Brewerton, NY – Oswego, NY – June 29, 2008

Along with Bellissimo we got underway at 8 this morning. We traveled 9 miles and went through the last lock before leaving the Eastern section of the Erie Canal.

Our last few days on the Eastern Erie Canal was very beautiful and scenic. Many parks and picnic areas were dotted along the way and were beautifully maintained. There were many free tie-ups for boaters. The waters were calm and the reflection of the trees and bridges in the water was so pretty.

At mile 160 of the Erie Canal we turned north onto the Oswego Canal. The Oswego Canal opened in 1828 and connects Three Rivers to Lake Ontario. Three Rivers is where the Oneida and Senecca Rivers join to form the Oswego River. We dropped from 363 feet above sea level to 245 feet above sea level in 24 miles and 7 locks.

The 4 concrete bridge abutments in the water used to support the trolley bridge on the line from Oswego to Syracuse. The Oswego Canal is yet another very scenic area of New York.

There are many interesting stops along the way, but we decided to travel the entire canal in one day. We stopped for the day at Oswego, the end of the canal and on the shores of Lake Ontario. We ran into several other Loopers here at Oswego. We are getting together tonight for snacks.

8 locks today – total of 32.

The weather forecast sounds good for tomorrow. We plan to cross Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence River, then into the area called 1000 Lakes.

After today we are not sure how often we will have internet access. We will be cruising in Canada for 4-5 weeks and will update our blog whenever possible.

Brewerton, NY - June 28, 2008

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The weather forecast for today was rain so we decided to stay here another day. It is not fun going through locks in the rain. We used one of the courtesy cars at the marina to go shopping. We dropped Margaret off to do laundry, then Bob, Darrell and Beth went to West Marine, a grocery store and Wal-Mart before picking Margaret up and going back to the marina.

Storms and rain off and on all afternoon. Darrell took advantage of the rain and washed the boat. It stopped raining and the sun came out about 4. It started getting warm.

There is a flower planter just a little way from our boat that has a duck nesting on eggs. We’re told she has been there about 2 weeks so the eggs should be hatching in another 1-2 weeks. I got a picture of it. Can you see the duck? She blends in very well.

Herkimer, NY – Brewerton, NY, June 27, 2008

Today was pretty uneventful. We got underway at 7:30 with an overcast sky. It never rained and was a nice day for cruising. The sun started coming out around 2:30 this afternoon, but it was still quite nice, not very hot. Again, the scenery was very pretty. One picture shows a bridge just before the lock. There were a lot of private docks, many of them having table and chairs, ready for entertaining.

Margaret called us this morning to tell us they were going to Winter Harbor Marina for the night. They had called and there was a very good boat rate as well as very reasonable diesel, with a discount for cash. It was quite a haul for us but we were going to try to make it.

We only went through 4 locks today, and were held up at all of them. One was already locking through a boat going west and had one waiting to go east. That was about a 20 minute wait. We’re not sure what was going on with the second lock, but we had to wait about 15 minutes for it to open. The 3rd lock waited for a boat that was quite a ways behind us and was going very slowly. The 4th lock took extra time because the boat mentioned at the previous lock didn’t have a permit and had to buy one.

The 3rd and 4th lock were ‘down’ locks. We went down 25 feet in each lock, so ended up today at an elevation of 369’.

We went through Oneida Lake, the largest body of water on the Erie Canal.

We made Winter Haven Marina just before 5 this afternoon. Winter Haven is located in Brewerton and is very close to Syracuse. We were in time to fuel up and pump out. We took on 163.9 gallons of diesel. We hope that will take us on all our travels in Canada because the cost of diesel is higher there.

Total locks 24.

Fonda, NY – Herkimer, NY - June 26, 2008

When Darrell started the engines this morning one didn’t sound right. So, he went down to the engine room to check. A new alternator belt Darrell had installed had stretched a little. He fixed it and we were off.

It was raining this morning. Not good weather for going through locks. We were going to get wet. We could only hope it would quit raining soon. It did stop while we went through the first three locks, but started again at 11:30 with three locks to go before our intended stop. There were showers off and on the rest of the day.

The Erie Canal locks use one of three methods to allow you to hold your boat in position on the wall as the lock floods or drains. One has several pipes running down both sides of the lock. You pull up next to one of the pipes amidships and run a line around the pipe. You secure one end of the rope to a cleat, then loosely loop the end of the same line around the cleat. As the boat raises or lowers, the line slides up or down the pipe and holds the boat in place. This is the easiest type of lock.

The second type uses rubber coated steel cables anchored top and bottom along the sides of the lock walls. You use the same procedure as above.

The third method simply has ropes hanging down the lock wall in several places on both sides of the lock. This is the most common type of lock we see in the New York Canal System. You bring your boat in between two of these ropes. One takes a forward rope and one holds an aft rope. You really need gloves for this because the ropes are wet, dirty and slimy. You simply hold on to the rope to hold the boat in place. This can get difficult if the wind or the current in the lock is significant. There is current depending on where the flood or drain gates are located in the lock.

We went through lock 17 today. Not only is this the highest lift lock on the Erie Canal, it is believed to be one of only two locks in North America where the entrance gate is lifted above the boater instead of opening with swinging doors. The other is in Ottawa River in Canada. Lock 17 is also the largest single step lock on the Erie Canal, going up 40 feet.

The gate of lock 17 made very ominous sounds when closing. There was clanging and echoing as the gate very slowly lowered. It sounded much like an iron gate in a castle or prison slamming shut.

In addition to several marinas, the canal system offers complimentary tie-up spaces at most locks and towns along the way. Almost all of them are very nice and some even provide electricity. Our stay at Fonda last night was next to a park with picnic tables and a grill. It was a gated area and the park gates closed at 3:30 p.m. There was a sign there that said Welcome Boaters. We forgot to mention in yesterdays posting that the Henry Fonda clan is from Fonda, NY.

We were able to stop for the day earlier than yesterday. We are at Herkimer, NY at a complimentary dock. We tied up at 3:30. There is new building next to the dock which houses a restaurant on one end and a very nice upscale gift shop in the rest of it. There are products from over 50 vendors. Darrell rode the bike to a nearby store to buy oil. He wants to change the oil before we cross Lake Ontario.

In the pictures, look at how smooth and glassy the water is. You could see the reflection of the bridge and the trees in the water. It was beautiful.

Today we went through 6 locks, for a total of 20 locks. We are at an elevation of 383 feet above sea level.

Waterford, NY – Fonda, NY - June 25, 2008

We were into the Erie Canal Lock #2 at 7:45 this morning. (Lock #1 is at Troy, and is not considered part of the Erie Canal). The first 5 locks of the Erie Canal, lock #2-6, raised us a total of 151 feet over 1.5 miles. We got through lock #6 at 9:20 a.m. and were then able to cruise awhile before the next lock(s).

The Erie Canal was the dream of New York State Governor DeWitt Clinton. It opened October 26, 1825 and was 4’ deep and 40’ wide. It was over 340 miles long and connected Troy, NY on the Hudson River to Buffalo NY on Lake Erie. It was a great success and settlers went westward, sawmills and other industries sprang up and prosperous towns were established. The Erie Canal has been enlarged and modified since then and is still the mainstay of the New York Canal System. We were on the Mohawk River most of the day, not a dredged part of the canal.

We aren’t going to Lake Erie so will be on the Erie Canal only until we reach Three Rivers. We will then go north on the Oswego Canal, which will take us to Lake Ontario.

The scenery is very pretty. The land alongside of the canal appears sparsely populated and undeveloped, with natural woodlands. There are a few homes and a marina every once in awhile. Most of these are where towns are close by.

We had a long day today. We stopped at a free dock in Fonda, N.Y. and were tied up by 5:45. On the water 10 hours and only went 48.4 miles. That is because of the time it takes to go through the locks.

We will now start keeping track of the number of locks we go through. As of yesterday there had been 3. Two locks in the Dismal Swamp, one at the start and one at the end, and one lock at Troy. Today, we went through 11 locks, 286’ vertically, for a total of 14 locks.