Erie Canal, NY
Lock 18, early in the morning.

Erie Canal, NY
Dredge picking up rocks at the side of the river and putting them on the barge.

Erie Canal, NY
Lock 17 was the only difficult lock we had. Due to the way the water enters this lock, they want all boats to be on one side of the lock, which for boats heading in our direction, would be on the port side. Issuma has reels of rope attached to the lifelines on the port side that prevent coming alongside a wall on the port side. We talked with the lockmaster, and he was definite about what side we needed to tie up on (and there is a sign to that effect on the lock before it), but said we could back in if we needed to. Backing in would have been relatively easy, except for the corner in the river just before the lock (not seen in the picture), where the water goes around a bridge support. There is a sudden change in the current at this point, which I was unable to get around in reverse. So we used ropes to shore and, by a combination of pushing and slowly motoring in reverse, backed up to the lock, then we got aboard and reversed into the lock. It took about an hour in total to enter the lock (an advantage in being the only boat heading north this time of year is that you’re not delaying anything if you’re slow ).

Erie Canal, NY
Approaching Lock 11

Erie Canal, NY
The old Adirondack Power and Light generating station. Tied to the wall is a self-propelled barge (note the outboard motor).

Erie Canal, NY
Hydroelectric dam beside a lock on the Erie Canal. There are several dams along the route, supplying electricity for the area.

Erie Canal, NY
The tugboats on the Erie Canal always seem to be nicely painted.

Erie Canal, NY
Issuma being a boat, there is, of course, always work to be done. Here, Christina and I are working on getting some of the old rigging wires off. One of the reasons for taking this route thru the canals was that bringing the masts down was an opportunity to replace a lot of the rigging wires in what seemed an easier way than doing it all by climbing aloft.

Erie Canal, NY
One of many trees along the banks of the canal.

Erie Canal, NY
One of several guard gates in the Erie Canal. The purpose of the guard gate is to prevent large amounts of water from being released if there is a break in the canal wall in a long section between locks. The gates are normally up, so boats can pass through.