Erie Canal Complete! Onto Lake Erie

On Tuesday, 07/02/2025, we completed the Erie Canal, the ENTIRE Erie Canal (east and west) on the 200th anniversary of the canal.  We are stoked.  At 12:30pm, we exited the Erie Canal and entered the wide open Niagara River for a short ride through a lock and down to Buffalo, NY.  The day went better than expected and we arrived sooner than anticipated in Buffalo.  We completed the final three locks, which raised us up another 56', passed through the final two lift bridges, and covered 43 statute miles.  The guidebook said to plan on 12 days to do the Erie Canal and we completed it in 10, not counting the weather delay that closed the canal.  There is so much more to see along the canal and we are already talking about a return trip. Albeit not by boat, but by eBike and eScooter in 2026.

Signpost at the end of the Erie Canal directing us to turn 
to Port (left) to enter the Niagara River to Buffalo and Lake Erie.

Summary of the final day on the Erie Canal.
We exited the canal and entered the Niagara River
for a short bit, passing through Black Rock Lock and ending
in Buffalo, NY.

We looked back on our time in the State of New York.  We entered New York on May 1st and crossed the state line into Pennsylvania today, July 3rd.  A little over two months invested in New York, which is a beautiful state.  We also looked back at the miles traveled from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY.  This in essence is the Erie Canal plus a few miles on each end.  In total we covered 363 statue miles and passed through 34 locks.  Go us!

We took a day of rest in Buffalo after traveling for seven straight days.  We had no idea there was so much to see and do in Buffalo.  Along the waterfront, we walked to the Buffalo Naval Park upon arrival.  It is the largest inland Naval Park in the United States and is the home of several decommissioned Naval vessels.

Buffalo also seems to be home of Buffalo Chicken Wings, which we LOVE!  We walked to a local venue near the ballpark and had the most amazing Chicken Wings!  During the day, we also took the city bus to Aldi to do a bit of re-provisioning for the next few days and had an amazing, unexpected, home cooked Polish lunch at a very obscure lunch counter inside a flea market housed inside of a long abandoned department store.  The area of Buffalo we took the bus to for Aldi and lunch was a bit out of our comfort zone, but we felt safe overall and had an amazing time.  Let's say we experienced the non-tourist part of Buffalo and we would go again.  We also enjoyed a nice sunset at the marina after we got back to the boat.

After a day of rest in Buffalo, we started our journey across Lake Erie today.  It was a long day but Lake Erie was kind to us overall.  We had 1 - 3' seas on the bow for the day.  The wind increased as the day wore on and the ride got a bit sportier, but we arrived safe and sound.  It did take us three tries before we got the anchor to hook.  Our fortress anchor is set up for sand/mud and this bottom has more that its fair share of grass.  It's been a long time since we anchored in freshwater.

We covered 71.63 nautical miles (82 statute) over the course of 10 1/2 hours.  We departed Buffalo, NY at 6:30am and have a pleasant anchorage in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, PA this evening.  We hope to see the fireworks show if we can stay up that late.

We plan to be on the move for the next several days and keep moving our way along the southern shore of Lake Erie while we have a good weather window.  

Erie Canal Lift Bridges

We have continued to move forward everyday on the western end of the Erie Canal, albeit slowly.  Today we hope to complete the Erie Canal and arrive in Buffalo, NY.  At that point, we will have been traveling for seven straight days. It is time for a rest day before we start the next phase of our journey, which is the approximately 210 miles of open water in Lake Erie following the southern shoreline.  

Over the past couple days we've had great places to stop for the evening, with power and water and every so often there is some interesting scenery and history along the canal.  The big change over the last couple days is the increase in the number of bridges.  

ERIE CANAL - DAY #8 

On Sunday, we completed just two locks (#32 & #33), which lifted us a total of 50' and navigated our first four lift bridges.  We traveled 32 statute miles over the course of six hours between Fairport, NY and Brockport, NY.  It seems the name of every community along the Erie Canal ends in "port".

What was notable was the significant increase in the number of bridges.  We went under 55 bridges and five guard gates.  The increase in bridges was particularly notable around Rochester, NY.  

A series of pedestrian bridges near Rochester, NY

The two locks we completed early in the day were 25' each and the Lock Master at one of the locks did a very quick "dump" of the lock to prepare it for us.  He warned us to stay back as he was going to dump it quickly.  We are accustomed to the white water flowing from beneath the lock doors as the water is pushed out, but the video below captures how aggressively lock #32 was dumped.

The doors at the opposite end of the
Lock 32 chamber didn't seal completely
creating a waterfall effect.

As the guidebook had indicated, the Bridge Tenders cover more than one lift bridge and balance east and west bound boat traffic through an area.  When we arrived at our first lift bridge, the Bridge Tender was at another bridge.  We waited about 30 minutes for him to arrive and open the bridge for us.  Happily, there was a place to tie up and wait so we were able to get off the boat for a few minutes and stretch our legs while we waited.  Once we passed through, the next life bridge was 3 miles away and Bridge Tender let us know he'd meet us there in 30 minutes to lift it for us.

Waiting for the Bridge Tender to arrive
to open the lift bridge for us.

The Bridge Tenders work together and once you are within their section of the canal, they want to know how far you are going for the day and call ahead to the next Bridge Tender to let them know you are on your way.  Once we get in the system for the day, most of the time, the Bridge Tenders will hail us on the VHF radio and welcome us to their community by name before we can call them.  They are a very helpful bunch.  Upon hearing our planned destination for the day, one Bridge Tender recommended a different town for an overnight stay with better amenities and we took his recommendation and changed our plan slightly for the day.

Probably the most impressive welcome we received was from the volunteers that staff the Welcome Center in Brockport.  Each town is a little different, but all are most hospitable and most of them have a free wall to stay for the night that includes electricity and water.  We have enjoyed the reprieve from the high transient fees we experienced on the east coast and our average cost per foot for dockage is dropping as we continue to benefit from free overnight stays on the western end of the Erie Canal.

Brockport Welcome Center

Complimentary dockage in Brockport.
We even benefitted from shade which
helped the A/C catch up from the 
heat of the day.

A peaceful view across the Erie Canal in Brockport

MMS docked in picturesque Brockport

During our travel day, we passed through what is known as the Great Embankment Project, in Bushnell's Basin.  This project is famous as it entailed filling in sections of the Irondequoit Creek Valley, 70' deep and one mile long by hand, joining natural ridges and creating an earthen aqueduct for Clinton's ditch.  Before this project was completed, Bushnell's Basin was a terminus point of the Erie canal.  Cargo was offloaded, moved overland, and then reloaded to continue on the Erie Canal.  Traveling through the one mile section of the canal was very interesting.  The walls in that area are so old!!!!

ERIE CANAL - DAY #9

Yesterday was a mundane day on the Erie Canal.  We traveled just 4.5 hours, covering just 30 miles.  We went under 32 bridges, including seven lift bridges, and six guard gates.  We had MMS tied up by 1:30pm and went for a walk to find some lunch before the afternoon rain set in.

We are both feeling a bit fatigued from traveling in the canal at reduced speeds, roughly 6mph, and constantly scanning and navigating debris.  Daily we seem to strike 2-3 submerged logs, sending terror through both of us.  When we hear the "thud", our Captain jumps to put the engines in neutral, we float over the log, wait for it to surface behind us and then resume navigation.  As the Captain puts the throttles in drive, we both hold our breath, hoping to feel no shudder and for no propeller damage as we slowly resume speed.  So far we have been very fortunate and we don't believe we have sustained any major propeller damage.  We also navigated partially submerged storage containers, construction barrels, etc.

There are sections of the Erie Canal where homes on either side are below the canal walls, which is a very strange sight.  As we travel along sometimes just outside of the canal walls there are rooftops.  There is even a section, Culvert Road, that was built in 1823 and is listed in Ripley's Believe it or Not.  The road passes UNDER the Erie Canal.  Of course we were in the canal and didn't experience the road beneath us, but the guidebook says the ceiling of the tunnel drips on cars as they pass under the Erie Canal.

Culvert Road to the North

Culvert Road to the South

Hilary has passed time the last two days, keeping track of bridges and alerting Bert when we are approaching a lift bridge.  Below is a sample of a page in the book from a day's travel, marking the bridges, including the distances in-between and the bridge heights.

One page of bridges from Day #8
Beginning of the day
Note the lift bridges

Same page of bridges from Day #8
End of the day
The times are tracked on the page as we proceed.
It passes the time and gives Hilary something to do.

As stated in the beginning of this post, today should be our last day on the Erie Canal.  We will enter the Niagara River heading south to Buffalo.  We have just three locks left and estimate covering about 55 miles today over about 9.5 hours.  Stay tuned to see how the day turns out. 

Sights Along the Erie Canal

The storms that passed through Oneida County, NY a week ago today were extraordinary and sadly claimed three lives.  Parts of the county saw 3.4 inches of intense rain over a two hour period followed by very high winds and a tornado, which led to power outages, flooding, Oneida Lake evacuation orders, fallen trees, etc.  Once the news reports started coming out, we understood why the Erie Canal was officially closed from Sunday - Thursday between locks 16 - 22.  We were fortunate to be just outside of the zone when the storms passed through.  Once the canal engineer gave us the green light to start moving on Wednesday, we have been on the move every day.  Over the past four days, we have covered 167 statue miles and completed 14 locks.  The sights are sometimes very interesting and sometimes the canal can be quite mundane.

ERIE CANAL - DAY #4

We had an incredible boating day last Wednesday.  The locks open at 8am and we've now learned that everyone is in a big rush, causing congestion and stress while locking.  We waited until almost 11:00am to depart Little Falls and we were the ONLY boat in the five locks we navigated (Locks 18 - 22).  So far we have been "locking up" as we've moved west.  Locks 21, 22 and 23, are the only "lock down" chambers for westbound vessels.    Locks 18-20 raised us 57' and then Locks 21 & 22 lowered us 50'.

We arrived at Sylvan Beach just before 7:00pm, having covered 49 statute miles.  We did see a lot of debris along the way.  The New York Canal System is working non-stop to ensure the canals all stay safe for navigation and keep controlling depths stable.  We did have one area right after lock 19 with a depth of 5'3" and our captain navigated the area expertly.  One sailing vessel arranged for Towboat to tow them through that section safely the day after we passed through.

Captain Bert ready to lock up

Captain Bert at the top of the lock

Many of the locks have the historical tugs on display.  They are painted blue and gold, the colors of the Erie Canal system.  Once such tug, Urger, was a floating museum and classroom.  Many of these tugs were built before 1940, and the worker's dedication to upkeep and use highlights the enduring legacy of the Erie Canal and its continuous operation for 200 years.

One of the historic Erie Canal Tugs on Display

In addition to the locks, there are also guard gates that are used to control water along the canal.  This particular guard gate is a double and one side is up, for navigation, and one side is down.   We have seen doubles with both sides open as well as singles.  The equipment along the Erie Canal is an engineering wonder.

Guard Gate along the Erie Canal.
One side open, one side closed.

ERIE CANAL - DAY #5

Day #5 was a planned short 20 mile day in which we crossed Lake Oneida from Sylvan Beach to Brewerton, arriving before noon.  We used the afternoon to wash MMS and prepare MMS for the forthcoming low bridges on the western end of the Erie Canal.  The lowest bridge is 15' and after stepping down the radar arch and removing the bimini on the  bridge, we are 13'3".  MMS will be topless for the remainder of the Erie Canal.  Once we arrive in Buffalo we will put the bimini back on and raise the radar arch.

Topless MMS
Ready for low bridges

Topless MMS
Ready for low bridges

We stayed at Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton and the HarborMaster, Leslie, had fresh baked goods for the boaters in the morning and also had an afternoon snack.  Blondie brownies the day of our arrival and cranberry/blueberry cake the morning of our departure.  The cake was still warm out of the oven. Winter Harbor Marina also made challenge coins to commemorate this very special 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal.

Challenge Coin 
A gift from Winter Harbor Marina

Challenge Coin
Celebrating 200th Anniversary of the Erie Canal

ERIE CANAL - DAY #6

Day #6 was a long 9 hour day.  We completed five more locks (23 - 27) and 60 statute miles.  Lock 23 was the last down lock when headed westbound at 7'.  Locks 24-27 took us up a total of 35'.   It was on this day that we crossed the turn off for the Oswego Canal to the north and the Cayuga-Seneca Canal to the south.  The majority of the vessels head north up the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario / Canada.  Many cannot clear the 15' bridge restrictions on the Erie Canal and are forced to take Oswego.  The Cayuga-Seneca canal allows access to the New York finger lakes, a side trip for some Loopers.  

After being with many Looper boats, now we know of just 2 or 3 in the area.  Dockage is plentiful for the remainder of the Erie Canal segment of our trip.  If you are wondering about the three down locks, they are for the area around Lake Oneida and the cut off to Oswego.  Once past the Oswego turn, the remainder of the locks will be up all the way to Buffalo. 

Split in the River
Turn North for Oswego or continue West for Buffalo

We saw quite a few interesting sights along the way including a camel and an oversized fishing pole.  There were also lots of very nice homes to look at from the waterway.

Camel on the Erie Canal

Oversized fishing pole, complete with bobber and mug of beer to the left.

We also saw more of the deep history of the canal.  We passed the remains of the Richmond Aqueduct.  This is a well preserved example of the old Erie Canal water bridge, one of the longest on the Erie Canal.

Richmond Aqueduct on the Erie Canal

We ended our day in the Village of Clyde on a free wall, with a 110 electrical outlet, a first for us on the trip.  After a 9 hour day of driving, our Captain had to do an additional hour of work to get the 110 power connected.  

Our Captain worked on 110 power for us.

All in all, it was another good day and we are happy.  The route was quite windy today and for a bit we were going the complete wrong direction, southeast.  

60 miles on the Erie Canal today

ERIE CANAL - DAY #7

Yesterday (Saturday) was a shorter day for us.  We covered another five locks (27 - 30, including 28A & 28B) which raised us up a total of 76' and completed another 35 statue miles.   We are in Fairport, NY and in another 2-3 days we hope to arrive in Buffalo.

Below are some sights along the way.   We also saw a bald eagle and a deer wading at the edge of the canal, but we were not quick enough with the camera.

Many miles of the Erie Canal are wooded on both sides.
The canal can be mundane in sections.

Rented vessel to traverse the Erie Canal.

The towns along the western Erie Canal cater to the Looper boats.  Lyons, NY, even had a welcome sign at one of the locks.  Lyons also had some beautiful murals that can only be enjoyed from the water.

Lyons, NY welcome sign for Loopers

Bridge Mural in Lyon, NY

Bridge Mural in Lyon, NY

Bridge Mural in Lyon, NY

Bridge Mural in Lyon, NY

Upon our mid-afternoon arrival in Fairport, NY, we were able to get off the boat and walk around and be a part of society for the first time in several days.  It was a nice afternoon.

Mini Tugboat in Fairport, NY

The locks are much farther apart for the remainder of the Erie canal.  However, beginning today, we start moving through a series of 16 lift bridges which require us to request an opening.  Our understanding is our pace may slow down and we may have to wait as depending on staffing, the bridge tenders may have to drive from one bridge to the next to facilitate the opening for us to pass through.

Cleared to Continue on the Erie Canal

Great news x2!  

An engineer from the New York Canal System visited this location late yesterday afternoon and cleared us to resume navigation (unpublished opening of the canal system).  Lock 16 & 17 behind us are still closed but Lock 18 and beyond is open!  Hooray!

We will be back underway in the next couple hours and see how far we can get today before the locks close for the day at 6pm.

Also great news, on Monday morning we worked with the Dock Master and a couple other boats and were able to get moved to the wall and plug into power and water.   This was such a relief as we had A/C for the two super hot days here in Little Falls, NY.

We also were able to get a picture of MMS in a lock last Thursday.

MMS locking through the Flight of Five in Waterford

Erie Canal Closed to Navigation (again)

ERIE CANAL DAY #2

We had an excellent 2nd day on the Erie Canal, traveling from Scotia to Fort Plain, NY, completing the entire itinerary we had planned. We completed eight locks, #8 - #15, and traveled 38 nautical miles in nine hours. The eight locks lifted MMS 91 feet. One of the sailboats in our locking group, took a time lapse video of the day. Make Me Smile was the lead boat and the sailboat brought up the rear. The two short video clips give you a nice time lapse overview of the day, including the scenery and how the locks work.

Bert was able to take pictures as we locked through, but Hilary did not have her cell phone handy while locking so unfortunately no pictures of our captain in a lock yet.  That will be a goal as we keep moving forward.

Securing MMS to the lock wall

Ready for the ride up!

You'll recall our many references to the debris on the Erie Canal.  Almost every lock had a pile of debris on the shore that had been removed from the canal.  

Debris removed from the dams along the Mohawk River (Erie Canal).
The pile is bigger than the parked vehicle.

Still plenty of debris in the Mohawk River

We have really been enjoying the steady stream of trains that started as soon as we got north of New York City. Both the Hudson River and the Erie Canal have trains paralleling the waterway.

We LOVE watching the trains.
There is a high likelihood our future travels
will include a train trip.

We ended our very successful day tied on the lock wall at #15. We selected this location as it advertised there was 50amp power there. However, upon arrival, there was one power pole for four boats and we were not close enough for our cord to reach. So, no power for us, meaning no A/C and no hot water.  Fortunately the temperature was cool enough to sleep with windows open most of the night, until the thunderstorms rolled through. We were also able to get comfortable quick showers as the water in the hot water tank was still warm from when we unplugged in Scotia in the morning.

In addition to advertising 50 amp power, we specifically selected lock #15 to stay the night because the location put us in excellent position for the limited locking through #16 and #17. You'll recall the area between locks 16 & 17 is the area that was closed for a month for repairs of the earthen embankment.  The embankment is still very fragile so traveling through the 8 mile stretch between the locks is limited to 5mph and when westbound, you can go through at 8am, 10am, noon, 2pm and 4pm only.  

ERIE CANAL DAY #3

We are now in the peak season for Loopers to be in this area, increasing competition for available dockage and lockage, especially after the extended closure between lock #16 & #17 and the limited lock schedule for those two locks. Strategy is required when planning out the day and sometimes it feels like being on Survivor, trying to calculate every other boater's next move. Of the four boats that stayed at lock #15, we were the only boat that elected to try for the 8:00am lockage at #16. The others planned to wait and try at 10:00am and avoid the anticipated crowd.

We awoke early and departed lock #15 alone in a light rain at 6:30am with a goal of arriving at lock #16 by 7:30am, well in advance of the 8:00am opening.  We expected a lot of competition to get through at 8:00am. We had a short day planned, only three locks and 25 miles, with a scheduled arrival at our next destination around noon, 2pm at the latest if we didn't make the 8:00am lockage and had to wait until 10:00am lockage. The primary goal for the day was to get through the fragile area between #16 and #17 and the limited lock schedule, not to travel a long distance. Also, the weather was expected to deteriorate in the afternoon, thus a second reason to plan out a short day. Hilary was very much looking forward to a calm, quiet Sunday afternoon, with power, to do laundry, have a nice long hot shower and in general prepare for the upcoming week.

When we arrived at lock #16 at 7:20am, we were already boat #6 in line for the 8:00am locking. By the time we entered the lock, we were boat #7, as one large Fleming took cuts. Boo to poor boater etiquette!! The lockmaster packed in eight large boats, including us. There was one more Looper boat waiting to enter at 8:00am that didn't make it in the 8:00am cycle. There is also a jet ski doing America's Great Loop and he made it into the 8am locking with us. 

Packing the boats into Lock #16

Full house in Lock #16

Mission accomplished, we made the 8:00 am lockage!  Time to celebrate, the rest of the day should be a piece of cake!  Then, at 9:15am, an Alert to Mariners was published announcing the closure of locks #16 - #22 due to high water conditions and that boaters should adjust accordingly. There had been heavy rain and the canal was up 2'. Three of the boats in our group had to scramble to remove electronics from the tops of their boats to make it under bridges that were published as 23' but were actually 21'. We also noted more debris coming at us due to the rain.  Uugh!

We knew that they would lock us through #17 as all vessels must pass through this area and not anchor overnight due to the fragility of the earthen embankment.  Lock #17 is the biggest lift, at 40.5'.  The lock has a guillotine system on each end, rather than swing doors.  

Entering Lock #17
Guillotine doors.

We were all packed in like sardines in Lock #17.  The inconsiderate Fleming was right next to MMS.  In both locks 16 and 17, the Fleming used "sky anchor" and didn't follow instructions to secure to the wall.  So in addition to having to manage the biggest lift on the Erie Canal, the Fleming's bow thruster and propellers created a huge amount of unnecessary turbulence for the rest of us in the lock, making it hard to keep MMS in place, secured to the wall, at the bottom of a 40' line.  Hilary normally is on the stern in the locks, but halfway up, Hilary was exhausted from the fight to keep MMS on the wall in one place and Bert had to come take over, moving Hilary to the bow.

Once we all cleared lock #17, all eight of us had to find a place to stay.  There is only one wall between #17 & #18 in Little Falls, NY.  The wall was already full as the boats that left in the morning for lock #18 were turned away due to closure and all came back for another night.  Hilary called the first come, first serve marina as soon as we cleared lock #17 and the Harbor Master said he had just one space left on the wall and we would fit in.  As we arrived, the first boat that had exited the lock, slid right into the only available space on the wall.  Uugh!!!!

Fortunately, most boaters will do anything to help each other.  Very quickly one of the boats that was already there, CowBuoy's Life, extended an offer for us to raft up with them.  We immediately accepted the offer, Hilary fendered up and we slid right along side of them, swim platform to swim platform, allowing us access to land.  By the time the dust settled one set of boats rafted three deep.

Make Me Smile rafted to CowBouy's Life

Boats behind us rafted three deep!

Once the initial shock of our new situation started to sink in, the next challenge was how to get power and water.  Power being the most critical.  As you may already surmise, our power cord is not long enough to stretch across CowBuoy's Life to the first available power post.  So, while we have safe dockage to wait out the closure, we have no A/C and no hot water for the 2nd night in a row.  The lack of hot water is fine as there are showers at this marina.  However, with the expected heat wave A/C is rather critical the next couple days.

Our new friends on CowBouy's Life continued their hospitality allowing us to string a 110 extension cord through their window to their salon.  The 110 extension cord allows us to plug in the battery charger to keep our refrigerator running and allows us to keep our cell phones charged.  We can also run a lamp after dark.  For this, we are truly grateful.  We are also grateful that it was relatively cool last night and there was no rain.  This allowed us to sleep with the windows and hatches open last night.  Finally, we are also grateful we are through #16 and #17 limited locking schedule, which really was the main goal for yesterday.

We are cautiously optimistic the locks may open late today as the water recedes the 2' and returns to its normal level.  If so, we hope to move through Lock #18 to Ilion, just nine miles away, provided Ilion marina has space for us.  If not, we hope some of the boats will move on and we may just stay here if we can get power.  We are at the mercy of the New York Canal System and Mother Nature.