WPSU

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Where Do Canal Boats Go in Winter?

Little canal boats all in a row . . .  shrink-wrapped and ready for winter.  Photo courtesy of Doug Wilson
Right now, the Dragonfly is docked under the sun on the slightly salty waters of Mobile Bay. Today she got this postcard from her brothers and sisters, back home on the Erie Canal. Great to hear from you, guys!  


The boats wrote to say, they are hauled out and winterized. 


The boats pictured here make up the canal-boat fleet at Mid-Lakes Navigation, located in Macedon, New York (just east of Rochester).  That's where Dragonfly got her start. 

In her previous life Dragonfly was a hireboat on the Erie Canal. Families could rent her for a week or two of slowboating. She went east on the Canal. She went west on the Canal.  For a really daring excursion, she might venture down the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and out on Cayuga Lake.  But mostly, it was a quiet life.  

This winter, instead of resting quietly under a blanket of snow, she gets to go to Florida . . . after cresting the waves of the Great Lakes, navigating the mighty Mississippi, and crossing the Gulf Coast. We like to think she's enjoying her little adventure. 
  

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