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March 1, 2000 Issue
March 15, 2000 Issue
March 1, 2000 Issue
Small Boating On New York's Erie Canal
A Practical Guide For Muscle-Powered Cruisers - Part 1
By Jack HornungDuring 1997, 1 had the good fortune realize a lifelong dream, with the exception its lake sections, I travelled all of the famous east-west Erie Canal and its north-south branches. The western portion of the canal, some 150 miles, was done by houseboat with my wife and daughter. But the great majority, about 300 miles, I rowed in my Adirondack guideboat, camping along the way in the company of my faithful dog, Ursa. To my delight, I found the canal especially suited to the small boater.
Scout troops, honeymooners, water pals, or soloists like myself can have a wonderful, safe, inexpensive vacation touring this unique waterway. But when I was planning my trip, the specific small boat information I sought beforehand was not available. Therefore to help fellow small boaters, and to promote greater use of the Erie Canal, I wish to share what I learned.
Small boaters will find doing portions or all of the riverine sections of the Erie Canal extremely satisfying. The great majority of the canal consists of clean water and is surprisingly wild or semi-wild, despite the large population living near it. I know of no other water-way where you will encounter such variety; pastoral fields, wooded banks, dramatic cliffs, wetlands, wildlife, architecturally fascinating nineteenth century towns, interesting small industrial cities of the twentieth century, romantic original canal ruins, historical sites as important as any in America, the amazing en-gineering of the locks, dams, and other features which tame the rivers and enable the canal to gently lift you up and let you down at elevation changes without the necessity of portage, protected waters to travel in, and most importantly, friendly, helpful townspeople and canal officials. Lastly, unlike remote wilderness waterways, if you have medical or other emergencies, help is never far away.
In my voyaging, I discovered that the image I had in mind of the canal as an interesting "ditch" was mistaken. With the advent of power driven vessels, most of the canal was rerouted in the early nineteen hundreds to take advantage of the state's extensive and lovely river system. The rivers were dammed at in-tervals to tame the currents, were dredged and straightened in places, but nevertheless retain the distinct characteristics of rivers. I will describe three river systems which I think are best suited to muscle-powered cruising. Each lends itself to a trip of about one week's dura-tion, although you could do them faster or take more time.
March 15, 2000
Small Boat SAFETY
Getting Ready
By Tom Shaw, USCGAA miserable day in southeastern North Carolina; snow, turning to sleet, turning to freezing rain and predicted to turn to just plain rain. No day to go boating but I could do the next best thing and make sure that everything was in readiness for spring. Simply checking the gear was good for the spirit. If we are to enjoy messing about in our boats some pre-season messing about in the shop is in order. Chota Peg III has already passed her 2000 "Operational Facility" inspection, but there are extra items in my gear.
First, the things that had been done. All anchor and mooring lines had been soaked in fabric softener for 48 hours before being rinsed and dried last fall. Main anchor and lunch hook had accumulated a little rust, they have been sanded and painted. Two of the four anchor shackles needed replacement. My "alternate propulsion", an 8' paddle, had three new coats of varnish. The new fire extinguisher and bracket were ready for mounting, a plastic bracket this time as the metal one had rusted quite badly. Auxiliary vessels most carry an additional extinguisher above the legal requirements. My extra gas can has been sanded and repainted and I have worked out a new (im-proved?) way to secure it alongside the center console. I have only used it once but it's a lot easier to give someone a few gallons of gas than to give them a tow, and far less disruptive to their day.
Today I went over each of my extra life jackets for wear and tears. I carry six spares, including two different children's sizes, in the canvas storage area in the T-top. An Auxiliary boat will not tow unless every person on the distressed vessel is wearing a PFD and there have been times when I have had to lend one, generally when a child was wearing an adult size that would NOT provide protection if he went overboard.
The flares were dry and good until 2001. 1 prefer the pistol and shells as they seem to resist moisture in my relatively open boat better than other types. I have bought a new rear view mirror as the old one was rusted, and made a new bracket. It mounts from the radio box just over the helm and saves an endless amount of neck twisting, especially in the crowded ICW on a summer Sunday afternoon. I need a new monkey fist for the heaving line and will get my son, an ex-Coast Guard bosun's mate, to make me one as I lack that skill. The yellow polypropylene heaving line itself was replaced last year as the old one was brittle and dried out. I use that type only for a heaving line because it floats. Everything else on board is twisted or braided nylon.
Still needed are new spark plugs, a new fuel filter and new lower unit oil which can wait for better weather. The battery is warm and dry and on trickle charge and an emer-gency pull cord is in the too] box. The manual de-watering device (a half-gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out) is in a storage locker on board. It's useful not only for its basic pur-pose but for male crew on board.
Soon it will be time to put it all together, have a radio check and head out on the first patrol of the spring to check aids to navigation. As for today with its miserable weather, just working on the gear made me feel better.
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