GWA3: Erie Canal, climbing

GWA is “going west again,” and here we start at about 130′ above sea level.  We’ve just passed the road sign included in a post here in 2006. Ahead of us is lock E-2, the beginning of the flight of five, located in the town of Waterford.

Above E-3, my former vessel waits, along with Chancellor. Those two boats alone have a combined total life of 196 years between them.   In the foreground is the business end of a cutter suction dredge.

Recreation boats come from everywhere.

Beyond the guard gate atop E-6 is Grand Erie, who also came from away, the Ohio River in her case.

Locals know how to enjoy the 200-year-old waterway.

Below E-11, we get a green light in the early morning drizzle.

Squeezing a 183′ x 39′ vessel through the locks involves a skilled crew and vigilant lock master.

Drivers on the Thruway at this point are 42 miles from Albany, 190 from NYC.

At E-15, still in the drizzle, a Florida boat —Sharon Ann–waits as we lock through.

Above E-16, the 90-year-old Governor Cleveland attends dredge pipes, maintenance dredging being ongoing.  Yes, the canal needs maintenance, and so does the Thruway, any street, RR tracks and infrastructure, my car, my body . . . .

A boxer takes its human for a run . . .

More guard gates–width is 55′–to squeeze through.

Lords of the air watch all along the waterway.

At E-17 we share a lock with Tender #5.

Since we tie off above E-18, Lil Diamond II has to maneuver around.

An SPS lands a crew on the bank for preventative maintenance … keeping dead trees from falling into the water and jamming lock gates.

More recreational boats from far-off ports.

More maintenance above E-19, this time with dragon dredge and the electric tender . .  . #4.

Reinforcement of the canal walls is a canal priority this year.

 

I always imagine the mythical Utica lies beyond the berm marked by the open tower. Central NY was once included in the “military tract,” land distributed to Revolutionary War veterans.

Above lock E-20, we are at the high point of this portion of the Erie Canal,

and Rome was the original high point/ portage in the Mohawk portion of the waterways that pre-date Europeans settlement of North america.

We are now 456′ above sea level, where we’ll pick up the journey tomorrow.

All photos by and any errors attributable to Will Van Dorp.

 

Random Tugs 172

I’m reprising this from Troy, and it’s Lisa Ann.  I believe she’s 2012 built.

Governor Roosevelt is almost a century older, and wears 1928 on her name board now. This is Marcy NY, an Oneida County town between Utica and Rome.

Also at Lock E20, here’s a clutch of boats and floats including BB152, an unidentified and in the process of being repainted tender, a dredge barge, and BB 142.

Tug Erie is there too. Anyone know when tug Erie was built?

Farther along is 1932 tug Seneca, formerly of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Inside the H. Lee White Maritime Museum in Oswego, here’s a model of a Catherine Moran.

Here’s what the label said, but according to birk’s site, she’s still alive and well under the assumed name of  Sherry D.   Anyone have photos of Sherry D out in the SF Bay area?

On the freshwater sea called Lake Ontario, it’s another tugboat from 1928, Karl E. Luedtke.

Tucked away in Silo City of Buffalo, it’s Daniel Joncaire II, about a year old.

In the Outer Harbor of Cleveland, it’s 1954 Duluth and fleet mate

1956 William C. Gaynor.

And here approaching the south end of the Detroit river, it’s 1982 tug Michigan pushing barge Great Lakes.

 

All photos by Will Van Dorp.