Locals on Local Waterways

[Wayne McCown]

Dear C-Brats:

How about sharing recommendations on local waterways? Postings might include information on the following questions:

What local waterways are "right-sized" for the C-Dory?
What are the best access/launch sites?
What is the level of boating traffic?
What kinds of activities can be experienced?
What resources for cruising these waterways do you recommend?

Gratefully yours, Wayne

[Wayne McCown]

Dear Fellow C-Brats:

NY offers many wonderful waterways suitable to the C-Dory. They include:

Great Lakes (Ontario and Erie)
Finger Lakes (particularly Seneca and Cayuga)
Canals (Erie +)
Lake Champlain
Hudson River

My wife and I have a cottage on L. Ontario. It is a BIG lake: almost 200 miles in length and 35-50 miles in width. L. Ontario has a wide range of moods: sometimes the waters are as "as calm as glass"; at other times, it can become as tumultuous as an ocean. One should not anchor out overnight, unless inside a protected harbor...as conditions can change dramatically in a matter of a few hours.

The Toronto harbor and 1000 Islands areas get quite busy in the peak summer months of July and August; otherwise, there is very little boat traffic on this lake. The perimeter of the lake is dotted with towns (with small harbors and marinas); long spaces of undeveloped countryside(mostly farmlands) lie between these towns; Toronto is the only big city on the lake. The lake is best explored by cruising the perimeter.

I am not a fisherman (yet), but I have read in several places that some of :the best fishing in the world: is to be found in L. Ontario, which is significantly "underfished."

L. Erie is also a big lake, but smaller than L. Ontario. It also is much shallower and noted for rough waters and rapid changes. (The roughest waters William Least-Heat Moon encountered in River Horse were on L. Erie!). L. Erie has interesting islands to explore (there are no islands in L. Ontario except at the mouth of the St. Lawrence R., an area noted for its 1000 Islands). There is considerably more boating traffic (during the summer months) in L. Erie than L. Ontario.

Lakeland Boating has excellent guides (which include charts adequate for C-Dory cruising) to these lakes in their Ports O' Call series. Most state parks along the US shoreline (and there are many) offer good launch facilities (and marinas, in some cases).

In crossing over into Canada on these lakes (which is fun to do), one does have to mind proper protocol for reporting to customs; this also holds for the return into US. Most of this is done via video-phone at designated ports, on both sides of the border: this is not hard to do, but it can't be ignored!

Western NY has a series of eleven so-called "Finger Lakes." These lie in a beautiful region of rolling hills, historic villages, wineries...and long, narrow (glacially formed) lakes. Two of theses lakes are particularly well-suited for C-Dory cruising: Seneca and Cayuga. Both are about 35 miles in length: their perimeters are dotted with villages, wineries and state parks (as well as marinas). These two larger Finger Lakes lakes are connected by the (12-mile) Cayuga-Seneca Canal, which branches off the Erie Canal.

The past two years, C-Brats in the NE have gathered at historic Seneca Falls (on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal), after launching at the Seneca L. State Park in Geneva. As Bill and El attest in their travel narratives, this SP offers a convenient, roomy, safe place to leave your rig and trailer (for as long as want!) while away in your C-Dory.

The historic Erie Canal is the major piece in a 500+ mile system of interconnected canals in NY. The Erie itself is 338 miles in length; the Oswego Canal takes one north 24 miles to L. Ontario; the Champlain Canal takes one 60 miles north into L. Champlain (which is 122 miles in length, and is connected at the north end to the St. Lawrence R. via the Chambly/Richilieu Canal); and, as mentioned above, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal takes one south 12 miles into two of the larger Finger Lakes.

These canals offer interesting (and relatively easy) cruising in a C-Dory. It's slow-going, of course, with a speed limit of 10 mph (in most places), and locks and lift bridges to negotiate. One does need a VHF radio (channel 13) to call the bridge and lift tenders. There is almost no commercial traffic on these waterways anymore, and relatively little pleasure boating. Many of the historic villages that dot the canals offer tie-ups and more (often for free), including toilets and showers, water and electricity. The canals invite cruisers to "step back in time."

The best guide to these canals (quite adequate for C-Dory travel; charts are hardly necessary) is published by the NYS Canal Corporation, and can only be secured by mail directly from them). The Cruising Guide to the New York State Canal System includes section-by-section guides to all the canals named above, plus charts of both Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Also tucked into a pocket is a tourism guide to the Hudson River (which should be supplemented by navigational charts).

The Erie Canal (at the east end) brings one (via the Troy lock) into the Hudson R., which from that point flows directly south. The distance from Albany (the state capital) to NY City is about 150 miles. There are many points of historic interest that border this waterway, including the Vanderbilt and Rockefeller estates, West Point academy, the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. I have not yet navigated the Hudson, but several C-Dorys have. (William Least-Heat Moon cruised the East River right through the middle of NYC!) This waterway is actually a salt water estatuary, with an average tide of four feet, so it represents a different kind of waterway than those described above.

It might be mentioned at this point that NY is mostly rural countryside. (NYC, of course, is NOT...and many people assume the whole state is like the city: NOT TRUE!) As illustrated above, it offers several differing and interesting waterways...and lots of open miles for C-Dory cruising !

Cordially, Wayne

[ffheap]

Wayne,

You live in an area with a wealth of safe boating. We did go 20 MPH on the Mowhawk River. The canal proper is 10 MPH.

I would love to spend a September just exploring the Erie Canal, the Champlain Canal, and the Hudson River. On the Canals, docking is free in most ports, and the old cities are beautiful, though tired.

You are a lucky guy to live there.

FRed

[El and Bill]

Well said, Wayne -- NY has great cruises. The East River, circum-navigation of Manhatten, HudsonRiver through the Palisades, circum-navigation of Long Island, Long Island Sound -- all are other marvelous areas. Thanks for your suggestions on this thread -- great idea to have local folks suggest their favorite local waterways. Happy Cruising (when the ice melts)

[ffheap]

Wayne,

You should go to El and Bill's site www.geocities.com/bill_fiero . It is the post just after yours.

They have already covered America since 2000. They talk about the best launching ramps, restaurants, places to see, etc.

It is El and Bill that picked out the Seneca State Park for a launch site for the Erie Canal.

It's a "must" read.

They when you are finished with that, go to "Wanderer" site.

Both area found on the bottom left of the Home page.


Enjoy, I did and still am,

Fred

[Wayne McCown]

Dear Fellow C-Brats:

Yes, Fred, one MUST see the account(s) of Bill and El's travels: FANTASTIC! Thanks, Bill and El, for sharing your adventures with those who, like me, are still desk-bound!

I should have mentioned that launch ramps into the Erie Canal are (surprisingly) few and far between. Moreover, the docks are typically short (one ramp nearby our cottage has NO dock). With two people, it's not hard to launch and retrieve into the Canal. I have also done it alone...using lines on the rear corners as well as the front.

I spent yesterday afternoon and this morning at our cottage on L. Ontario(grading papers). The lake was eeriely calm and the temperature unusally warm. I wished I had not already put the C-Dory away for the winter!

Enjoy the holidays!
Wayne