6-14-17 6-16-17 The Erie Canal

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We are on the Erie Canal!! Yet another part of the trip we have been looking forward to. We went through Lock1 which is actually on the Hudson River but is the entrance to the Erie Canal.

After Lock One you have to take a left to go to the Erie Canal and a Right to go to the Champlain Canal.

We stopped at a town wall in Waterford just before Lock 2.  It is a lovely quaint town, just like what we have heard about.  We hiked a trail along the original Champlain Canal.  We suspect the trail was the original that the mules used to pull the barges through.  There was one spot on the canal that had cement in the middle. There was a sign explaining the there was a weighing station there. They used displacement of water to weigh barges and charged them by weight. It turned out not to be very accurate.  The men called it the “Guessing Pond.” It was warm so we hunted down the public pool only to find it not quite open yet.  That’s okay we enjoyed seeing more of the town.  This has to be the first town that doesn’t have multiple icecream shops.  I normally don’t eat ice cream because it doesn’t always agree with me, but that I day I had a real craving.  Figures there would be no ice cream shops.  My stomach and my waistline are thankful.

Waterford Wall. By the end of the day, every inch of the wall was filled. Mostly with Loopers.
Town or City Hall.
This is the old Champlain canal. The barges were towed by a team of mules. The trail on the right was most likely the mule trail at one time.

Scott overlooking Lock 2
spillway next to Lock 2
Backwaters of the dam. So pretty.
This is what the controls to the locks look like. We never got to seen them before because we were always in the lock.
Us in front of the dam.
The dam was so beautiful and tranquil.

There were lots of Loop boats on the wall.  We had docktails on the back of Debbie and Steve’s boat Gypsy Palace.  I counted 24 people, Margo the Macaw and a handful of dogs on the back of the boat.  That boat is huge.  Met lots of new people as well as connected with many we had met but hadn’t seen in awhile.

Docktails.
Look how big the back of this boat is. One of the benefits of a catamaran.
Michael and Margo sitting off to the side because the boat owners schnauzer wanted to eat her.
Guess what the name of their boat is? Yep “One Eyed Dog”

We hadn’t caught up with our friend Michael and Margo the Macaw  in a while so we had them over for dinner.  Margo is quite the character.  She perched on a handrail and entertained us while we ate. Michael’s boat “Perch” is a go-fast-boat, and we are a go-slow-boat, so we try to take advantage of a visit when our paths meet.

Michael and Margo at dinner. Margo was perfectly happy just sitting there watching us eat. She is a very social bird and loves to be around people. She’s pretty awesome.

The next morning the adventure of locking through the Erie canal began.  The first set of locks is known as the Waterford “Flight of Five”  These five locks are one right after another.  We climbed a total of 169 feet in five locks.  It is the highest change in elevation in the shortest distant in the world……and we did it in our own boat.  Everyday’s an adventure with lots of firsts.

Our first lock of the “Flight of Five”
A few of the boats in the lock with us.
This is a gate. We believe it is to control the height of the water during heavy rains.
The canal boats were cool. Scott wants to work diving one for a month.
This helicopt was so close to us we thought they were going to try to land on top of us. Not sure what they were doing, but it is a state owned copter.

There will be more posts from the Erie Canal. We will only be doing about half of the canal then cutting north on the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario where we will cross the lake into Canada.

Thanks for reading.

Karen and Scott

Unique Random Photo of The Day:

We found these alien looking pods attached to the lines hanging in the locks. they are super sharp! It took some digging, but we found out they are not of the animal species as we first thought, but are from a invasive plant called the Eurasian water chestnut. or also called the “Devil Spike”

 

One thought on “6-14-17 6-16-17 The Erie Canal”

  1. SOUNDS LIKE U R EXPERIENCING LOTS OF THINGS….SEEING LOTS…AND RENEWING LOTS OF FRIENDSHIPS…KEEP ON.. A..SAILING….!!!!…LUCKY DUCKS….!!!!

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