DESSERT 1st, Northbound -> Erie Canal !

We made it to Waterford, NY (the eastern end of the Erie Canal)! The trip up from NYC was enjoyable and very scenic. Passing West Point was very impessive, and the various ships were always a sight to see.

Our arrival at Waterford was easy and we got a space on the dock with electricity. (The dock is free, with a one-time charge $10 for electricity. Heck of a deal.). We're told there is a farmer's market right here at the little park this morning. Last night we walked up to the Angry Penguin Tavern, and I had the best reuben sandwich I've ever eaten.

No big projects for today (we've pretty well decided to stay-over and depart tomorrow (?). We'll walk to the grocery store and probably defrost the freezer (I'm a little more sensitive to that now ... :-). We were told that if we contact the manager at the grocery store and tell him we're on a boat, he'll release the wheel lock on the grocery cart so we can bring purchases back to the boat. The store then retrieves its carts every few days. Very accommodating.

Today is Day100, with 2093sm under the hull so far. This has been a Great trip, and feels like we're now entering a new chapter ... the Erie Chapter! We don't have any firm plans - but know that we have to be off the water by early November when they close the Canal! How's that for loose-planning!? We bought a "season pass" ($50) yesterday, so we may just be Erie Canal Boat Bum's for a while. Later ... We'll decide when/where/how we'll leave the boat for a month or so and fly back too FL to retrieve the truck and trailer. We'll probably do that from somewhere on the western end of the Erie (ie. fly out of Buffalo?), SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS, PLEASE LET US KNOW.

Interesting tidbit from yesterday: we met a fellow in a Camano Troll, who's going to meet a friend from Panama, who's further up the Canal. His friend's wife is(was?) the first female pilot on the Panama Canal! These folks have a one-of-a-kind Rosborough26 RIB !! A Rosborough RIB; hell of an idea. I'd love to see it but evidently they are all headed west to explore the Georgian Bay. HAS ANYONE HEARD OF ROSBOROUGH DOING THIS? We were told it was a special production/experimental project, not a production model. Sounds like an interesting idea though....

Best,
Casey&Mary
PS: I stand corrected(!) ... Rosborough DOES make a 26 and 30 foot RIB (Mary just Googled it...) called the "Rough Water." Heck of an Idea.
 
Casey said:
We were told that if we contact the manager at the grocery store and tell him we're on a boat, he'll release the wheel lock on the grocery cart so we can bring purchases back to the boat.
Click to expand...

And it worked like a champ. The wheels of the cart screeched to a halt until the employee pointed his hand-held device at the wheel. Then it magically released the brakes and away we went.

Over the Hudson River with our loot:

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Through the small-town-America town of Waterford:

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We were making good progress until Casey heard the music playing. Then the wheels of the cart screeched to a halt again. He hadn't seen an ice cream truck in many, many years and couldn't resist:

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This morning's farmers market was great, complete with bakery goods and live music. Free dock, free showers, free FAST & strong wi-fi, only $10 for electricity for as long as you want to stay (not per day!), a cute town with restaurants, grocery stores and friendly people. And a beautiful state park adjacent to the docks with great places to explore in the kayak. I'm trying to figure out why we don't stay here for a week or two! But the excitement of the first lock of the Erie Canal being so close we can see it is tempting us to move on. (Dessert 1st in lower right corner of photo, the gates of the first lock are the dark square toward upper left corner)

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We had a very nice surprise this morning: A visit from a fellow C-Brat, Mike Wyles, who came aboard to chat with us, give us information about the area, AND a ride to the grocery store. Thank you, Mike! We love the friendly folks on C-Brats!
 
Hi Casey & Mary,

You'll find that the Erie is one of the most fun cruises. It's as fun as Lake Powell in a different way.

10 years ago, I left Hunky Dory at the East Pier Marina on the Niagara River while we went to get our truck. It was secure and only about 1/2 mi from the local ramp. They were very accommodating at the marina. There were a couple of marinas north of Buffalo on the Niagara River.

Rick from Maine
 
Casey and Mary, I brought one of my old threads back to life for you re. the 246Rib. IF you go through all the replies you can find the owners website which chronicles their boat and its journeys. Lots of pictures as well. The owners are members here and left some comments in the thread.

A testament to the true "custom" build the company offered. Apparently they hatched the idea one afternoon having a drink with Bob Rosborough. Bob told them "I can do that" and a boat was born.

Regards, Rob
 
Thanks Bob,

I'm surprised I didn't see that thread back in 2012 given the amount of time I spend on C-Brats. (Then again, maybe I DID see it, and forgot. [that seems to be happening more and more]) anyway....

Story time: Your comment about how this boat was developed reminded me of a similar experience. Back in the mid 1980's (1983 or 84 as I recall) I was tasked with buying a new patrol boat for Katmai National Park and Preserve (Alaska). I searched and searched but couldn't find the "right" boat ... so I began calling builder's to see who could build what I wanted. Everybody had cold feet.

Finally, I met a guy named Paul Hureu, with the Commercial Products Division of Boston Whaler. With his can-do attitude and expertise, and a little input from me, we came up with a totally new law enforcement patrol boat. Boston Whaler called it the "Challenger." Katmai NPP ended up with hull #1.

The boat could not be barged to Alaska until about April, so Paul asked me if BW could display it at the commercial boat show in New Orleans (LA). The boat was all finished (complete with the NPS arrowhead and green slash...), so I said "sure ... But remember, it's not mine until it's safely unloaded in Naknek. Alaska." He said "no problem" so Challenger 1, was off to New Orleans. From what I was told later, BW took orders for over two dozen of the boats while at the show. Nowadays you see the Challenger24 (and a newer Challenger27) all over the country.

Damn ... I KNEW I should have held-out for some kind of Royaly Agreement!!

Best,
Casey&Mary


:monty
 
Casey wondering if you saw the Macys fireworks,also curious how long from Statue of Liberty to West point? Someday may try cruise from Beacon or Newburg and stay at Liberty Landing. Guess your well past Poukepsie? Walkway over the Hudson is a good stop. Docking by bridge restaurants there, about a 3 mile walk across 2 brides thru town one of the bridges has whats called bridge music. An artist created music from all parts of the bridge,you listen at intervals as crossing.Walkway over the Hudson attracts people from all over. Hudson is known as the river that flows both ways,they have signs there explaining it. Good pictures with shopping cart,your finding a lot of good tips.
 
Larry, I'm responding since I got a kick out of the interesting timing on your post. Just this morning, this was my Facebook post:

Here is a short You Tube video (less than a minute) of Casey on a floating barrel dock in Poughkeepsie, NY where you can tie up overnight for free by simply patronizing the restaurant. I really wanted to stop because there is an awesome bridge that goes across the Hudson River here. But just stepping off the boat onto the dock was a challenge. Between the wakes from the passing freighters, the squirrley dock, and the loud trains, we stopped only long enough to make a sandwich and then continued on to a quiet, protected marina at Mills Norrie State Park.

http://youtu.be/602EGNbW0MI

We were sorry we didn't get to walk over the bridge, but maybe we'll get a chance when we come back in the future to tour West Point.

We saw fantastic fireworks at Liberty Landing from the 78' Fleming docked beside of us. They were blocking our view so invited us aboard for an East River cruise under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges, and around the Statue of Liberty, followed by dinner, followed by champagne and fireworks. (We forgave them for blocking our view!)

From the Statue of Liberty to West Point is 53sm. Here is a good Hudson River mileage chart:

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/remediation_hudson_pdf/hrmilesmap.pdf
 
Yea ... what Mary said.

West Point (USMA) is spectacular from the water. Alas, there isn't any place to tie-up and go ashore. (Previously I had contacted a retired SGM at the USMA Visitor Center, and he referred me to the Harbormaster. The small dock is being reconstructed, but even when done, it's only for gov't vessels.). Oh well, maybe some other Day if we ever drive up here.)

Mary's YouTube video of the Mariner Restaurant's dock is a hoot. If you've never seen a bucking dock (or an 'ol guy trying to fend his boat off the dock...), watch it! Gives new meaning to Rock-and-Roll !

Cleared the "Watertown Flite" of five locks yesterday; no problem. We continued through Lock 8 (Scotia Lock) and spent the night on the west wall. No electricity, but otherwise comfortable aside from the nearby highway and occasional passing train.

Does anyone have a list of the (free) lock walls that have electricity or the town docks with various amenities? I've looked at the tourist literature and although it's pretty informative - they don't seem to advertise when free stuff is available. (Understandable ... folks along the the Canal need to make a living too.)

"...twenty-seven miles on the Erie Canal..." (maybe a new song idea for Capt. Bathurst!)

Best,
C&M
 
We went west from the Lyons area. We stopped at Newark back then they even had free washers and dryers along with nice showers and power and water. I think you have to get a key from the office on the wall next to the bridge. Nice facilities, super market close by on the south side of the canal slightly west. They have barbecue grills and picnic tables. Must stop at Palmyra nice town for lunch stop. Beautiful churches on all four corners along the main drag. We went on to Fairport which in 2009 charged 7.00 dollars for power water and nice showers tie up on the south side. Walk over bridge to the nice coffee shop restaurants and a great ice cream place. You might hear some trains at night. Very nice stop. Make a right when you get to Rochester and go up the river into town. You can run up to the dam. We moved on from there went back down the river and headed west to spend the night in Spencerport. Just before Spencerport there is a marina gas stop back then. Great restaurants and nice facilities showers power water at Spencerport. Get a spot on the south side of the canal as that is where all the action is located. One of my favorite places. Just a ways west there is a nice bed and Breakfast with a dock. Our friends stayed there and raved about it. Brockport is a fun stop, college town. Good coffee shop close stores to visit etc. At Holly you can dock and walk to the waterfall which I believe is on the north side of the canal. No real facilities there. We went on to Middleport which had all the stuff power showers, restaurant close. We were told to avoid Albion as they used to have a theft problem coupled with some vandalism. We did not want any of that. We headed back east from Middleport time constraints. That's all I have.
D.D.
 
Casey, I am just a reader of your thread so far but maybe this link will help for the list of Canal Facilities:

www.canals.ny.gov
top middle look for
Boating on the canals
Click on : marinas and public docks , left side

Info on Erie Canal marinas, town docks ( AC and Gas) using mile marker from
Waterford. Also info on branch canals.

Mike
 
Thanks Mary for reply,wow that dock is like a rodeo ride.Nice sound effects from train. I joined a hiking club a few years back we hike across from west point well more towards Beacon,trail is called break neck ridge,people come from NYC on trains to hike it big Mountains there. That's how I found Walkway over the Hudson,and wheels started turning about a future trip to Liberty landing,good to know mileage had no idea,guess you can make it in a day. Would like to get a slip at Liberty Landing even if we have to stay for a few days before to get slip. Walked over Walkway over the Hudson about 4 times once even in winter a lot of ice,big ship came thru when we were at docks on the Pokepsie side the wake busting ice to shore ,don't know how pilings for docks make it threw winter. Really give both of you credit on such an adventure nice trip thanks for sharing.
 
We spent the night "on the wall" west of Lock 22. It was the first night in a long time that we'd been totally free of train noise ... which was a nice change. But in exchange for that Quiet we had more (many more) mosquitoes than we'd experienced on this trip. ...oh yea, then there was the tug/barge that passed at 9:45PM, but at least they were slow and didn't rock the boat very much.

Yesterday we walked about a mile into Rome (NY) to visit Fort Stanwix National Monument. The reconstruction was very well done and the staff was well informed. Fort Stanwix was built by the British in 1758 during the French and Indian Wars (aka: the "Seven Years War") to help protect an Oneida indian trade route known at the "Oneida Carry Place," a six mile portage along nearby Wood Creek. Anyway, it was all pretty interesting. There were video's, artifact's and a lot of history. Another interesting tidnbit was that although archeologist knew Fort Stanwix was somewhere around Rome, they weren't sure of exactly where. A 1969 aerial picture of Rome showed the Fort Stanwix area as totally built-up. In 1963, Rome donated the land to the NPS and urban renewal funding helped bring about reconstruction.

The archeolologists were developing a pretty good, but inconclusive, inventory of the Fort and its layout - but they didn't have a particularly clear picture of the entire fort. By the early 1970's the U.S. and England were on somewhat better 'terms than they were in the late 1700's. Recognizing that "the British never threw away anything..." we sent some researcher's to England to see what Might be found. In the British royal archives they found the ORIGINAL plans for the entire fort! Armed with those plans, reconstruction began in earnest. A pretty neat story.

From here we will proceed westward to Lake Oneida and the western portion of the Erie Canal. Most folks seem to say that the western part of the Canal is their favorite. The towns are reported to be more active and tourist (boater) oriented. We're looking forward to see them and spending some time in several. So far we've spent eight nights on the eastern part of the Canal - we will no doubt spend a lot more on the western portion. All in all it has been very interesting. The downtrodden (eastern) towns that are struggling to remain economically viable has been a sad story, but it has been interesting to experience none-the-less.

This is Day 108 and mile 2204 of our adventure. Although the end of this trip isn't quite-yet in focus, it's looming closer. The rough plan is to fly from Buffalo (NY) to The Villages (FL) in about mid-September to retrieve the truck and trailer. We will be looking for a boat yard to store Dessert 1st for about a month while we're gone. After making sure the boat trailer is road-ready we'll head back to Buffalo to get the boat (and probably visit Niagra Falls!).

If you want to see pictures and more details of the trip, go to Mary's Facebook page (find her on Facebook by searching for "Mary Burtner Casebeer")

Best,
Casey&Mary
 
Casey & Mary,

Congratulations on completing the entire Erie Canal! It has been great fun watching your Spot advance along the canal, in fact all the way from Florida. So what's next - the train home or more cruising? Finishing the Loop maybe? We trust you won't be making a right turn to cruise up the Niagara River...

Rob (& Mary) :beer
 
Greetings Friends!

Yes, we reached North Tonawanda yesterday. Today is Day139 with 2403sm under the hill since leaving home. This has been a WONDERFUL trip and we're already thinking that some day we'll return and spend the entire summer exploring the NY State Canal System.

I've referred to this as boating-lite, and don't mean to put it down in any way. What I mean is that up here you can boat slowly, have all the comforts (showers and electricity, usually free), very safe moorage (free or nearly free), all the little towns along the way, LOTS of history, too many ice cream shops to count ... and never really have to look at the weather forecast or tides! It's amazing, and frankly it tends to make us rather Lazy!

Tomorrow we will have the boat hauled and put "on the hard" for a few weeks. On Friday we'll fly back to FL and prepare the truck and trailer for a trip North to retrieve "Dessert 1st."

When we get back up here we'll probably take a few days to see the local 'sites (ie. I've never seen Niagra Falls...). Then we'll head South, "Boaterhoming" our way back to FL.

We cruised very slowly ... 39days on the Erie Canal (I'm going to suggest that JimB write an appropriate song...). Going slow had its own rewards. We saw countless bike rider's using the bike trail that is nearly continuous beside the Canal. Lots of locals out for a few hours as well as lots of folks who were obviously bike-touring. Hundreds of walkers as well. At one spot we were even passed by a guy in an electric wheelchair(!) who was escorting his jogger-daughter. Pretty cool. EVERYBODY uses the Canal path! It's great.

My (earlier) concerns about not having an air conditioner were somewhat misplaced. We didn't need it; but maybe this was an unseasonably comfortable summer. We did have a 12" oscillating room fan on the boat and it saved us a few times, and since we had electricity almost every night the fan proved useful. Looking back on the trip, we only anchored ONCE on the canal and that was to have lunch. I probably forgot how to anchor for an overnight!

As we neared the western end of the Canal it became clear that we were moving slower and slower; we didn't want it to be over, ...a truly enjoyable, stress-free trip. We SHALL return!

Best,
Casey&Mary
 
If you go to Niagara Falls take your passports. The Canadian side is so much prettier. I hated to say that. Go to the Hilton on the Canadian side they have a bar on the 33rd floor that has a view to die for that lets you see both sets of falls; Canadian and the American. They light them up at night..Plus you want to visit the Niagara on The Lake area about 5 or ten miles away. Major wine country. Tasting opportunities galore. If you are wine people. I'm just sayin.
D.D.
 
Yabut, you can walk right up to the falls on the American side. 8) Walk a bit further back and you can see how fast the Niagra River is moving! Both sides are awesome (I don't use that word often).

Casey and Mary, glad to hear you enjoyed the Erie Canal - and took the time to really appreciate all that it offers. The summer we were there, we ran into a few boaters who spend the entire summer there, then head south for the winter. Then do it all again the next year.

New York has a prolific wine country, too (around the Finger Lakes area). You are there at a great time to take that in, as well.

We have enjoyed the regular reports along the way - thanks for sharing!

Best wishes,
Jim & Joan
 
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