T&T: Oswego Canal and Erie Canal update:

[BillEGates@aol.com]

The Oswego Canal locks 1 through 8, and Lock 25 on the Erie Canal opened at 
noon today, they waited until today because the water was so high on the Oswego 
that channel markers were mostly underwater, so we fired up the boat and made 
it back to our Northern home port Winter Harbor @ Brewerton NY. 
I must say that we now know everything there is to know about Osewgo, when, 
and how we will be able to put it to use it do not know.

A word on the rest of the Erie Canal to the East of us, from Utica to 
Waterford. Its a mess, there is still a boat sunk in the lock at Lock # 15, (lock 15 
is where the water was 8-10' over the lock walls.) Boats at the Waterford 
Canal entrance were whisked away together as the Waterford docks broke free and 
went adrift. That section of the canal may be closed for 4 to 8 weeks while 
major repairs take place, (from both lockmasters and the Syracuse HQ). Some 
boaters can get around this by using Lake Champlain and up to the St. Lawrence but 
vertical clearance is restricted to 17' quite a bit less than the Erie Canal. 
Some boats are still stuck in the Erie Canal system, but the Canal authority is 
attempting to move them out. As I said its a mess, we stopped on the thruway 
and took a couple of photos of Lock 15. Jc



Regards,
Capt. James Clausen, MV Summer School
Cruising the Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, Rideau Canal, Ottawa River,
St. Lawrence Seaway, Montreal, Quebec City, and Saguenay Fjord, the Summer of 
2006

"At sea a fellow comes out.
Salt water is like wine, in that respect."
- Herman Melville

Our personal boating website:
http://www.maxumowners.org/MVSS.html