6/27/24 - Amsterdam to Waterford - Locked Down

Waterford NY claims to be the oldest incorporated village in the US

Awoke to our usual coffee, Erik up before sunrise,Renee slept till after 6 😊. Erik made omelettes and toast for breakfast while our dock neighbors all shoved off heading west.  We called the lock about 8 and he said he could be ready for us in about 5 minutes. So off we headed for our first lock of the day.  The first of 10! The locks were 5-10 miles apart most of the day.  Again we were passing several loopers as we traveled eastbound.  The locks started off as about 8-10 foot drops at lock 11 and then gradually increased to about a 20 foot drop at lock 7.  Unfortunately, the wind was increasing too 😖.  

Some of the many AGLCA member boats we passed or encountered today

We arrived at a guard gate a little after 1pm.  This guard gate was closed and there was a pretty serious dam and waterfall the other way.  The wind tossed us around while we tried calling the guard gate on the radio and phone, then lock 6 with no answer. Finally a car drove across the guard gate and down by the wall in front of it.  When we saw he had a blue shirt on we assumed he was with the NY canal system.  After taking our boat information he said he would open the gate then drive to lock 6 to meet us there and lock us down.  We waited a few minutes for him to fill the lock then headed into the first of 5 locks (this system is also referred to as ‘flight of five’ just as the old, now not used, series was called way back in Lockport).  Each lock would be about 33-34 feet of a drop and now the wind was gusting and pushing us all over in the locks.   We have both commented that of all of the 100+ locks we have navigated in our travels some of these on the Erie Canal are the most challenging.   The main reason, in our minds, is that the majority of the ropes that are used to hold a boat to the lock wall while descending/ascending are not secured at the bottom of the wall.  With some of these ones today being 30+ ft drops by the time we were toward the bottom it would be difficult to keep the boat snug to the wall with such long ropes only secured at the top.  Long story short is that our arms, backs and shoulders got quite the workout today.   

Riva got a little surprise shower as we passed through the just lifted guard gate

Top left: awaiting the gate to open at the top
 Bottom left: view from inside lock at top of the flight
Top right: about midway down in one of the short channels between locks
Middle right: 3/5 way down in the channel
Bottom right: 4/5 way down in the channel

The system is really quite incredible.   Each of the five chambers dispels over 3 million gallons of water in less than six minutes as it lowers vessels down to the next river level.    There are short channels of only .25 - .5 miles between each of the five locks.  It took less than 1.5 hrs from the time we pulled into the chamber of the uppermost lock until we were down to Waterford NY at the confluence of the Hudson River.   165 feet lower in just 1.5 miles!   The other stressful part of the afternoon was that our starboard motor was acting up and stalling at idle speeds (we need to get this addressed….likely a timing adjustment needed).   It made for a couple of dicey moments both while exiting one of the last locks and especially while docking at the bottom in Waterford.   The engine stalled (could only be re started from lower helm with parallel switch engaged 🤪) just as we were pulling up to a very high concrete wall with the wind roaring and pushing the boat in different directions.   We bumped the rub rail on the wall before managing to back off of it, restart the stalled engine from below and come back for a second attempt.   Fortunately, there were several Army Corp of Engineer guys on the wall who saw us struggling a bit who came over to assist in catching and securing lines.   We were HAPPY to be tied off and able to relax and take a breath!

        Doors opening and preparing to exit after the first 33’ drop of five…welcomed by beautiful view 

After checking in at the visitors center and walking Riva we took a walk up into town where we had our first full look at the Hudson River, saw a few historical sites and had a nice dinner at McGreivey’s (very yummy).  Even though we had split an appetizer and main dish we still did not have room for dessert…no fear…we got the bread pudding “to go” to enjoy later.  We dropped off our leftovers off at the boat and snagged up Riva to venture out to attempt at hiking off some calories at the nearby Peebles Island State Park.  We enjoyed the 2 mile loop of the entire island that had great views of the confluences of the Hudson, Mohawk and Erie Canal including some more tranquil waterfalls.   At the conclusion of the hike as we were preparing to exit the park we had a good conversation with a local young woman walking her two dogs (Riva was ecstatic!) who gave us good advice on what to see in Waterford and the surrounding area.   

 We will soon be in tidal waters
Sign talks about the Hudson being the river that flows both ways

 Views from hike at Peebles Island State Park
Last pic is a cheat on this blog and is the sunrise over the Hudson tomorrow morning 

Back at the boat we enjoyed a nice sunset, coffee and our bread pudding before retiring for the day.  We had a wonderful time exploring the entire Erie Canal and many of its offerings and are looking forward to a full day here in Waterford tomorrow followed by a trek south on the Hudson River over the last week of this years trip.   

Sunset on the Watertown free wall
Good nigh!
💤