Finger Lakes/West Erie Canal Adventure

[gulfcoast john]

We stopped at the Aurora town dock on our cruise north on Cayuga Lake after being ‘trapped’ there for 12 days more than our three day plan. There are some stone ruins to the left of the dock, but it’s not charted.

[img]http://www.c-brats.com/albums/CAT-O-MINE/DSC04779.sized.jpg]/img]



There were no other boats around when we arrived at 11:30 for lunch at the Aurora Inn, but the dock was full 90 minutes later. The deck looks out over the lake. Eileen had the best lobstah roll she’d had all week.



There are a series of restored mansions overlooking the lake called “The Inns of Aurora.” You can nail a very nice room for the night (but not during the summer) for under a Boat Unit.



We joined back up with the western Erie canal. The village of Clyde has free town docks big enough for three small boats, but only 15 amp shore power.

We planned on staying on the free wall in Lyons, but we had second thoughts when passing by due to the proximity of the lock and a noisy steel grate highway bridge. There is a lot of old historic work boat equipment by the Lyons lock, including ancient dredge.

Although Newark is only 6 miles further, it’s three more locks. We nabbed the last spot on the ‘high wall’ at 2:30 PM.



Floating docks are removed in winter and they (and low walls) generally don’t have power pedestals. Waterway Guide and Skipper Bob (now they both have the same editors) both have good info on what’s available where. Boarding to and from high walls is getting more challenging than it used to be.



Ted and Sarah P on the Manatee are up here doing The Great Loop FOR THE THIRTY-FIRST TIME! If you see this boat, they’ll be able to tell you where to get the Grey Poupon.



Safe travels to all!

John

[ssobol]

The Lyons bridge is not noisy. We stayed under it on the floating part of the dock twice last year. The steel bridge in Fairport (Parker St.) is the one to watch out for.

The little harbor at Palmyra is a nice place to stop.

[gulfcoast john]

Newark, NY on the western Erie canal is a must-see stop! Free dockage, showers, restrooms (all air conditioned) and even laundry (only one washer/dryer, but very top-end machines). Free live music events!



Typical canal workboat and a mountain of snags it picked out of the canal.





This is a Hydraulic Dredger. The only reason I am so sure of this is that there is a 4x4 foot label on it…”HYDRAULIC DREDGER.” I could imagine it was a Pixie Dust Seiner machine.



Palmyra Basin free dock with power.



We snagged the last spot on the wall at Fairport, which had our bow pretty much under the noisy Main St Lift Bridge and 1 block away from what seems like one of the busiest CSX tracks (three sets) on the entire canal. We turned the rooftop Coleman on FAN, and didn’t hear a thing except for the Coleman FAN all night.



There were lots of mid channel snags, logs and debris from the recent torrential rains.





Fairport Lift Bridge at its max 16 foot air draft. Note the duck which likes Engine #1, while Eileen reads about Canal history.

Three ducks on the bracket and engine is a lot better than three sea lions on the bracket and engine cowling, and they weigh a lot less and make less of a mess.





We had likely enough gas (¼ tank) to go 100 miles to the end of the Erie canal at Tonawanda, so we passed by Mid Lakes Marina (6 miles back) in order to get secured here at Fairport before the arrival of predicted severe weather 2 days ago. We were instead counting on getting gas 20 miles west of here at Greece instead at Allan’s Canalside Marina. Today I called them, because they are the last marina before the end of the Erie Canal at Tonawanda. The fellow who answered the phone said he had just bought the marina and could not yet get the state EPA permit, so he had no fuel.

Glad I called!

So tomorrow we backtrack 6 miles (two hours round trip) to get 10-15 gallons of gas total.

We hope you learn a little something from our experience, and always call and confirm what the Guides say!

Safe Travels to All!

John

[hardee]

John, Glad you called too I would have been a longer back track
But in 2 hours, haw far is it to the closest land based fuel. (Oh, I bet you already checked that, sorry for the late idea.) I'm really enjoying your trip and your photos. Don't know if I will ever get into that country but it does look fun.

Thanks for sharing.

Harvey
SleepyC

[gulfcoast john]

We back tracked from Fairport back to Mid Lakes Marina to find out that they did indeed have gas, but that the “fuel hose had a split that had to be replaced,” and it would be ‘late afternoon’ as the estimate.

The kid was dispatched to the local Ace Hardware to secure parts.

We were not optimistic.

But they will do anything and everything they can to get you on your way! Two hours later we were gassing up.

Mid Lakes Marina Macedon is a very large property with a ramp that can handle a TC255, a few transient slips, and the owner said long term parking for the truck and trailer would run about $10/day. I would not advise buying gas (or even counting on a working gas pump) on the western Erie Canal except at Pirates Cove Marina or Mid Lakes Macedon Marina. Most others looked sketchy or closed or un-manned or all three.

At Pittsford we saw a guy taking photos who turned out to be on the Board of Directors of the Eastman Kodak Museum in Rochester (previously recommended).

He took this pic:



Typical low town wall is most often free, or with a sliding scale fee for shore power that maxes out at $15 per stay (max 48 hours per wall). Since the max speed is 10 MPH NO WAKE and most can only go 7-8 MPH, you end up in groups. The Great Harbour 37 Blue Barnacle is massive (but their only home). The 15 ‘lift bridges” all have a under 6 ft closed, under 17 ft full open air clearance.












Even more things that closed down parts of the Erie Canal on our adventure:

https://www.whec.com/wayne-county-ny-news/deputies-man-drowns-in-erie-canal-attempting-to-save-dog-near-macedon/6185188/

https://13wham.com/news/local/police-man-dies-after-falling-off-boat-into-canal

Today it’s closed at Brockport due to “a vehicle in the canal.”

If the ‘vehicle’ is a fire engine ladder truck, I hope they can get it out before Bob’s arrival next month.

Even a canal sort of counts as ‘waterfront property’ when you have a parade of interesting multimillion dollar plus other boats like ours cruising by daily. We were shocked at how many miles and miles and miles of the western Erie canal border vast corn fields stretching to the horizon on both sides. A bike/walking path runs alongside from Palmyra to the western end at Tonawanda near Buffalo, NY. Some bikers tent camp along the route.





We’re getting close to the end of this particular Adventure (started June 2 and looking at rig retrieval options. We’ll pass by two ramps within 5 miles of the Tonawanda wall and will check them out in person (which I prefer when possible). The other option is going out into the Niagara river, through yet another locks to Erie Basin Marina, which has transient slips, a big ramp, and temporary rig storage.

Safe travels to all!

John

[little wing]

We launched and kept our rig at Anchor Marine on Grand Island. Lots of space for rig storage. Good place and good folks, although you may find a lot of weeds at the ramp.

We pulled out once at West Canal Park and Marina. Good ramps. Nice place for overnight stay as well. Good bathroom right near the wall.

At the time, Erie Basin would not allow overnight rig storage.

[gulfcoast john]

Erie double Lock 34-35 is not a good stop...only two spots where one interferes with the other leaving and no utilities.

E-35 was our 200th locking experience in this boat...a toast was in order!

I’d like to know which other Brats have done over 200 locks on their current boat, if so, sing out here! We want to hear about your techniques!

Eileen lost her boat hook on the cable in Lock E-35 when I executed an “unexpected maneuver”. I announced over VHF 13 to the lockmaster that it ‘leaped’ out of her hands and that it then backstroked over to the foam at the rear gates and was ‘swimming around’ there. His assistant went over to fetch it and returned it to Eileen at the top of the lift.

We found again that running 2000 RPM on the port engine only for ex (pic here) results in less wake and better MPG. Odd but true.



Medina (pronounced with long ‘i’ by locals) has another high wall; we pulled up to a ladder. Washrooms are hard to see at the far west end of the wooden face dock. The canal is hacked out of the side of a hill and the 70 feet Medina Falls is far below the canal.



Upstate NY evenings can be 82 degrees, but with 35% humidity it seems much more pleasant than back in Pensacola on an August evening!



The last wall at Tonawanda can be an absolute boating zoo on weekends, or if you don’t grab a spot before 2PM during high season (July-Aug).



The North short wall is run by the town of North Tonawanda, but the South high wall is run by the town of Tonawanda with different dockmasters, mayors and rules.

We were researching a take-out point and trying to find one near our end point of Tonawanda, NY where the Erie canal ends at the Niagara river. It’s a big, rough, sometimes whitecapping river where weather can produce several weather day delays. And yet another lock.

For us, West Canal Park on the Erie canal, backtrack 5 miles up Tonawanda creek from the town wall, fit the bill. It appears to be a very short dock, but it is very steep and deep and very easy to launch or load a TomCat with minimal engine loading.

Unlike Tonawanda, it is a Niagara County park heavily patrolled by Niagara County sherrifs. It has a huge parking area. Locals prefer the free docking with power over the $15 fees at Tonawanda walls, but it fills up fast and many boats seem to stay for many free days.

Call the Niagara County Sheriff to get their unwritten rules on overnight or longer term rig parking.



We would highly encourage putting in at Pirates Cove Marina (unlimited and safe rig parking) and taking out at West Canal County park and marina (after taking in the Tonawanda wall at the west end of the western Erie canal, 5 miles downriver).

Take Amtrak or Trailways or OurBus via a Lyft from Buff back to Syracuse to retrieve the truck and trailer. It worked so well for us, and hopefully for you! 2,800 trailer miles.

We were surprised and gratified at how clean and modern (inc wifi) our Trailways bus was for the Buff to Ithaca trip. I was worried that homeless folks had urinated in the seats etc but that was not an issue.

We hope our documentation of this Adventure helps you to plan your own, with less research and time!

If so, we’ll be very gratified and happy that we helped out some fellow Brats on their exciting journeys!

Safe travels, and we wish you and yours the best as you explore around here!

We are safe and secure back at our home base at NAS PNS Sherman Cove Marina dry slip in anticipation of Fred.

Safe Travels to all!

John and Eileen

[gulfcoast john]

Erie double Lock 34-35 is not a good stop...only two spots where one interferes with the other leaving and no utilities.

E-35 was our 200th locking experience in this boat...a toast was in order!

I’d like to know which other Brats have done over 200 locks on their current boat, if so, sing out here! We want to hear about your techniques!

Eileen lost her boat hook on the cable in Lock E-35 when I executed an “unexpected maneuver”. I announced over VHF 13 to the lockmaster that it ‘leaped’ out of her hands and that it then backstroked over to the foam at the rear gates and was ‘swimming around’ there. His assistant went over to fetch it and returned it to Eileen at the top of the lift.

We found again that running 2000 RPM on the port engine only for ex (pic here) results in less wake and better MPG. Odd but true.



Medina (pronounced with long ‘i’ by locals) has another high wall; we pulled up to a ladder. Washrooms are hard to see at the far west end of the wooden face dock. The canal is hacked out of the side of a hill and the 70 feet Medina Falls is far below the canal.



Upstate NY evenings can be 82 degrees, but with 35% humidity it seems much more pleasant than back in Pensacola on an August evening!



The last wall at Tonawanda can be an absolute boating zoo on weekends, or if you don’t grab a spot before 2PM during high season (July-Aug).



The North short wall is run by the town of North Tonawanda, but the South high wall is run by the town of Tonawanda with different dockmasters, mayors and rules.

We were researching a take-out point and trying to find one near our end point of Tonawanda, NY where the Erie canal ends at the Niagara river. It’s a big, rough, sometimes whitecapping river where weather can produce several weather day delays. And yet another lock.

For us, West Canal Park on the Erie canal, backtrack 5 miles up Tonawanda creek from the town wall, fit the bill. It appears to be a very short dock, but it is very steep and deep and very easy to launch or load a TomCat with minimal engine loading.

Unlike Tonawanda, it is a Niagara County park heavily patrolled by Niagara County sherrifs. It has a huge parking area. Locals prefer the free docking with power over the $15 fees at Tonawanda walls, but it fills up fast and many boats seem to stay for many free days.

Call the Niagara County Sheriff to get their unwritten rules on overnight or longer term rig parking.



We would highly encourage putting in at Pirates Cove Marina (unlimited and safe rig parking) and taking out at West Canal County park and marina (after taking in the Tonawanda wall at the west end of the western Erie canal, 5 miles downriver).

Take Amtrak or Trailways or OurBus via a Lyft from Buff back to Syracuse to retrieve the truck and trailer. It worked so well for us, and hopefully for you! 2,800 trailer miles.

We were surprised and gratified at how clean and modern (inc wifi) our Trailways bus was for the Buff to Ithaca trip. I was worried that homeless folks had urinated in the seats etc but that was not an issue.

We hope our documentation of this Adventure helps you to plan your own, with less research and time!

If so, we’ll be very gratified and happy that we helped out some fellow Brats on their exciting journeys!

Safe travels, and we wish you and yours the best as you explore around here!

We are safe and secure back at our home base at NAS PNS Sherman Cove Marina dry slip in anticipation of Fred.

Safe Travels to all!

John and Eileen

[thataway]

John,
Thanks for the great write up! Well done, and nice photos.

[hank clow]

John and Eileen,
Your grand tour of the Erie Canal and Finger Lakes region made for great summer reading. I have a friend who will be taking his sail boat along the route and he found your comments most helpful.
Pat Clow