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June 11, 2012

June 10, 2012 Day 30 Total miles to date: 679.13

What a fun day! We started by visiting the Farmers Market in Waterford – literally in the Visitors Center area right off the boat dock! We purchased fresh vegetables, cookies, and chicken salad for lunch!

We helped Rickshaw unraft from us so they could get an earlier start on the Erie Canal. Moor $tuff will depart on Monday. (Their departures were not the fun part!) We finally departed with Quest about 1:45 after they dealt with a generator problem and then we had a fairly short ride up the Hudson. The river was very serene and narrow and there were many homes right on the shore line.

We have to be able to clear a 17’ railroad bridge tomorrow so we tied up on the wall below Lock 1 and talked to the lockmaster. We had already lowered our radar and antennas and Bill decided he also needed to take the canvas off the flybridge. Now we look like a convertible! We will be able to put everything back to normal in a few days.

We locked through twice today and had an easy time at both locks. We were surprised to see another 45’ Californian (Goofin Off) in Lock 1 with us. They are gold Loopers from New York.

We stopped at the small, friendly town of Mechanicville, NY for the night. They provide a free wall with electric and water hookups, which we appreciate! Joyce cleaned much of the exterior of the boat while Bill took down the canvas. We spoke with several local people as they walked by our boat. We shared dinner with Ricki and Carl on Quest, then took a walk through the downtown area of Mechanicville. Tomorrow we will head to Fort Edward!