Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

[wajajaja02]

Thinking of planning a trip on the Ere canal, one way and it would be best if I could arrange for someone to shuttle my tow and trailer to the pick-up point. Since this is a 5day journey by boat, and one day by car or less. it would take a willing co-op ,coordinated marina at both ends for a service to do this.
Any other water trails have this feature set up?

 

[rndn]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

I've spent quite a bit of time on the Barge Canal in New York and always had a great time. There are several chances to branch off into a couple of the Finger Lakes, so you do have some options.
Are you planning to travel the entire length?

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

sure would like to, my boat is a aft cabin/camper, fully equipped, so, once I become skilled and find a tow vehicle, I can go when ever i please, I'm retired so no holds bar except logistics. the tow vehicle is the biggie. and the wife working.

 

[rndn]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

I assume you may be in the planning stages for next year? I'm sure you may know the Barge canal is drained each year for the winter months. This is done to protect the canal banks from getting forced out from the ice as well as to protect people as if someone were to fall under the water they would be swept away from the very strong undertow.
An additional point of interest is swimming in the canal is very dangerous because of this very strong undertow. We just had a 22 year old healthy man and a strong swimmer go under and not resurface. The FD found the poor guy the next day. Because of the strong current the water is usually very muddy in color anyway, so it really doesn't look like water I would want to swim in anyway. The finger lakes that you can access from the canal are an entirely different story and for the most part ar crystal clear and great for swimming and other boating activites.
Here's a link for you to the canal website.
http://www.nyscanals.gov/

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

hi, looking at the web site, its 524 miles long,and should take 5 days, that a hundred miles a day at their speed limit of 5/10 miles an hour ? long days. It a east or west face trip, into the sun, ouch, im sensitive. My next question is which way does the current flow, and how does that affect fuel consumption, and piloting, meaning do I go cheap, and put a lot of effort in to correcting whree the current pushes me. OR
I suspect that I will be going starting out somewhere and going a day or two and then heading back to the trailer.

 

[rndn]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

Current flows west to east, or from Buffalo to the Mokawk river and on into the Hudson. For 5 days, I would suggest making some kind of round trip as you stated.

 

[rjezuit]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

Almost no current at all on the Lake Erie/Buffalo end.

 

[sea wolf]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

I assume you may be in the planning stages for next year? I'm sure you may know the Barge canal is drained each year for the winter months. This is done to protect the canal banks from getting forced out from the ice as well as to protect people as if someone were to fall under the water they would be swept away from the very strong undertow.
An additional point of interest is swimming in the canal is very dangerous because of this very strong undertow. We just had a 22 year old healthy man and a strong swimmer go under and not resurface. The FD found the poor guy the next day. Because of the strong current the water is usually very muddy in color anyway, so it really doesn't look like water I would want to swim in anyway. The finger lakes that you can access from the canal are an entirely different story and for the most part ar crystal clear and great for swimming and other boating activites.
Here's a link for you to the canal website.
http://www.nyscanals.gov/

No, the canal is drained so that maintenance can be performed on the locks & other structures. There is no "undertow" unless one is foolish enough to get close to a dam which are well marked to alert boaters. The man that drowned probably was swimming near one of the dams, which is dangerous. Also, there is no current except near a lock when it is being filled or emptied. However, you may find a current during high water when the dams are being used to divert water out of the main channel & into the Mohawk River, Seneca River, etc. When the levels are excessively high the canal is closed to navigation for safety reasons & to protect the canal banks from erosion from boat wakes.

 

[Euro95]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

If you plan to not exceed 10 mph and do over 100 miles each day note that you will be pretty much lifeless at the end.

 

[rndn]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

No, the canal is drained so that maintenance can be performed on the locks & other structures. There is no "undertow" unless one is foolish enough to get close to a dam which are well marked to alert boaters. The man that drowned probably was swimming near one of the dams, which is dangerous. Also, there is no current except near a lock when it is being filled or emptied. However, you may find a current during high water when the dams are being used to divert water out of the main channel & into the Mohawk River, Seneca River, etc. When the levels are excessively high the canal is closed to navigation for safety reasons & to protect the canal banks from erosion from boat wakes.

Actually, the man that drowned was not near any dam or flood control gates. The closest one was more than 12 miles away. There is a current in the canal. If you ever fished into it and cast a line you will see there is a current.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

They close the Eire Canal? I thought a lot of commercial ships would use it in the dead of winter? They woundn't ever dream of closing down the C & D canal here in MD. That is a very commercial canal, and using it saves a lot of money.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

If you are retired, why only five days? that can't do the trip justice.

If you are towing to the canal, Have you considered trying the Champlain Canal? The two converge just below Troy, N.Y.
Enter the Hudson River where ever you want and go to the Federal Troy lock. Take the twelve N.Y. locks in two days (raft up and follow the lockmaster) up to Whitehall at the mouth of Lake Champlain. Then, up the lake, just past St. Jean, the Chambly Canal ( if it is still functional) to the Richelieu River. Go to the port of Sorel and take the St. Lawrence to Montreal, then through Eisenhower lock to Thousand Islands.

Great trip if time allows.

Thing about it is that you can play on the Champlain and in the Thousand Islands. If the Chambly is still functional, then you have a picturesque ride there with locks that are (maybe) still operated by hand.

When I retire, I am going to try it again.

Don't forget to contact N.Y. (I think Dept. of Recreation) for a pass or season permit to use the canal. It was free last time I did it but I understand that now you must pay. And, of course, now you need a passport to enter and leave Canada.

I'm going to Google the Chambly Canal--remembering has piqued my interest.

 

[pvanv]

Re: Anyone do "DriveAway" on Erie Canal?

I have delivered boats end-to-end on the "raging Erie". For pleasure, it would be best to allocate more than a week. The bridges and locks are only open during the day, so on deliveries, we are always "pushing" to make the last lock or bridge before it closes. It would be a lot more fun to take it leisurely.

There are no charts of the canal from Lyons to the west end at Tonawanda, so just follow the marks, and use a cruising guidebook.

From the canal, your cruising destinations are almost limitless -- from the Finger lakes, to Lake Ontario (and the Thousand Islands -- both US and Canada and/or Bay of Quinte on the Canadian side -- take a passport), as well as following the upper Niagara and Black Rock canal into Lake Erie -- all the way to Superior, if you want to make a summer of it.

The canal staff is friendly and helpful, and there are shoreside facilities along most of the way, though some of it is pretty rural.