The Erie Canal is a man-made body of water that runs east and west connecting the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Then through the Oswego Canal takes you up to Lake Ontario. There are three sections of the Erie Canal, the eastern, central and western (we will only traverse the eastern and central sections). The Canal was built as a navigable waterway from New York to the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Originally bulk goods were moved along the canal by mules towing boats from a path located on shore. Today the Canal is used by recreational boats primarily. We will be traveling 170 miles west and then 32 miles north to Oswego, NY, locking through 29 locks. From there we head into Lake Ontario, clear customs, then make our way down the Welland Canal into Lake Erie.
Day 1 on the Erie Canal we traveled to Waterford, NY with only one lock. We stayed on the free wall at the Visitors Center ($10 for power). There was not much happening in town but it included a great Irish Pub, a very clean laundromat and a great spot for Crocket to stretch his legs. We walked to the first lock on the canal, to purchase our canal pass ($50 for a 10-day pass), while there we noticed our buddies from Australia had pinned their boat card on the wall...of course we had to get a shot of that. They have since competed the Loop and are back home in Australia.
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| Turning into the entrance to the Erie Canal |
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| Tied on the wall at the Waterford Visitor Center. There were several other Looper boats here. |
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| Visitor Center which included restrooms and showers. |
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| The mule which symbolizes the pack animals used to tow goods along the canal years ago. |
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| The original canal, Ben is walking where the mules would be walked by foot towing goods. |
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| This was town, essentially main street in a small. |
Our friend, Betsy informed us of a live webcam located at the visitor center. We had fun calling our family and friends.
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| Betsy (actually Dave) got a screen shot of us. Thank you!! |
Day 2 we traveled 38 miles and transited 9 locks to a town called Amsterdam. We stayed at a marina called River Link Park. Here we relaxed a bit, had dinner at the restaurant on-site with some new Looper friends and enjoyed live music by the band called Rat Tail Jimmy!! They rocked the 80's and 90's!
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| Our buddies in front |
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| It seems we have picked up another buddy boat...Moon Dance (Mike and Deby) |
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| Docked at River Link |
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| Rat Tail Jimmy! |
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