July 7, 2013 Day 46  Champlain Canal

Whitehall Town Wall
Whitehall, NY

We were underway at 8:00 this morning in the rain and immediately went to Lock 7.   When we exited the lock we were no longer on the Hudson River! After 30 days on the Hudson River we are happy to be making some progress.  We also passed Fred’s Tug 44 after the lock. Fred is an excellent resource on the canals and lives in Fort Edward. 

Tug 44

We had four locks to transit today – two up and two down!  Fortunately the rain stopped before we reached the second lock, because we are still driving without the top on our boat! 

The Champlain Canal is narrow and winds around

The view is beautiful along the canal

Skene Manor built in 1874 in Whitehall
sits high across the river from our dock

We arrived at Whitehall at 12:20 and tied up to the town wall – we like these free walls!  This one has fewer hookups so Irish Attitude and Harmony rafted together.  There is a small park next to it with a gazebo so we were able to have a shady spot to visit.

We did get some chores done –Joyce did laundry and Bill changed the oil in the starboard engine. 

During our docktails, we all decided to go to Westport, NY tomorrow to a marina.  We have a six hour cruise so we will leave at 7:00. We still have one lock to get through!  We had dinner on board and then watched another classic "Oklahoma!"

 

 

July 6, 2013 Day 45  The Hudson River

Fort Edward Town Wall
Fort Edward, NY

We are making progress!  We left Mechanicville at 8:05 with Journey, Irish Attitude, Harmony, and a sailboat and entered Lock 3. We then cleared the railroad bridge that is one of two low bridges on the canal.  Bill wisely took down more equipment because we only cleared this bridge by 3” last year.  With higher water levels we would not have made it this year.

Harmony clears the RR bridge!

We continued on and went through three more locks, and had as many as seven boats in the lock at any one time.  We saw the Saratoga Battlefield, the Saratoga Monument, small homes that lined the water, and many trees. Much of the area is rural.  We also passed many boats that were dredging as we got closer to Fort Edward.  Although this can cause delays, we were able to maneuver past them with no problem.

One of many dredging barges on the Canal



Our little boat parade with a beautiful backdrop

We arrived at Fort Edward, NY just before 2:00 and tied up to the free town wall that includes power and electric hook ups for 8 boats.  We relaxed in the park that has a gazebo and many picnic tables with shade trees.  A convenient spot for our 5:00 docktails also!

Our own paark setting in Fort Edward just a few steps
from our boat!

While we were sitting there, a camera crew arrived.  A gentleman approached and introduced himself as the New York Canal Navigation Program Manager and said that they were making a promotional film for the canals.  He heard Bill playing the banjo and wanted to include him in the video.  Bill agreed to do it!  We never know who we will meet!

After we each had dinner on board our own boats, we walked about a half mile to get ice cream.  The amaretto almond chocolate was a hit!  We walked back and talked briefly to another Looper who had arrived late.  The mosquitoes started to come out, so we all said good night and agreed to leave at 8:00 tomorrow to go to Whitehall.  We still have to get under one very low bridge and there is a 50% chance of rain.  So, although we like it here, we have decided to keep moving.

July 5, 2013 Day 44  The Hudson River

Mechanicville Town Wall
Mechanicville, NY

Our little flotilla (Carried Away, Journey, Irish Attitude, Sea Hunt IV, and Harmony) left Shady Harbor Marina this morning and headed north.  We were all happy to be on the move again!!  While at Shady Harbor, Bill named our group “The Hudson Homesteaders”!

By 10:00 we were passing Albany and its industrial ports and the downtown area with its tall buildings.  It was a definite change of scenery along this part of the Hudson.

We arrived at our first lock at 11:40 which is the Federal Lock at Troy.  There was a lot of debris we had to dodge at the entrance to the lock (we encountered debris all day on the river). 

Lock #1 with Sea Hunt IV, Irish Attitude, and Journey

Steamboat

We all fit under the Troy bridge today!

After exiting the lock we were soon at Waterford.  We could not dock there because they were having their annual Steamboat Festival. Waterford is a lovely little town and if we were able to take the Erie Canal we would have gone through there. We did see a few of the little steamboats on the river shortly after that and they blew their whistles for us so we got good pictures of their steam!  And it was fun to hear them also.

At 1:00 we entered Lock #1 – this is still on the Hudson River, but is part of the Champlain Canal System.  Twenty five minutes later we were on our way and heading to Lock #2.  We entered that lock at 2:00 and departed at 2:20. 

We arrived at our destination of Mechanicville at tied up to their free wall. The town provides water and 30 amp electric with room for 8 boats. By the end of the day, all spaces were filled. Our friends on Sea Hunt IV continued on so we hope to see them again in a few days.

After we all got tied up, we took our canvas chairs and just sat in the shade for quite a while.  We were all exhausted from the heat which we battled all day. It was over 90 degrees and very humid! 

The waaterfall at Mechanicville was near the
town wall where we were docked.

We finally got the energy to walk downtown and find a restaurant.  One very kind local resident saw us while she was at a traffic light. She parked her car and came back and gave us directions to a restaurant. She said she could tell we were boaters because we look relaxed!  We had an excellent Italian dinner and most of us brought back leftovers.

On our walk we enjoyed looking at the historic buildings and also the small waterfall that flows into the river near our dock.  We were also mesmerized by the huge billowing white clouds and the perfect blue sky.  Even so, there was a storm brewing nearby as the lightning revealed.

Tomorrow we will depart for Fort Edward and go through 4 locks.

 

July 4, 2013 Day 43  The Hudson River

Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina
New Baltimore, NY

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE! 

We hope everyone had a good 4^th of July celebration today.  We shared it with many Loopers here at Shady Harbor Marina.  We had a big cookout/potluck this evening.  We also spent the afternoon just visiting with each other.  The marina has Adirondack chairs in the shade, so we sat there with a good view of the Hudson River and took advantage of the breeze!

 

 

Bill washed the boat this morning while Joyce went back to the grocery store with Gay and Margi for one last trip to provision.  Can we possibly need anything else?!

The marina staff decided not to have fireworks tonight because of the wind and the proximity to the boats.  We are getting everything ready to depart tomorrow. Our destination is Fort Edward, NY.  We call that progress. 

We will depart with four other Looper boats and one boat that is docked next to us. They brought their boat up from the Virgin Islands and are headed to Canada.  That makes our journey seem rather short!

July 3, 2013 Day 42  The Hudson River

Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina
New Baltimore, NY

Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

“I’m sorry to say so but sadly it’s true that bang ups and hang ups can happen to you.”

The best laid plans…….after a quick run to return the rental car, stop at the post office and grocery store, we and our three companion boats were preparing to leave when Joyce got a call from one of the Loopers who was two days ahead of us. They were at one of the Locks on the Champlain Canal and learned that the clearance of a bridge near Troy, NY was only 15 ½ feet, due to recent rain.  We knew we could not make it under that bridge, so we all promptly cancelled our travel plans for today.  It took a while for the shock to wear off and for us to decompress. We all sat around and just talked for quite a while.  We entered the Hudson River in New York City on June 8 and never dreamed we would still be on the same river.  Yes, Dr. Seuss, this is a “hang up”!

More Loopers arrived today – Sea Hunt IV (left their nearby anchorage and joined us), Carina, and Misty Moose.

We had our usual docktails at five o’clock and then after dinner some of us met again to play games.  We played and laughed until the darkness and mosquitos sent us back to our respective boats.

We will stay here tomorrow for the Fourth of July and have another potluck cookout dinner. We do hope to leave on Friday, July 5!

July 2, 2013 Day 41  The Hudson River
Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina
New Baltimore, NY

Today was a long travel day – but by car!  We were happy to have Margi and Rick, on Journey join us for the day. Once we got the rental car in Albany, we drove to the Waterford Visitors Center to get our remaining packet of mail that was sent there.

Then we took I-90 to Brewerton to pick up more packages at two marinas for ourselves and other boaters.  The marinas have been affected by the closure of the Erie Canal.  Traffic is not going through there yet and that is hurting their business.  We had hoped to be that far by boat this week and now can’t go there at all.  We did have a very nice lunch at the Waterfront Tavern which overlooks the Oneida River in Brewerton.

We drove back a different way – taking some of the smaller roads that follow the Mohawk River where so much of the damage is still very visible.  We saw many piles of debris near the locks.  The gates on one lock were badly bent. The current is strong and the water is high and this is preventing them from doing assessments.  We were still hearing 2-3 weeks before they will reopen the canal.  We eventually got back to Albany and stopped at the Albany Yacht Club to deliver a package to Larry and Sherry on Lady KK. 

It was late when we returned to our marina.  We had a quick dinner and made plans for tomorrow.  We decided to leave in late morning and head toward the Champlain Canal with Irish Attitude, Journey, and Sea Hunt IV.

July 1, 2013 Day 40  The Hudson River

Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina
New Baltimore, NY

Today was a very busy day as we prepared the boat for the bridge clearance we will have on the Champlain Canal.  We started by removing the isinglass on the flybridge.  Next Arch and Rick helped Bill remove the radar arch and the canvas so our boat is now open to the sky on top.  And of course it rained again today!

We also made arrangements for a rental car tomorrow. We have to drive to Brewerton, NY to pick up a package we had sent there, thinking we would be there this week!  We are also picking up things for other boaters who had things delivered there.  Rick and Margi will go with us.

We had another great potluck this evening complete with crabcakes, chili, brats, salads, spaghetti, Guinness stew, potatoes, and chocolate chip cookies!  Some of us lingered afterwards and played cards until it got too dark to see!