Upstate New York is home to a unique waterborne educational field trip program aboard a vessel operated by the nonprofit State Council on Waterways. Administered by the Herkimer County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the school program enriches the classroom studies of fourth graders with hands-on experience about the past and present Erie Canal. SCOW begins its seventh season along the historic waterway in May.

With the former Coast Guard buoy tender ERIE CANAL BOAT as its platform, the exceptional program has carried several thousand exuberant fourth graders and their teachers on field trips along today’s modern inland marvel. The excursions include a glimpse into the past as surviving remnants of the historic 1840s canal are observed, and the well preserved Old Lock 36 is interpreted. Students travel through today’s Lock 17 at Little Falls or Lock 20 at Marcy listening to narration that examines the canal era, transportation, hydrology, westward expansion, and the early development of our nation.

As the boat passes through a massive canal lock, raising or lowering it from one level to the next, students witness the awesome sight of six million gallons of water moving through the chamber in seven to 10 minutes. They experience the navigation above sea level that is permitted by New York’s impressive inland waterway. Students and their teachers have consistently given high marks to SCOW’s education program in post-cruise evaluations.

SCOW’s flagship vessel has US Coast Guard certification to safely carry passengers for hire, and is licensed for 42 people plus a crew of two. More than $15,000 has been invested since 2002 to upgrade safety systems that comply with stringent Federal regulations. Several thousand dollars is also invested annually for routine and preventative maintenance, and the hull received its required five-year inspection and recertification in 2007. The boat is inspected annually by the Coast Guard and is in excellent condition. 

After the school trips in the spring SCOW’s program expands to provide public access at several community festivals and canal celebrations. Since 2002 SCOW has carried passengers at 20 ports including Hudson, Albany, Troy, Waterford, Crescent, Amsterdam, Fort Hunter, Canajoharie, Fort Plain, Danube, Little Falls, Herkimer, Ilion, Utica, Marcy, Rome, Sylvan Beach, Syracuse, Phoenix and Oswego.

SCOW provides $5 rides at annual festivals and, wherever possible, $10 cruises through a lock to introduce the largest number of people to the waterway. Special hour and a half charters are also provided at a very reasonable $300 cost for businesses, groups and individuals.

Over the past five years more than 15,000 passengers from 35 states and five countries were carried aboard the boat. Very few of them had been on the canal before. SCOW has also carried groups of developmentally disabled children and young adults on recreational excursions along the canal. Care givers indicate the outings give a significant boost to their effort to provide helpful activity for their patients, some of whom are able to express their own feelings of enjoyment and gratitude.

The ERIE CANAL BOAT operates primarily along the Erie Canal from Albany to Syracuse, and in 2007 reached the Great Lakes with a visit to Oswego Harborfest, a huge regional event. It is one of only two tour boats operating on a 150-mile segment of the waterway, and is the only provider of school educational trips and widespread public access in that area.

SCOW’s ambitious operation has no public funding or endowment. It has been sustained over the years with crucial support from the Erie Canal School Boat Foundation, the Mabel Burchard Fischer Grant Foundation, The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, the Waterford Industrial Development Agency, and many important individual supporters. The project has been successful but underfunded with its distinctive services subsidized by donations large and small. With minimal allocations to staff costs, all contributions go directly into operational expenses of the program.

The Board of Directors looks forward to continuing SCOW’s education and public access programs again in 2008. In order to do so the assistance of our many committed individual supporters is vital. As a small non-profit we face a big challenge to raise the funds to sustain our program again this year, and we hope you will decide to help in this important effort. Our success depends on it. Thank you.

The State Council on Waterways would like to thank
the many passengers who cruised aboard our flagship

SCOW
P.O. Box 43
Little Falls, NY 13365

Thank you.

The 2008 navigation season begins May 1st. Book a cruise for your group on organization on our 42-passenger ERIE CANAL BOAT. Reasonable rates and frequent availability at many canal locations.
Call (315) 868-8891 for details.