Kayak The Canal

Happy Erie Canal Day

Eric — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:00:42 +0000

The Erie Canal opened on this day in 1825.

Kayak the Canal iPhone App

Eric — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:27:41 +0000

“There’s an app for that” now applies to the Erie Canal. Hot off approval, you can use this app to find your nearest Erie Canal kayak access point. Search by Map, Municipality, or Distance and quickly get directions and/or detailed access point information.

Available in the iTunes Store Now! (It’s Free)

Canalway Water Trail Map

Eric — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:30:37 +0000

The canalway water trail map was released last year as part of the New York State Canalway Water Trail initiative. The Canal Corporations website says the initiative hopes to “establish a coordinated ‘trail’ with boat launches and campsites along the shores of the 524-mile New York State Canal System, encouraging more types of motorized and non-motorized boaters to explore this historic resource.”

Available on the Canal Coporation website at http://www.canals.ny.gov/maps/water-trail/index.html. This is an excellent map for a day user. It has map annotations for each access point along the canal and detailed information pertaining to each access points amenities, parking and utilities (bathrooms!). The map was made using google maps so navigating the map should be easy to those who have used google maps before.

The Canal Corporation has also posted an XML file with all the data contained in the map (minus the images). Score one for the state. I think this was a great idea for a number of reasons. I know I have already used it.

Happy Paddling!

Canal Clean Sweep 2011

Eric — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:08:41 +0000

The 6th annual Canal Clean Sweep is the weekend of April 15-17th. I say this every year, but its amazing what finds its way into the canal. This is a great opportunity to help clean it up.

More information about the Canal Clean Sweep can be found on the PTNY website: http://www.ptny.org/canalway/sweep/index.shtml.

Find your nearest event location at: http://www.ptny.org/pdfs/canalway_trail/sweep/events2011.pdf.

Erie Canal Maps

Eric — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:56:47 +0000

Where do I find the best Erie Canal maps?

Nautical charts, topological maps, electronic, paper… The answer usually depends on what your doing, but hopefully the information on this page saves you time and helps you find the answer.

Here’s what I found useful:

Google Maps:

Google Maps is a great resource. Its free, easy to use and you can start exploring sections of the canal in no time. You can even start your own map with custom information, images, and lines. If your just starting out this might be a good choice for you. Its also whats being used for the Canalway Water Trail Map. The downside is that you need to do a lot of manual work. There are no street addresses for the canal.

NOAA Chart #14786:

Chart #14786 contains the nautical chart coverage of the New York State Canal System as provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Its free, but there are a couple of ~~problems~~ caveats. First, its only available in formats that most people cannot use (BSB/S-57 ). Unless you have a raster chart display system or an electronic charting system your out of luck (1). Having said that its not incredibly hard to convert the files to images if your familiar with Linux, libbsb, and shell scripting. I would share them but the NOAA user agreement makes it sound like a bad idea. If you do some googling you will find them. The second caveat is that Chart #14786 does not cover the entire canal. It only covers from the Hudson River westward to Lyons, NY.

1 There are a couple of iPhone apps that you can use. EarthNC ($10) or iNavX ($50).

NYS Canal System Cruising Guide:

The Official Cruising Guide to the Canal System is released by the New York State Canal Corporation. Its 185 pages long and contains maps of the entire canal system along with just about every service or amenity available. Its cost $20 plus tax and shipping. If your looking for the Erie Canal instruction manual this is it. The only downside, there is no electronic version.

Erie Canal Paddling Log – Jay and Shannon

Eric — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:32:52 +0000

I always like reading about trips on the Erie Canal. I feel like I always pick up on something new and there’s just something more authentic about the story that you may not find in a book. So I thought I’d pass this along. Jay and Shannon recently finished a long trip from Michigan to New Jersey. Along the way they through-paddled the Erie Canal in 11 days. They seemed to really enjoy their time on canal. They met friendly people, plenty of birds and enjoyed some nice kayak sailing. They blogged the whole trip on their website, but the Erie Canal portion starts here.

Erie Canal Paddling Log – Jacob Stachovak

Eric — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:54:33 +0000

Jacob Stachovak is nearing the end of his paddle around the eastern half of the United States (Mississippi, Gulf, Atlantic, Canal and Great Lakes). And thats if you consider a thousand or so miles left to go as near the end. He’s around 3700 miles of his estimated 5000+ mile trip. I’ve enjoyed reading his blog about the canal so far. He started the Canal trip on June 19th in Troy, NY and hes heading into rochester today. Here’s the link to his blog. The canal portion starts on Day 196.

Also, hes speaking about his trip tonight at the Bay Front Resaurant in Rochester, NY at 8pm.

Dont forget about lessons

Eric — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:04:24 +0000

I recently took a refresher lesson at Bay Creek in Penfield. Lou Singer of the Democrat and Chronicle happened to be there doing a piece for the Penfield Community blog. Check it out…here.

Friday Kayak Links

Eric — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:00:25 +0000

Links:

Cool Photoshop kayaking photo – [Kayak Yak]

Erie Canal Tour of Cayuga County – [New York Outdoors]

Nice Helmet Cam – [Paddle California]

Ultra Light Weight Kayaking

Eric — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:13:02 +0000

One of my favorite blogs, section hiker, has been spotlighting peoples light weight hiking stories for the past month. It’s all the result of a contest that had people submitting their gear list and answering some questions on their light weight journey. I’ve been finding it really interesting to see what other gear people are using and their stories. Though sadly, I now know I’m the only one without a Therm-a-rest NeoAir sleeping pad. I kid, but it poses the question “is it as important for kayaking?”. Does an extra three pounds translate the same way as it does in hiking? The answer I’ve found depends on what your doing, but might be surprising. If you compare an 8 hour hiking trip to an 8 hour kayak trip, you’ll want less weight for the hike and more for the kayak. The reasons are momentum and tracking. A heavier kayak will maintain speed in between paddle strokes better because of momentum and the water displacement actually helps with tracking. The result is a straighter more efficient trip. There are other things to consider such as weight distribution, but its surprising since you would think lighter translates into less work and a faster trip. Having said that I want gear that I can use hiking and kayaking so it comes down to experimenting with different weights to see what works best. So I try to get the hiking gear down and then if I need more weight, figure out how to add weight without adding carry weight such as adding jugs of water. When you portage just empty the jugs. Anyone with their own experiences with weight load and kayaking?