Day 5: Coeymans, NY to Fonda, NY

Underway at 6am.

Docked at 5pm, in Fonda, NY not quite as far as we had hoped to go, but did well all things considered. (through May 23, locks are operated from 7am to 5pm; past that date and through Sept. 5, locks close at 10pm).

Our captain reported the navigation on the Erie Canal requires the full attention of both members of our crew, which includes John Mottern, a photo-journalist that will accompany him until Oswego, NY (next crew change). There was much debris and logs on the water of the canal, as shown on this picture.

Need to check on actual fuel burn and we'll also report all the performance data (by day and by leg) under a recap chart. There was quite a bit of stop-and-go as you'd expect on the Erie Canal due to the locks we went through.

Tonight the boat is docked between locks 12 & 13. While we were hoping to get ahead of schedule, it appears difficult for us to be at the Rochester Yacht Club on Wedneday night. It's likely we'll only be arriving in Oswego then -- which was the original plan. We've prepared for the customs procedure ahead of time, so we should arrive in Toronto in time for the week-end (va Cobourg, ON).

We're going all the way to lock 23 in Brewerton then switching to the Oswego canal, that's a total of 19 locks on the Erie Canal, plus 7 on the Oswego Canal.

As far as locks information, you can find the detailed location and contact number by lock on the NY State Canal Corporation website. For more history on the locks we've found this website very useful. (That's where you learn that the Oswego lock #4 actually does not exist!)