One does not usually measure a boat trip by vertical elevation but
today we started out barely above sea level and ended up at 286 feet
of altitude - thanks to 12 locks on the New York State Barge (Erie)
Canal System. We hit the first lock at 7:00AM this morning just as it
opened and kept moving up and west until 5:00PM when it was decided
that we'd had enough for one day. Tomorrow we'll top out at 420 feet
near Rome, NY before beginning the descent down to Oswego and Lake
Ontario at a mere 243 feet.

We last did this trip in the summer of 2000 in our old Bertram 33
sport fish. At that time many of the locks were in a very poor state
of maintenance but things have improved a great deal since then. Some
of the improvement was forced rebuilding after massive flooding in
June 2006 which totally destroyed a great deal of lock machinery and
control systems. There is almost no commercial traffic on the canals
at this time and apparently very little recreational use either.
Today, on a really nice Sunday afternoon, we saw only a couple of
other boats. The whole system operates at a huge defecit (hundreds of
millions) and it is problematic how much longer the state will
continue to eat the losses.

Meanwhile it's a great cruise for those who can do it. Highly
recommended.

http://tinyurl.com/waynebspottrack

http://www.nycanals.com/Index_of_Locks

http://www.nycanals.com/Main_Page

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=134 1&bih=546&q=new+york+barge+canal+system&oq=new+yor k+barge+&gs_l=img.1.2.0i24l7.4370.25713.0.29413.15 .12.0.3.3.0.171.1484.1j11.12.0....0...1ac.1.64.img ..0.15.1490...0j0i8i30.FMGu_wpYBI8

http://www.bkvp.com/flood-1.htm