BB13: Eastern Erie Canal

I rolled into Albany Yacht Club to pick up my next “interlooper” Sue. I recruited her help to be an extra set of hands during my first locks. It was also time to change my oil so I learned a new skill!

The options for this area of the loop are to 1) go north to Montreal and then down the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario or 2) go west at Albany, New York across the Erie Canal to either Lake Ontario or Lake Erie. I chose to take a left at Albany to experience the Eastern Erie Canal and then planned to go north near Brewerton, New York to land on Lake Ontario at Oswego. My scuba buddy, Sue, was already onboard and we headed toward the 22 locks that were between Troy, New York and Oneida Lake. The Erie Canal was enchanting!

The Troy Federal lock on the Hudson River was our first lock and honestly, I did not even know what happened. It was an imperceptible lift and I was a little confused when the gates were already opening. It was like going to Walgreens for a flu shot and the nurse telling me it was over before even feeling anything. One down!

The next 5 are called the “Waterford Flight of Five” and they connect the Hudson River to the Mohawk River which intersects with the Erie Canal system. Going west, the water level raises 169 feet through 5 locks in about a mile and a half. Another trial by fire and on a windy day!

In total, we did 10 locks that day, 8 of which were really great. The other 2 were a little rough. Thankfully, I was the only boat in the “bad locks” and ended up having to let go of the rope because the wind was pushing me all over the place. In one of them, I floated to the other side and grabbed the port lines instead. In the other, I floated in the middle. No harm done but it was a little anxiety-producing. I do not know how I would have done it without Sue that day. I was exhausted that night and had to figure out a better plan. Lessons learned were 1) avoid windy days (duh), 2) wrap that mid-line tight around the cleat (not tying it off but using leverage to keep the mid in), and most importantly 3) FENDER PLACEMENT! I found that they key is to try to make my boat footprint into a square which meant my fat fenders and balls at the bow of the boat and my skinnier ones on the rail. This allowed me to have better control of the swing of the boat with just my mid-ship line. I also learned when and when not to use my forward/reverse and bow thruster to fight any wind before it caught my nose.

Time to test my new system on Day 2. Sue acted as my training wheels and held a loose line at the stern when there was one available, but I think she will agree that she did not need to do much after figuring it my mistakes on Day 1. It was smooth sailing after that and we enjoyed the breathtaking scenery through the canal the rest of the week. Eagles, osprey, loons, and an otter! We traveled a total of about 60 miles and went up 440 feet in elevation.

The Erie Canal was also a great opportunity to drive from the flybridge. Calm waters, no traffic, and no crabpots. Lovely!!

One of the cool things about the Erie is that there are free walls to tie to at every lock. The marinas there are relatively inexpensive as well, compared to what I had been paying up to this point. We stayed at Riverlink Park in Amsterdam and had a fabulous meal with some new looper friends. Then we tied up at lock 15 which included free electric and a great place for Kali to run. After that, we found a marina run by the local Rotary Club that was pristine and I only paid $48, including electric and water. There is also a great free wall right before the Oneida Lake crossing that is near restaurants and ice cream.

We reconnected with some loopers that we had met along the way and then made our way to Ess Kay Marina in Brewerton. Kim at Ess Kay is the daughter of the original owners and it retains that family-owned feel. She is fabulous and their ship store has every part you could need. They have great fuel prices, a pump out dock, electric, and water. There were 13 looper boats at Ess Kay and it was the perfect place to leave my boat to go home for the Fourth of July week.

We booked an Uber heading for Hertz and drove 8 hours back to Cincinnati. I was SO READY to hug my kids!!!

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard…is what makes it great.” – Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

If you have questions about anything loop or looper-lifestyle related, feel free to leave it in the comments and I will respond in my next post.

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