Articles
The Erie Canal
Waterford, NY
June 10
From Saugerties, NY, we traveled
upriver to Troy, NY and the first Lock, which is called the Federal Lock and
is run by the Corps of Engineers.
It was closed for repairs, so we had to wait about 4 hours on the town dock,
which was a rather pleasant wait.
We installed the curtains in the wheelhouse so we could get some shade up
there. We met folks aboard a Manatee Gary and Gail with their
Poodle - Lhasa Apso cross, Gypsy.
That was the Texas boat we had seen in NY Harbor.
She gave us recipes for Bul and Ginger Lemonade. Troy lock was a pipe type lock and very hard to wrap the line around, but once we were fastened in, we managed quite well. There were about 5 boats in the lock and as we left one of the boats got a fender caught and we waited as they were right in front of us. "Nordic Tug Theodore" was behind us and we had a sailboat to the starboard side. The tug honked at us and the sailboat passed us on the port side. I made kind of a snotty remark to Don about the sailboat. Theodore was pushing us all the way to Waterford so he could get dock space - we tied along the wall, which was no problem at all. The sailboat continued straight up the Hudson |
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We went out walking in Waterford and found Keilty's Irish pub. They made Ruben chowder.
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We rigged the boat on both sides for locking thru. We have complete complement of fenders and lines set up exactly the same on both sides, which lessens the chance of confusion. |
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On June 12 we moved to the dock with electricity so I could sew. We finished Herman's sail covers and shipped them. Our mail came as well as our hardware from Astrup. I laced on the rail covers and did it ever make a difference in the look of the boat! Waterford is fun. It is a small pretty town and the dock is interesting. It is free for 2 nights and $10 a night after that. Boats seem to come from Troy lock in little flocks, so we call it flocking instead of locking. You see some people that you most certainly do not want to flock thru with. The most surprising thing is that there are easily as many sailboats as trawlers. Hadn't ever expected that. |
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Locks 2 - 8 It was a rainy Friday 13th. We paid for the canal pass at lock 3. With the canal pass which was about $120 we are allowed tie ups at lock walls. We made it thru 7 locks today. 5 of them were in the first 1.6 miles and the lifts were about 35 ft. each. No one else was traveling because of the rain so we just took our time and learned a whole lot. We spent the night at lock 8 on a tie up and it was so quiet and pretty.
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Went Under This One |
Locks 9 - 13 - Canajoharie
June 14
Old Part of the Canal |
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Locks 14 -20 We spent the night at Lock 20. It was quiet and nice. We had electricity, so we worked on the bimini. We still need to finish installing it. We met a nice guy named Gary Motter. He came by and visited a couple of times. He had a little vinyl kayak with inflated tubes inside. The local people are so friendly and always want to talk to the boaters. Several have offered trips to the grocery store. They seem fascinated with the boat and our way of life.
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