Newport, RI to Lake Erie - options for deep draft sailboat

[AtlanticX]

Bill, thanks for the heads up. We opted for a full service unstepping of the mast since this is our first time with this boat. I will check out Castleton next time, much appreciated! Hopefully the locks will re-open when we start our journey in mid-August.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

West of Oneida there are two sections of canal that are busted, and low on water. I hope your shot through Oswego is clear- best confirm.

Before you go check the notices and alerts page for the canal

[RDB]

Thought people might find it helpful to hear an update on how this adventure went for me. My basic feedback to folks is - be very skeptical about taking a deep draft sailboat through the Erie Canal. Long story short, I did not make it through - ended up going north and coming through the St. Lawrence, which was quite an adventure - but we made it. Here is a quick summary of the journey and some tidbits on the St. Lawrence route:

1. We departed Waterford on opening day in the opening flight of boats on the canal. Smooth first day - made it to Amsterdam NY, which is a great stopover - very nice people in town - very welcoming, and a lot of fun.
2. Day 2 is when challenges started. Largest Lock on the canal broke (huge door got stuck) so we had to delay at Lock 16. Probably a blessing in disguise, though. We decided to motor up to Lock 17 (broken lock) to see what was happening, and found that stretch of the canal impassable. 6’ deep for a long stretch (we draw 7’4”). An important caveat on my boat - it has a lifting keel - straight fin with bulb (racing style keel), so I was uncomfortable “self dredging” - although a foot and a half of dredging isn’t my idea of good wear and tear on any keel. We spoke to many lock workers - all of whom were very friendly, but they estimated that it would take a few weeks or up to a month to dredge that section. You do NOT want to leave your boat in the Canal for a month, so we headed back to Albany to wait.
3. While waiting, we drove up past Lock 17 with a kayak to see if there were additional shallows further on, as we had reports from some shorter draft sailboats that we had met that there were additional shallows. Indeed there were. In between Locks 20-22 were some more 6-7 foot stretches. In discussions with our new friends the dredging crew, they said that they had no plans to dredge that section.

Additionally, we were not going to be able to make it through the western portion of the canal due to depth, and were going to have to exit as Oswego and motor across Ontario to Welland with no mast (our mast is 85’ so was being trucked to Buffalo).

With all this in mind, we decided to reverse course and rig on the east coast to go north through the St. Lawrence seaway. Some other notes on the canal:

1. While we were well prepared for the roughness of the locks, its still very beaten up. Bring fenders and fender boards, and have them covered with something disposable.
2. Debris - there were a TON of large logs in the canal. We saw a number of powerboats that had damaged props - some of whom had to replace/repair. We got several nicks in the keel and rudder, despite our best efforts to avoid. Sometimes in the swirling waters entering a lock you just can’t avoid the mess.
3. Space - while everyone is super friendly along the way, there just isn’t a ton of space (at marinas that is) to stay along the canal. This was of course exacerbated by the broken lock and traffic jam. Staying on a lock wall for a night is fun, but for a week, there are no services, which can get old - particularly on a sailboat.

So in conclusion - I would not do the Erie in a sailboat again. I would definitely do it in a purpose built (read powerboat) craft - as it is an interesting journey, but as far as a great way to transit a larger sailboat to the lakes, I would be very skeptical. Since my attempt, they’ve almost had the opposite problem with too much water. In reading the reports, it seems as though they have equally challenging problems with that, so its hard with too much water as well.

There were several larger sailboats that did make it through cleanly. One was a full keel older boat about the same size as mine, but I believe they just plowed through the muck with their keel. Again - that probably works, until it doesn’t (like the errant cobble field that are definitely out there). Go at your own risk…. They just don’t have the resources in the Erie Canal to maintain the controlling depth throughout.

As far as the St. Lawrence - the biggest challenge was COVID, and time. It takes about 2.5 weeks to go from Newport to Cleveland. Canada did not allow me as the owner to be aboard, so its expensive as I had to pay a crew to do it. That being said, with solid planning on weather, it is a gorgeous trip (or so my crew’s photos show…). Lots of good pull in spots ahead of Canso. A bit thinner after that until Quebec. Here are some things to be aware of:

1. Be prepared to motor a lot. We carried 2x our internal fuel load with external Gerry cans. Once in the river, sailing is a huge challenge. And the weather is more unpredictable up there, so we tended to favor travel on calm days - so more motoring. Good fueling in Canso, and then again in the river. If you go slow - PEI and other islands in that area are fantastic places to visit (we bypassed for time).
2. The current going up river is big. Some spots around Quebec we made 1.5 over the ground (normally 7-7.5 motoring). Just a pain, that’s all.
3. The river can get narrow, and the ships are big. Not a big deal for experienced folks, but just something to be aware of, especially at night. Don’t be a rookie.
4. The canal system - very different from the Erie - huge locks. Boat will get thrown around A LOT. I think our experience in Erie helped us here, but we needed 4 people on board to manage the boat (again, I have a lower profile hull and keel, so that’s part of why for us). I will say, there were a lot of yahoos in the locks. People rafting with too few crew, and we saw a lot of bumper boats around us. Fortunately, we kept anyone from rafting and tried to stay as far away from them as possible. But did see some of the paid captains banging up people’s boats pretty severely.
5. You have to follow the commercial schedule on the locks, so there are times where you have to just sit and wait.

Canada customs was very smooth, so they’ve figured out how to do it in the COVID world. Hopefully that ends in the next season, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that process. It was straightforward on both sides of the border. Just plan ahead and communicate.

End result, we are in Lake Erie with the boat and enjoying the summer. Took about a month and a half longer than we had planned, but alls well that ends well. Please let me know if anyone has any questions.

RDB

[Paul Howard]

Nice story, and glad you made it.
But the Erie/New York State Barge Canal system can be a fun trip, my wife and I have done it several times from Lake Ontario (Oswego) to New York and beyond and the reverse. We were on 30-some foot monohulls and 35ft+ catamarans with no more than 5ft draft.
Sailboats of moderate draft can easily do that trip and enjoy it. I have gone out the St. Lawrence twice, with the current, coming back up the Hudson and Erie canals. Easy trips with moderate draft boats.
But, yes there are lots of logs and branches in the Erie and lots of stray pulpwood logs on the St. Lawrence.

[Bill O]

We did the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Troy w/a 49' mono, 6.5' draft no problem. Maybe we were lucky all the locks worked correctly the whole trip.

[Coltrek]

Very interesting story, thanks for taking the time to share. As I mentioned, I went through there in 2018 with a similar lifting keel, around 8.5' draft, and got stuck at Rome for 3 weeks. They told me at the time they were getting some great dredging equipment later that summer, and were bragging they could suck it down to 20' (kidding of course.) I guess that hasn't happened. and, Yes, I heard about the stuck lock door, that was quite a mess. The Brig Niagara, a 120' old sailing ship has made it through both ways, 10 - 15 years ago. Am I correct in that you made it to Erie from Newport, RI in only 2 1/2 weeks? That seems fast.
About the banging around, there is a 90' powerboat here in Erie named the Scott Free that just got in from the St Lawrence, and I heard the prop got dinged up along there, and the owner made the captain pay for it, then fired him for his trouble.