Once again on the lake with Seneca Spirit

SENECA LAKE--You can see far down the lake from the upper deck of the Seneca Spirit, while still remaining as socially-distant as you wish from other passengers. The new addition to the fleet at Captain Bill's Seneca Lake Cruises arrived in Watkins Glen the evening of Memorial Day after a slightly more-exciting-than-expected trip north and west from Washington D.C.
The newly arrived Seneca Spirit - whose name is currently being painted on the ship's side - will replace the much smaller Stroller, which remained in port during the 2020 pandemic summer, too small to permit enough passengers to sit far enough apart to make taking it out feasible. The Spirit's two decks and larger capacity - at full capacity it could accommodate 115 passengers - allow it the flexibility to be used for event charters as well as sightseeing, for those who would like a more intimate space on the lake than the larger Legacy.
Built in 1997, it was used for Lake Erie cruises before it spent two decades plying the waters around Washington D.C. where it was known as the "Harbor Belle." It has a modern, streamlined appearance with large windows, open floor plan and banquette seating, what owner Mark Simiele describes as "modern yacht design." Two engines and a top speed of about 10 knots (just under 12 miles per hour) mean it's a boat built for leisurely enjoyment of one's surroundings. Unlike the Stroller, the Spirit has two restrooms on board.
Captain Tony Compese was one of four crew members who brought the boat north from D.C. The trip took longer than expected, but it was also a pleasant ride, he says. "It was a fascinating trip, especially along the Potomac River and the Chesapeake," he says. The route north was inland as much as possible, a slightly shorter and more protected route than taking to the ocean, although that was necessary for one 18-hour leg between Cape May, New Jersey and New York Harbor. The crew bunked in the cabin and ate most of their meals onboard, using a cooler, a Keurig and a microwave to heat very simple food. Unfortunately, in one bout of bad weather when waves rocked the boat, the microwave slid off a table and smashed. After that the crew was super-protective of the Keurig, Compese says. It survived the voyage.
They enjoyed long, surprisingly undeveloped stretches of waterway, and saw porpoises in most harbors and wildlife along the Erie Canal. At one point, he saw a heron and a bald eagle simultaneously fishing the same stretch of waterway. They were enroute sun up to sun down, Compese says, learning about the boat as they went. "It requires constant focus," Compese says. "Staying on course is critical."
From New York Harbor, they sailed up the Hudson River to Albany, which took a day. A second day took them through the first 16 locks of the Erie Canal. But there was a problem with Lock 17 at Little Falls in Herkimer County, the second largest lock in the world, Simiele says, with a difference of 40.5 feet between entry and exit. One of the lock gates, the "guillotine" gate, stopped working, delaying a week's worth of ships until a crane was used to raise and lower the dysfunctional gate. Simiele says the Seneca Spirit crew had the good luck to arrive at the tail end of the delay but they still had to wait two days for the backlog of boats from both directions to get through.
Among the experiences they had were encounters with boaters following the same route. Among these, surprisingly, was one couple also headed for Watkins Glen. Even more coincidentally, the young man heading for the same harbor was a descendent of the Palmer family. Brothers Harold and Jack Palmer began the precursor to Captain Bill's Lake Cruises in the early part of the 20th century.
Simiele says he's looking forward to the launch of the Seneca Spirit. This is expected to happen around the fourth of July. "This will allow us to put sightseeing back in service," he said. "Hopefully we will recapture some of what we lost last year."
For more information or to reserve a spot, contact them at 607-535-4541 or book online at Senecaharborstation.com.