070: Erie Canal Part 2: Heading West

On May 29^th, we left Canajoharie for Little Falls, but not before I removed a large tree trunk in our way and rowed it over to the nearby shore:

Along the way we went through a lock that had a lifting gate instead of swing gates, it was a bit intimidating to see that gate come down, not sure why, but it was.  I felt like I was in the movie "Brazil" by Terry Gilliam:

We made it to Little Falls after a seventeen n/m run and joined up with a decent sized group of Loopers:

 

I did some trouble shooting on the trim tab hydraulic system, ordering some parts to meet up with us down the road, and Nancy rode over to the Herkimer Home State Historic Site home to General Nicholas Herkimer, a Revolutionary War hero.  To wit:  https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/herkimerhome/details.aspx

The staff at Little Falls was fantastic, very helpful.    After Nancy got back for the Herkimer House, we took our bikes and road across the Canal into town.   So much potential, but clearly suffering from lost industry.  A very beautiful setting and it’s a shame so many storefronts were for rent, and large industrial buildings on the waterfront looked to be abandoned.  

 

The ubiquitous LaFayette marker:

Rapids along the town:

On May 30^th we left with a large group to head for Sylvian Beach, NY, forty-three n/m’s down the road.   With some big boats in our group, the locks got crowded, but we did manage to squeeze in each one.    At one of the locks we all had to wait, and we were strung out along the Canal for a at least a half a mile, it was a lot easier to hold Hygge in position than one of those seventy footers!

 

We tied up to the free wall (no power ☹) at Sylvian Beach and joined two other Looper couples for dinner and got a quick group shot.    We didn’t do any real exploring as it had been a long day. 

 

The next day we crossed Lake Onieda and made it to Ess Kay Marina in Brewerton, NY.   Here we had a bunch of packages awaiting us.  The staff at Ess Kay were the best of any staff on the G/L trip so far.   Very nice, very helpful with getting me some parts I needed.  We also used the free courtesy car to do laundry and go to the grocery store.

I attempted to repair the leaking trim tab system and thought I had it all fixed, but it started leaking in another place.  I think all my jostling about (very hard to reach places), loosened up another connection.   I can move the trim tabs up and down, but not without losing some fluid.  We really don’t use them that much, so I am putting this project on hold until I have more time to figure it out and research the issue.  

We stayed two days at Ess Kay, had “docktails” with some of the local “Basin Bums” who have permanent slips in the marina.  Met a couple who had sailed around the world.   We took some dinghy rides up the Canal and did some walking around.    Highlight of our travels was the ice cream place up the road a bit:

 

On June 2^nd we left Brewerton and headed west.  At the “Three Rivers Junction” instead of turning right to go to instead of turning to starboard to head up to Oswego, which was our original plan, we turned to port to head to Baldwinsville.  Our entry into Canada will be delayed, we want to see the “Western Half” of the Erie Canal as we just haven’t felt that “I got a  mule her name was Sal” vibe we have been looking for.   We’ve been told that we’d find it in the West.

Which way do we go?

You wind up going under a lot of "guard gates" on the Erie Canal.  These are essentially dams that can come down in the event of flooding or a breach in the canal wall.  These are not lock gates.

 We tied up to the Baldwinsville lock wall (power $5) after a nineteen n/m trip.  We took a walk “in to town” but as it was a Sunday, not much was open.  We did enjoy watching the lock from “up top” and seeing how the gate mechanism works.  Pretty cool.   

A gear turns and moves that lever arm with the teeth, which opens and closes the gate:

We had a most excellent meal at the BBQ restaurant adjacent to the lock.

Dave

Odometer: 4,331 n/m's