“It started for me in the fall of 1966 while I was fishing with a friend on the Erie Canal between Newark and Lyons. Suddenly a loud droning sound intruded from around the bend. It was my first close encounter on the Erie Canal with a large tug pushing a fully loaded stone barge, my first experience with a big wake in a narrow waterway! Our small wooden Lyman boat was washed to the bank! The next day the tug was docked in Lyons, and I introduced myself to the captain. He welcomed me aboard, said he was sorry for our event the previous evening, and then gave me a tour of the tug and explained all about boats on the Erie Canal: I was hooked, and still am.”

“A favorite memory on the canal is launching at Abbey Park in Lyons and then boating to Union Springs, Dresden, or Watkins Glen to visit friends and fish. Another great memory is conducting 15- and 30-mile tours of the Erie Canal for the past eight years to full (50) capacity boatloads.”

“Whether travelling on a boat or walking or biking along the canal, I wish people could become more aware, appreciate, and promote the unique craftmanship and pride of the early canal and lock builders. They truly knew and experienced calloused hands from working from daybreak till dusk with only hand tools, and much of their work still exists.”

Stay tuned for the next Dispatches post featuring examples of some remaining examples of 19th-century craftsmanship to be admired along the Canal.

How did you become interested in the Canal? What is a favorite time/place? What do you wish more folks knew about the canals? Dispatches is looking for many more “faces and voices.” Send a photo and your brief answers to… canalsocietyofnysphotos@gmail.com. We’d like to hear from folks from all over whether boater, biker, hiker, or even mostly armchair traveler. For example, look at these folks and their provenances from my other blog from eight years ago.