Happy Destiny: 6/26/24 - Little Falls to Amsterdam NY

Erik’s new routine is to find new ways to get Renee and Riva out of bed. This morning he unplugged the boat and everything went off. Once out of bed, Renee saw he was moving the boat so the loopers in front of us could get out easier. We drank coffee and watched everyone else shoved off, one after another. Most often loopers move in “floatillas”. This makes it easier to get through locks and such. Shortly after a quick breakfast of cereal Renee called the lock and he said he would be ready for us in about a half-hour. We disconnected electric, untied and shoved off to head for our first of six locks today. The first was a big drop of about 41 feet, and was different in how the lower gate lifted on big chains instead of doors opening.

First lock!

As we started to drop in the chamber a weep hole in the lock wall was spewing water onto the gunwales and into the galley window that we’d left open…oops

Shortly after the first lock we had planned to stop at a historical site that supposedly had a dock. Unfortunately the dock was not in the water so we were not able to stop at Herkimer Home. This was the home of a notable revolutionary war General, Nicholas Herkimer, and was built in 1764 https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/herkimerhome/details.aspx . We were bummed that we were not able to stop and see it 😟 Maybe next time!

View of Herkimer Home from the river

Beautiful fluffy cloud day

We had debated on stopping in Canahoharie which was only about 20 miles from our days starting point but instead decided to motor on to Amsterdam which was a slightly larger town. Our thinking is that this will give us two nights in Waterford (at the confluence of the Erie Canal and Hudson River) which we’ve heard really good things about. The cruising was smooth and uneventful for the most part as the lock masters at each of the locks would call ahead to the next one to let them know they had a vessel heading eastbound their way. The majority of the lock doors were open and ready for us to enter as we approached. All of the lock masters along the canal have been very friendly and helpful; always nice to see folks enjoying their work. We did have a minor snafu while exiting the last of the locks of the day for our trip. Erik let go of the rear rope that he was holding that keeps the boat stationary against the wall as he always does and went up to the helm to start the engines and exit the lock. It was rather breezy so the rear of the boat quickly began to drift off the wall when, of course, the starboard engine failed to start. Ugh….he managed to keep the boat from turning sideways in the chamber working with the one engine and utilizing steering wheel/rudder but this is much more challenging than utilizing both engines and the controls only (think zero turn mower). Renee went below and after a couple moments was able to start the engine from the lower helm by utilizing the battery parallel switch. We need to investigate further why the starboard engine starts much harder than the port side (particularly when hot); Erik believes it is an engine timing issue. With both engines now running and the boat righted we were back on our way headed the final few miles to Amsterdam.

More of the many loopers we passed today
ALL still gong the wrong way 🤪

We were securely tied up on the free wall at the top of the lock at 3:15pm concluding the 39 mile days trip. This free wall again had power so we plugged in and turned on the AC before unloading the bikes to head off into town. We rode over to the Riverlink Park, below the lock, which had been our other option for mooring for the night. Here we would have had to pay $1 a foot though so we decided the free option was for us leaving more money for ice cream! 😂. Had we been a day later we would have been able to see the water ski show that is put on every Thursday evening. Instead, we were impressed and entertained by watching a youth ski club have their turn on the water. Speaking with the grandfather of one of the young ladies, we found that the club is made very reasonable for the kids. They only have to pay $50 a year to cover an insurance policy and everything else is taken care of for them. They ski multiple days a week. The club is largely funded by donations from the community….very cool! They were a good number of kids, probably about 15, Who were all taking turns getting pulled behind two different boats. For the first half hour or so it was apparent that it was the beginners taking their turn. Soon, though, many of the more advanced skiers had their turn on the water. It was very gratifying and entertaining to see these youngsters showing off their talents. Some were skiing up to four at a time behind the boat, others were doing trick skiing and knee boarding, yet others were actually even even going over ramps…how fun! We both decided that we wanted to join the club but alas at 29 years old we’ve both long since aged out of the age requirement 😝

What a great program Amsterdam has for their youth…hard to be on a cell phone while in the water

Fly high!

When we made our way back to the boat there were now several other boats that had come in to tie up on the free wall. A couple were loopers but the most intriguing one to us was a fellow Marinette. It was a 1989 Marinette 32 Sedan (exact same model and year as our previous boat ‘Aquqholic’). However, ten years ago the owner had repowered his boat by removing the two big old Chrysler 318’s and replacing them with a single Honda 60hp outboard. In speaking with the owner he shared that he cruises at about 7-8mph while achieving 3-4mpg….quite impressive. Could be a struggle in the maneuvering department or if ever going against a strong current though. He left Maryland on the Chesapeake a couple of weeks ago and is headed to Toledo Ohio on the far western basin of Lake Erie for the annual Marinette Rendezvous; a slightly longer journey than we will be making this year but in the opposite direction and with ~1/4 of the fuel bill. Not to shabby a way to go!

Trains roaring by along the Erie Canal have been a very regular occurrence almost all of our journey