08/8 – 08/15 - Western Erie Canal Cruise

Hi,

We just got back from the Seneca / Cayuga canal recon trip about four hours north from our suburban Philadelphia home. We checked on Toyman’s truck which has been sitting at the Seneca Lake State park for three weeks, all tires, wheels and trailer accounted for it looked untouched. Toyman was out some where on the Mohawk river section of the Erie Canal. Nice launching and safe parking facilities at The Seneca Lake State Park and you are right there at the northern tip of Lake Seneca and the start of the Seneca Cayuga canal which takes you up to the Erie canal. The Seneca Lake State park is about a mile east of Geneva on routes 5 and 20. Heading out the canal towards Seneca Falls you go thru your first lock #4 and you are on to Seneca Falls. Seneca Falls has many places to dock and restaurants etc. The local bars can be noisy at night. But there are many options. The shore power outlets have been greatly reduced. I counted about ten shore power hook ups. There are some canal rental boats tied up there. Heading towards Cayuga Lake you will go thru a double lock #3 and 2. You go from one lock chamber right into the next lock chamber. It takes about 25 minutes total. I have pictures of a boat locking thru and this is a 49 foot lift or drop depending on which way you are headed. Seneca Lake is 445 feet above sea level and Cayuga Lake is only 381.5 above sea level. I picked up some local info and if anyone wants to see pictures of a boat locking thru the double lock, pm me your email address and I will be glad to email them to you. The conundrum with the boat name has held up my wife and me from requesting our photo album on the C-Brat site. The people up in this area are nice as can be. We also checked out Ithaca which is at the southern end of Cayuga lake which is about 37 miles long. The Western side of the lake on the way south has the most wineries which seem to favor Rieslings and Chardonnay’s. Ithaca itself is home to Cornell University and seems like old hippies abound. Nice people and if you are in the area on a Saturday don’t miss the farmers market. Locally made bread, bakery goods and fresh veggies abound. Interesting people everywhere. There is actually a boat dock right at the farmers market on the canal.. The canal which leads into the marina area off of the southern tip of Lake Cayuga. If you want a great restaurant try Maxie’s Supper Club on West State street in Ithaca. I picked up a book from our local library titled New York Waterways cruising guide and Lake Champlain by Chris W. Brown III. It features many tips and covers about anything you need to know about any of New York’s Waterways. It’s over 400 pages long and it offers many more details for people who are looking to cruise this wonderful area.
D.D.
 
Dave, pick a name "TBD" even and get posting the pictures. You can change the name when you make a final decision, and even change it when you get a bigger boat!! :lol:

Charlie
 
Hi Dave,

I'd like to see any photos you've taken. We plan to head out in the next couple days, with Seneca Lake State Park as our launch point. Interesting to hear about the wineries on the lake - Joan thanks you. :wink:

It's about 2,000 miles for this haul, so it will be a week or so enroute. Along the way, we plan to swing by Kentucky Lake and/or TennTom Waterway to check places to launch and leave the truck/trailer.

Hope the timing works so we can meet up with the gathering.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Hi Jim,

The Goose Watch Winery about half way down Lake Cayuga has a dock to accomodate boaters. Look out for the Goose crap when docking! The views are stunning. The wines are delicious, especially their desert wines. You'll find a brochure at local visitor centers that list all the wineries on the lakes. The only one that had a dock on Cayuga that I found in 2005 was the Goose Watch Winery.

The bikes will give you some options for touring the areas. But, you'll see that the small towns along the NY canals are so small that a bike isn't needed. Along the western Erie near Spencerport, there is a bike trail adjacent to the canal so one of you could bike next to the boat between locks/bridges. At least one bridge tender bikes between his bridges. You'll see that the tenders have two bridges that they travel between.

If you get to Ithaca, you'll want bikes to get about. But, you'd better have strong legs for the steep hills.

Rick from Maine
 
Charlie, Jim,
The Cruising New York Waterways book mentioned in my earlier post is around 27 dollars and change on Amazon.com. Charlie, I just requested and album from TyBoo. We settled on the name Will-C and I will post some pictures of our latest cruise , canal lock recon / trailered to destinations as soon as we break thru to the other side of the instructions. Jim, we will be up on the canal in September 19 following Dun and his gang of canal pirates across the state. I'm going to try and strap two full sized bicycles to either side of my bow rails for the trip. I'll carry them in the truck till we launch. This whole thing should be a blast.
D.D.
 
"Must see stuff" on the Canals - Jim asked in his travelog- you should see a 38' sail boat, a 28 Carver, and a 25 C-dory all loose in a lock - talk about a HOOT ! Americas Funniest watch out. The winds are blowing 25-35 within 15degrees dead into the locks on this section of the Mohawk today. We tried to make it with a single line (worked fine till now)- handling the line from the cockpit and then....there went the bow, this flat bottom is FAST in the turns ! Don't know what the other 2 did but I got under control (backwards) and looked over and they were both totally loose and we were the downwind boat in the lock. Been there, now done that. Tried to tie to one lock wall that was only exposed about 1', fenders laid on top and got a pretty good gouge, then another got me on the color line at the turn of the bow.

I'd personally skip the hassle of the bikes if only intent using them on the Canals - but bring LOTS and LOTS of BIG fenders, an extra 50' extension cord, some chaffing gear for the lines and time, lots of time.
 
We live 10 miles from the Erie Canal; it is one of our favorite boating waters. May I presume to offer y'all a few suggestions?

1. Before launching into the Canal, I hang fenders along BOTH sides of the boat. I made up 4' long fender boards (see photos), which I mount just below the rubrail, and then I also hang at least two fenders on each side, quite high so they don't drag in the water and thus can be left hanging while cruising the Canal. I attach lines to all four corners.

2. When locking through, we always prefer a fixed bollard. As compared to a hanging rope, it provides a more stable and predictable point of reference. The trickiest part for us is always catching that bollard: one has to slow down enough (but not too much) and get close enough to the wall (but not too close) to reach it and hang on to it.

3. The hardest part in locking through upstream, is to control the front end, beacuse the C-Dory is so light and the prow so large. It works really well, we have found, to run a line from the anchor ring at the front of our C-Dory back and around a bollard, and another from the rear corner forward around the same bollard. One person then is able to control the boat (front and back) from the cockpit at the point immediately behind the cabin.

4. When canaling, we carry two folding bicycles which we attach to the front rail (see photos).
 
Hi Folks - we do not own a c-dory, but met Terry a couple years ago and admired Last Dance. Since then, we have moved to Brockport and bought a house on the canal. Built a dock this spring and usually have either the Fun House houseboat or Don's newest, Last Chance, a MacGregor 26X docked there so we can just walk out our yard, and cruise the canal any time.
Here's a list of info and links that may help with your canal cruise.
The Spencerport Depot and Canal Museum (14559) is a visitor’s center complete with restroom and shower facilities for travelers along the canal. If the museum is closed, see the bridgetender for the keycode to the shower facilities.
http://www.brockportny.org/pdf/canalfro ... elcome.pdf
http://www.brockportny.org/pdf/press-re ... -award.pdf
http://villageofholley.org/content/Parks/View/1
http://www.medinastonefarm.com/index.html (cool place to visit )
www.skipperbob.net offers very helpful publications
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we will help as much as we are able.

We'll be watching for you in August and Sept.
Barb & Don
 
Hi Barb & Don,

Thanks for the info. Every bit helps.

It looks like at least 6 C-Dorys will be going by your place on Wednesday 8/12/09. If you're before the Brockport town center, we'll be there in the AM. If you're west of the town center, we'll be after lunch.

As usual when our C-Dory Armada approaches a C-Brat, we expect a Kazoo band to welcome us. Ruffles and Flourishes are appropriate; after all, these are C-Dorys!

Hope we get to wave to you, Rick from Maine
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. We are on the road, heading that direction. Heck, another day and a half of driving and we will be out of Texas. :wink:

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Captains Cat":46z4fowb said:
Jim, how far East are you gonna come before you head up? Any chance you could swing to our part of the Chesapeake?

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

Right now, the plan is to head in a diagonal towards Geneva, NY. We weren't planning to go to the Chesapeake, but you know how our plans are generally carved in Jello. I'll keep you posted.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
Hi Folks,

After doing the Erie Cannel twice, I got the locking down right. My boat is an angler so the aft of the cabin was about in the middle of the boat.

1. Get a good pair of gloves. The locks are dirty.

2. Use old fenders. I had one attached to the stern cleat. one to the forward part of the bow pulpit where it met the deck, and one hanging from the stern cleat and the bow cleat so it would hang lengthwise amidship.

3. I hung the fenders on the port side and locked through always on the port side.

4.I attached a line to my port handrail on the aft of the cabin. Use an old piece of line.

5. I would then run the line abound the vertical post and would slide up and down with the water.

6. If the wind blew, I could hold the boat next to the lock wall.

I did this alone and in the fall. Conditions and traffic may be different in the summer.

If I was out of the Inn business I would be with you.

Happy sailing

Fred
 
Hi all-- just notice my Cruising Guide to the N.Y. Canal System is dated 2003. Does anyone know if there have been any changes or major modifications since this publication date? Thanks Rich
 
Mine is also an '06 model, but then again so is the boat ! There is some mis information, and missed information, as in all guides and directories, but it is better than a stick in the eye, it is a "guide".
 
Hi Jim & Dave-- Ok, I think I will just follow the two of you. I probably will have to just follow your wake since that heavy 44' steel barge will probably only do about 6-8 mph tops. Thanks Rich
 
Hi All August Cruisers,

Will everyone who is going to do the Aug western Erie cruise please e-mail me the following info, so I can put it in a list and e-mail to the Aug cruisers. That way we know who to expect or to call if they don't show up.

Boat name,
Crew Names,
cell phone #,
e-mail address

My e-mail address is: rstambaugh@maine.rr.com
 
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