15 Miles on the Erie Canal

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal….that sounds like a song I remember. Actually we did about 48 miles and passed through only six locks, but remember we were only traveling at the speed limit of about 8.5 knots or 10 miles per hour. It’s life in the slow lane.

The adjoining pictures. were taken our last lock today, Lock 17 which had a rise of forty feet. It’s kind of spooky pulling in and trying to grab a line hanging down from the top, as well as keep the boat from banging into the lock walls. In that picture, Judy is holding the forward line which she has around a cleat, while I hold a similar line on the aft end of the boat

The Erie Canal to this point was different than we expected. We all remember pictures of mules pulling small barges down the canal. Well it must have been that way originally, but around the turn of the century, in order to compete with the railroads, the canal was straightened and dramatically widened. We have been traveling up relatively wide cuts and portions of the Mohawk river as you can see by the picture. Interestingly, the town where we are tied up tonight is called Little Falls because there were originally waterfalls of about forty feet and that was the end of boat traffic on the Mohawk. That is until the Erie Canal was built and a forty foot high lock was constructed.

We are located at an almost new municipal dock and park right on the canal. It’s a beautiful setting with huge oak trees and the surrounding rather steep hillsides completely covered with lush green trees.

Ned