Finger Lakes/West Erie Canal Adventure

[gulfcoast john]

Locals agree that Miles Wineries, as Little Wing pictured, is the best in the region that has a dock on Seneca Lake. We’ve moved over to Ithaca at the south end of Cayuga Lake.

Well, here’s a Notice to Mariners that beats them all...another complete closure of the entire eastern Erie canal as well as western as well as Oswego canal into Lake Ontario for who knows how long!

Notice to Mariners
Canal System Update – Weather Related Closures
July 19, 2021
The New York State Canal Corporation today announced the following sections of the Canal system are closed due to the recent heavy rainfall, high flows, and extremely hazardous conditions:
Erie Canal
Lock E-2 (Waterford) through E-19 (Frankfort)
Lock E-24 (Baldwinsville) through E-33 (Henrietta)
East and West Guard Locks (Rochester)
Oswego Canal
Lock O-1 (Phoenix) through Lock O-8 (Oswego)
Cayuga-Seneca Canal
Lock CS-1 (Cayuga)
Updates to follow.
The Canal Corporation urges all users to register to receive updates through the "Notice to Mariners" notification program at www.canals.ny.gov
For updates and information, please visit Canals.NY.gov or follow us on Facebook or Twitter
10:56:06AM 7/19/21

The entire eastern canal was shut down for 5 days (locks E2-E19) from July 11-July 16 (opened at 0700), then shut down again July 19 at 10AM.
That puts some boats at lock E14 on a small town wall with no power, no water, no restrooms, no shower and no spot on the wall. If you add to that a nearly full blackwater tank and no pump out, it could make for an uncomfortable 5 or 10 days. There are sections between locks where there are no suitable boat ramps where a trailer boat could be ‘trapped’.

I have never considered this possibility before. I read the Notices for several months in advance of a cruise to get an idea of ‘problematic’ locks and walls with ‘issues’, but I don’t remember any cases of such long sections being closed for 5 days or more.

The Good news is that we are stuckees at Ithaca, at the lower end of Cayuga Lake. It’s a great college town with lots of state free waterfall parks and bike/walking canal side trails with lots to see and do.

The Botanical Gardens at Cornell U is magnificent (as is the size of the U) but is located high up on the ridge. Walk to the Ithaca ‘commons’ then catch the 10 bus to the U and walk 0.75 miles to the Gardens. Masks required at bus stops and on buses. Fare $0.75 each no change. See Tcatbus.com for routes and schedules.



Local RT25 owner 2 slips down has pointed out a very important addition to my July 16 post re making reservations at Treman marina. Reservations can not be made for a same day arrival by phone or VHF or online or any other way, and “NO float-ins allowed.” It’s easiest to use Reserveamerica.com the day prior to arrival. The maximum stay is 14 days, then you must move out for 48 hours before another 14 day stay. There are no other marinas at Ithaca... although you can anchor out further south on the canal, July nights can be hot. This is day #8 here. If there is no indication of a reopening date, we are developing contingency plans to Enterprise back to Pirates Cove, bring the rig here to load and go down the Hudson river as an alternate cruise. The closest marina is Finger Lakes marine, 5 miles north on the east side of Cayuga Lake. You can’t get out of the Finger Lakes without going through CS lock 1.

Next post...The Hot Air Balloon Ride!

Safe Travels,

John

[hardee]

John, Well now, That is a real pickle for some. I didn't see any mention of the food stores being open. So, if not the I should pretty much equal the O and the problem may be minimal IF the parties on board are willing to starve. I bet they are not so, , , , we will have to wait to see how things come out at eleven . . .days.

Looks like you are in the right place, mostly, at the right time. Seems they would make some sort of accommodation to get those trapped boats out before they set all that closure into concrete. Or give a 24 hour advance warning of closure. S o m e t h i n g

I am enjoying your cruise and photos. Thanks for sharing, John. I always enjoy your write ups.

Harvey
SleepyC

[gulfcoast john]

A looper boat stranded within the Oswego canals relates on the AGLCA site that the lockmaster speculated to him that it would be ‘at least a week’ and more likely 2 or 3 weeks before 0-8 would re-open into Lake Ontario.

Long story short, we are preparing to abort this cruise and consider an alternative on the Hudson, perhaps from the Troy Lock area to the Half Moon Bay area (or the reverse of that) with a suitable ramp and Enterprise back. We don’t worry about gas mileage with the 3-5 foot tides in that area.

We would appreciate your input if you already have this under your belt! It would save me some research in muddy Cayuga Lake.

Cheers!

John

[thataway]

Sorry to hear that your trip got shut down. It makes us consider an alternate for Sept. Probably be Cumberland Lake and the 50 miles of Cumberland River below (which we did not do 3 years ago.).

Good luck on the haul out and the rest of the trip.. Thanks again for the great descriptions.

[ssobol]

Lake George is supposed to be very nice. My brother used to vacation there every year when his kids were younger.

You could also trailer to Oneida Lake.

[thataway]

duplicate

[dotnmarty]

[gulfcoast john]

C-Brat Friends,

The muddy ugly water level in our Ithaca marina rose an inch yesterday and another inch today.



This particular log came by today inquiring whether we would rather tangle with him here, or in the middle of the lake. We told him ‘check back with us in 2-3 weeks.’

When the going gets tough, the tough take their toys and go home, except for the boat. Rather than end this adventure, we decided to suspend it. Tomorrow at noon we catch a bus to Syracuse, Lyft to Pirates Cove (several Loopers are stuck there), drive the rig back here to repack, then head back to Pensacola, leaving the boat at an Ithaca marina.

I’ll watch some YouTubes on trailer wheel bearings. I may have to put Colby on my speed dial and speakerphone. When the western locks re-open we’ll truck back and leave the rig in Tonawanda or Buffalo, then bus back to Ithaca to resume our adventure. As always, in our experience the logistics are challenging, but it should work. And in our experience, when it doesn’t work, if you supply enough Boat Units it will likely work after all. Many decades ago, we were stuck in Hong Kong with a cancelled flight to Singapore when the gate agent said, “Ahh, you have American Express! No problem!”

Problem solved.

It’s time for Hot Air Balloon ride pictures! The smokey haze is from the California fires, carried by the Jet Stream to New York. This is a must-do adventure you will remember for the rest of your life, much like taking the seaplane from Key West to Dry Tortugas when you’re there (and someday, you should be There).

We were a flight of two, with us in the much larger yellow balloon. The pilot is the owner of the company (1,900 flight hours).





This is a view of the southern end of Cayuga Lake



We weren’t really as close to those high-tension electric lines crossing the canal as it looks here.



Cornell rowing team house and the canal bike/walking trail into town. In the late 1800’s CU was muscling in on the Ivy Leagues, and the competition involved tens of thousands of rowdy spectators with a lot of drinking and betting, on a train with an engine at each end that would follow along the action.

OK, so maybe not all that much has changed after all…..







So who’s concerned re flying between trees with those power lines?



A hot-air balloon pilot can’t steer or change course, but can rotate the balloon so I could get this shot of Cat O’ Mine. If any of our Brat family has a shot of their Dory from a balloon, it’s time to share it! Drones don’t count, unless you are in the drone.





Wish us luck and safe travels!

And also for you and yours!

John

[hardee]

Oh, that silence, and then whishshshshsh and still the feeling of motionlessness, but the world falls away. Fun flying. Great. Sure hope you stayed clear of those lines. They don't mix well with the HAB. But it just never seems like you are far from the ground. (Believe me, I know because I don't like heights.

So, You are leaving the boat there. Is there any prediction in how much flood there will be, or is it all due to some other factor that every thing is shut down?

Harvey
SleepyC

[ssobol]

IF a HAB pilot cannot steer or change course, how can he rotate the balloon? It would seem to me that if you want to change your viewpoint, everyone on board has to shift around.

[hardee]

AS you know, the balloons always go down wind. They change course by changing their flight altitude, either up or down, to find a level that has a different direction. sometimes it is only a few feet, 50-100 and sometimes it takes several hundred feet. I believe the rotation can be accomplished by selecting which vents are opened and for how long. Not sure how else the rotation would be accomplished. Maybe John can help out there.

Harvey
SleepyC

[gulfcoast john]

Harvey et al,

Flooding is the only issue, not counting closures that last less than an hour or so. Locks 2-19 reopened yesterday, but no help to us. Rochester opens today. This has made us hopeful that the locks we need (CS1 and E25 and higher) might open up soon. No more rain and the humidity is 44% today.

We took the OURbus from Ithaca (2 mile walk) to Syracuse and a Lyft 35 miles to Pirates Cove to pick up the rig and drove it back to Ithaca Treman marina ($2.50/day for max 14 days) to park the rig here. The ramp at Pirates Cove actually looked lower and less muddy than when we launched over 3 weeks ago. Co-owner Patti says the Oswego will be the last to open and suspects the western Erie to not take that long. We worked with park Mgt to allow us an extension here until Aug 7. Plan C is that to load and roll the 1,200 miles back home just to return in 5-14 days would be a pain. Also, having the truck here makes it easier to shop, do laundry etc without having to fit it all in our pocket Matador backpacks and a canvas boat bag.

Here’s a great map of the canal, weird that you CTRL/SCROLL to change size.

https://www.nycanalmap.com/

This is Heavy Cruise plus 3 Locks A Day Mode. Each fender can be flipped back into the boat or stuffed by the front railing with Fendergrips for quick adjustments if we’re making 25MPH on a lake vs 6-8 MPH on the canal.

[img]Harvey et al,

Flooding is the only issue, not counting closures that last less than an hour or so. Locks 2-19 reopened yesterday, but no help to us. Rochester opens today. This has made us hopeful that the locks we need (CS1 and E25 and higher) might open up soon. No more rain and the humidity is 44% today.

We took the OURbus from Ithaca (2 mile walk) to Syracuse and a Lyft 35 miles to Pirates Cove to pick up the rig and drove it back to Ithaca Treman marina ($2.50/day for max 14 days) to park the rig here. The ramp at Pirates Cove actually looked lower and less muddy than when we launched over 3 weeks ago. Co-owner Patti says the Oswego will be the last to open and suspects the western Erie to not take that long. We worked with park Mgt to allow us an extension here until Aug 7. Plan C is that to load and roll the 1,200 miles back home just to return in 5-14 days would be a pain. Also, having the truck here makes it easier to shop, do laundry etc without having to fit it all in our pocket Matador backpacks and a canvas boat bag.

Here’s a great map of the canal, weird that you CTRL/SCROLL to change size.

https://www.nycanalmap.com/

This is Heavy Cruise plus 3 Locks A Day Mode. Each fender can be flipped back into the boat or stuffed by the front railing with Fendergrips for quick adjustments if we’re making 25MPH on a lake vs 6-8 MPH on the canal.



The pilots used Honda gas big fans to inflate the balloons horizontally on the ground to about 85%. Folks who had mobility issues (like bad hips) were invited to ‘preload’ while the basket was horizontal. Once the gas is lit, bringing the balloon and the basket up to vertical, it’s quite a hip swing to get into the basket with its built in step holes for the over 65 crowd. There was a divider along the long axis of the basket that allowed partial pre loading of the two sections , but no moving from one side to the other.

I think Harvey is correct in that the pilot can make the balloon rotate on its vertical axis by opening or closing vents near the upper part of the balloon. It appeared to us that was what he was doing. I have over 500 military flying hours as crew, but this is all new to me.

Todays Exciting Activity was pumping out (sorry, no pictures) and Taughannock Falls. They are 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls.
The $8 entrance fee is waived if you show your Treman state marina receipt.











Safe travels to all!
John
[/img]

The pilots used Honda gas big fans to inflate the balloons horizontally on the ground to about 85%. Folks who had mobility issues (like bad hips) were invited to ‘preload’ while the basket was horizontal. Once the gas is lit, bringing the balloon and the basket up to vertical, it’s quite a hip swing to get into the basket with its built in step holes for the over 65 crowd. There was a divider along the long axis of the basket that allowed partial pre loading of the two sections , but no moving from one side to the other.

I think Harvey is correct in that the pilot can make the balloon rotate on its vertical axis by opening or closing vents near the upper part of the balloon. It appeared to us that was what he was doing. I have over 500 military flying hours as crew, but this is all new to me.

Todays Exciting Activity was pumping out (sorry, no pictures) and Taughannock Falls. They are 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls.
The $8 entrance fee is waived if you show your Treman state marina receipt.











Safe travels to all!
John

[gulfcoast john]

Sorry for the doubles in the prior post, SLOW wi-fi.

Onwards to Plan D! We have the truck and trailer with us, still stuck in Ithaca, but at least with a lot more range. Pic of the often remarked on, but seldom seen, ramp at Pirates Cove Marina just east of Three Rivers Junction:



We drove back to Lake Seneca to see the village of Geneva, which we missed while on the boat there. Nice welcome center, ramps with pay kiosk (park on the grass) and several short town slips without power. Nice Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.



Cayuga-Seneca canal enters Seneca Lake:



There are more town slips (all 48 hour limits) just past the Ramada Inn, 3 with power. Fairly exposed, but good enough to explore the village and get some lunch. A long free State Park covers the North shore of Seneca all the way to where the Cayuga-Seneca canal enters Seneca lake after CS locks 2, 3, and 4. Local boats anchor in the waist deep coarse sand on weekends.





We hoped that the flood waters would recede more quickly than some of the lockmasters predicted (‘another two weeks’). We drove the truck from Ithaca to Rochester to see the city. The Science and Technology Museum is geared more to school kids than adults, but we still enjoyed it. Don’t miss the Eastman Kodak galleries and home or the Dinosaur BBQ. The Genesee River still looks full and mean, although the Rochester Erie sector opened today, limited to 5 MPH with debris in the muddy brown water.





Note the three green Erie Canal ATONS in the flood debris captured by the dam boat restraint cable:



The Corn Hill Landing a few miles south of where the Erie Canal crosses the Genesee River is being totally demolished and rebuilt. This project took years to start and looks to take many years to finish.

https://www.cityofrochester.gov/wrwimprovement

So it’s just as well that we decided to see Rochester by truck while we were ‘trapped’ in the Finger Lakes. The east wall has no cleats. There is a short west wall along the Corn Hill Landing Apartments, but it’s daytime only and no utilities.





After two nights exploring Rochester, we head back to Ithaca tomorrow for provisions and laundry. The next day we plan to leave for FLX marina below CS lock 1, which opens today at noon. Hopefully the extra time will clear out some more water, but on the other hand there are dozens of Loopers starting to come through and compete for free town wall spaces. Leaving the rig at Ithaca, we’ll have to eventually change our plan to Amtrak back from Buffalo to take a bus back. OurBus.com has newer clean coaches and runs on time.

If you’re not cruising, I hope you can at least get on your boat!

Cheers!
(Eileen is Copy Editor, and I am often surprised at what she allows me to get away with...if you don’t mind me ending a sentence with a preposition).

John

[colbysmith]

Hello John and Eileen. Sorry to hear this trip is not panning out like you thought it might. We are still looking at doing this next summer, so trying not to pay a lot of attention to your troubles. When you get time, would you mind saving me the trouble of looking up that link again to sign up for the local notice to mariners? I had signed up earlier when we were planning this trip a year ago, but then with Covid and trying to reduce some of my email feed, canceled them.
Feel free to call any time with your bearing packing questions. But I think you'll find numerous youtube videos that will make it look pretty easy. (And it actually is.) Hardest part will be getting the cotter pin out. lol. Ok, that and maybe the mess. Actually, if you have zerts on the end of the spindles, you could actually probably just pump some grease in there. And while jacked up, just grab the wheel on both sides (180 degrees apart) and try "wobbling" it to see if there is any free play. A tiny bit is ok. None would make me wonder if the bearings are too tight, but I doubt it if you've been running ok and haven't done anything with them. Too loose and you'll need to tighten them up. Colby

[ssobol]