Oswego and Erie Canal:
We have been sitting in Waterford, NY since Wednesday, August 23rd. This is the end of the Erie Canal if you are going east and right before the Hudson River. N 42’47.23, W073’40.76 You receive 2 nights free and then $10/night for free water/electric/etc. We were in the canal for 10 days (August 14-23rd) prior to getting to Waterford. We have the Troy Lock to go through (about 3nm away) and then can put up our mast. We plan on having this done at Riverview Marine about 45nm down the Hudson River so have to watch tides (5’) and currents (2k) for the first time to make sure we aren’t going against it most of the day since we only motor about 6k. So far we have gone 1637nm since June 12th.
Thoughts below:
- We went from 1K Islands to Sacket’s Harbor (Navy Point Marina), anchored Stony Point and then onto Oswego, NY to take the mast down.
- We met up with Ista’s and the 2 other boats they have been traveling with the entire Erie Canal at Sylvan Beach (August 18th) and were told that Lock #10 was open. That was GREAT news. It makes you sorta feel like you better hurry up to get through but we slowly continued on. We traveled with them abit as we continued East and only saw sailboats heading West. It was nice to compare stories. Prior to that we would meet other mostly Canadian sailors on Lake Ontario but only for an evening while anchored somewhere.
- WiFi internet is becoming not as easy to get as we tied onto a wall (free) not always near a town.
- Taking down the mast is a lot of work and sad to see Sojourn transform. It took us about a day to get sails put away, wires pulled, shrouds/backstay unhooked, etc. The Oswego Marina (Billie (Craig’s brother) and Crew) did a great job pulling the mast. We were able to find a mast cradle in their pile of wood that fit our boat pretty well. So we thank S/V “Golden Eye” for their efforts on putting this together wherever they are.
- Tom replaced Link 2000R. So Sojourn can have batteries charged from engine once again.
- I was surprised that I didn’t see that much wildlife while traveling the canal. But this maybe because we were motoring. We did see ducks, grey & white herons, lots of homes and at the end more hills stemming from adironsdack/appalacian and farms. It was a pleasant experience.
- We would tie to a wall or floating dock and at times get electric. We would usually be able to find water and toilets. Ista’s said that west of Oswego you would usually get showers and at times free laundry. Toward the end we were sleep challenged with the canal being trapped by the trains on one side and freeway on other. The trains were a better alternative but the 2 long/1 short/1 long as it entered the town would get abit annoying – otherwise I like the rumble. I think Tom was having nightmares of his past train work.
- The Erie Canal is 524 miles and comprises 54 locks completed again in 1918. Toward the end it wasn’t just a dugout ditch but part of the Mohawk River. I was surprised that even though we were going with the current that we didn’t notice a boost. So the issue with going Westbound is just abit more challenge in the lock (but no big deal). The locks would average 8-15’ drop until the end where it was 33-35’. Lock #17 had a 40’ drop and an overhead vs swinging out gate (only one in world?). We couldn’t tell if the canal was polluted but was certainly brown water and therefore you didn’t want to take a swim. The condition of the locks varied to huge holes in older cement walls, leaking gates/walls to brand new steel walls and lines to hang onto. Some boats (like us) used fender boards but not really necessary. They worked better if you had straw bags as we did left over from the Welland Canal. We went to several farmers markets to get our produce.
- What’s interesting is that wherever you go you run into other sailors that know of you through other friends/sailors.
- Lock 9-15 (toward eastern end) was devastated by what some lock keepers were describing as a 100 year flood. Some called the stationary rain storms a “micro cell”. These rains happened both in early June and then again in July. Due to this damage they weren’t allowing any overnight mooring on their walls before or after the lock (as the rest did). You would see some boats still tied to a wall waiting to get through but most either went up the Chambla Canal or got trucked around. We were told that it would cost around $5K to be trucked (including unstepping/stepping/etc.) So we were blessed by the intense efforts of the canal workers! Truly the canal workers were very nice and gracious to share what they new. Rose also liked being called “cap” during the Channel #13 communications.
- I gave Tom his first haircut. I was surprised — it looked pretty good.