Waci 3: Preparation for the Erie Canal

This is my first attempt at a Blog, so please bear with me as I learn to crawl, then walk. I have not had a mentor to lean on, so this entire endeavor of creating and maintaining a blog will be a self taught learning experience.

I write this as we prepare to complete a leg of the Great Loop that we felt would be a problem for us given the time we have available. It was exceptionally fortunate for us that we were able to join a group of fellow Power Squadron members (and several PWC riders) by renting a pontoon boat for a one way trip on the Erie Canal from east to west. The planning for this event was headed up by fellow Power Squadron and AGLCA member Douglas Townes. He originally dreamed up this trip for his group of PWC riders as a way to complete the Great Loop in stages while on a PWC.

You may think that a group of PWCs, a trailerable cruiser, and a pontoon boat with a 40 HP outboard would not be compatable for the trip, but as most of the Erie Canal has a speed limit of 10 MPH or less, it will equalize any speed advantage of the PWCs. Douglas has done several scouting trips and has put in countless hours planning the finest of details to make this a safe and enjoyable trip for all.

My first Great Loop entries will be of our Erie Canal trip scheduled from August 5, 2012 to August 11, 2012. I know some of you will be critical of the plan to do the canal this quickly, but most of the participants are still working and not yet retired, so their time is at a premium, hence the faster pace than I would have desired. The good news is that my sister and brother-in-law live in Rochester NY and we will get to visit with them on both ends of the trip. We will have use of a car and their local knowledge to see all the things the Erie and surrounding area has to offer. This makes the fast transit time on the canal an acceptable tradoff for us.

Our plan remains to begin the Great Loop from Island Cove Marina just upstream of Chattanooga on the Tennessee River. We will have our boat hauled from Lake Allatoona the 80 miles to Island Cove and have them do maintenance prior to launching such as bottom paint, zinc's, etc. I just received the davits to mount Little Waci from St Croix Davits and will be installing them when we return from the Erie Canal trip. There is still some preparation I want to do on Waci 3 before we leave Lake Allatoona. How much of it I can do will depend on where we are budget wise (we are way over budget already) and the priority and importance of those upgrades. We already have done most of Nan Ellen's upgrade list and now we will tackle my list.

That's it for now - I hope to post more as we begin the Erie Canal trip, and of course, I will post more about the planning and preparation for the Great Loop.

Update: Here are some of the photos from the trip.