The Erie Canal
The Erie Canal, at 363 miles long, was built between 1817-1825 and connects the Atlantic Seaboard to the Great Lakes. It was spearheaded by New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. Skeptics called it “Clinton’s Ditch”. Even Thomas Jefferson called the project “just short of madness” and refused any federal money for its development. Obviously the naysayers were wrong; Governor Clinton was vindicated and the canal advanced settlements of the Northeast, Midwest, Great Plains and made New York City what it is today. The canal was not an easy endeavor. It took shear muscle power of men and horses! It took 50,000 men, mostly Irish immigrants and slaves, with their shovels and axes, earning 50 cents to a dollar a day , to dig the canal. Of the 50,000 men, 1,000 would perish in the construction. Some men, who came only with an axe in their hands, but rose to engineering positions, became known as the graduates of the Erie School of Engineering. In 1824, close to the canal, a school was founded, The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy.
Today we begin our travels on this historic waterway The Erie Canal begins with what is called the flight of five. The flight of five consists of 5 locks, numbers 2-6, that will raise us up from the Hudson River at 15.2 feet elevation to the Mohawk River at 184 feet. Each lock will raise us between 33 to 34.5 feet. From Lock 2 to Lock 6 it is only 1.5 miles, but will take us approximately 1 1/2 hours to navigate.
After the flight of five there are two guard gates we will need to pass under. Sometimes they are left open, other times you need to call and request an opening.
As we travel the Mohawk River, we notice lots of green vegetation in the water which we try our best to avoid cruising through which would result in a clog in one of our systems.
After 7 hours traversing the canal, with 9 locks behind us, and a storm on the horizon, we call it a day and head to the Amsterdam Riverlink Park. The rate here is $1.00 a foot with a restaurant on site, in which the dockmaster is the chef. 🤷🏻♀️ Sounds perfect for this hot, humid, and stormy night!
One thing that is different when we pull up to this concrete wall in the town of Amsterdam is a water ski ramp right off the dock pier. Unusual for sure. Soon enough, we see a ski boat pulling skiers, practicing their tricks on the water. Very cool to watch, if you are not on a boat, tied to a concrete dock and getting slammed by wake every five minutes. Not sure why this town would allow this after promoting their public river park and observatory (which is very nice by the way), as an overnight stay for those traveling on the canal. Seems sensible they could practice just a bit upriver or downriver and all would be happy.
For once a storm is welcomed, as it forces the ski boat off the water, allowing us to relax inside Prime 11 before dinner.
Unfortunately, when the Captain comes back from paying our dock fees, he sadly reports that the chef/dockmaster is leaving and will not be cooking tonight as it is too hot! So for tonight, Prime 11 Galley Restaurant will be opening!
Our first experience with the Erie Canal went well. The lockmasters are friendly and accommodating. I have to say the experience locking through is much nicer than the locks on the Ohio River. Tomorrow we will again head west on the Erie Canal to Little Falls Canal Harbor.