IIRC the original followed the natural course of the Mohawk River. The
new one goes a bit north of there.
Jeff wrote:
Jeeze, now you're going to make me go to the library and find some old
book on the original canal!
Well, a few minutes with Google produces some interesting results.
Didn't find an old map of the channel though.
http://www.canals.state.ny.us/ccultu...nch/index.html
Actually, I thought the new canal made more use of the natural waterways
because it was designed for powerboats instead of mule power.
The official history says the old canal was designed to follow as
closely as possible. It looks like they decided in a number of places
that aqueducts were cheaper than locks.
Anyway, I'm not going to say you're wrong, but it looks nothing at
all like my charts of the area. We were just reviewing that chart
book, planning a Great Loop cruise.
Are you sure you have the correct chart? Chart 14786, page E-40 (on
my 1998 edition).
My chart is a bit older than that, but how much has it changed? My
charts are on the boat. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing it in
person.
I can assure you that's a picture of the Waterford Flight. I assume
your chart is later than 1918!
Here's another view, from the north, with 3D tilt and vertical
exaggeration. Keyhole is fun! Well worth the $30 if you like this stuff.
http://www.sv-loki.com/where5a.jpg
Now there's a cool picture. That one includes the big rapids just south
of the modern canal, which I would (probably) have recognized from the
chart. It looks like the old canal follows along south of the river bank
in places.
What I meant is that the route to Lake Champlain follows the natural
course of the Hudson for many miles... up to Fort Anna at least IIRC.
That's wrong. My memory isn't what I used to think it was. Fort Anna is
above Hudson Falls....
It's not a "canal."
You're confusing "canal" with "cut." Many canals incorporate
significant portions of natural waterways. And remember, the Hudson is
locked above Troy, so it isn't really a natural waterway there.
Now you're getting picky. If the "canal" coincides exactly with a
natural waterway, then you could in theory call the Atlantic Ocean a
"canal"!
Even above the locks, a lot of the natural Hudson is navigable without
dredging. Of course, if the locks weren't there, you couldn't get that
far...
OK, here's a "Believe It Or Not" fact about the Hudson. The first lock
on the Hudson is at Troy, just below the Waterford Flight. Up until
that point, the river is tidal, even though it is 120 nautical miles
from NYC. What I didn't expect is that the tidal range at Troy (4.7
feet) is actually more than at NYC (4.4 feet at Chelsea Docks). Further,
the high water "wave" that crests in NYC takes 9 hours to reach Troy.
By the time it is high there, its already several hours past Low Water
in the city!
Water is heavy, and stubborn. It is surprising that the tide range at
Troy is more than at NYC though. Last week we heard Skipper Bob give a
very good talk on navigating the Hudson. He says to leave NYC at 3 hours
after low tide to get the best boost from tide... somewhat
counterintuitive...
Fresh Breezes- Doug King