Still in Waterford…

June 6:   When we arrived last Friday on a beautiful afternoon we were planning on a Monday departure, but poor weather decided otherwise. Fortunately, before the heavy rain on Sunday afternoon, were we able to enjoy patronizing the waterfront Farmer’s Market.  The rain continued off and on, mostly ON, and is pouring as we write this on Tuesday afternoon.  

During a brief lull we walked across the bridge to Peebles Island State Park that was once host to the world’s largest textile manufacturer Cluett, Peabody & Company, a "collared-shirt" factory, and home of Arrow Shirts and Collars until closing in 1972 (see images).   Also, while walking to the state park we found another map and took this photograph depicting the route we will travel to Canada.

Weather forecasts indicate it will stop raining overnight and sunshine is the rule tomorrow and Thursday; however, the Erie locks #8 through #20 are CLOSED due to “high current”.  Although we can still transit the Waterford Flight, we will have nowhere to go from there until they reopen the rest of the locks, so Waterford is our port until we receive the OPEN notice from NY State Canal Systems "Notice to Mariners." 

There was a small island in the Mohawk River, across from our boat, upon our arrival to Waterford.  Here's a picture after the rain ... it has disappeared and trees look like they are growing out of the water.   Also, since we are a dozen boats unable to continue our journey until perhaps Friday, everyone is getting together in the little park here for a potluck supper tomorrow evening.  Donna is making her famous Black Bean salad for the gang, and Karl is bringing cigars for the guys ... and gals too!

Stay tuned!

Departing Waterford, via Erie Canal Lock #2

SALLY, the Canal Mule

Waterford NY

June 2: Today was a very pleasant cruise, trawler speed, from New Baltimore NY.  Nothing exciting until we arrived at the Troy Federal Lock and Dam located in the city of Troy on the Hudson River.  From a boater’s perspective, this is the eastern gateway to the New York State Canal System and the “Erie Canalway Trail.”  Curiously, operations and authority over this lock are under the US Army Corp of Engineers ... boaters commonly refer to this as “Lock #1” or “Erie Canal Lock 1” yet it is really not part of the Erie Canal System. 

"Locking Thru" is not unusual for us because we have done this previously, on many  occasions, when cruising from the east coast of FL to the west coast of FL via the St. Lucie Canal where there are 5 locks (10 round-trip) and Lake Okeechobee.  We thought we were well prepared this trip ... added lines for the locks, purchased several large round (ball) fenders, and special rubber gloves for handling the rough and slimy lock walls and cables.  So, when were we cleared by the Lock Master to enter Lock #1 chamber we were not surprised there were no lines or cables for boaters to grab -- we were forewarned -- but the "grab wires" also called "poles" were recessed in the canal walls and hidden from immediate view.  After the initial panic we saw that the lock had poles recessed into the walls, and  spaced about 50 feet apart, leaving only one pole to grab and tie off.  As we had entered into the deep walled chamber, we were caught off-guard by a 25+ knot westerly wind that pushed our boat across the 45' chamber into the opposite wall requiring an unconventional Port side tie.  In addition, the river current in the chamber was absolutely wicked, so after we were raised and cleared to depart the chamber it was almost impossible for both of us to push SANTORINI off and away from the chamber wall.   Eventually, Donna was able to use her core strength to get us pushed away, just enough, from the chamber wall to give Karl adequate "bow thruster and forward throttle" control to pull the boat away from the wall and out of the lock chamber.  

After that adrenaline rush, it it became apparent to us how other vessels actually get "turned" in the lock chamber.  In fact, we later discovered from another cruiser, who had locked-thru about an hour after us, that a de-masted sailboat got so out of-control in the chamber's current that it turned perpendicular; this resulted in its sail mast getting caught in-between the lock rails that are about 55' apart, and caused the Lock Master to go into Emergency Mode, raising and lowering the water table inside the chamber at least 2 times before the sail boat mast could get untangled from the chamber rails, and then get turned straight in the chamber and leave the lock.  Over the years, you read about these events in Seamanship courses, but you never really comprehend until its a first-hand event.   

The Waterford waterfront / canal is located at 1 Tugboat Alley, and is the entrance to Lock #2; the community provides boat transients free docking for 48 hours.  These docks are floating, and they are owned, managed and controlled by the municipality.  Most notably, for municipal docks, they are in excellent condition.  The Visitor Center is located on the waterfront and adjacent to the docks, and operated exclusively by an all-volunteer network … they were absolutely wonderful, welcoming and provided us with lots of information, local maps, canal maps, historical data and provisioning details.

Waterford NY, earlier called “Water Ford” to the Mahican Indians, is a fording or crossing place where the Mohawk River slowed to narrow streams around small islands. It was settled in 1622 by Dutch traders and was a base for trapper trading with the Mahican Indians who lived on Peebles Island.

 

For the curious, we found a couple of YouTube videos that you can click on … these will provide you with aerial views of Waterford’s Lock #2 operations: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbe8qLxY-E0&app=desktop  and  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z26hWVrtiYk&app=desktop

June 3:  We plan to continuing our voyage and lock-thru Monday morning when our vessel will be raised over 173' by 5 locks.  Before this, we wanted a sneak preview and we decided to walk the length of "The Waterford Flight" lock system, about 6 miles ... here are some pictures (from land) of what we can look forward to: