With the official announcement yesterday that repairs to Lock 10 and others on the Erie system will take at least a month, and perhaps longer, several people have asked me to share my ideas about alternatives, particularly for those doing the "Little Loop" and "Great Loop". >From Waterford, NY to Oswego and across Lake Ontario to Kingston, ONT, the most common Looper route, is approximately 244 miles, including the crossing of Lake Ontario, which is 60 miles of very open water, often requiring waiting for a weather window from Oswego. This route will not be available for a month at the minimum, and several Canals staff have been pessimistic about their meeting that schedule. The alternative, going north from Waterford up the Hudson, to Lake Champlain and north on the Richeleau-Chambley Canal to Sorrel, PQ, then upstream about 60 miles to Montreal adds up to 310 miles more or less. Taking the St. Lawrence Seaway upstream from Montreal to Kingston would add 166 miles for a total of a minimum of 476 miles to reach Kingston. The up side is that except for Champlain, this is all protected water, with virtually no weather delays, but is entirely upstream on the St. Lawrence with 7 Seaway locks at $20 each, any of which are likely to cause delays waiting for commercial shipping. From Sorrel to nearly toMontreal is free flowing and current averages perhaps 2 mph. Beyond this upstream the current is more like an average of 1 mph. You need to pass two Seaway locks to get to the point where you choose to either stay on the Seaway or go up the Ottawa River. >From Montreal one can go up the Ottawa River 97 miles with just two locks and very little current, then down the Rideau system 126 miles to Kingston with total protection but 49 locks, which can be slow. This would get you to Kingston with a total of 533 miles, a difference of only 289 miles. Parks Canada operates these locks, and charges around $15 dollars Canadian per foot of boat length which includes both lockage and tying to lock walls overnight. Very few of these facilities have the option of shore power. The same fees cover charges for all Parks Canada systems. The conventional wisdom is to do the "Little Loop" counterclockwise. But, last summer we cruised our Albin 27 both ways starting in Vermont, cruising to Kingston and the 1,000 Islands via Ottawa and the Rideau, then returning on the same route. My conclusion was that the difference due to current was negligible. For those folks doing this "Little Loop" cruise, I suggest you proceed north to Champlain and beyond, with the assumption that by the time you get Kingston an accurate estimate of repairs to the eastern NY Canals system will be available. The worst case scenario would be having to cruise down the Seaway back to Sorrel and return the same Champlain route. For those doing the "Great Loop" the added time and miles to go north to Montreal, Ottawa, and the Rideau will be well rewarded with your exposure to the European culture of French Canada. From Kingston, you can proceed on to Trenton and the Trent Severn. A plus for this timing is that by mid August the Georgian Bay is nearly deserted, as all the cottagers with children have returned to their homes elsewhere. Hopefully this is helpful to those not familiar with all the options. Dennis Dennis Bruckel, Cruising Editor Waterway Guide M/V Sadie B, Albin 27 Cell 407 414 0531 Website: www.debruckel.com A man who is not afraid of the sea will be drowned, for he'll be going out on a day when he shouldn't. The Arron Islands, J. M. Synge

Loopers: We were travelling ahead - just barely - of the worst of the Erie flooding and found ourselves just west of Lock 20 when the canal was shut down. We secured a slip at a small marina along this stretch of the canal but officials would not let us move from the lock until yesterday morning due to cross currents along the canal. We then moved our boat to this marina and rented a car to return to Vermont until we can decide what to do. On our way home we took pictures of Lock 10 which I would be happy to share if someone can host or post them for the list. Please contact me and I will e-mail them to you. It is a mess and the added concern about their being able to maintain navigable depth west of the dam makes return by that route highly uncertain for this year. Wesley "Little Bitt", LNVT #21 weldred@adelphia.net