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.

 

Canal Corp Boats 11

Besides larger tugboats like Urger, the Canal has a fleet of nearly identical smaller ones called dredge tenders, or usually just “tenders” like the unidentified one to the left in the photo below.

Here’s a set:  Tender #1

Tender #3 stern and

bow and

at work moving Urger out of dry dock.

Tender #4 in February 2014, and

tender #4 after being electrified, and

at work in Utica this summer.

Tender #6.

Tender #7 summer and

bow in winter, with an unidentified tender (registry at MB 5900??) and tender 4 in the distance.

Tender #9 profile and

three fourths.

Tender #10 on the hard and

assisting a dredge.

Tender with identifier ending in 0209,

. ..  0308

. . . 0313 aka Dana?

Dana again.

Again, I need to dig into the history of this class of Canal vessel.  What number was this?

 

and why is it here?  How many others are there?

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

 

Canal Corp Boats 3

Here in a milder season was the previous post by this name.  And here and here are earlier posts with tenders.

But yesterday, along with a partner in crime to be identified later, we discovered not just one,

not just two,

but THREE tenders, hauled out like seals.

Wanna see that again?

How about a third count, just to make sure.

oh . . . partner in crime . . . is this a clue?  Here’s the other tug44.

And motivation?  Well, it WAS presidents‘ day.  I hope this summer to find time to research the construction of these tenders, all of which I believe happened at Inner Harbor in Syracuse.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, whose fingers lasted in the cold long enough to take more, too, soon.