The Erie Canal stretches 338 miles between Tonawanda and Waterford, New York. At roughly its midpoint, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal peels off to the south and the Oswego Canal heads north to Lake Ontario. Channel depths are reportedly a minimum of 12 feet (although I noted two spots where the maximum depth was only nine feet).
Bridge clearances are 20 feet in the eastern section between Waterford and Three Rivers but only 15.5 feet from Three Rivers west to Tonawanda. The lower vertical clearance on the west section of the canal effectively closes it off to powerboats with very high sedan and flying bridges. Sailboats, of course, have to unstep their masts to transit either section of the canal.
There are 16 lift bridges spanning the canal between Lockport and Fairport. Except for Fairport, the bridges lift on request. However, many of the bridge operators are responsible for two bridges and the need to accommodate canallers at both locations sometimes results in a short delay. Because Fairport is so busy, the bridge there lifts only on the hour and half-hour during the day (but on request in the evening).
There are 34 locks, beginning at Lockport and ending at Waterford, with lifts ranging from 6 to 40.5 feet. The lock walls vary from smooth to extremely rough, with large concavities in some concrete walls. Most of the locks have weighted drop lines; a few have only fixed lines; a good portion have both weighted lines and drop pipes. The height of the top of the chamber walls above the full waterline varies. The tops of the chamber walls at Locks 12 to 15 were so low I had to lower my fenders to the point they were touching the water.
The speed limit on the canal is supposedly 10 mph. But I quickly concluded that was a joke. I observed it regularly ignored along the entire length of the canal by every type of vessel except sailboats-- fishing boats with 200 hp outboards at full throttle, runabouts, pontoon boats, PWCs, and cabin cruisers up to 39 feet in length. Any lingering doubts I had were dissolved when I passed through Baldwinsville on my return trip -- two police boats and a Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel were keeping the marked channel clear for a water-skiing exhibition and directing all other boat traffic to stay south of (outside) the marked channel.
The lockmasters time boats between locks so can tell whether one traveling straight through is speeding. But, from what I was told, some enforce the speed limit, some don't, and it's more likely to be enforced on the west end land-cut sections than on the east end Mohawk River sections. Water patrols appeared to be virtually non-existent. The net effect is most powerboaters speed.
The character of the canal changes as one travels its length. The section from Tonawanda to just west of the junction of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, is land-cut canal. A uniform 75 feet in width, with concrete or rock-lined banks, it winds through (and often above) the countryside, under 16 lift bridges, and past 16 towns.
The towns are the main attaction of the west section of the canal. Tonawanda, Lockport, and Rochester are urban, Fairport is a tourist town, the remaining dozen are typical examples of untouched small-town America. They are spaced, on average, about six miles apart and most of the tie-ups are in or close to the center of town.
Between the towns, both banks of the canal are lined by impenetrable greenery, broken only by the occasional farm field or house yard. A large portion of the northern bank is paralleled by the Canalway Trail which is set aside for the use and enjoyment of joggers, walkers, bicyclists, and other non-vehicular traffic.
There is a short section in the center of the canal (roughly between Clyde and Baldwinsville), that I came to think of as the "wildlife section." Here, the canal merges with the Seneca River which runs through the Montezuma Marsh and along the perimeter of several wildlife refuges. Bird life, especially, abounds. Heron were everywhere and I saw two eagles and several hawks (one, grasping prey in its talons, flew directly over my boat).
The eastern half of the canal offers the most variety. The towns are generally spaced farther apart and a greater proportion are urban and tourist oriented. Most of the tie-ups are on the outskirts of town in the industrial and old commercial waterfront districts. There is more shoreline development between the towns, including pockets of resort/vacation areas, with houses and cottages, ranging from ramshackle to luxurious, lining the banks, and a few campgrounds and RV parks. Railroad tracks and the New York State Thruway run along the canal's banks for much of its length.
Oneida Lake, the only large body of water on the canal, is located in this section. The channel across the lake is well marked, but the buoys are spaced at the limit of visibility on a clear day. The lake has a nasty reputation. It is shallow with many shoals, and some of the worst are right next to the channel. A strong wind blowing down its length generates very steep waves.
On my westbound transit, I was weathered in for 30 hours at the eastern end of Oneida Lake at Sylvan Beach. A steady 15-20 knot wind (with gusts above 30) had been blowing out of the west and northwest for several days. When I first arrived at the lake, I ventured out a couple of miles to see if the wave conditions moderated in the deeper water away from shore. The waves were only three to four feet, but extremely steep. My boat would tip over the crest of one wave and its bow would plunge into the base of the next, throwing up spray that reached the stern. It did not feel dangerous, but it was uncomfortable and my boat was taking a beating so I turned around and returned to Sylvan Beach. During the time I was waiting, only three boats made the westbound crossing. Just before I left, I counted more than 20 boats stacked up waiting for the seas to subside.
As one travels east, the terrain becomes more hilly. Starting at Rome, the canal parallels and then merges with the Mohawk River. The banks begin to rise and reach heights of 40 feet or more in some places.
Two-thirds of the locks are located in the east half of the canal. Lock 17, which has greatest vertical lift (40.5 feet) of any single lock on the canal, is located at Little Falls. It is the only lock in which boats are required to use only the south wall when uplocking. And, in a dramatic finish (or beginning) "The Flight of Five" locks at the east end of the canal drops/lifts boats a total of 169 feet vertically in a horizontal distance of just one-and-a-half miles.