence of the water and other factors 25 feet down from the surface of the lock. When the transfer was completed we had risen 51 feet and the other boats had dropped the same distance. That was a first for us --- to pass other boats going in opposite directions within a closed lock! Tonight we are at the northern most part of the Seneca Lake planning to go to Watkins Glen tomorrow 37 miles south of us. The land between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake is famous for its 28 vineyards with tasting rooms, which I intend to take advantage of on a tasting tour! (Imagine that!)

Again the hospitality that we have encountered is unbelievable. Barb and I stopped in Seneca Falls (picture below) to visit a welcome center and plan our next few days within the Finger Lake region. Our Illinois registration on the boat was noticed and within a few minutes we were invited to use a slip as their guest at the Watkins Glen Yacht Club. The club is located at the south end of the lake 37 miles away! Then as the day was coming to a close and the weather was looking less than perfect we were next to a marina in the canal, and hailed some people on a dock to get information on how to obtain a slip for the night and a couple of delightful ladies waved and motioned for us to pull into an empty slip 100 feet away - which we did and before you knew it the boat was tied up and the water and power was hooked up! We are again the guests of friendly New York boaters! We are here for the night and possibly longer if the weather doesn’t cooperate tomorrow. The wind is picking up and dark clouds are rolling in.

Friday – Day 42 – 9/12/08

Today it rained and rained and then rained some more! Surprisingly it wasn’t a bad day on the canal. We only passed one boat going the opposite direction. It turned out that we actually enjoyed the rain pocked flat water that we quietly glided through. For those of you that have camped in a tent with rain continuously falling that was what we heard all day. The ducks loved it and other than getting a little wet while we locked through five sets of locks, we didn’t think it was so bad. We are now tied up in a location that is two locks away from entering the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, gateway to the Finger Lakes! Tomorrow - rain or shine we will move ahead. Every day we see more color in the foliage an indicator of what’s to come!

Typically we found a free place to tie up for the night at a small city dock in Lyons, NY. No water but two 30 amp circuits was furnished! A small sign at the dock asked that we check in at the fire department at street level which we did. We were then offered the use of their washer and dryer and shower and washroom facilities! Barb and I can’t get over the generosity and kindness of the people we have encountered on this canal. And of course, the locals recommended a very good restaurant for dinner.

As the rain stopped late in the afternoon a very large boat came along side ours, and I went out to help them tie up to the wall. For those who love boats this steel 40 ton sailing vessel is 68 feet long with a 17 foot beam. She does 7.5 knots using her 6 cylinder 100 hp Perkins diesel. The boat is being moved to Muskegon MI to be completed - which will take two more years.

Thursday – Day 41 – 9/11/08

Burrrrrr…………….another cold morning in the low forties! The cold doesn’t last long, for as soon as the sun comes up the air temperature warms, and it becomes quite pleasant outside. Today was a perfect fall day with a clear blue sky with a little wind requiring a light wrap! The trees and vegetation are just starting to turn color. Hopefully we will see the fall colors at their peak when we get to Vermont in four weeks. At the last moment Barb and I took a detour and left the Erie Canal and entered the Genesee River which took us north to Rochester, NY. What a great decision we made! The approach to the city is incredible. In a matter of four miles we went from the 19th century to the 21st century. As the boat rounded a bend in the river we went from heavily wooded rock formations covered in dense vegetation to suddenly seeing the skyline of a modern city. As we got closer to the city The University of Rochester is to the east of the river and the west side is park like or being redeveloped. The river is dammed off a little south of the city due to a water fall which prevented us from going any further into the city. We docked our boat at a new water front facility and enjoyed lunch at a new restaurant. The patrons in the restaurant seamed to enjoy the boat being there, as it was the only one around for miles! As soon as the general public finds out that there is a first class tie up by a five star restaurant, which you can get to it without much trouble, it will be full of boats.
Later in the day we re-entered the canal and stopped at a few other points of interest along the way and passed through two locks dropping an additional 50 feet. We are now tied up in a town called Fairport which is a charming town that caters to canal traffic. We dined at an Irish Pub and finished off the evening with……what else……but ice cream!

Wednesday – Day 40 – 9/10/08

Fall is coming! I got up early and dressed in shorts and t-shirt which is routine on this trip and stepped outside and saw my breath! The temperature was in the low 40’s. A light jacket was necessary before we got underway. The double lock (picture is going from lock 35 to 34)was very fast in dropping us and in no time we were on our way. We stopped after a few hours and had breakfast in a canal town named Medina. The town has put a lot of effort into enticing boaters to stop and look around. An elderly gentleman stopped to chat and insisted that he escort us to the local restaurant he recommended. It was a few blocks away, and just off of Main Street, but he walked the distance with us for we wouldn’t get lost! He was quite colorful and full of stories pertaining to the area. We asked him to join us but he declined and waved goodbye and just walked away. After having a hearty breakfast, Barb and I walked to a railroad museum and enjoyed the main attraction within the town. We then slowly motored down the canal the remainder of the day. The view of the passing country side was spectacular. Around 1630 in a town called Brockport, we found a place on the canal wall to tie up for the night. This water front facility is a first class. The reason to tie up early is, the canal operates between 7 am and 5 pm after Labor Day, and they do not lift bridges for boats to pass under after hours! Today we only saw two other boats – it’s like owning our own private canal!