Last Friday I got a chance to dive this standard canal boat in 185-190ffw. She is largely intact although her hull on the port and starboard sides has started to separate from the deck/gunwale. Areas of white and green paint still adorn the hull and you can almost make out registration numbers or a possible name on the wreck itself.
The bow still has the windlass and the stern is still sporting her tiller and rudder. Inside the cabin a stove is also still present. The cargo holds are mostly empty but there are still some remnants of coal.
Great wreck. I hope to get back here and take more video in the future. It was very cool being followed around by my friend Gary's ROV while on the wreck. The extra auxiliary lighting from the ROV was certainly nice too. I tried to splice a few video clips from the ROV into this video to give a different perspective.
Standard canal boats grew in popularity on Lake Champlain after the completion of the Champlain Canal in 1823. Unlike sailing canal boats which were rigged as schooners or sloops standard canal boats (canal barges) had no means of propulsion. They were towed by mules and horses through the lock system and then towed by other vessels on lakes and rivers.
Standard canal boats begin to populate the lake in the 1840s. Their population peaked in the 1870s. Unfortunately faster, cheaper, and more reliable methods of transportation such as railroads led to the demise of the canal boat.
The bow still has the windlass and the stern is still sporting her tiller and rudder. Inside the cabin a stove is also still present. The cargo holds are mostly empty but there are still some remnants of coal.
Great wreck. I hope to get back here and take more video in the future. It was very cool being followed around by my friend Gary's ROV while on the wreck. The extra auxiliary lighting from the ROV was certainly nice too. I tried to splice a few video clips from the ROV into this video to give a different perspective.
Standard canal boats grew in popularity on Lake Champlain after the completion of the Champlain Canal in 1823. Unlike sailing canal boats which were rigged as schooners or sloops standard canal boats (canal barges) had no means of propulsion. They were towed by mules and horses through the lock system and then towed by other vessels on lakes and rivers.
Standard canal boats begin to populate the lake in the 1840s. Their population peaked in the 1870s. Unfortunately faster, cheaper, and more reliable methods of transportation such as railroads led to the demise of the canal boat.
