Erie Canal--See-Saw and other boats--my article & photos

L

ldraker

New member
If you've done the Erie Canal by C-Dory, you'll identify with this trip. If you haven't done it, this will make you want to and probably answer some of your questions, maybe alleviate some concerns. It's an easy trip, although getting to New York State may be quite a trek for those on the West Coast. But it's worth the trip.

Check out my latest travel article on Examiner.com, titled "Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal . . . or three hundred . . . or more?" I've included lots of photos of the canal, the surroundings, the locks, and different types of boats on the canal, including several of C-Dories--well, actually just our own See-Saw! We DID see a few other 'Dories on the journey, but my best photos were, of course, of our boat. And there is quite a bit of info about the canal itself, what you'll encounter there, where it goes and why, its origins, etc. Click on this link, or copy and paste -- http://exm.nr/1uHUiiC -- to get to the article. Please let me know if you have any corrections or concerns.

Enjoy!

Janda Raker
 
See Saw
What kind of dog is Lindy? I am still trying to find a boating companion dog. Has to be hypoallergenic. Wife wants another Bichon. I would prefer a "real" dog. No offense to Bichon lovers. We bred several litters and they were fine dogs but I would like something bigger.
 
Janda, I enjoyed your pictures and excellent story. Looks like a beautiful trip. The pathway along side is an interesting touch as well, something different from our Canadian canals.

Regards, Rob
 
Our Lindy is a shelter dog, so we don't really know what she is, but she's fabulous! We had the same discussion before getting her. I had had a little poodle for many years while my kids were at home, though he wasn't chosen but was palmed off on us. But he was an intrepid explorer, a great outdoor companion. So Lyle thought I'd be tempted to choose a dog like that, and he wanted a "real dog," like you! But I fell in love with Lindy, partly because she wasn't barking, like all the other dogs in the shelter. The groomer thinks she's part soft-coated wheaten terrier and part--maybe--bichon! And she is hypoallergenic, important for Lyle too. The wheatens are quite a bit bigger than Lindy, but she's bigger than a bichon and bold and funny and wild like a wheaten. She weighs about 16 pounds, big enough to jump up into our camper and to be confident when meeting new dogs, but she's light weight enough that we can pick her up to put her on the bow of See-Saw from the shore, when we're beached. And she LOVES to travel! She really enjoyed the two weeks on the Erie Canal, getting to walk the tow paths, observing traffic from the dock, eating in the restaurants, and meeting many nice folks and dogs! (Of course, we HAVE to keep her on a leash or chain at all times on land or she'd be right off on her own adventure.) Hope you find a canine companion that fits your life like Lindy does ours!
Janda
 
Thanks a lot, Bill and El, for the compliment on my article. Anything positive from y'all is like winning a Pulitzer! :-)
Hope we'll meet on the road someday!

And thanks to you, Rob. We love your country, go up every chance we get, have explored ALL your provinces except the new one. And we've kayaked in lots of your waters, but we haven't 'Doried much there, except sliding back and forth between our countries in the Thousand Islands a couple of years ago. What a beautiful experience! Maybe I better write an article about that trip!

Janda (and Lyle)
 
Nice article, Janda. The summer we spent on the Erie Canal (and the Hudson River and Trent-Severn Waterway) was a delight. Completely different from other boat cruising we have done, but every bit as fun. Along the way, we came across festivals, concerts, farmers markets, etc.

The time we spent on the Erie Canal portion of that trip was also surprisingly economical. Many towns had town walls you could tie to for little or no charge; some with electricity and water. One town even provided a no charger washer and dryer for canal cruisers. Plenty of restaurant choices and easy provisioning near the canal. Lots of history and great architecture. Friendly people. The "cruising permit" was an absolute bargain.

Surprisingly uncrowded in most places. We had days where we saw a handful of boats going either direction. The lock tenders would often coordinate times from one lock to the next to facilitate easy cruising.

While we saw plenty of bigger boats during our time on the canal, a C-Dory is an excellent vessel for this cruise. We did come across a couple tall walls where we had to climb to the top of the boat to come and go from the boat, but it was never a problem (actually made it easier to load and unload the folding bikes we strapped to our radar arch).

And speaking of bikes, having them along with us made it easy to pick up groceries or do some touring.

The Erie Canal was one of the cruises I had in mind when we ordered our C-Dory. Highly recommended.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Thanks, Jim, for filling in some details about cruising the canal. I tend to get too long-winded on my articles, and I was trying to write for the average travel-reader, so I didn't specialize in boat stuff. What you've mentioned gives C-Brats much-needed info. You're correct. It's less expensive to be on the Erie Canal than to stay home! And it's much more relaxing! :-)
Good to hear from you.
Janda
 
Janda,

Nice article, and you are right, it did peak my interest in the canal and the cruising possibilities. Seeds for the future.

Jim,

"The "cruising permit" was an absolute bargain."
Click to expand...
Can you explain more about the permit please? Also, would this be a good place to be if one were looking for fall foliage color? Or would the summer tourist/cruising season end before the colors come on?

Thanks for expanding the possibilities.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
We did the eastern part of the Erie Cannel in 2008 on a 42 ft trawler while doing the loop. Now we have a 26 ft C-Dory and are planning to do the Erie this summer. We want to do the entire cannel. Hope to be up there around the middle of June.
 
hardee":14jwabgq said:
Janda,

Nice article, and you are right, it did peak my interest in the canal and the cruising possibilities. Seeds for the future.

Jim,

"The "cruising permit" was an absolute bargain."
Click to expand...
Can you explain more about the permit please? Also, would this be a good place to be if one were looking for fall foliage color? Or would the summer tourist/cruising season end before the colors come on?

Thanks for expanding the possibilities.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
Click to expand...

Hi Harvey,

The cruising permit is what you pay to the New York State Canal System to use the locks...

http://www.canals.ny.gov/boating/tolls.html

So, for a boat your size, it would be $50 for the entire season. You can overnight just outside the locks in most places for free. Really - what an amazing deal!

Regarding fall foilage: yes, you would be able to see some pretty colors, if the timing were right. Here is a link to the hours/months of operation...

http://www.canals.ny.gov/boating/hours.html

Kinda depends on the season and Mother Nature. Go down the Seneca/Cayuga portion of the canal, and there are wineries you can visit with your boat... pretty cool at harvest time.

As you know Harvey, we are very fond of the PNW and consider it to be some of the best cruising around... but, the Erie Canal is another great cruising destination. No real "big water," but SO MANY great places to visit. You might go 7 or 8 miles for the day... or 20. This is one of those cruising areas that really deserves some extended time to get a feel for all the diverse areas.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
hardee":ix6novg1 said:
Also, would this be a good place to be if one were looking for fall foliage color? Or would the summer tourist/cruising season end before the colors come on?
Click to expand...

I have not done the canal, but I have spent time in that area of the country. For myself, I would not want to be there in summer. The reason is that it is hot and muggy (at least compared to what I like). Not only are the colors gorgeous there in fall, but it is cooler. Nights can be nippy.

I suppose there is a bit more of "summer tourist" type stuff like town festivals in high summer vs. the fall shoulder season. If you like those, and or if you prefer hotter/humid weather, then maybe it would be preferable to go in summer and forgo the fall colors.
 
I've not done the Erie Canal in a boat, but we did New England once on our own (rental car./motels, etc), and I guessed the 2nd and 3rd week in October to be about right, though it can vary from year to year with the weather.

We hit it just right, but maybe we were just lucky!

Went from New York City to Montreal and everywhere imaginable in between.

The Hudson River, Lake George, and Lake Champlain were particularly charming to nautical types,l, but it was all spectacular!

Joe.
 
Stan Major":1dyodudu said:
What kind of dog is Lindy? I am still trying to find a boating companion dog. Has to be hypoallergenic. Wife wants another Bichon. I would prefer a "real" dog. No offense to Bichon lovers. We bred several litters and they were fine dogs but I would like something bigger.
Click to expand...

In our search for the ideal boat dog we ended up with two Australian Labradoodles, the female is 27# and the male is 33#. The Australian variety is different from the standard full-size 60+# Labradoodle cross (Lab & Standard Poodle) because they have had Cocker Spaniel and some others bred into the line. They are hypoallergenic and a great size for a C-Dory. The main drawback IMO is they are more poodle than lab. And they have to be groomed periodically.

You can Google the breed to find out more.

Warren
 
Thank you Lori Ann
I will look into them. How difficult are they to find? My wife has warmed up to the poodle over the Bichon. The size of your dogs sounds about right, especially on a C-Dory 16.

Stan Major
 
Stan Major":1p5cfs67 said:
Thank you Lori Ann
I will look into them. How difficult are they to find? My wife has warmed up to the poodle over the Bichon. The size of your dogs sounds about right, especially on a C-Dory 16.

Stan Major
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be too hard. A Google search of "australian labradoodle florida" gives you several pages of breeders in FL.

Warren
 
I found an Australian Labradoodle puppy from Vinton Valley and Dr. Yvette Vinton. She'll be aboard the Pegstan next week. Photos in the album. Thanks again Warren. This site produces all kinds of help.
 
I have a question for those who have made this trip.

Any recommendations of the best direction to do this trip? East to West, West to East. I would imagine the majority of the cruising would be East to West based on those doing the Great Loop. However, those who would like to go past Albany, NY and down the Hudson would would might the trip on the Erie, West to East......right?
 
Gilbertsons":2cy9wy27 said:
I have a question for those who have made this trip.

Any recommendations of the best direction to do this trip? East to West, West to East. I would imagine the majority of the cruising would be East to West based on those doing the Great Loop. However, those who would like to go past Albany, NY and down the Hudson would would might the trip on the Erie, West to East......right?
Click to expand...

I'm a believer in serendipity... we started our Erie Canal cruise near the middle: launched at Seneca Lake State Park. Our plan was to cruise east to the Hudson, south from there to New York City, then rent a car or take a train back to our trailer. Pick up the boat somewhere around NYC, head back to Seneca Lake, then do the western portion of the Erie Canal. We had planned a couple months, so we weren't on a schedule.

As it turned out, we ran into friends from our island in south Texas - they were going west in the canal (in their Ranger Tug) when we were heading east. I jokingly said, "We should swap out truck keys, then meet back around Seneca Lake. Their truck/trailer was about 40 miles north of NYC. After they left the next day, he called and said, "Were you serious? Do you want to do some kind of truck swap to get back to our trailers?"

Still following this? We over-nighted our truck keys to him at a marina on the canal. They left their boat at Seneca Lake, and drove our truck and trailer back to where their truck and trailer was located. We left our boat in Liberty Landing Marina (across from Manhattan) and took the train to the Terrytown area to meet up with them. We then drove our truck and trailer (that they had driven half way across the state) to Liberty Landing and put it in storage there until we were ready to head back to Seneca Lake to do the western part of the canal.

Odds are pretty good you couldn't PLAN this, but it worked out great for both of us! :D

In the long run, we did some back-tracking on the western portion of the canal, but that was the part of the Erie Canal we enjoyed the most (could not have known that ahead of time, either).

Some people blast through the Erie Canal in just a few days. What I described above was over about an 8 week period of time. There is SO much to see and do along the canal, if you take the time to get off the boat and explore all the interesting communities.

Going south on the Hudson was a treat, and our time at Liberty Landing, and doing all the touristy stuff in New York City, turned out to be the absolute highlight of the trip. We stood in the crowd for the Today Show, walked through Central Park, walked all over Manhattan, went to the Bronx, saw the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and did our best to search out "the best pizza in NYC."

From there, we went north to the Trent-Severn Waterway in Canada - a completely different experience from cruising on the Erie... historic manually operated locks, more scenic, the truly amazing lift locks and the Big Chute Railway (so much fun we did it a couple times). More friendly people and the start of the fall colors. More expensive to cruise on the Trent-Severn, and worth it.

ANY direction you do it will be a great experience.

Have fun,
Jim B.

From there
 
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