43°13′40″ N 78°1′19″ W

Aug 18 – Holley, NY

We left Fairport at 6:30am Friday morning.

It rained heavy the night before so the flybridge area was soaking wet & had to be dried off before we could leave the dock.

Once underway we encountered several fixed height bridges. The NY Canal Authority cautions boaters that clearance is limited to 14.5 feet & that it could be less than that if water levels are high.

It is a bit nerve wracking approaching these bridges but our bimini frame is lowered to 13.5 feet so we should be OK until we pass the last bridge on the route (near Buffalo ). We checked, double-checked & then checked again to be sure & we have had no trouble so far (touch wood & fingers crossed!)

The lock master at one of the locks we passed through today told us that just a few days ago a houseboat had it’s bimini badly damaged at the low bridge just in front of the lock. Not a good day for that boater!

We are starting to see more sailboats headed south with their masts & rigging all tied up on the deck. Some of the sailboats we saw appeared to have no room at all on deck for crew to get around. Must be a real challenge for them to handle lines in the locks & when docking. Especially in the locks ’cause the boat moves around a lot during the up & down process.

We passed through a section of the canal today south of Rochester called the rock cut – & the name is very appropriate!

No problem with depth in this section but not a lot of room to maneuver.

This went on for several miles & then the landscape changed to a more rural setting.

The Canal Authority has done an excellent job maintaining the canal & the adjacent shorelines. In many sections the towpath along the banks of the canal is paved for miles & we see many people out biking & walking along them – especially in areas close to the towns.

There are lots of small towns along the canal route & they each offer free dock space along the canal wall for up to 48 hours. Some even provide free electricity & bathrooms & showers as an incentive for transient boaters to stop & spend a day or two in their community. This is very refreshing compared to further south (before the Erie Canal starts) where we paid up to $4.50 a foot US$153.00 + tax) for overnight dockage & the amenities were often not as nice as we could get along the canal route for free!

We passed through Spencerport, which had the 2nd of 16 lift bridges between here & Lockport.

This was a really pretty place & it would have been nice to stop here for a day or so – but it was only 1:00pm & we wanted to get a little further on before we stopped for the night.

We went another 15  miles & stopped for the night at the Town of Holley. It is also a pretty place but the town is a block or so away from the dock wall so it is a lot quieter.

The area along the canal is really well done with a welcome center, picnic tables, bathrooms & showers & free self serve pump out – which we gladly used.

As suppertime approached we thought we were going to have a very quiet night because we were the only boat on the dock & most of the locals had disappeared. But a large van pulled up to the dock around 6:00pm & some fellas in a rock band called “Who Dat” started setting up drums, microphones, guitars & amplifiers.

I told Catherine that I hoped these guys are not into heavy metal or it could be a long night! 🙀

Shortly after the band was set up lots of people arrived with lawn chairs, blankets, etc. & the band started playing what I would call classic soft rock – Beatles, Van Morrison, etc.

They were really good! Catherine & I mixed up a couple of drinks & we sat on the boat’s transom bench to enjoy the music & atmosphere.

By the time it was getting dark there was a party happening! People were even sitting on lawn chairs on the other side of the canal & a few small local boats tied up too.

Our boat still has it’s previous home port (Switzerland Point, FL) on the transom.

This has turned out to be a great conversation starter wherever we stop. People are interested to know how we got this far & where our final destination is.

During one of the band’s brief breaks a local couple approached us & wanted to know our story….

Amy & her husband Joe (hope I got their names right) have a farm & orchard nearby & are big boosters of the canal. They were telling us that in the 70s the State of NY was considering closing the canal (because of the cost of maintaining it) & local communities & farmers convinced the State to keep it open because it was important for tourism & also for all of the farmers (like them) along the canal who depended upon the canal as an important source of water for irrigating their crops.

Holley turned out to be a very enjoyable stop & we would like to return again some day.

Next stop – Tonawanda!

Cheers!

43°6′9″ N 77°26′37″ W

Aug 17 – Fairport, NY

We went through Lock 26 at 7:00am this morning. When we first got up the outside of the boat was absolutely covered in mosquitoes. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be sleeping in a tent!

On to the next lock a few miles further up the canal. This particular lock location is also a “home base” for many of the work boats that are used to maintain the canals, locks and dams. Some pretty cool equipment here.

It would be neat to take a tour of this facility. It even has a massive dry dock.

As soon as we exited the lock we encountered an English style canal boat, very similar to the kind we chartered in England last fall.

Upon closer inspection we saw that there are a few companies in this part of New York State that are chartering them. The boat’s here are wider because the locks can accommodate a wider beam.

We stopped around noon at a small public marina in Palmyra. It can only hold 4-5 boats but is really well done.

They offer free dockage for up to 48 hours & that includes electricity, water, bathrooms & showers – plus a self-serve pump out facility. We had lunch on the boat & then walked into the town in search of a hardware or small department store.

The downtown area is very nice with lots of interesting stores, galleries & museums.

We found a dollar store & picked up a couple of umbrellas. The beach umbrella we bought in Brewerton is too big to hold on to for extended periods of time & there is no way to safely secure it to the helm seat so we hope that the smaller ones will be easier to hold on to & give us some shelter from the sun. We will be able to put the bimini back up once we reach Buffalo.

Other boaters meeting us on the canal must get a chuckle out of this sight but it’s better than getting cooked in the sun!

We arrived in Fairport around 3:30 & decided to call it quits for the day. This town is a very popular & busy stop on the canal route. We were lucky to find a spot to tie up.

This town also has the first of 14 lift bridges that we will have to pass under en route to Buffalo. None of the bridges are high enough for us to pass under without lifting so we hope that they will not delay our rate of progress too much. All of the locks & lift bridges operate on demand. However, in this section of the canal their service hours are from 7:00am to 5:00pm each day.

Cheers!

43°3′29″ N 76°50′15″ W

Aug 16 – Erie Canal Lock 26

Today we travelled approximately 55 miles & are now well on our way to Buffalo.

We were up early and ready to leave at 7:00am but the river was covered in fog so we stayed on the dock until 8:30.

Catherine took advantage of the situation & got acquainted with the marina’s two cats, Max & Grommit.

Not sure which one is Max & which one is Grommit.

They are both very friendly – so friendly in fact that the marina has a note on their “Welcome Packs” that they give to each boater asking you to check for feline stowaways on board before leaving. Apparently they like to jump aboard boats tied to the docks.

We were also visited by a flock of swallows who were having a great time catching bugs off the river beside our boat.

The birds took a break on our bow railing while the fog was lifting.

We finally got underway as the sun burned off the fog. It was our first day “topless” (i.e. no bimini) & thankfully the sun was not too intense. We bought a beach umbrella in Brewerton yesterday & it helped provide some shade but was also a bit unwieldy as there was no way to secure it to the deck of the flybridge so we had to resort to holding on to it with one hand & steer with the other. In retrospect we would have been better off to buy a couple of golf umbrellas.

After about 3 hours into our journey today we came to the dividing point at Three Rivers Junction. This is the place where you turn right to go to Oswego or turn left to go to Buffalo.

We hung a left & started the 192 mile trip to Buffalo. We hope to make it there by Saturday or Sunday at the latest.

Cheers!

3°14′36″ N  76°9′34″ W

Aug 15 – Brewerton, NY

Last night we had a mom and her 8 kids visit us at the dock looking for handouts. Catherine naturally obliged with handfuls of (cooked) Minute Rice and Special K cereal.

We got up at 5:30am this morning to cross Lake Oneida. The early morning weather forecast was good but rain and higher winds were predicted for the afternoon so we wanted to make the 21 mile crossing as soon as possible. While we were pulling away from the dock I used the bow thruster to help us clear the boat in front of us and as soon as I hit the bow thruster button the computer and our navigation system shut down. Oh, oh!

We moved ahead to another open space on the dock wall and tied up again so I could find out what was causing this to happen. I figured out pretty quickly that our “house” batteries were almost dead because we did not have any shore power the night before and the batteries were discharged from running the bilge pump and refrigerator all night. Those same batteries power the 12 to 120 volt inverter we use to run the laptop and monitor. So, as soon as I put a heavy load on the batteries the inverter would shut down because of low voltage. The solution to the problem was to not use the bow thruster until the engine had a few hours to charge up the batteries.

Once we got underway we crossed Lake Oneida in very calm waters.

We took the photo below late yesterday afternoon on the way to Sylvan Beach. Being able to experience moments like this help to motivate me to do the other stuff that gets us there.

The other stuff includes me crawling into the engine compartment around 6:30 every morning to check the oil, engine coolant and transmission fluid levels.

 

But it’s not all that bad – & if I look after those things then they will look after us.

When we arrived in Brewerton at the other end of the lake we tied up at one of the Town’s courtesy docks to take a closer look at our power issues.

While we were there one of the locals came along and struck up a conversation with us. He was particularly interested in our boat because of it’s current name “Scott Free” – and his first name is Scott. He is also a boater.

We explained our situation to Scott and he generously offered to drive us anywhere we wanted to go in town for spare parts, food provisions, etc. Who could turn down an offer like that?!
Scott took us to the local Walmart and we managed to find everything we were looking for there. By the time we got back to the boat it was almost lunch time so we took Scott out for lunch at the restaurant beside the boat dock.

We had a great lunch and spent some time comparing boating adventures. I’ve said it many times before – one of my favourite things about boating is all the nice people you get to meet along the way.

After all of our early morning electrical troubles we decided to make a short day of it and we also had decided that we would stay in the Erie Canal system all the way to Buffalo instead of heading to Oswego and into Lake Ontario.

So, once lunch was over we said our goodbyes to Scott and cast off and headed up the river to a nearby marina called Winter Haven Marina which is just outside of the Town of Brewerton.

The canal route to Buffalo and into Lake Erie is much shorter than the Lake Ontario route and it also eliminates the need for us to travel through the Welland Canal and its locks. While that segment of the trip would be interesting it would also take us several days longer and we are not able to go into the Welland system unless there are at least 3 people on board the boat.

The only “downside” of taking the Erie Canal route to Buffalo is that there are several fixed bridges with a height of 15.5 feet or even a bit lower, if water levels are high. That requires us to take down our bimini because with the bimini up our height above the water is exactly 15.5 feet. So, the bimini came down.

Our little boat with the bimini down – seen bow on

Our boat seen from the stern. It’s gonna be hot up there without any shade!

Tomorrow we cast off again – Buffalo bound! It should take us 3 – 4 days to get there.

Cheers!

43°12′8″ N 75°43′34″ W
Aug 14 – Sylvan Beach, NY

We left Little Falls at 7:30am this morning headed for a series of 5 locks – 3 lifting us up & the final 2 lowering us down.

I have 2 chartplotters running on the flybridge at all times. My main source of info is from Tiki Navigator which is installed on my laptop & the 2nd unit is a marine Garmin unit. Both systems are good but I have learned to trust Tiki more than the Garmin.

The photo below of the screen on the Garmin shows me running over land …. not a good idea on a boat …. talk about running aground!

A few miles later we were in the canal running parallel to the Mohawk River – which is not navigable in this area.

Tiki shows our location….

Garmin (at the same time) – in the other channel!

Tiki wins first prize for accuracy!

On our route today we encountered a few work crews dredging the canal.

It was interesting to see them doing their thing….

In one location a bottom dredger was sucking mud out of the bottom of the canal & pumping it over the bank of the canal into settling ponds/spoil areas & in other areas excavators were loading the muck into barges because there were no spoil areas close enough nearby for pumping.

Tugs were taking full barges away and bringing empty ones to fill.

Good to see these people at work ’cause that means we have much less chance of running aground!

It was a beautiful day to travel on the canal… next to no wind & sunny, but not excessively hot. Our trip on the canal today reminded us a lot of our narrowboat adventure last fall in England.

We are now tied up on a canal wall at the end of Lake Oneida. We will travel 20 miles to the other end of the lake tomorrow morning & enter back into the Erie Canal System. The screenshot below shows our location relative to Lake Ontario, Toronto, etc.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a big decision day for us. After we leave Lake Oneida we have to choose between going on to Oswego, NY & into Lake Ontario or to continue in the Erie Canal system to Buffalo & then into Lake Erie. Each route has its advantages & disadvantages.

Check back tomorrow to find out which way we will go – we don’t even know ourselves yet!

Cheers!