The Erie Canal : Tonawanda to Oneida Lake 

Tonawanda : July 31 (amended)

west end of the Erie Canal

After posting the blog I planned to go to bed (10:30pm) but Jim had other ideas.  He and Jan had been enjoying the evening with adult beverages and decided we should go to town.  So, off we went.  We decided to take a slightly different route and use the pedestrian bridge.  Then over the river to Crazy Jakes and a live band.  Just as we stepped off the bridge there was a thwack… looking back we see break lights, then shouting… a pickup appeared to have hit a car at the traffic light.  Then the truck slams into reverse and backs the truck over the entire length of the bridge…. does a 180 in front of us and the young blonde female driver speeds away, immediately followed by a small sports car hot

The lower part is the old path used to pull the barges 

on her bumper!  Jim managed to get a picture (really blurry) of the truck departing.  We waited a few minutes.  No police, no further crash sounds… hope they work that out.  Now, on to ‘Jakes’.   We got drinks and found a table.   Our luck… we just missed the final set by a member from the 3 Dog Night!  The next band started … We decided it wasn't quite the music any of us would enjoy for long. Off to the Irish pub.  A quick drink and we called it a night.

A guard gate

The Erie Canal.  We will travel the entire distance of the Erie Canal portion: 337 miles, then continue on to New York, after re-rigging the boat near Albany, NY.  Total distance: 491 miles.  

Aug 1

Tonawanda to  Lockport: The Flight of Five then Gasport

exiting a lock

In a lock waiting to descend 

Jim returned the car and we were off about 10:30… Not a early start but we don't have a time schedule to meet.  This part of the canal is very natural looking.  It originally was the Tonawanta creek, widened to meet the canal needs.  With the natural look come a few obstacles; barely visible branches from submerged logs and a few stray floaters.  The current is about 1/2 - 1 knot down stream, our direction.   Along the north wall we can be see the old path the mules or horses used to pull the barges along the canal route, although quite over grown today.  The sides of the canal walls here are solid rock and had to be cut ( dynamited ? ) to make the path.  It appears to be about 6 - 8 feet wide.  Very scenic.  Interesting.  Before long, we were at our first REAL lock.  Lockport.  Mile 18.  The Flight of Five.  A 2 step lock composed of locks #35 and #34.  The ‘old’ locks had 2 sets of 5 steps ( locks) known as the Flight of Five.  This allowed to traffic in both
directions at the same time.  The new (hundred year old locks) have only 2 steps… locks gates are back to back.  Upon permission, you enter the first lock (we will be  descending 50 feet total) and secure to the wall with a rope looped around cables that run from the top of the lock to the bottom.  As you descend the rope slides down the cable.  The boat handlers, Jan and I, keep some tension on the line and fend off the wall simultaneously to hold our position.  Jim at the helm in case….. ?  We descend the first lock, 3 boats in all, then we all proceed to the second adjoining  lock.  A tour boat passing in the opposite direction taking our place having ridden #34 lock up.    The lock gates close and we descend again.  Total time … 20 - 30 minutes.

over looking the new and old locks 

a lift bridge

We proceed to the town wall and tie up.  Most town walls are free or nearly so.  We hike back up to town to see the original set of 5 locks.  Much more narrow than the locks currently being used.  The auto bridge here is one of the widest in the world (Jim read it on a plaque)… over 400 feet wide.   A walk around town and we head back and continue the voyage.  The ram rod of a mast sticking out is getting less daunting for us.  The next part of the canal is more of a cut, like a wide ditch through farm land, less scenic but pretty impressive feet of enginerring.  At least one side of the canal has a path that is paved and used extensively by locals for biking, walking, fishing, etc. In total, more than 100 miles of bike / walking path.  No motorized traffic allowed along this portion.  The canal walls are lined with rock, the north side beyond the wall is lower than the canal itself, it’s odd to see land below us.  We pass lots of agricultural fields: apples, corn, cabbage, and hay fields.  A swamp, a prison, and a few lakes open onto the canal.  There are LOTS of bridges, every 3rd one or so a ‘lift’ bridge.  We have to call on the VHF to the bridge operator to tell them of our approach (east /west) and our intentions.  A lift bridge is so low it has to be lifted by mechanical means for boaters to pass under.   Each bridge controller operators has 2 or more bridges to operate / coordinate.  He / she has to let your boat through then drive to the next bridge… a couple of blocks of a few miles.  The information is passed on to the next bridge operator enabling the flow of traffic, boat and auto, to be as smooth as possible.  The towns are anywhere 4 miles to 10 miles apart.  This allowed for the mules and horses a rest period from pulling their heavy loads.  The barges were floating houses, with cooking, laundry and living quarters aboard.  Families living aboard and performing chores similar to land dwellers while moving along the canal.   

canal side with hay field to north

We continue on, taking turns steering.  The canal is anywhere from 50 feet wide to maybe 100 feet wide.  Along the way we also encounter ‘guard gates’.  They look like HUGE guillotines.  They are place periodically along the canal, their purpose to isolate sections inorder to perform maintenance or repair, cutting off the water flow to a specific location .  

Holley Falls with wedding party fishing 

We decide to stop in Gasport for the night.  A good first days run. 24 miles.  We tie to the town wall behind another sail boat, Manatee from Huron, Ohio.  This is there 5th run through the canal over the last few years.  Newly retired, they are heading to the Bahamas for the winter.  We will see more of them as we continue on I’m sure.  Jeff and Sandy give us good information about this part of the canal.  Jeff is helping to amend the guide book ‘Skipper Bob’s Erie Canal’.  A publication for boaters to help them locate goods and services along the route.  On their recommendation we get a pizza.  While waiting we head to the biggest, most organized ACE hardware you can imagine… It is housed in a big, old two story house, complete with basement.  It they don't have it… they WILL get it for you.  I had been wanting an New York Canal System ‘flag’ since we started the trip.  The manager says: ‘give me your contact info, I’ll get you one.”  OK, but I live on a boat… He says… ‘then I’ll ship it to you’ … so, we’ll see it he can pull it off.  Not only is this a superior hardware store… it is a “Christmas’ shop encompassing the entire upstairs: 5 + bedrooms.  The basement is full of hardware supplies as well, highly organized through out.   Outside is a lumber lard.  The managers daughter is an animal lover and has taken in any and all abandoned cats.  She spays or nutters them and last count, the yard had 20 +/- cats.  NO mice or other vermin… We collected our pizza. Ate till we thought we’d burst then off to the ‘Beef and Beer’ on the corner.  Restaurant and bar.  They have a live band!!  It’s Saturday night.  Wooo Hooo !   Jeff and Sandy join us.  By 9:45 the 5 of us make up HALF of the listening patrons for the evening… We call it a night and head home by 10.  

Our new Dutch friends, the van der Heide's

Trivia for the day… While visiting with Jeff and Sandy, they told us that the ‘ditch part of the locks are drain nearly empty every winter for maintenance.  A bonus for the locals… the bit of water remaining makes for great ice skating and snowmobiling…   

Brockport,  Aug 2

Jan weathering the weather ...

Next morning, we are off.  The plan to go to Brookport, mile 59.  We follow Manatee until they pull off at Middleport ( there are LOTS of towns with ‘port’ in their tittle).  We continue on.  We make a quick a stop at Medina, hoping to see the only section of the canal that goes OVER the roadway.  Jim called the lift bridge operator.  It is too far to walk too to this section, but the bridge operator asks if we want the shower code?  Hmmm, hope he didn't ‘smell’ us from his perch on the bridge.  We tie off and hit the free showers… in the basement area of the NAPA auto parts shop next to the canal.  FREE.  Clean.  Huge.  Most towns offer boaters this type of service,  hoping you will stay for a while.  Spend some time and money.   Refreshed, we headed up to town.  It is  Sunday so we don't expect too much open but nearly every shop / building is boarded up.  The building facades are beautifully crafted from sand stone, locally quarried.  3 stories high.  A railroad runs / stops in town.  It was an ideal location for merchants and travelers.  Unfortunately, nearly abandoned now.

  

Continuing on, we take a break around 1 for lunch in a real sleepy burg.  Then off again.  Next a stop at Holley to see the falls.  A short walk.  Approaching, we notice a small wedding party near the base of the falls, half of which or casting fishing lines into the pool area.  The Bride and her maid of honor in formal gowns, reeling in fish…. quite a site.  

a close call

It is still odd for us to look out and see land, fields, etc. yet we are often higher then the surrounding area.

Another fun fact… in the early 1800’s a group set sail from Sweden for the U.S.  Stopping at Elis Island they incurred a fine.  Their 50+ foot boat registered for 16 people was carrying over 62 people.  Hard to imagine… The group continued on toward Holley, NY.  At one point the captain had to leave the group then got stranded due to the winter / draining of the locks… Not fazing him, he grabbed a set of ice skates and skated the remaining few hundred miles… 

Guinness Book of world records lift bridge

Continuing on our final leg today, we head for Brockport.  A junior college town… Wegman's grocery, and a thriving downtown district.  We check in and pay for the use of the wall.  $20.00.  quite a deal.  We use the loaner bikes to travel the 1.5 miles to the grocery store.  Then back for dinner aboard.  Along the way we see many of the Victorian homes the town is noted for.  

Aug 3

Brockport to Fairport

We linger in the morning.  Dark clouds around.  The radar shows all clear but the weather report calls for rain.  We take a walk down main street which is busy with auto traffic.  We hit the new / used book store and make a purchase then run into a family that has been biking along the canal.  l we passed / got passed by them numerous times yesterday… They have 3 boys and are biking from Toronto and through New York state this summer.  They are from the Netherlands.  Tent camping and every now and then a ‘Warm Showers’ host.  ‘Warm Showers’ is a program  where like minded travelers offer other travelers the use of part of their home / property for free.  A bed, a shower, kitchen and information about the area.  

Lock walls detiorating 

We head down the canal, the clouds building as we go.  A lift bridge ahead, we call the operator.  He is at his other lift.  We’ll have to wait bit.  We tie to the wall and see our biker family… “come on over for a coffee”… they do.  What a lovely family they have:  Jochum and Anita van der Heide.  The children are curious,  I invite them to look around down below. We have coffee and cocoa while the rain passes through.  I am envious they are able to do this with their young family.  Such a great thing to experience… 

Anchor project

We part ways, they are heading to Rochester, NY.  Continuing on through rock walls, forests, peoples back yards…  Just as I set lunch out it starts to rain again.  Then it pours.  Jan is at the helm.  I duck below and I take advantage of the weather to put baby-back ribs on,  using the pressure cooker.   45 minutes later the sun is out and it warms us up.  Ribs are ready for tonights dinner.  Fall off the bone tender.  Thank you Rose for the tip:   hippressurecooking.com .   Great web site for cooking with a pressure cooker… 

We begin to see considerable more industry as we continue east. Up ahead at the Rochester Hwy interchange, our Dutch friends are there to wave good bye… We take snaps as we pass below / above… wishing each other safe travels.  

Soon after we are at lock #32.  A call to the operator, we grab the cables / line to control the boat as it depends.  The discharge is quite fast.  We were told to allow 30 minutes per lock but it has taken far less each time.   Exiting we see a canal rental boat.  As we proceed we see more and more.  

bridge inspection via canal boat

This stretch is quite scenic.  Tree lined, forests, a few bay areas.  Lots of bridges and lock gates.  We cross the Great Embankment.  It is 70 feet above grade.  It took backbreaking work, hundreds of thousands of wheel barrow loads of dirt, logs and rocks to build this part of the canal. It crosses a i mile wide valley.  This requiring it to be filled in along the intended canal walls.  Both sides had to be built up to keep the canal more of less level.  Quite a feat of engineering and manpower.  Further on, we decide to stop at Pittsford before continuing on to Fairport.  Pittsford has a nice downtown area.  The water front lively with canal traffic and restaurants.  

On to Fairport.  We call to the lift bridge operator.  He says he will lift the bridge on demand… it is suppose to open only on the half hour.  Thank you!  This is our last lift bridge of the canal in the westerly direction… we will encounter more locks as we progress.  

More fun facts:  The Fairport Lift Bridge is in the Guinness Book of World records for several reasons.  One end is higher than the other, it is built on a slant and no two angles on the entire bridge are the same.  

after the rains

We choose the last spot on the south wall.  FAR from the bridge.  The traffic noise can be loud and slightly annoying when you want to sleep… This is quite popular boating destination / stop.  The dock host is soon over and spends 15 minutes orienting us to town and what is has to offer.  We have dinner: ribs with Ben’s home made BBQ sauce and Stephen’s mash taters… Kathy’s son’s secret recipes… Yummmm.  We are in a food coma.  We clean up (best bathroom / showers of the ENTIRE trip) and head off to see the sights.  Free wifi at the Irish Pub so we HAD to stop in… We enjoyed a pint or two.  Then off for bed hoping the nearly constant train traffic won’t keep us from sleep.  It doesn’t. 

Lyons, Aug 4

We head out just before 9, Destination, Lyons.  We encounter several locks today.  Looking a the chart book, we notice there is NO lock number 31… We ask one of the lock operators…  ‘When the Erie Canal was designed, the plans were for 35 locks.  As the idea became a reality, it was decided that one of the locks would not needed so #31 was omitted.  The locks had already been numbered and to renumber them meant time and money.’ 

I make a rhubarb custard crisp along the way to help pass the time on my off shift.

Lock master at work

200 years ago this work was all done by hand and backbreaking work.  Keeping the locks more or less level over huge expanses of acreage was a huge accomplishment.  The canal sides today were quite rural and often thick with greenery.  A few times we could see the remnants of the old canal wall paralleling the current wall.  We passed a team of workers, tugs and dredging equipment increasing the depths where shoaling has taken place.  On the bank we saw an old motor bike that had been submerged in the canal… wonder what other treasures the canal holds? 

Proceeding through Locks 30, 29, 28 A & 28 B,  then on to lock 27 and Lyons.  We had planned a fuel stop but the sky was increasingly getting dark and rumbling in the distance, we pushed on to Lyons.  Waiting for the lock to close, we notice a work boat, over the overflow canal next to us… Two guys in the bucket, raised up to the underside of the bridge.  The boats driver keeping the boat pointed steady into the current, holding the boat in place as the bucket / guys perform their inspection… quite a site!  

old aquaduct

Just as we tie the boat off, the rains descended on us.  10 mintues, then the sky cleared and we head to the “fire house’ for information… The Fire House hosts boaters here, providing information, toilets and really nice showers… update:  Lyons Fire Department has the best showers…so far, putting them in first place. The fireman (driver) on duty gave us a brief history of the area.  Peppermint factory, the old Canal route through main street, Abe Lincoln slept here, etc…Then they get a call to check out a ‘gas leak”.  We head out in the direction the fireman directed us to when coming down the side walk we see, then ‘hear’ ( fire engines sounds made by a young human voice)… a young man on a bike speeding our way… we step aside as he continues his fire engine sounds heading in the direction of the firetruck’s call.  Trying not to laugh too hard, we continue.  

We head to Aldi’s.  Jan will be working as a regional manager for Aldi’s in Germany upon his return.  He would like to see how Americans run ‘his’ store.   Along the way we talk with the maintenance crew from the lock boat that was doing inspections.  Then off to the grocery store located closer to the boat.  A quick purchase and we head back just in time to avoid the next downpour.  Then showers at the Fire Station and off to town.  We stop at Growlers, offering local brews and food.  The town buildings, many from the time of the original Erie Canal are still here.  The movie theater was recently renovated to its original decor complete with organ, large screen and side lights.  Many of the building have murals showcasing images of mule drawn barges, daily life and scenery from the area.  Back aboard, rhubarb custard crisp, game night and sleep.  

Aug 5

Lyons to Baldwinsville

peppermint plant gift 

As we were preparing for departure this morning, the dock ‘host’ came by, thanked us for stopping and gave us a peppermint plant like the ones the town’s industry was built on.  The local farmers would grow acres and acres of peppermint (black stem), harvest them, then boil the leaves till the oil surfaced.  The oil was bottled and shipped worldwide.  Today it is a hobby industry and talking point for the town.  With the addition to the garden aboard, we cast off the lines and head east again.  The locks today were in much need of repair.  Our usual routine for ‘locking’ is one on the bow holding the lock lines, one near the midship / stern doing the same and one driving.  We take turns at these tasks.  As Jim use the boat hook to fend us off the wall, parts of the concrete break off and tumble into the water.  It is impossible to avoid further damage to the walls no matter how carful we are.  With the small amount of money going through the locks via fees from the diminishing boat traffic in recent years, there isn't much money for repairs.  

Proceeding on, Jim  takes advantage of his off shift to make up  a new line for the anchor rode.  Rain threatens on and off all day. We pass through fields, forests and backyards again.  The canal walls are now made of poured concrete as well as rock portions and vegetation where the canal connects to a creek or river area.  Then a nice surprise.  The remnants of the old Montezuma Aqueduct where the canal of 1862 crossed the Seneca River.   

We squeezed into the last space on the wall, tied up and took a breather:  The wind had picked up as we made our approach and we had to abandon our original plan.  We come about into the wind (turn around) and dock.  We were thankful to the help from boaters on shore.  The fee today: 15 dollars IF you use electric.  So, today / night we stay for free again… We walk about town.  It’s well kept and seems to be thriving.  Buildings from 100 - 200 years ago housing new businesses but retaining their original facades.  

The bridge over the canal gives a great vantage point for watching boats ride the lock up or down.  The Lock Operator was friendly (they all have been) and happy to talk about and share his knowledge, having worked there for over 20 years.  He told us that gravity mainly does the fill and drain for the locks.  This lock holds about 1.25 million gallons of water!  The walls of the locks house tunnels that divert the water into and out of the lock as needed.  The lock operators work year round on ‘their’ lock.  In season opening and closing the locks and performing routine maintenance: painting, oiling, inspecting…  The winters are spent doing more thorough  maintenance and repairs.  

open mic

We had dinner on the grill, steaks and veggies, then off to LIVE music.  Tonight is open mic at the nearby restaurant and bar.  Outside seating.  First up a really good guitar player… not so skilled in the vocal department.  Then a young man (underage for a bar)… he could really play his guitar and sing… unfortunately, he only played 2 songs before he had to go.  Then a duet with the host and a vocalist.  They made a great combo playing tunes most of us knew.  It had been a long day so we headed back home.

Aug 6

We lazed around all morning.  Heads foggy.  A quick trip to the scene of last night’s crime to pick up wifi… We have have had nearly no wifi for a couple weeks!  I’m having withdrawals.  Our data plan is used up and we have 3 more days till it resets… You’d think 10 BIG ‘bites’ would be enough… 

Heading out, more rural settings along the way.  Some houses and condos too.  A marsh and quite a few shore birds.  Other than the birds not much wildlife along the entire canal.  

Then our first ‘lift’ lock today, huge pines along the canal.  Continuing on, mile after mile.  Chilly temps today, in the low 70’s have us back in long sleeves.  We have grown accustomed to 80+ temps…   The canal was much wider today, even widening to a ‘lake’ at one point.   We make our destination of Bremerton within a few hours.  A short day with Oneida Lake just around the corner.  We fuel up then head to the town wall.   We took the dinghy for a spin tossing a few spiders over the side.  Jan tried his hand at fishing… no luck.  After dinner he was back at it and caught one !!!!   Unfortunately, it was a Gobi… an invasive species to the Great Lakes.  ALL boaters / fishermen are asked to ‘dispose of them’ if caught (sorry little buddy). Then a short time later, Jan came through the companionway with an really big catch…. Ice cream for all… 3 cheers for Jan!