First Day on the Erie - Waterford to Lock 8

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 75 - June 14, 2017

You are not really "on" the Erie Canal at the Waterford Visitor Center, since you are at the level of the Hudson River. To really be on the Erie Canal, you must complete the "flight of five," Erie Canal Locks E-2 through E-6 (there is no Lock E-1), in which you gain 169 feet of elevation in a little less than two miles! It takes about two hours to complete the flight of five. We were docked at the end of the floating dock at the Waterford Visitor Center closest to Lock E-2. Yesterday I walked up to watch the lock in operation, and this morning, I watched the first batch of boats, big trawlers all, enter the lock about 7 a.m.. 

There are three types of locks on the Erie Canal. There are locks, such as the Troy Federal Lock, with a vertical pipe around which you slip a line that is attached to a midship cleat that you then either hold near the aft or attach to an aft cleat.  There are locks, such as the flight of five and E-7, with vertical cables coated with rubber, which are used in the same manner as pipes. Finally, there are locks, such as E-8 and many other locks with minimal lift, where there are only ropes hanging down, and one person must grab and hold a rope at the bow and another person must hold a rope near the stern.  I have no pictures of us from any of these locks because I was too busy trying to deal with our line and the cables!

We started the flight of five about 8 a,m.  After completing the flight at about 10 a.m., we were in a constructed canal for a very short distance which then opened up onto the Mohawk River, and the "Erie Canal" for us today was just the Mohawk River. We passed a number of homes, and a couple of marinas and boatyards, but no towns. Cruising the Erie Canal today was much like cruising any other river. We transited Lock E-7, which has a cable-type lock with a substantial rise, and finally Lock E-8, which is only a 14 foot rise, and uses ropes. We decided to spend the night on the lock wall on the north side of E-8 because the locks only operate until 5 p.m.

As we were approaching the entrance to Lock E-8, the lock master radioed to all westbound traffic that a tug with two barges would be double locking through (tug ties up one barge, takes the other barge through, then returns to get the first barge and lock it through). We ducked into a nearby creek and dropped our anchor for about 45 minutes, and then returned to the Canal. The tug was just coming out with the second barge, and there were three other boats waiting to go through westbound. The tug radioed all of us that we should do what we needed to do but he had to stay in the middle of the Canal! Pleasure boaters must yield to tugs and barges since they are less maneuverable, plus their fees pay for the Canal!

Again on Lock E-8 Wall

Daydream on Lock E-8 Wall

The south wall at Lock E-8 has a nice smooth concrete wall with substantial cleats and a nice well maintained grassy area alongside the canal. Just up a slight hill is a bike path, and between the lock and bike path there is a picnic table, a barbecue and a Sanican, so it is very park-like here. No electricity or water, but lock walls are free! 

Shortly after we tied Daydream up, a sailboat named Again that had been at the Visitor Center tied up behind us. The owners, Peppe and Bob Christianson, are formerly from Maple Valley, WA, maybe 20 miles from Snoqualmie. They now live in Hansville on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bob is a retired college professor (Engineering) and Peppe is a retired King County Health Department employee. They have sailed a previous sailboat across the Pacific Ocean, and are very interesting people! They are also "half-Loopers," since they bought their current boat in Florida and will be cruising it on the Loop as far as Minnesota and then shipping it back to Washington State.

We will probably be cruising a while with Bob and Peppe because Daydream and Again travel about the same speed and neither of us can keep up with the trawlers!