There’s a lot of time to ponder the past and future of the Erie Canal as the Seneca Chief crawls its way through the channels and locks of the 200-year-old marvel.
That’s on purpose, said Brian Trzeciak, executive director of the Buffalo Maritime Center. He’s leading the 33-day expedition aboard a replica of the vessel used by New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton when he opened the canal in 1825. The boat and its crew are retracing the 363-mile waterway connecting Buffalo and Albany, then turning down the Hudson River and arriving in New York City on Saturday.
The Seneca Chief moves at 19th-century speed — it chugged along at about 6 knots. It took about five hours to travel the roughly 18 miles between Amsterdam and Schenectady. Canoers kept pace. Trucks, bicycles and a freight train passed by…