Cruising through the Erie Canal System or taking the canal to Lake Champlain can be a summer cruise done at your leisure, if you don’t have a commitment like we did. There are numerous places to tie up free of charge. Also several towns offer 30-50 amp power outlets, sometimes free of charge, and there are many marinas along the way. The best way to plan the trip and to inform you is to get “Cruising the New York Canal System” by “Skipper Bob” and the paper chart book from The New York State Canal Corporation “The Cruising Guide To The New York State Canal System” for $19.95, a great value for this book. Both are excellent resources with detailed information.

Motoring through the canal was interesting, but also a lot of work. We had to master 35 locks, all of them, except 3, going up which has more turbulence and requires more attention than going down. The lock keepers monitor VHF channel 13 and were operating from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. However, we would have to be at the lock before 4:40 p.m. to get through as we found out at lock #23, because the operator had already gone home. Being forced to retire early gave us an opportunity to explore the area, but in this case, it was very rural and remote from everything.
Throughout our cruising live we’ve done our fair share of locks and bridges, believe me. We looked through our notes and calculated that in all we have locked through 323 locks and uncountable lift and bascule operated bridges in our life so far. Some of the locks in the French Canals in the Mediterranean we had to operate ourselves. Hey, we are pros, we should write a book about locks and locking thru!

(The picture on top is courtesy of Mr. Robert Stopper)