Fred: I relayed it to the AGLCA forum. And I share your admiration for the Canal Corp.! Bill -----Original Message----- >From: "fred@tug44.org" <fred@tug44.org> >Sent: May 28, 2012 3:09 PM >To: Great Loop List <great-loop@lists.trawlering.com> >Subject: GL: The Word From Canal Corp. > >To the Great loop List: > >There have been a few emails recently about debris floating in the locks on >the eastern end of the NY Canal System and I discussed this with Canal >management at lunch today. Management is well aware of this and is working >to correct it. > >Keep in mind the eastern end of the Erie Canal was destroyed by the >hurricane last fall, and the lower Champlain Canal was badly flooded. The >rivers changed their routes in some places and at many locations they >flowed thru woods and across farm fields. This loosened all kinds of >debris and some creeks that feed into the canals are still choked with it. >Each time it rains, it will dislodge rafts of debris which will then tend >to collect in locks. The problem is not one of cleaning it out but rather >a problem of extra heavy amounts of debris still being flushed into the >canals from smaller rivers and creeks. > >It is difficult to fish this stuff out of the locks but crews work on it >daily. I had asked why not simply use the valves to flush it, but this >appears to be a safety violation. If they were to open the lower gates and >open an upper valve a bit, yes this would flush the locks clean, but if >that valve malfunctioned, and they then attempted to close the lower gates >against the current, it would snap the shear pins and then a real serious >problem would result. Safety concerns prevent using this method. > >In the past I have helped operators pull logs out manually and I can tell >you it just ain't easy. > >New York State's Thruway and Canals are financially stressed after last >fall's hurricane, and the NY State gov't has its own financial troubles, so >the Canals are a bit short-handed these days. And there is still a lot of >left-over destruction that is still being worked on in addition to what's >floating in the water. > >I do suspect that after today's discussion there will some extra work gangs >assigned to the locks. If you do encounter debris in a lock, and can't go >around it, just do what I do: I shift to neutral and coast right thru it >with no harm done. Last year I ran over a telephone pole while in neutral >and suffered no damage. I'd rather not do that, but it works. Floating >debris tends not to get into water intakes, I have not experienced this >problem. > >There was a comment made about certain buoys being off station. Caution: >In some cases this may be due to the rivers having moved their channels >during the hurricane, and the buoys may be correct. Maps may now be wrong. > Keep an occasional eye on your depth gauge if you think there's a >problem. > >Some towns may not yet have re-connected the electric at their piers. Keep >in mind, entire towns were destroyed and they have other problems to take >care of, some are higher priority than the canal. > >In spite of all the destruction last fall, the NY Canal system is up and >running rather nicely, a spectacular recovery in such a short time, but >some details are still being worked on. > >Meanwhile, our Canals continue to be the most wonderful vacation deal >anywhere. Special congratulations on a job well done should go to my >friends John Callaghan (Deputy Director, Canals) and Tom Ryan (Exec >Director of Thruway which owns the Canals) along with Brian Stratton, Canal >Director ... for the amazing way they have reconstructed the Canals after >the hurricane last fall. They said it couldn't be done, but they did it. > >The NY Canals are up and running. Come visit us! > >Fred >Tug 44 > >PS- Could someone please forward this email to the other boater's forums, >please? > > >_______________________________________________ >http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com > >To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, >unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com

I relayed it over to MTOA. R,. -----Original Message----- From: great-loop-bounces@lists.trawlering.com [mailto:great-loop-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf Of Bill Donovan Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 4:41 PM To: fred@tug44.org; Great Loop List Subject: Re: GL: The Word From Canal Corp. Fred: I relayed it to the AGLCA forum. And I share your admiration for the Canal Corp.! Bill