In June of 2024, Brian and Amanda Dudley of Hilton spent a week on the Erie Canal when they rented the Sunflower from Low Bridge Charters in Waterloo, NY. It was a vacation they had wanted to take for a few years, and ended up turning into much more. That week on the water took them from Waterloo, up the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and west on the Erie Canal as far as Palmyra and back to Waterloo.
Amanda is the assistant village historian for Hilton and a board member of the Parma Hilton Historical Society. Brian is a self-employed gunsmith considered a restoration expert on historic sporting firearms. Their mutual interests naturally led their primary focus on this trip to be the local history that is so plentiful along the Erie Canal. Several historic sites and museums were their destinations in Palmyra, Lyons, Newark, Clyde, and Seneca Falls.
Low Bridge Charters (LBC) and Erie Canal Adventures (ECA) are currently the two area companies offering self-captained trips on the Erie Canal with boats called Lockmasters. They are modeled after traditional English canal boats as well as classic American canal packet boats. ECA operates 11 boats out of Macedon, and LBC operates just the one boat out of Waterloo. The Wiles Family of Mid-Lakes Navigation built all the Lockmaster boats (21 in total) in Skaneateles, NY, between 1987 and early 2002.
At 54 feet, the Sam Patch, operated by Corn Hill Navigation, is the largest boat they built and is strictly an open format tour boat. The other 20 boats are all liveaboards, ranging from 34- to 44-feet long. The Wiles Family had been running a navigation business on Skaneateles Lake since 1968. In the late 1970s, the family vacationed in England and spent two weeks on a traditional “narrowboat” on the canals there. The experience made them realize the Erie Canal was an underappreciated resource in our area.
They set out to change that by building all 21 of the Lockmaster boats in their own facility, starting with nothing but a concrete floor. Their work in building the hire boat business on the Erie Canal has allowed many people, from all over the country, to discover New York’s historic inland waterways.
LBC’s owner acquired the Sunflower from Mid-Lakes Navigation in the mid-2000s. Brian and Amanda’s experience with the Sunflower piqued their interest in the idea of owning one of these unique boats.
After researching what boats were out there and where they were located, the Dudleys were presented with the opportunity to purchase one, the Owasco. It was very much a scenario of being in the right place at the right time. The Owasco was built in 1989 and was the third Lockmaster constructed by Mid-Lakes. As the company built more boats, it sold off earlier ones as interest in canal charters grew. The first four boats built (Owasco included) were sold in the mid-1990s. They went to Troy, NY, and then Waterford, NY, where they plied the waters of the Hudson River, Erie, and Champlain Canals.
During that time, the Owasco was renamed Lucy Cashdollar and then Fabienne Suzanne. Mid-Lakes purchased back the original four Lockmasters in 2014. The Owasco was cleaned up and re-launched in 2018, but was not put back into service as a charter boat. The Owasco was sold into private hands in 2020 after it spent a couple of years as a “showboat,” where it was exhibited on the floor of the Expo center at the New York State Fair as part of the I Love NY and Canals 200 displays. It was used privately during the summers on the Western Erie Canal by a couple from Texas, who, after a move, decided to put the boat up for sale in 2024. An inquiry made by Brian to ECA led to his being able to purchase the boat. With only a few of the 21 Lockmasters being in private hands, the Dudleys consider themselves fortunate to be the caretakers of one of these rare vessels.
The Owasco is a 41-foot Lockmaster with a width of 10 feet, 200 square feet of enclosed living space, and a beautiful open bow. It is equipped with two sleeping quarters, a shower, toilet, galley kitchen, and a dinette that also converts into additional sleeping space. The Lockmasters are the equivalent of a The Dudleys purchased the Owasco, a 41-foot Lockmaster, late last year.fully outfitted camper that also floats. Most of the Lockmasters were originally named after the individual Finger Lakes, and to preserve that part of its history, Brian and Amanda have decided to keep the name Owasco. In the Dudleys’ opinion, the Lockmaster canal boats are a major part of the Erie Canal’s more recent history, and they are privileged to take part in that history with their ownership of the Owasco.
Brian and Amanda look forward to using the boat in the upcoming years for vacations and weekend outings, allowing them to see their local area in a different way and at a slower pace. Their plan for this summer is a 10-day trip to Buffalo.
The Marina at Erie-Macedon Landing was purpose-built for housing and servicing these large boats. Therefore, the Owasco must spend the winters there on land. However, Brian and Amanda are fortunate to live close to Arrowhead Golf Course and Marina in Spencerport, where it will be docked during the canal’s operational months (mid-May through mid/late October). Transporting the Owasco back and forth at the open and close of each season serves as built-in trips for the Dudleys. The folks at Arrowhead are excited to have the Owasco in one of their slips and have been very accommodating.
To share the experience with others, Brian and Amanda will also be offering the Owasco as an Airbnb for overnight stays at Arrowhead.
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