On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 09:51:49 -0500, Jeff Morris
wrote:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the weather affects the
locks. Obviously, they are closed in the Winter, but in the Spring they
can be closed due to both too much water and too little. The year we
went through ('99) there was a drought, and there was talk of reducing
the lockings (we were never affected), a year later there was too much
water and the system was shut down for a week or so with little notice.
Boats were stranded wherever they happened to be.

I don't mean to be alarmist, but you should check with the authorities
as the time approaches to find out if any problems are expected.

Alternatively, you can just sail straight to Oswego and lock down to
the Hudson. You didn't say whether you were going for the sake of the
canal trip itself, or to avoid Lake Ontario. If your aim is to get to
the Atlantic and then to Maine (as I recall), maybe transiting the
locks from Buffalo to NYC is an added complication, as there are
plenty of places to leave a boat on the south shore, and Oswego is
well-set-up to take down the stick for the escalator down to NYC.

Personally, I like to keep sailing as long as possible, but I
understand that time and your crew's schedules are a factor here.

R.