FAIRPORT, N.Y. – The Erie Canal is celebrating its 200th anniversary, and News10NBC is highlighting its significance as a gateway for boaters across the country. Jennifer Lewke reported from Fairport about the canal’s role in America’s Great Loop, a journey encompassing the eastern U.S. and Canada.
Dennis Belfiore and Karin Krieg, who retired during the pandemic, decided to embark on this 6,000-mile boating adventure.
“I stumbled upon some YouTube’s of the great loop, which I had never heard of, and I thought, oh this is cool,” Krieg said.
The couple traded their sailboat for a motorboat and started their journey from Long Island. They navigated around Manhattan, up the Hudson River, and onto the Erie Canal.
“I was really intrigued with the loop, in particular, I was intrigued with the variety of waterways that were available for the entire loop, starting with New York State,” Belfiore said.
Krieg described the Erie Canal as a revelation.
“Then we hit the Erie Canal, which was really a revelation because coming from downstate, you don’t think much about the Erie Canal or this area,” she said.
Belfiore was amazed by the canal’s infrastructure.
“It’s amazing to me that we’re in NY when we’re up here, the thing that really struck me about the Erie Canal was, even though I was vaguely aware of it, I didn’t realize how potent it was, the infrastructure of the canal with all the locks and the dams,” he said.
The Erie Canal became one of their favorite parts of the journey.
“You end up staying in these little towns you never knew about, maybe you blew past on the thruway but you actually get to walk around town and meet people and you go to the history museums and look at the placards and it’s a very different way of seeing the state then when you drive,” Krieg said.
The couple completed the loop in 2022 and now enjoy cruising the canal.
“The Erie Canal, the Finger Lakes. They feel like my backyard now, they don’t feel like some place that’s like over there, 200 miles away… to me, it’s like a week or two and we’ll be over there,” Belfiore said.
Krieg mentioned that other loopers often stay in the area after completing the journey.
“Some loopers that we’ve met and people we’ve met, they just… after they do the loop, they just hang around here,” she said.
Loopers are recognizable by the flag they fly and their motto: “Docktails, 5 o’clock at the flagpole,” Krieg said.
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Cruising the Erie Canal: Retired couple shares the joys of being a ‘Looper’ on 6,000-mile boat journey WHEC.com.
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