Seneca Falls

One of my Trawler Forum buddies suggested Seneca Falls last year, but I didn’t take the detour off the main canal to visit then, opting to go down to Syracuse instead. So this trip I figured I’d take the detour. Haven’t decided whether to venture into the two finger lakes that are connected – Cayuga and Seneca – but have a couple of days free in this general area.

Had to go from descending as I went east on the Erie to ascending as I branched south to here. Came through a double lock on the east side of the town. It’s a dramatic approach. At the top of the locks is a little lake with what I saw claimed as the most photographed church in the state. Can see why. Then around the corner to the town docks.

I’m docked right beside the boater welcome centre which has showers, laundry and a little lounge. Walk through it and you’re on the main drag with restaurants and shops.

I was underway for about 9 hours today. Left Lock 30 shortly after it opened at 0700. Weather was not great – intermittent light rain and cool – and when I got here I turned on the heat and spend some time drying out and warming up. All cozy now. I have an inside steering station but much prefer operating from the flybridge in close quarters where I have better visibility. And there were occasionally large debris that had to be dodged. So I was outside all day. Almost as bad as being in a sailboat 🙂

This part of the Erie is more isolated. There are a few small communities along the way, but set back from the canal. I suspect that it’s because the current canal doesn’t follow the exact path of the otiginal. I did stop briefly in Newark for some breakfast. Went looking for a cafe and ended up at Dunkin Donuts 🙂

The rest of the trip was mostly passing by evidence of earlier industrial activity and the last 15-20 miles was skirting the edge of a nature sanctuary. If I were a birdwatcher I could probably say more. Certainly saw lots of herons and a couple of birds of prey. A lot of today was through muddy water with lots of debris and occasional current due to big rainfalls in the area over the last few days.