The Erie Canal

[Ron-Anne]

My wife and I are planning to travel the Erie canal this summer and we wondered how far we would have to travel between facilities and if anyone has any other information that can be helpful, our plan is to head downstream on the St. Lawrence to Sorel then up the Chambly spend a week on Lake Champlain and hopefully on to Troy, the Erie and out at Rochester. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mulf]

Try these for starters.

www.activecaptain.com, type erie canal in the location search box.

http://www.eriecanalway.org/documents/ECNHC_MapGuide_2012_web.pdf

http://www.canals.ny.gov/index.shtml

 

[Spindrift NH]

If by facilities you primarily mean fuel, you will probably pass one or two each day. If you are looking for places to dock for the night, each lock has places to tie up, some have picnic tables and cooking grills, at no charge. A couple towns along the canal provide areas to tie up for the night or city docks for day visits. I would suggest you get the Cruising Guide to the NY Canal System, it's a great publication for $20 and it includes all information you will need to navigate the canals. Don't bother buying the NOAA Recreational Charts for the NY State Canal System. I paid over $30 for it and never opened it once during my trip through the canals. The Cruising Guide contains the same info. plus more.
Lake Champlain has plenty of services and if you are going to spend some time there I've got some great spots for you to drop the hook for a couple of nights.
Great trip, hope it works out for you!

 

[Dan Hill]

We transported our hunter up the Hudson and thru the canal last May. Spindrift has it right, buy the canal guide. Facilities available in almost every community the canal goes through. Most have a town wall to tie up to for free or almost free. Most of the locks allow you to tie up for 48 hours if needed. Plan on using the "high side" if theres a choice at the lock, quieter and calmer. The lock masters are great people and communicate to each other concerning whats coming their way and will usually have the lock set and waiting for you, but always call or radio ahead. We encountered some debri along the route, but nothing major.

Given the chance again I wouldn't hesitate a second to travel the canal, just wish the mast could stay up lol.

 

[mark porter]

Hey Wrenchbender! Just reading your latest comment, and you mention wishing the mast could stay up. Does this mean you had to drop your mast to transit the canal? (My mast is 47')

 

[Ron-Anne]

Bridge clearances are in the mid to low 20ft. bummer hu?

 

[mark porter]

Yup. Guess a canal trip is out for me. Thanks for the heads up on that one!

 

[Dan Hill]

On the Hudson stop at "Castleton on the Hudson" marina. Cheap cold beer and a do it yourself crane to unstep or step as needed. I'm sure theres others at any of the other entry ports. A little lumber for travel supports and off ya go. Good time to check the mast head components also. Not like you could sail the canal anyways lol. We motored 270nm in 7 days and the little yanny burned a whole 19 gallons of diesel. Good times! Go for it!

 

[mark porter]

I'll take that under advisement

 

[SieraHotel]

Erie Canal Pictures 2012

I made the trip from the Chesapeake to Toronto last summer on a Hunter 31. I was already aware that the mast needed to come down for the trip through the canal, but I was totally unprepared to store the mast on deck for the trip. I spent a day at Riverview marina in Catskill NY, and they explained to me what I needed to do and charged me a few bucks for lumber. I already had a Jigsaw and screw gun on the boat, and 6 ratchet straps, so it only took me an hour to make the brace. Here's how it looked.

The first time we lowered this mast onto the brace, the mast balanced for and aft, so was sticking way forward and I realized I'd harpoon the lock walls, so I had them pick it up and move it back a few feet so I'd have a long tail to worry about, but less of a bowsprit. It was a great decision and worked out perfectly. I had no shortage of bumpers as you can see, can never have too many when single handing through locks.

I stepped the mast back up at Oswego Marina. In both cases, it helped that I called in advance to make an appointment. Now that I've done it twice, I can probably get it done in under an hour by having brace pieces ready and turnbuckles unpinned. Both stepping jobs cost me around $250. It's actually a good opportunity to inspect the upper rigging and make repairs to all the gadgets atop the mast. Replace bulbs, add flood lights to spreaders etc. Next time I have it down on deck, I will have a half dozen alterations ready to go and I'll spend a few hours each day it's down replacing some wiring and indicators.

I did the trip in Late July, and the conditions were perfect. There are only a few boats transiting the canal at that time of year. Out of 21 locks, I only shared a lock with another boat twice. And did the whole trip single handed too. With a 31' boat it's no problem.

I am taking this boat down south for next winter, and I will take her through Montreal via St. Lawrence, then through the Champlain system to complete the loop. This time I will have a better designed brace which will hopefully be a little less strappy and cumbersome. Possibly made of scrap steel tubing. I will leave myself a better route between the helm and port midships.

For that trip, I am wondering where I would step the mast down on the north side of the northern most lock in the Champlain canal. Any suggestions?

You can see the rest of my pics from that trip here.
http://sierahotel.com/2012/08/08/no-worries/

 

[Ron-Anne]

You will be transiting the Chambly canal and Sorel, at the north end, has a boom installed at the wall that you can use and leave the mast down till you "hit " the Hudson, you will be going by our marina, off the seaway a bit but would love to have you stop by and spend a night before going through the Eisenhower lock. Fair and following winds to you.
Ron

 

[jtm]

Check out the Erie Canal article in the May 2013 edition of Sail Magazine.

 

[gr8_2_av8]

We did the trip last Sept eastbound in our 31. We had a great time. Looking forward to July when we bring it back through west bound. Someone mentioned entering at Rochester but you can't. Its either Tonawanda, Oshwego, or Waterford. I believe the controlling height was 15 feet, but don't quote me. One thing I would suggest is over hang the mast a bit further back that forward, that way when you drive into a lock that is empty you run less risk of striking the wall with the mast.