Day 137 - What Goes Up Must Come Down



Another cool and sunny start to the day, but we could see the dark clouds to the west.  We moved the boat closer to the pump-out, took care of that, and left the marina at 9:05 am.  Again, nothing but trees on both sides of the canal.  It was fairly shallow here and there were logs and debris sticking up.  The wind was up and the temperature down as we approached Lock 19.  It began to rain lightly as we went in, and Dad and I had our rain jackets on to handle the lines.  We were out by 10:08 am.  I noticed that there were now lots of pine trees as we were higher above sea level.

There was a working dredge outside the lock; good thing as it was still shallow.  We passed a second dredge between the lock and town of Utica.  The sky was lightening up which Dad and I were happy to see.  We saw a third dredge blocking the canal at the town dock.  Captain Randy thought he might have room to pass him on the port and called the dredge to clear it.  The dredge told us to wait and he would move.  Then he advised us to stay close to his hull and then keep a red buoy to our starboard as we maneuvered around him.  It’s a good thing Captain Randy is an excellent boat handler because the space between the dredge and buoy was very narrow!

 

 

We saw what looked to be another Guard Gate on a small branch of the canal off to the port, but it was not numbered.   We were at Lock 20 by 11:30 am and out at 11:50 am.  There was a fourth dredge on the starboard side of the canal and the captain tried to get him on the radio but there was no answer.  At 12:25 pm we reached the highest point on the canal, 420 feet.  We had been traveling higher since leaving the Hudson River.

 

 

Guard Gate 6 was next, then the town of Rome and Guard Gate 7 at 1:00 pm.  Two miles before Lock 21, we passed what looked to be a section of the old canal.  A sailboat was waiting outside Lock 21 when got there.  After being lifted at each lock so far, we were dropping down 25 feet in this one.  It seemed odd to be starting at the top of the lock after starting at the bottom so many times.  Dad says that it is much easier going down than up.  We exited this lock and entered Lock 22 ten minutes later for another 25 foot drop.  It was 2:50  pm when we left and only 4 miles to Sylvan Beach on Lake Oneida, our destination for the day.  The speed limit to the lake was only 5 mph so it took us 40 minutes to get to Mariner’s Landing Marina, arriving at 3:30 pm.  We had partly cloudy skies most of the day, but now it was clearing nicely and 73 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The marina and adjoining RV park is owned by the Oneida Nation, as stated on the marina’s sign.  The neighborhood surrounding the marina is made up of neat manufactured homes.  We saw an Oneida Nation police car driving by but we’re not sure how much of the area is owned by them.

We checked in and then relaxed on the boat, enjoying the sunshine.  About 5:30 pm though, it was dark again and rained hard for over an hour.  When it stopped, we walked into the town of Sylvan Beach for dinner at the Canal View Café, a restaurant that sits at the junction of Lake Oneida and the Erie Canal.  The place was busy and we had to wait a few minutes for a table.  We sat at the bar to wait and alas – again no rum for the Captain.  The food was good and plentiful though and I was glad for the walk back to the boat.  I was also glad it didn’t rain again!

 

 

Day 136 - Exploring the Old Canal

We didn’t have too far to go today so it was 9:58 am when we left.  The weather was like the day before, cool and sunny, going into the mid-70s very shortly.  Ten minutes later we were at Lock 16 but had to wait for an eastbound boat to come through.  After we went through, we tied up and walked over to the lock station.  The lockmaster was very friendly, as most of them are, and told us a little about how everything works.  An old switch box from 1905 is still in use to open the gates.  The locks have been reconstructed and modernized a number of times since originally built in 1825.  The canal was relocated to the river system around the turn of the 19th century as well, when steam powered boats were invented.   The State of New York has constructed biking and walking trails and will have over 500 miles when they are completed.

 

 

At this point, we left the Mohawk River for “the ditch” or new canal route.  We went through Guard Gate 3 at 11:35 am.  On the south bank we saw Herkimer House, built in 1764 by Nicholas Herkimer, a Revolutionary War hero.  His father Johan first settled there in 1725 and was one of the most successful German Americans in the Hudson River Valley.

It was a little disappointing to us to realize that we were not going to see much of the original Erie Canal.  We did see part of the old lock system when we tied up in front of Lock 17 near the City of Little Falls.  The lock was much narrower than the current locks.  Lock 17 has the highest lift on the canal at 40.5 feet.  It has a gate that lowers and raises rather than swinging gates.  We entered at 12:45 pm and were out by 1:05 pm.  As we left the lock, we saw a few rock climbers on the north wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we approached Lock 18 at 1:38 pm, we could see a large boat in it.  That boat was Little Diamond III, a commercial boat with Erie Canal Cruises.  We waved as it went by and then saw it turn right around and enter the lock with us.  Evidently that is as far as the cruise went.  We were out by 2:04 pm and the cruise boat passed us.  There was a work boat on this side of the lock that appeared to be dredging and piling dirt up on the shore. 

 

 

Soon a tug was coming at us – this was the most traffic we had seen on the canal.  The water got very shallow here and Captain Randy wisely followed the Little Diamond III’s lead and swerved far to the starboard.  At 2:35 pm we passed Guard Gate 4 and by 2:50 pm we were docked along the wall at Herkimer, where the cruise boat originated from.  There were no cleats, just a few bollards and metal rings to tie to.  By now I am used to adapting to new docking conditions.

 

 

We went into the Waterfront Grille for lunch and felt like we were back in civilization again.  A large group had just left to catch the next cruise and there were several others eating, even at 3:00 pm.  We bought a couple of things in the store and strolled into the Terminal Building before getting back on the boat.  Old pictures of the village and canal lined the walls and an employee told us a little about them.

It was 4:30 pm when we arrived at Ilion Municipal Marina.  In checking our log, the Captain noted that we have now traveled 5000 miles (4350 nautical miles) since leaving Chicago last August.  We then had cocktails on board and watched a group of 3 boats come in behind us.  They were from Ohio and on the way home.  The dockside restaurant served only sandwiches from a window so we walked a few blocks to town and ended up at Sorrento’s for very generous portions of calamari, pasta and pizza.  Dad and I had a glass of wine, but again, no rum for the Captain.  Full liquor licenses must be expensive here in NY.  We managed to avoid the rain as we carried our leftover boxes back to the marina.

 



Day 135 - Boat People

The morning was cooler than previous days, around 60 degrees, but sunny and less humid.  We left the dock at 9:30 am and were at Lock 11 by 9:45 am.  Boat traffic was very light so far and most of the locks took only about 10 minutes to get through.  Lock 12 was next at 10:30 am and it brought us so high I thought we might spill over the top.  Generally, the lifts were 20 feet. 

 

It was 10 miles to Lock 13.  The water was high with tree branches grazing the surface.  We could see a few farms and homes through the trees.  Fultonville, the county seat, sits just east of Lock 13.   There are county fairgrounds, a McDonalds and a trucker’s motel and restaurant.  We arrived at this lock about 11:30 am and it took 2 hours to get through Locks 13-15 due to the No Wake areas.  The town at Lock 14 is Canajoharie, which means “the pot that washes itself”.  It is named after a gorge south of the village where the water seethes continuously.  We saw 2 eastbound boats in the lock, on their way down.  Fort Plain is the town at Lock 15.  Each lock flies the US flag, the NY state flag and the NY Canal Corporation flag.  Some fly a black POW and MIA flag as well.

 

 

We tied up at St. Johnsville on the wall at 2:00 pm.  We walked about a half mile to town which encompasses 4 or 5 blocks.  We picked up a few groceries at the Market on Main Street and got ice cream cones at Stewarts.  A single cone was only $1.99 and had 2-3 scoops of ice cream, such a deal.

 

 

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the boat.  Only 1 other boat came in for the night.  We went back to Main Street for dinner at Cosmo’s, the only restaurant open within walking distance.  The place was empty except for us;  the weekends brought the crowds according to the bartender.  The bartender was also the waiter and the cook.  We ordered sandwiches and wine – diet coke for the Captain as all they carried was beer and wine.  Our bartender told us that the town refers to people staying at the marina as “boat people”.  He apologized and explained that St. Johnsville was a very small town with no jobs.  There used to be 5 mills, but all had closed.  We told him we were not offended at all.

We hiked back to the boat and settled in for the night.  Dad was discovering how the fresh air and “light duty” on the boat makes a good night’s rest no problem at all.