ERIE CANAL EXPEDITION

Mike & Pam

Just completed 36o miles up the Erie Canal from Albany to Buffalo, NY. The trip included locking through 35 concrete chambers, sliding under hundreds of low hanging bridges, and moseying through dozens of quaint small towns. Had the Canadian border been open to non-essential travel, we would have taken a right hand turn half way up the Erie but it was not to be. The Erie route option proved to be a better than expected passage leaving us even more impressed with the state of NY. Not all boats can make it through the Erie Canal due to the low bridge clearance. We needed to pivot down our tall radar mast and lower our fly bridge bimini (not an easy task) to about 15 ft to prevent banging Sea C’s head. There were some close calls with low steel trusses but mission accomplished!

These “Guard Gates” are used to isolate sections of the canal in case of accidents,
high water, and to drain water during the winter…..or of course bad boat behavior.
  • Lock 17 – The Guillotine!
  • Game face entering 17~ The Guillotine
    is serious stuff!
  • Quite Nice & Lucky Me ~ down and OUT
.A company called ‘Erie Canal Adventures’ rents these sleep ready boats to people to cruise the Erie Canal.
This is a must do for anyone interested in trying out overnight boating. You can’t do much harm to these beauties,
they are similar to big bumper cars. Most of the small towns have free docks with
water and electric that boaters can use as they navigate the Erie.
  • Nothin’ happenin’ here!
  • A veritable ghost town
  • Little Falls Canal Rotary – nice clubhouse with laundry
Some towns are struggling while others are thriving, but all have a special beauty & charm.
Leaky Lock #18
After lock 19, Sea C’s bimini was lowered to meet the upcoming bridge heights.
This 12″ height reduction was tricky but it worked.

  • Lake Oneida on 4th of July
  • Quite Nice & Lucky Me
Pizza dinner with Wanderer, Quite Nice, Lucky Me, Das Boot, Slow Churn, It’s aBoat Time, & Taurus.
VIDEO – This was the lowest bridge of all….no problem…. centimeters to spare!
  • Love the police light!
  • Lots of bridge art depicting historical scenes
  • Lovin’ the livaboards along the canal!
VIDEO – Our first head-to-head encounter with a freight train – not only loud but a smelly experience, Yikes!

  • Free water and electric in most town, nice!
The Erie Canal has an beutiful bike/walking path that runs the entire length. A biking event that involved riding the entire canal was underway as we passed through. Biking the Erie is now high on our list of future adventures.
Middleport Lift Bridge, like many, is operated by a ‘roaming operator’ who races from
bridge to bridge to accommodate all moving vessels…can get pretty crazy!
  • Christian bird house overlooking falls
  • free pump out along the way!
  • Notice the old stair step locks on the right
Nearing the end of the canal! We would make a few quick ‘day-stops’ along the way to explore surrounding falls, etc.
The granddaddy of waterfalls – A great day at Niagara Falls with fellow Loopers from Agape and Nauti Jenny
We learned a few navigation tricks from this vessel. Perhaps someday the Sea C Rider will get a chance to enter the Niagara mist!

** BOAT PROBLEM UPDATE **

A certified mechanic confirmed that we have a serious issue with Sea C’s starboard transmission. Fortunately, with a little finesse and reduced speed, we should be able to cautiously make our way back to Lake Michigan for surgery later this summer. Soooo, all systems go to the Great Lakes!

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