I got to know Mike in the 2014 season when I was the green deckhand on Urger, a tugboat on the NYS Canal System. He had worked on Urger for years before and then continued until 2017. I interviewed him recent for this series. What follows are Mike’s answers.

“I grew up in Waterford NY, and from the time I could walk, my best friend [and second cousin] TS and I would be down at the canal. It was a different time. TS’s father was a tugboat captain and so was my father. Since the other captains all knew our fathers and, therefore, us, we could jump aboard a boat, ride from lock E2 to E6, jump off, and then wait a short time to catch another boat back down. Later, I myself worked on a Kehoe tug as a cook, mostly on the Champlain Canal.”

“My favorite area of the canal system I call ‘the Narrows,’ the channel between Whitehall and Lake Champlain. It’s almost like wilderness there. But I have a second favorite section: the ‘long level’ between Rochester and Lockport. It’s the section of the waterway that most closely follows the original path of the canal going back to 1825.”

“What I wish more people knew about the canal is that today’s it’s open and mostly a recreation area. These days with the price of fuel so high, the canal offers all opportunities for fun for little money. “

Thanks, Mike, for sharing his thoughts. I have other photos I took of Mike, but they’re on an archive I don’t have with me, but i can revise this post with additional photos once I’m back home.

Dispatches woould like to hear from more folks from all over whether former canal worker, re-enacter, power boater, looper, biker, hiker, or even mostly armchair traveler. Here are the three questions: How did you become interested in the Canal? What is a favorite time/place? What do you wish more folks knew about the canals? Send a photo and your brief answers to… canalsocietyofnysphotos@gmail.com.