When we came down through the locks, there was no charge for using the locks. This spring, it was decided to impose fees again and the passes are $15.00 for a 2 day pass and $37.50 for a 10 day pass. On the first day that promised to be sunny we started off with Richard and Janice from Carpe Diem IX and Bob and Paul from Fourth Watch through the locks of the Eire Canal, purchasing a 10 day pass.
Lock 2
Locks 2 to 6 are a within a two mile stretch and must be done one after another. There are no stopping places in between these locks which raised us 169 feet above the Hudson River escarpment.
We then followed the Mohawk River west as this eastern section of the Eire Canal follows this natural waterway past towns and little villages. The railway follows this path as well and we could see the trains rushing past us as we went from lock to lock. When we tied up at Amsterdam past Lock 10, we could hear the trains all night blowing a shrill whistle every time they came to the town crossing.
The original Erie Canal was finished in 1825, was 363 miles long, 4 ft. deep, 40 ft. wide and an engineering marvel in its day. It connected the Hudson River with the Great Lakes and opened up the population in the centre of the continent to shipping to and from the rest of the world. Originally mules or horses would walk along the canal pulling the boats through the ups and downs of the canal.
Then
And now
The present canal was completed in 1903 and has 34 locks in total. (35 if you count the federal one at Troy) We would only go through 23 of them before we turned onto the Oswego Canal. At almost every lock there is a free wall or dock to tie up to either east or west of the lock.
I could not resist taking a peak into one of these little tugs.
Many of these courtesy docking areas have picnic areas, charcoal barbecues and interesting towns to visit.
At Amsterdam, from our dock, I took pictures of the Volkswagen Car sitting on top of an 80 ft. smokestack. Then after supper we went for a walk into town. The next picture shows how quickly the weather would change. By the time we got back to the boat, we were all wet.
A car on the top of a smokestack is a sight that you don’t see every day. What is the reason for it? We never did find that out.
We stopped again at Canajoharie, past Lock 13 to stretch our legs and then spent the next two nights at Herkimer past Lock 18. We could walk to Wal-Mart, Dollar Store, K-Mart, Rite-Aid and the liquor store. What else could a boater want?
Thank goodness for our West Marine cart which we used to cart things back and forth.
Buoys here, buoys there, buoys everywhere!
No matter where we stopped, we always found time to get together for dinner.
Just before crossing Oneida Lake, we stopped at Sylvan Beach which provides 1200 ft. of free dock on both sides of the bridge. It was the Monday of the Memorial Day weekend and every picnic table and barbecue in the huge park along the waterfront and the sandy beach were filled with families and young people. The amusement park opens on Memorial Day and there were many takers for all the rides. Many motor bikers got together at one of the waterfront cafés. Unfortunately after a nice morning and afternoon, it started to spit, then drizzle and by late evening, it was pouring and the fireworks were cancelled.
Oneida Lake is shallow and can be rough if it is windy so we crossed easily at daylight and by 10:00, we were stretching our legs in Brewerton. By 4:00 we had turned onto the Oswego Canal and stopped before the first lock at Phoenix.
When we came down through the locks, there was no charge for using the locks. This spring, it was decided to impose fees again and the passes are $15.00 for a 2 day pass and $37.50 for a 10 day pass. On the first day that promised to be sunny we started off with Richard and Janice from Carpe Diem IX and Bob and Paul from Fourth Watch through the locks of the Eire Canal, purchasing a 10 day pass.
Lock 2
We then followed the Mohawk River west as this eastern section of the Eire Canal follows this natural waterway past towns and little villages. The railway follows this path as well and we could see the trains rushing past us as we went from lock to lock. When we tied up at Amsterdam past Lock 10, we could hear the trains all night blowing a shrill whistle every time they came to the town crossing.
The original Erie Canal was finished in 1825, was 363 miles long, 4 ft. deep, 40 ft. wide and an engineering marvel in its day. It connected the Hudson River with the Great Lakes and opened up the population in the centre of the continent to shipping to and from the rest of the world. Originally mules or horses would walk along the canal pulling the boats through the ups and downs of the canal.
Then
And now
I could not resist taking a peak into one of these little tugs.
Many of these courtesy docking areas have picnic areas, charcoal barbecues and interesting towns to visit.
At Amsterdam, from our dock, I took pictures of the Volkswagen Car sitting on top of an 80 ft. smokestack. Then after supper we went for a walk into town. The next picture shows how quickly the weather would change. By the time we got back to the boat, we were all wet.
A car on the top of a smokestack is a sight that you don’t see every day. What is the reason for it? We never did find that out.
We stopped again at Canajoharie, past Lock 13 to stretch our legs and then spent the next two nights at Herkimer past Lock 18. We could walk to Wal-Mart, Dollar Store, K-Mart, Rite-Aid and the liquor store. What else could a boater want?
Thank goodness for our West Marine cart which we used to cart things back and forth.
Buoys here, buoys there, buoys everywhere!
Just before crossing Oneida Lake, we stopped at Sylvan Beach which provides 1200 ft. of free dock on both sides of the bridge. It was the Monday of the Memorial Day weekend and every picnic table and barbecue in the huge park along the waterfront and the sandy beach were filled with families and young people. The amusement park opens on Memorial Day and there were many takers for all the rides. Many motor bikers got together at one of the waterfront cafés. Unfortunately after a nice morning and afternoon, it started to spit, then drizzle and by late evening, it was pouring and the fireworks were cancelled.
Oneida Lake is shallow and can be rough if it is windy so we crossed easily at daylight and by 10:00, we were stretching our legs in Brewerton. By 4:00 we had turned onto the Oswego Canal and stopped before the first lock at Phoenix.
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