As indicated earlier, there is a problem with the Erie Canal which prevents us to continue our journey. Between Locks 29 in Palmyra and 30 in Macedon, a dam was washed out back in May. (Yes, the canal has a leak 🙂 ). Here is a picture of the damaged area.
Because of this breach, the Erie Canal has only a depth of 5 feet in this section, too little for our boat, which has a nominal 5′ 10″ (1.75 m) draft. Most motor pleasure boats who pass through the canal, and in particular most of the boats other Loopers use, have less than 5′ draft, and are in fact able to continue their journey. It is mostly sailboats who are affected by this reduction in depth.
The new dam has been designed, but the design needs to be approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the New York Department of Environmental Protection. This approval is expected the week of June 14th. The construction is estimated to take 2 weeks. After that, the canal has to be filled with water, of course. That will take another day or two. The earliest the canal will be passable for boats with more than 5 feet draft is the first week of July.
We have another option to bring the boat to Lake Erie to continue our trip: go back to the Oswego Canal, continue to Oswego on Lake Ontario, step the mast, and sail on Lake Ontario to Youngstown, NY, located at the mouth of the Niagara River. In parallel to the Niagara Falls, the Welland Canal allows oceangoing ships to be lifted by 326 feet (100m) from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. In normal times, that would be a relatively easy solution to our problem with the Erie Canal. But, the Welland Canal lies completely within Canadian territory, and because of Covid we are not allowed to enter Canada. Therefore, we would have to hire a commercial captain and crew to bring our boat from Youngstown (still US) to Buffalo on Lake Erie (also in the US). This is not only expensive, but also requires a lot of bureaucracy. For now, we have decided not to pursue this option but to wait for the Erie Canal repair.
In the meantime, we are enjoying a vacation in Ithaca on Lake Cayuga …