The Erie Canal to Oswego 2018

The Erie Canal to Oswego 2018

Landing at Waterford – the eastern end of the Erie Canal, we signed in at the welcome desk and noticed the poster for a Memorial Day Parade that evening.  So, after lunch at Don and Paul’s Café we rested up for our evening’s entertainment. The streets filled with parade watchers as we waited for the action.  Finally, just before full darkness the marchers arrived.  Three bands and a fife & drum group added music to the event punctuated by the fire engine horns and police sirens. The antique car was a big hit but we liked the canal barge model and rowboat float. It all seemed a fitting way to honor the spirit of Memorial Day. 

Another pleasant surprise was finding that there are no fees to use the canal this season.  We plan to invest that money in the restaurants and shops along the way.

Our first day on the canal included 7 locks – the first five being a flight with only short pools separating the locks. We climbed 211 feet and were ready for a rest. Fortunately, we were alone in all the locks which helped speed us on our way.

This is our third trip through the canal so we are trying to find new stops or at least different activities at familiar places.  Although the Bald Eagle sightings never get old. At lock 12 we walked on the north side of the canal up to Tribe Hill – a small community which was having a village wide garage sale.  We scored a deal on sausage sandwiches at the deli which was surprisingly well stocked with essentials as well as offering a nice menu. 

The garage sales gave us even more reason to walk a bit and provided a few old sweat pants to cover our big round fenders. Fenders can take a beating on the rough lock walls so it helps to cover them. Our old covers might make it through this season on the other fenders, but the large balls are new and had no covers. For about 50 cents we have them covered.  

All that sewing was done on the Canajoharie Free Dock where power is also included for no charge.   This is one of the reasons Canajoharie is one of our favorite stops.  We spent a lot of time here on our other trips, but Peruzzi’s Market is one of the big draws.  We stocked up on sausage – every time we buy as much as our freezer can hold. He isn’t call the King of Sausage for nothing!  Of course, the antique store in town with a big stock of buttons doesn’t hurt either. Since the town supports us with free power, we fill good about shopping there and visiting their friendly restaurants.

Another note on the canal trip concerns the noise: In places the canal runs along side the through way with lots of traffic from cars, then there are the trains that also follow the canal - closely in some places.  These balance the quiet and remote sections where we see geese and bald eagles.

A highlight of our trip was the stop at the Herkimer State Historical Site – we managed to land on their dock and sharing it with a vintage reproduction bateau from the Mabee Farm Historical Society.  The park was hosting a series of re-enactments for the holiday weekend.  Sadly, much of the Sunday activities were washed out, but the boating crew were still encamped next to the dock.  

They kindly caught our lines and then offered to let us accompany them in rowing their boats back to the ramp in Little Falls about 3 miles up the canal and through lock 17 (of course the biggest lock on the system at 40.5 feet). After a quick lunch and brief tour of the stately and beautifully situated Herkimer House we joined in the row – well Steve rowed – I proved better ballast than rowing power. However, a more relaxing and entertaining off boat activity we have rarely been offered and we thank the crew – especially David -  Rick, Kevin, Peggy, and Bill for letting us join them.

examples of items traded on the canal

launching at Herkimer

hauling out in Little Falls

post row TOT of RUM

The next morning, we again went through lock 17 and for the first time on the canal this trip, we shared the lock with another boat. However, they did not continue so we managed lock 18 on our own and stopped at the Village of Ilion home to the Remington Company. On our previous stop here, their museum was closed so we decided to stay over and visit it before heading out.  The stop in Ilion is at a marina which for a nominal charge provides free pump outs, laundry room and great WIFI allowing us to finally catch up on our blog entries!

The Remington Museum was more than guns although they had some spectacularly embellished rifles and shotguns. They also had a typewriter, cash register and bicycle from the company’s long history of meeting market needs. Today the factory is smaller than in its heyday but still keeping a dominating presence in this north New York village.

From Ilion we had two long days since the weather window for crossing the lake was moving forward.  We stopped at the free dock in Sylvan Beach after successfully navigating the shallow section of the canal – silted to under six feet in a few spots and the next day after making a pit stop for parts at Ess-Kay and Winter Haven for fuel in Brewerton, we headed on to the wall in Fulton.  This left us a short run on to Oswego through the last four locks.  We spent the night on the Best Western wall with no power or water but still paid for the use of their trash cans.  After weeks of free docks, it was a strange feeling.  However, if we had stayed on the free dock behind lock 8 we would have had to wait for the lock to open before departing in the morning.  While they technically open at 7 the reality is much later since locks 6 and 8 share a lock master – he roves between the two locks.  We would have had to stop anyway to put up our mast for the crossing to Canada further delaying our departure. Since the weather was better for an early morning crossing, we paid!

Can you find the heron?

Interesting house on the way to Oswego

Mast back up!

Train running over us and other

 Cute stuff on the canal

Oswego Mural

waiting at lock for repair of light - atop door

During our brief stop in Oswego we enjoyed the local farmer’s market and a great antique store with lots of buttons – (Steve got a haircut during the button shopping).  The bakery next door to the antique store still sells its great and “famous” raisin bread and the Aztec Mexican restaurant has a special on Margaritas on Thursdays! A nice way to toast our last night in New York.