Cruising the Erie Canal

In 1825, the Erie Canal opened the only trade route west of the Appalachian, with 83 locks and a rise of 568 feet connecting the Hudson River to Lake Erie. With its success, the canal was enlarged between 1936 and 1862, increasing boat capacity from 30 tons to 240 tons and decreasing the number of locks to 72.

Map of NY State Canal System showing the locks.

Between 1905 and 1918, New York state constructed the new "Barge Canal" consisting of the Erie Canal, the Champlain, the Oswego, and the Cayuga and Seneca Canals.  Between Albany and Buffalo, the new canal was 363 miles long with 57 locks, built for self-propelled vessels carrying up to 3000 tons of cargo.  After attaining its peak in 1951, commercial traffic progressively declined because of increasing competition from the railroad and highways, and particularly with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. With the loss of the barges and a shift to recreational use, the canal was renamed the New York State Canal System. It now has 524 miles of waterways connecting lakes and rivers across the Empire State, linking the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and with five waterways in Canada. In 2000, Congress established the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor to help preserve New York's historic canal system and the communities along its banks.


From May to October, the canals are open for activities like cruising, rowing, canoeing and kayaking, motorboating and fishing. Waterfront parks offer many opportunities to picnic, fish, play or just go boat watching,  Nearly 3/4 finished, the planned 524 mile long, off road Erie Canalway Trail will become the nation's longest multi-use trail open to hikers, joggers, bicyclists and cross-country skiers in the winter.

Those who do not have their own watercraft can either rent one or take a cruise offered by many companies along the canal.  Click here for the list of these companies.

We decided to take the Erie Canal Cruise in Herkimer, being the closest to Kayuta Lake.  Aboard the Lil' Diamond III, Captain Jerry Gertz piloted the boat eastward (with an occasional assistance from some willing passengers), narrating the history of the canal and pointing out interesting spots along the way.

Fort Herkimer Church

 Fort Herkimer Church, built between 1753 and 1767, is one of the oldest churches in the state, the oldest building in Herkimer County, and the only remaining structure of the Fort Herkimer complex, an important defense stronghold during the French and Indian War.  On a side trip that we took after the cruise, we had a close up view of the old church, its front yard bestrewn with interesting tombstones dating to the 1800's.  Outside the gate of the church is a plaque stating that this was also the birthplace of Nicholas Herkimer, whose heroic exploit we've previously described in an earlier blog on the Oriskany Battlefield. We also saw a remnant of the old Erie Canal at the outskirts of the church.




     

Plaque in front of church

Remnant of old Erie Canal

   

A little over 5miles of cruising took us to lock 18 in Jacksonburg.  After the boat was moored to the wall of the lock, the gate behind us was closed and valves raised to start dumping water to the river below.  After about 7 1/2 minutes, 2 1/2 million gallons of water was removed from the lock, the vessel descended 20 feet and the spring-loaded miter-v gate (invented by Leonardo DaVinci around 1480) started to open.  With further assist from electric motors, the gate was completely opened and we were free to continue onward only to make a quick U-turn back to the lock.

Entry to Lock 18

Water level 20 feet lower; gate starting to open

Back in the lock, a boat was already waiting for the lift, bearing the banner of AGLCA,  America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association, the third one we've seen on the canal. During the cruise, we heard a detailed narrative of how boaters like these try to circumnavigate the eastern North America by water known as the Great Loop or the Great Circle Route.   Like most loopers, the folks ahead of us started from Florida on their way to the great lakes.  Our captain, who has done the loop twice, said that 1700 loopers went through the Erie last year.
 

 

Once the water has risen to the level of the river above, the gate opened and we returned to the dock at the Gems of the Mohawk for a last interesting sight.  A working remnant of the past, buoy boats like the one below were used to refuel lighted buoys in the days of oil lamps.  Today, they are used to transport workers to job sites and help look for tree limbs and other floating debris in the canals.

Gems Along the Mohawk

Buoy Boat

We left the boat with a little more understanding of the workings of the lock, more knowledge of the history of the canal as well as the Great Loop - definitely a cruise worth taking.