Pittsford to Waterford, NY and Good Bye Erie Canal

We have completed the Erie Canal. What a ride. Goliath loved it because he was able to get to shore every day. John will be posting lots of pictures… it has been beautiful and calm.

I will quickly recap the second half of the canal.

On 9/22 we went from Pittsford to Lyons where we met a lovely couple, Pete and Sue, from Ontario. Most of the cruisers that we have met have been from Canada, what’s up with that, eh?? (Just in case you’ve been thinking that all we see is beautiful scenery all day, here’s what you see most of the time ….)

On 9/23 we went from Lyons to Baldwinsville. The Erie Canal connects with the Seneca River during much of this stretch. Some of the locks are really beautiful with parks and well maintained and landscaped grounds. This was our favorite.

We tied up outside of lock 24 at a city park and walked into town to watch football. We found a sports bar with about 15 TV’s all on the NFL channel. We got to see the last play or so of the Packers win. We drank adult beverages and ate 30-cent Buffalo wings. The last time we had wings, John ended up in the hospital with appendicitis, so we were a bit leery, but these were great. We watched a bit more football and then off to the boat for our 12 hours of sleep time.

9/24 we traveled to Sylvan Beach which is at the east end of Lake Oneida. Lake Oneida is a narrow but long lake and we traversed the entire length, about 20 miles. Luckily it was a calm day, so John was able to put it on autopilot. Unfortunately, the autopilot makes one a little less observant and we almost rammed a fishing boat. They blew a whistle (wimpy one at that) and John was able to avert disaster. He did hook the fishing lines but we were able to turn sharply and put the boat into neutral to avoid fouling the prop. We felt very guilty about this mishap, but everyone makes a mistake once in a while. I should always be on the lookout if John is distracted when the autopilot is engaged. Sylvan Beach has an amusement park and lots of restaurants right at the free dock. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) since it is off-season, they were not open on a Monday.

9/25 we traveled to Lock 18 and just tied up there and stayed overnight. We wanted to be rested for Lock 17 which we went through the next day. Lock 17 has a 40-foot drop (the largest drop of all the locks) but truly was no different than any of the others. Well you be the judge … personally I thought it was pretty impressive. Handled the same way but it was LARGE! This is a regular lock, maybe a 15′ drop.

This is #17 …

The gate lifted over your head rather than swing and you get wet. JM

Just to prove that we don’t sleep ALL THE TIME, this is sunrise!

On 9/26 we stayed at a city dock in Amsterdam. We were going to stay at the free dock just before Amsterdam, but there were a couple of men camped in the woods right by the dock and we didn’t feel secure. As it turns out the pay dock at Amsterdam ($1/foot) was great. There was a shower and laundry and we partook of both. A couple that run a local restaurant also manages the dock. In season, there is a restaurant right at the dock, but it was closed when we arrived. We met another group of people from Canada. They traveled with us the next day.

On 9/27 we were to finish the Erie Canal locks #10-2. We awoke to thick fog. We had hoped to make lock 10 by 8:00 am but we postponed it to wait for the fog to lift. We took off in medium fog (we could see a marker ahead) but it soon changed and we were searching for markers in dense fog. By lock 9 everything had cleared up and we had caught up to the Canadian group who had left an hour earlier. We locked through all remaining locks with them. This is the view of the Hudson River valley ahead from the second lock down.

We dropped about 190 feet on 9/27 with the last five locks one right after another without stopping in between. At the end of this ride was Waterford. There were only a couple of spaces at the free dock in Waterford but we were able to squeeze in. John and I are getting better at docking, even with 20 extra feet of mast hanging off the ends. We met up with many of the other boats that we had seen along the way. Pete and Sue, who we had met in Lyons, were there and we did a mini book exchange… she gave me books actually but didn’t want any in return. It was nice to see them again. They had run aground a couple of stops back, but had managed to right themselves after being frightened by Towboat US who wanted an arm and a leg to tow them off. Waterford is a lovely town with a $1.75 breakfast place and a nearby grocery that allows you to take the carts (with permission) to the docks. They pick them up on Saturdays. We caught our breath and another 12 hours of sleep then took off down the Hudson River.