Let me start with a 104′ yacht that transited the NYS Canals from Oswego to Waterford over 40 years ago, one that gave the Canadians the illusion it had been escorted through the Welland Canal with USS Antrim as escort. Before that it had churned its way up the Mississippi in the company of the Delta Queen itself. It was none other than the 1925 Sequoia, the once-Presidential Yacht of the United States. The image below and much more of that story can be read by clicking on the image itself.

The front page story by Cecelia Paiz in the August 23, 1988 Oswego Palladium-Times was written on the occasion of Sequoia entering the NYS Canals on its Great Loop journey.

Note the reference to “lifting off the stack” in the caption of the image below. The stack had to be removed so that the yacht could fit under the low bridges as it made its way to Waterford and the Hudson River. Captain John Terrill–I’m told–needed great reassurances that removing the stack was necessary and did not constitute irreparable damage to the historic vessel. As I understand, Sequoia is still looking for a restoration, which didn’t happen in Maine. Is it still in Cambridge MD?

From a decades-old unusual vessel, let’s go to a contemporary one, Deo Gratis, currently heading for sea eastbound. Although it’s shorter than Sequoia, Deo Gratis is a respectable 70′ loa three-masted junk rig sailing vessel. The masts, lying on deck, were removed for transit through the canal system. Maybe someone will catch photos of her sailing south on the Hudson with masts stepped.

It’s traveling from Sturgeon Bay WI via the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal to the Hudson and salt water, where the owner Paul Billing intends to use it in Christian missionary work in the Caribbean. Read the story here in the Door County Pulse. It turns out that Paul’s family has sailing in their history; his parents were held prisoner in the Red Sea while sailing around the world, as recounted in Red Sea Peril, written by his mother.

Photos of De Gratis credited (top to bottom) to Jim Kerins, Capt. Tammee Poinan Grimes, and Colonial Belle 1st Mate Jolene.

Many thanks to Jim, Tammee, and Jolene for these photos.

Share your canal photos and/or stories by sending to canalsocietyofnysphotos@gmail.com.