12. English canals vs Erie Canal.

[@makinganarrowboatwithnannyandg]

That was interesting to hear about how it works in America thankyou. This may be a holiday for us in the future.

[@owasco7898]

There are plenty of other things to do near the canal if you decide to vacation in the area. Niagara Falls isn't far. Watkins Glen is nearby. There are also lots of winery's in the area if you are so inclined. Hope you get the chance. Enjoy.

[@leslierhodes5467]

Thank you for been very courteous to our system and yours like you say all pros and cons

[@owasco7898]

They are both great

[@gwdriver2158]

Thank you for posting this content, really enjoying your series and hope that you continue to post.

[@owasco7898]

Thank you.

[@veronikabartram2092]

I would suggest that you watch “ minimal list” on KZbin this couple have just completed the whole of the canal system in the UK including doing the Thymes in London and crossing The Wash on a 57ft narrow boat the couple are called Micheal and Jo , Micheal comes from across the pond 😀 it has taken them 4 years to travel the system.

[@owasco7898]

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look.

[@henrya3530]

Thank you for providing a concise and informative comparison of the English and American canal systems. There are many excellent channels on KZbin that show how and why the English canal system (and the narrow boats that use it) evolved. It would be great if you could do something similar about the American canal system.

[@owasco7898]

There's a man I know in Lyons New York who is an authority on the Erie Canal's history. Unfortunately, I'm not there at the moment because the boating season has ended for us. However, I will be back next year and can potentially put something together using his vast knowledge and enthusiasm.

[@dh4521]

What a fascinating insight into how you guys approach canal boat life in the States. As a liveaboard on a narrowboat in England, it really is interesting to see how differently (and maybe better) things can be done. The charm of living on the British inland waterways isn't something that everyone can appreciate or understand. Nice video! 👍

[@owasco7898]

Charm. That is exactly the right word.

[@narrowboatlifeofriley]

We do have facilities point in the UK just like you guys, some are just basic water points with rubbish and waste disposal, others include shower blocks and laundry rooms. I think most UK boaters like to make their boats self sustaining so they can get as off grid as possible, only visiting urban areas when supplies are required. Yes our boats are only 6'10" wide and it is like living in a corridor, but some of the UK canals are what we call wide canals and will take wide beam boats like yours (up to 12" wide), but to have access to the whole network you would have to have a narrow boat as the connecting canals north/south are all narrow canals. Happy travels !!!

[@owasco7898]

Thanks for the information. I certainly did not mean to misrepresent the English canals. I simply haven't been exposed to very much of it. I hope to change that in the future. Thanks again.

[@patrickneureuter910]

Your channel is awesome. What do you do with the boat in the winter? There isn’t any way you could continue living in it during those months right?

[@owasco7898]

Way too cold for that. Plus they drain much of the canal for winter. We are headed there now to start this season. Summers up there are very nice compared to where we live (Texas).

[@johnliberty3647]

Being Deaf, I can't handle the Erie Canal locks. Seriously that is what is keeping me from retiring in a boat. I grew up on the Erie Canal though, and that tow path was there (usually on just one side) between Spencerport and Albion in the 1980's and 1990's. Wasn't maintained well as far as biking goes until about 200. I used it before I had a drivers license to travel from town to town because I did not have to deal with traffic. It was like an interstate for Bicycles, it was flat with no hills are sharp turns, no traffic because we went under bridges more often than not and I could get up to full speed without using too much energy. I biked it west of Rochester in the late 80's as it was my only mode of transportation before I turned 16.

[@owasco7898]

The towpath is used by lots of bicycle riders. My wife and I rode the towpath years ago for a ten day trip. Were it not for that bike trip we would have never known about the Erie Canal and all the charm that comes with it.

[@mrjehilton]

I like the use of your word Free..Erie Canal (Free) Shower, bathroom, water etc...Erie Canals cost is figured into boat rental. There are showers, water stations etc in the English canals. However..its basically itemized. So you pay as you need. Also...Not all English canals locks are single boat. Theres quite a few that hold double and you might have to wait. To see if another narrowboat will show up....

[@owasco7898]

You can use the facilities for free whether you're in a rental boat or not. In fact, they are also free to any cyclists using the towpath for a cross country trek. Some places charge a very low fee. Fairport, for example, is about $15 per night for a 40 foot boat. Palmyra and Newark are completely free for the same boat with similar or, in Newark's case, better facilities. Newark has free laundry.

[@stefanritscher7868]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am planning at one stage to travel the Erie Canal with a friends Motor boat, which is a trawler. Can you please tell me something about the bridge clearances? I hear really confusing stories

[@owasco7898]

Our boat is very low so clearance is never an issue. The state of New York has a website that gives loads of info on the canal system. Here is a link to the page that shows bridge clearances. www.canals.ny.gov/boating/bridgeheights.html Good Luck.

[@thomasmackenzie7811]

Can you live on the Erie full time ...... Like a continuous cruising in the UK ???? Many Thanks 👍!

[@owasco7898]

Much of the canal is drained in winter. It wouldn't matter because it gets extremely cold in that region during winter. Cruising up there is a seasonal thing.

[@derrickmurphy7729]

Interesting to hear.I often wondered what kind of cruising you could do on the eerie canal.thanks for sharing. Irish boater.

[@owasco7898]

Glad to do it

[@DonLefFL]

Thank you for the vlogs. Back in the 1990's we had a cruiser on the upper Hudson River and Champlain Canal, with trips to Lake Champlain. Did a bit of the Erie to Schenectady too. Gonna get over that way? We also follow a bunch of KZbinrs on the English canals.

[@owasco7898]

We had planned to go all the way east this past season but they had two floods that shut down the canal. As a result, we only got as far as Seneca Falls before heading back to Fairport. We plan to try again. Take care.

[@laural4644]

Thank you for this informative vlog comparison. If & when you are going back to UK, it looks very interesting exploring the Scottish Canals (by renting a narrow boat there). Canals appearance wider, there are assistance on the locks, and so much history.(the Foxes vlog with dog Otis). My only personal living on a Narrowboat experience was in Amsterdam, in the 70's. Another era, that like many just don't remember. What goes on in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam!(posted from 🇺🇲🌊💦)

[@owasco7898]

Thanks for the information.

[@Mr91495osh]

Wondering what is the largest size boat that can make the great loop.

[@owasco7898]

I don't know.

[@siraff4461]

Nice video and great to hear you like both. I don't know if you're familiar with the Norfolk broads? Its UK but generally use widebeam boats and have quite large (width) waterways. Well worth a look when you're next over here because its quite a nice part of the world.

[@owasco7898]

Thanks for the info!

[@keithhoughton4308]

Hello, I'm researching the Eyrie canal for a visit from the UK and came across your channel. You have a relaxed style and I hope you will continue with your vlogs when you eventually return. There are several good UK vlogs which we follow but yours would have a unique view. Where would you say was the most interesting part of the Eyrie canal for a month's trip? Thanks. Bye the way, over here many people choose to pull up in the middle of nowhere but there will usually be a pub nearby.

[@owasco7898]

With a month of time you could go all the way from Fairport (perhaps my favorite place to dock) to Tonawanda (just north of Buffalo). We did this in 2020 and really enjoyed ourselves. In fact we plan to do it again next year.

[@jackbeyer4356]

Great video. A nice counter point to mine. American Narrowboater. You left out some of the unpleasant points like climbing up to wharf level in towns like Newark and Fairport. And you were fortunate to see a canal side view without trees. Ever thought of doing the Oswago or Champlain canals?

[@owasco7898]

We plan to do both. Just haven't got there yet. In Newark, you don't have to use the wall. They have a low floating dock that we use often. Fairport's west dock was unavailable this season due to renovations. It was lower than the other docks and closer to the park. Hopefully they won't make it high.

[@Richardj410]

Thanks for you comparison. I want to go to England and do the canals. Seeing how the Erie canal works is not for me. I'd rather have to work and operate the locks. Good luck and enjoy yourselves.

[@owasco7898]

You are going to love it! Best of luck.

[@ericgoodall7089]

Great video, further north in England the traffic becomes less, maybe its because the South is richer and also all locks arent narrow and if you want to get from south to north or vice versa you cannot have a boat longer that 57' for complete coverage of the canals. If you have what we call widebeam you are stuck in the north region or south region you cannot transit from one area to another. My advice to you my american friend would be to buy or hire a 57' narrowboat cos us northerners are more friendly than the southerners and get yourself up north. lol

[@owasco7898]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the video and thanks for the info. It sounds like the people in the north would be right up my alley. We are attracted to the rural areas more than the urban areas because the people seem much more authentic and friendly as you insinuated. That seems to be the case everywhere. We lived in rural Texas for 15 years and found the small-town life to be much superior to city life. My wife and I had plans to go to Newcastle last year. The plan was to see the Genesis concert and tour northern England, Scotland and Ireland. Unfortunately, the Genesis concert was canceled and so was everything else on earth. We still plan to go back to England for an extended period of time after the planet goes back to something normal. Luckily, I am still going to get to see Genesis in Columbus, Ohio on December 8th (if Phil Collins can live that long).

[@ericgoodall7089]

@@owasco7898 This is true, i have been to Columbus ohio to see the LA Galaxy play soccer against the Columbus crew, i have friends in LA thats the connection, i live 40 miles south of Newcastle but 10 years ago i actually had a season ticket for the Galaxy games and with my LA homies have been to plenty of the big american cities that have MLS teams.

[@dougeast]

Thanks for doing this video. We watch narrowboat vlogs insistently and have wondered about how any canals in this country might be different. Very informative. You mentioned that water, electricity and pump outs were free on the Erie canal. Is there an annual license fee to use the canal? If you sell your boat and buy another in England how long will you be allowed to stay each year and what does one do with their boat while back in the states?

[@owasco7898]

@@dougeast We pay no fee to use the Canal. When the season ends we have our boat docked on land and winterized by the marina in Macedon NY. I said we would buy a boat in England but it is more likely we would do long term rental. You can rent boats for months at a time in England and it solves several logistical problems for us. I presume visa limits would present the only time restrictions. Sorry I couldn't be more help. Take care.

[@danhollifield]

One thing I have noticed is that on vlogs from American canal boaters, no one ever says where someone can buy canal boat, what manufacturers there are, or any information one can look up. Google keeps sending you to English canal boat builders' websites. If you specify "American" builders, you are directed to thousands of fiberglass yacht builders.

[@owasco7898]

They don't make narrow boats here in the US. There were a few replicas made in the 80s and they were used for rentals. There are less than 25 as far as I know. We were lucky enough to buy one of the rentals. I am only aware of two that are privately owned. Ours and and one other.

[@01jvb]

It's amazing that all the Erie Canal services like electric are free. I wonder how the state affords to pay for it.

[@owasco7898]

They are not all free, but much of it is either free or crazy cheap. New Yorkers foot the bill with their taxes. I thank them.

[@alexanderchaihorsky4605]

Thanks. Very nice and very useful. Best of luck to you. Try sailing too, smthng telling me you’ll like it very much. ;)

[@owasco7898]

Sailing requires talent and skill. I have neither.

[@alexanderchaihorsky4605]

@@owasco7898 There are many ways to sail - from short-time, crew, good weather coastal or internal water on smaller sailboats to single-handed ocean crossings. While the latter require very serious training, experience and preparation, the former are well within the skills of an average adult’s capability. Of course one should start with a good, friendly like-minded crew or club members. Try it, you will thank me later :)

[@angelrose7906]

We've had a few narrowboats here in the UK. A lot of the canals and locks are in bad shape and most of the locks are manual. They don't ever seem to be taken care of. In addition to that, it is very expensive to use your boat on the canal. The cost of cruising the canals starts out at £538 ($ 712) per year for a 18 foot boat, after that it's more depending on the size. This doesn't include yearly license fees or mooring in a marina. You will see a lot of video and vlogs about people here moving to the canals and living on their boats because it is so cheap. It's not. You need a lot of fuel, coal, logs to keep warm as the weather here is mostly cold except maybe for a month or two in the summers if we're lucky. Also, fuel is about double, if not triple the price of that in the states. I think you are a lot better off using the American Canal system. One thing to add, some of the locks in the UK that are a little longer, you are expected to put more than one boat in them to save water. And from what we discovered there was randomly every anyone at the lock that would offer to help. In addition, since all the lockdowns in the last two years in the UK, a lot of people are losing their jobs and homes, and therefore buying narrowboats to live in making the canals here ever more crowded. Narrowboats here in the UK are 6 feet wide. :)

[@owasco7898]

Thank you for all of that information. After hearing from many folks from England, we would probably do a long term rental as opposed to buying. That way we can do a month or two at a time and then go home. I wouldn't need storage, someone else worries about maintenance, we can skip winter and I can change regions of the UK by changing boats. It also means I don't lose my shirt when I go to sell the boat. What do you think?

[@angelrose7906]

@@owasco7898 That sounds like a good idea. I can say though, when we decided to sell our boat after a few years, we didn't lose any money on it.

[@davewilson1699]

Hi, I’ve just found your channel and watched this video, very informative and interesting, many thanks. I live in England and every few years we rent a narrow boat for a weeks cruising, I love it and hope to retire, sell up and cruise full time but before that I wanted to be a bit more adventurous and cruise some far flung foreign places first, Europe has thousands of miles and is definitely an option, languages could be a barrier but fun and a challenge at the same time. This is the first I’ve heard of the loop! Could a converted sailing vessel complete the loop? I live on the coast and sail, what an adventure to cross the Atlantic then cruise around the states on the same vessel. Thanks again for the videos from a new subscriber.

[@owasco7898]

Thanks for watching. You can certainly do the loop in a sailboat. As long as you have a draft less than 6 feet and take down your mast on the portion through the canal to get down to around 15 feet. All the actual dimensions are on the AGLCA website at www.greatloop.org. Crossing the Atlantic sounds terrifying. But the other part sounds fun. Good luck!

[@Smokeyham]

It would be challenging to do the Loop in a sailboat which has sufficient capacity to do an Atlantic crossing. The real challenge will be your draft. A draft of six feet is really pushing it for the Loop. I would suggest joining AGLCA (GreatLoop.org) and there is a wealth of information there, including from those who have done the Loop in a sailboat.

[@coltonconner782]

You can travel over to France if you get a bit bored with the British water ways that’s a plus

[@owasco7898]

That is very much on our radar.

[@Mark-ct5dh]

Do you live aboard year around? I was just curious?

[@owasco7898]

No, we do not. The canal closes in October, and large sections are drained for winter. The canal season is from mid May to early October.

[@Mr91495osh]

So the French Barge style river boat will work on the Erie Canal. It’s larger in all dimensions and more comfortable.

[@owasco7898]

It would have to be pretty big not to work.

[@JohnBraman413]

you still got it? no new videos

[@owasco7898]

Had knee surgery last year. Couldn't manage the boat. We are packing our car right now and headed to NY. Plan to do more videos.

[@MarkDeChambeau-lo1rt]

Well, the roads are the same...

[@jesseoglidden]

Ok, it's the New York "Barge Canal" you're comparing to. The "Erie Canal" would be a whole lot more like the English canals. I'm sure this has been pointed out a thousand times already.

[@owasco7898]

You are correct that the modern version of the canal was called the Barge Canal, but today everyone refers to it as the Erie Canal eventhough it is very different. Some of the original historic locks are still there to be viewed by the public. Based on there size, I would agree with you that the original Erie Canal must have been similar to the English canals.

[@elfedowen6452]

Canals can be found in the whole of the U.K not just in England. 👍

[@owasco7898]

True

[@FireStormintheTARDIS]

I don't think you gave a fully accurate description of the entire canal network of England. The canal network is over 250 years old and was built prior to the industrial revolution. It was meant to transport goods faster from A to B and the canals were owned by companies who claimed the water and put locks in for protection. Locks also serve the purpose of allowing the water to 'flow' uphill and downhill. While I agree with much of what you said in comparison to the Eerie canal (of which I have no experience), the American canal system was not built to function in the same way and therefore will have a great number of dissimilarities. They should be considered as to completely separate environments, in my opinion. In regard to the facilities, the Canal and River Trust is a non-profit that took on responsibility for the canals in England and Wales and they work on a volunteer basis for the most part. This is why they have to charge money for people to use the facilities: it pays for the upkeep because it is not fully government funded. Also, some paths are maintained and have been refurbished, so I don't think you saw all the better examples of canal paths. Otherwise, thanks for the video. All the best.

[@owasco7898]

You are correct. My description of the canal network in England is limited to my very limited experience. I hope to spend more time there in the future to broaden my knowledge. Thanks for all the additional information.

[@jimmunro4649]

UK canals 4700 miles move about on

[@owasco7898]

I hope to get back there and see a few more of those miles.

[@DavidBriggsAdventures]

I gave you the benefit of the doubt UNTIL you tried to claim services weren't available. Services are available including water, trash, hot showers, laundry, and even mail services in some spots. These services are CLEARLY marked in the Nicholsons Guide. These services are ALSO free of charge and included in your license. Now, as a former resident of Spencerport, N.Y. I can comfortably say that LARGE portions of the Erie canal are NOT welcoming to boaters. From Long Pond Rd. in Gates, N.Y. to the far side of Lock 38. Even then, it's new construction that leave the only rest point being Pittsford N.Y. Completely isolating boaters from the entirety of the Rochester Metro businesses that could EASILY handle resupply, and tourism services. I'm comfortable stating you lack the education to competently speak on this matter.

[@owasco7898]

Pertaining to England, I clearly said I was going to give information based on what I experienced (which is what i did). Furthermore, I went the extra mile of pointing out that I had only experienced a very small part of a very large canal system. Finally, I pointed a giant orange arrow at my head that said I was not an expert. So, your ire on this matter seems wildly misplaced. Everything I said about NY is accurate. Every dock I have used from Tonowanda to Seneca Falls has been very welcoming and accommodating. If you have used a town's dock on the canal and were treated poorly, please list those town(s) here and I will make it a point to go there next season to see for myself.

[@DavidBriggsAdventures]

@@owasco7898 Try reading again. I pointed out one of many major metros completely excluded from canal access. The metro cited is so rich in canal history that songs have been written about it. Not 1 mooring available. The Erie canal has been wildly neglected for decades without a notion of effort to connect business near the canal with boaters. The Erie canal is a wide beam canal by construction. Same as roughly half of the UK network. This widely available information for anyone who cared enough to look or ask I'll remind you I grew up seeing those issues every year up close and personal..

[@owasco7898]

I sincerly mean no disrespect but I just don't know what it is you are disputing in the video with regards to NY.

[@DavidBriggsAdventures]

@@owasco7898 Do you mean other than your credibility to speak intelligently on the access, amenities, and scope of either Canal system to provide a compare/contrast video. I've provided more information about both canal systems in discrediting you that you did in the entire length of your video.