48 Hours on the Erie Canal (btw it's not raining).
Thursday evening: My sister, Plummy and husband, GA live
about 20-30 minutes away from Waterford and offered to pick us up, drive us back to
Albany and have dinner at Albany Ale & Oyster where their son Taylor tends bar. We had a great time catching up and dining like
royalty; Taylor took very good care of us.
The next morning we were on the fence about moving along
on the Erie as we really did not have a feel for the conditions up stream where
some of the locks were closed. About 11
we decided to give it a try. Locks 2-6
must be done in one shot. There is no
stopping for the night in between. As
newbies we had a few stressful moments, but we got through them with some
valuable lessons learned and a better feel for what to expect.
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| Approaching the lock |
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| Inside the lock |
One more lock and we arrived at the
Schenectady Yacht Club. Our son, Sam, attended Union College in Schenectady and it was a kick to return to the area by
water. The challenge of the day was
getting Observer safely into her dock space for the night. Our approach included both a four knot current
and 12 knot breeze on the beam (side). The slower we approached, the stronger
the affects of the current and wind. A
fast approach is not conducive to stopping (important). The Dock Master, Ed, and another club member assisted in our
docking. Their help and a bit of luck got
us through a tricky maneuver.
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| Schenectady Yacht Club Clubhouse |
We were invited to a small gathering / pot lock at the
club. We had great time meeting some of
the club members as well as another group of three boats from the Lake
Champlain Yacht Club that are headed our way along the Erie.
Saturday am we were off the dock by 10 just kind of moseyed along taking in the sights.
We passed the new Casino at Mohawk Harbor
in Schenectady. Looks like a huge
development.
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| Casino at Mohawk in Schenectady |
We transited 3 more locks today (had the locks to ourselves) and
arrived for the night at Riverlink Park in Amsterdam, NY. There were a number of loopers here as well
as our new friends from Lake Champlain Yacht Club. After cleaning up the boat, we joined a group for docktails at the
Riverlink Park Pavilion and dinner at the adjacent Rivers Edge
Restaurant. It was a very warm evening.
. . so, since we had power and there would be trains rolling by, we used the AC
for the first time.
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