Any veterans here of the Erie Canal?

[O C Diver]

Hi Ted! Heading from great lakes to points south. Would like to avoid the Welland canal/Canada route to avoid cash/weapons restrictions, in addition to wanting to enjoy the western Erie canal. 45' boat, 3' draft, but 14-10" height. Many say about 15 foot height, but, just how tight of a squeeze under the western bridges? Thanks

The Erie canal water level is controlled by spillways all along the canal. Simply, water flowing over a dam. I guess, if you had 4" of rain in a day, you might have to wait a day or two for the canal to be within an inch of normal. My boat has a 15' air draft with the VHF and light tower down. The first time across, I slowed for the lowest bridges. The clearance isn't that close. The Erie canal authority has a chart showing the lowest bridges. Go no wake under the lowest ones and you won't have a problem.

Searching the internet, it seems the lowest bridges are on either side of lock #30 at Macedon with a clearance of 15' 6". This sounds correct.

If you're planning on avoiding weapons restrictions, going South requires transiting Illinois to go down the Mississippi River ot Tennessee Tombigbee waterway. Check state laws.

Ted

 

[CharlieO.]

Navigation Information

Explore vital information about water depths, navigation and rules on the New York State Canal System to enhance your boating experience.

www.canals.ny.gov

You can find all the bridge clearances here and at what mile they are at on the canal.

 

[Seevee]

I'll second all the good replies above. I did the Erie from Waterford to Oswego twice, once on the great loop and once on the triangle loop.
It's the best boating on either of those loops with the exception of the Trent Severn and the Rideau which can't be beat.
The Erie is easy, with a lot of small towns, easy docking and reasonable food and things to do. And if done in early summer you'll have a lot of loopers with you. Fun crowd and enjoyable company. Dock space can get tight, but doable as a lot of folks will let you raft up, if you wish.

 

[Bacchus]

Lots of tradeoffs.
Route vis Oswego let's you enjoy TSW and Georgian Bay which is very nice. WESTERN Erie bypasses Lk Ont and TSW then allows running Lk Erie at higher speeds but bypasses some great cruising on Georgian Bay..above is why some over winter along the wsynorvreturn to take in other wonderful cruising. Rideau and TSW are very enjoyable and provide opportunities to speed things up on lakes between locks that w Erie don't offer... its canal all the way. Canadian routes are many lakes interconnected w locks and shorter sections of canal. All are clean, clear FW lakes with great swimming, fishing anchoring, etc in warm, clean FW lakes. Lots of choices & trade- offs

 

[bumpkin]

You will have to look closely to find evidence of the original canal. I only found a couple of places off to the side of the current canal. I saw a lock from the first or second rebuild and it was tiny. I think it was 10-12 feet across.
That said the current canal is one of the loveliest places to boat. Many of the towns bend over backwards to be accomodating to boating visitors. I wish I had found a calendar of events for the canal. It was hit or miss but we lucked out a couple of times with bands playing at a town picnic along the canal. It was idyllic.
We had to keep a watch on the bow to avoid deadheads. There were a lot of them. Towards the end we came across a crew that was tasked with cutting up the deadheads.
I didn't find the stated height to be a problem, it seems they can adjust the pool to help. We had to wait for a couple of bridges to be fixed. It seems the drivers in the area are not the best. Per a bridge operator, it is not that unusual for a bridge to be knocked out of alignment. On our trip we waited for 2 bridges to be fixed. One wait was only an hour and one necessitated an overnight in a delightful town.
Enjoy your trip

 

[Comodave]

We were going up the Oswego and then cross Lake Ontario so we left as early as possible. We were the first boat at lock 1 on the Oswego. The lockmaster put us in the lock and then they found out that the highway bridge wouldn’t lift so they couldn’t open the exit gates for us. The lockmaster offered to us to let us back out of the lock to wait. But by then there were about 20 boats waiting to enter the lock. We told him we would wait in the lock. It was about 4 hours before they could get it fixed so we couldn’t cross Lake Ontario that day. So we left the next morning about 4AM in a driving rain. Had 5 to 7’ off the starboard quarter all the way across the lake. But if we didn’t go then it would have been 6 days before they weather was better.

 

[O C Diver]

You will have to look closely to find evidence of the original canal. I only found a couple of places off to the side of the current canal. I saw a lock from the first or second rebuild and it was tiny. I think it was 10-12 feet across.

There are a number of places along the Erie canal where you can see remnants of the canal and lock system.

One of the areas next to the canal has an aqueduct. The two pictures show the side and end.

What you need to understand is that the aqueduct was built almost 200 years ago. Lots of manual labor and no heavy equipment to move the stones. There's another section of aqueduct that you can walk to from Waterford. There is also a section of the old canal with manual locks in Waterford.

These below pictures intrigued me and I had to do some research. This is a fuel terminal along the canal at Rome, NY.

The fuel terminal (and huge fuel tank not pictured) were the loading point for aviation fuel for Griffiss Air Force Base (part of the Strategic Air Command). I'm not sure at what point a more secure facility replaced this, but barge and tug were used to bring fuel to the SAC base. The base was closed during realignment in the 1995. It's still an active airport.

Griffiss Air Force Base - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Ted

 

[ScottC]

Interesting factoid:
Western NY, in the vicinity of the Erie Canal has many beautiful cobblestone houses. These were built generally prior to 1850 and mostly around the time of completion of the Erie canal.

Cobblestone architecture - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

"Cobblestone architecture was used in the northeastern United States, especially antebellum Western New York, Central New York, and the northern Finger Lakes. Masons who built the Erie Canal during 1817-1825 started building cobblestone structures about the time the canal was finished. The stones used in the construction were typically of a rounded shape; they had been deposited in the area by glaciers, and cleared from the fields by early farmers, or brought from the shores of Lake Ontario.[3][4] Migrants from New York carried the style west to Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.[4][5] Historians estimate that at least 75 percent, and possibly more than 90 percent, of American cobblestone buildings can be found within 70–75 miles of Rochester, New York.[4][6] The style was prominent between 1835 and about 1860; around 900 cobblestone buildings were constructed in New York state before the American Civil War.[4] After the war, construction slowed; there were only two post-Civil War cobblestone structures known by author Noble.[7] About 700 cobblestone homes remain in the Rochester area."

 

[Capt.Tim]

I recall a boat delivery from Cleveland to Stamford CT in a Blackfin 32 back close to 40 years ago. My crew was my Dad who was from Schenectady and relatives came to visit as we made our way. It was late fall and the canal was close to closing. Very little traffic so we tried to speed up the trip for the anxious owner. Bridge tenders stopped that with a warning of bringing in the state police. So I called the owner and we enjoyed a slow trip. The Blackfin has a deep V design and slow speed meant more wake at 10 kts. So slowly we went. Beautiful fall colors throughout the voyage.always wanted to charter one of those canal boats. Someday...