Day 90 - Erie Canal Part III

Most of the boats at the marina took off early as the locks open at 7 AM but we wanted to see the Remington Arms Museum.  Their web site said they open at 8 AM which would give us time to get the grocery store and hardware store and still get to our next stop on time. Imagine our surprise when we saw this!  Too bad they didn't update their web site when they updated their sign. And of course the grocery store wasn't open yet either.  Oh well - at least the hardware store was open, they just didn't have what we needed!

Bob decided we didn't have the time to wait.  At least we saw the outside of the factory - the biggest I've ever seen I think!  The complex isn't a complete square, but close to it! Notice all the pickup trucks!  The entire parking lot was a majority of trucks and vans - very few sedans.

Since 1816!!

Nice quiet morning

It was a fairly uneventful day - we went past this double barge easily.

We had to wait briefly while this dredging barge loaded a barge with sludge it had just sucked up from the bottom of the canal.  Don't you just love this cute little shuttle boat?

We passed through Utica...

...down a part of the canal that was man made - long and straight.  Part of the canal follows the river and part is man made.

And ended up at Sylvan Beach in 90 degree weather.  I think the whole town was at the lake!  This was Monday.  Some friends that arrived on Sunday said it was even worse!

Crossing Lake Oneida the next day was smooth traveling and our friends on Mother Ocean followed us over.

One of our friends that completed their loop today posted these questions and answers about the Erie Canal and I thought some of you would be interested too, so I copied her (sorry Wendy - you did such a great job, why recreate the wheel?).

Q: Does it cost money to go through the locks?
A: Not necessarily the locks, but typically there is a pass you purchase to use the canal system. It's pretty reasonable and is based on how long you want to stay in the canal and the length of your boat. Our size boat for a 2 week pass would be $100. HOWEVER, since this is the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal, this year all vessels are FREE so it's a good year to travel the canal system!

Q: How long does it take to fill each one and get through?
A: Well, it depends. Each lock is a different height. For example, the 40 foot lock probably took about 30 minutes from beginning to end, but there were a few boats maneuvering in and getting secured. In addition, going up usually takes longer than going down. Today, our 7 foot drop lock took maybe 10 minutes from beginning to end and we were the only boat in there.

Q: Does one boat go at a time or several?
A: As I mentioned above, several can go at a time, but the lock master will not hold up a lock for too long so if you aren't within sight of the lock, you need to wait for the lock to "turn around" meaning that the lock master will lift or lower that batch of boats and then dump or fill back up to come back to you.

The Erie Canal is 339 miles long from Waterford to Buffalo with 35 locks and rises 556 feet.  

Entering the lock you can usually choose which side you'd like to tie up to.

 You wrap your line around this pole and hold on.  The water rises and the

 line inches its way up the wall while keeping you close to the wall.

After the doors are closed behind you, the valves are opened under the water level to flood the locks.  The doors are not always fully water tight and you can see the water forcing its way into the lock from the "up" side.

We only did half of the Erie going through 23 locks and then turned north through the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the last leg of our trip on the Erie Canal.

Docked at Sylvan Beach Free Dock  6/12/17