Waterford - Starting the Erie Canal!

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

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 73 - June 12, 2017

Raft on the Hudson River

We are officially off the Hudson River now! It is only about 50 feet away, however, since we are tied up at the extreme Eastern end of the "Wall" at Waterford! We chugged upriver from Coxsackie against the current the whole way. We did see one interesting sight - we think perhaps Huck and Jim took a wrong turn somewhere and got off the Mississippi and onto the Hudson! These guys were sitting in lawn chairs on their raft paddling downstream. I'll bet there is a story in there somewhere! 

Doors opening at Troy Federal Lock

Not long after passing Albany, we came to the Troy Federal Lock on the Hudson. It is not operated by the New York Canal System, but it still has to be transited to get to the Erie Canal. This lock has pipes spaced along the concrete walls that you have to take a line around. Skipper Bob said it would be ropes or cables - wrong! After a few false starts, we got a line around the pipe. No serious damage to the boat that we know of, although the Rocna bounced off the concrete walls more than once! We now know, though, that Patty has to be driving the boat and I have to snag the pipe - her arms are too short and there is a strength issue involved as well. Once we changed places, we got it.

"The Sign"

After passing through the Troy Federal Lock, it is a very short 2 miles to Waterford, where you have to make a choice - Champlain Canal or Erie Canal? Our plan all along has been for the Erie Canal. Although the Canal System had been issuing alerts based on the high water levels in the Erie Canal, all seems to have settled down now, and the Erie and Oswego Canals are all clear! At the intersection of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal there is a famous sign, I only mentioned to Patty about 20 times how I need to get a picture of "The Sign" - got my picture!

There are 1,000 feet of floating dock and 600 feet of concrete wall with bollards and cleats at the Waterford Visitor Center. The floating docks were completely full when we arrived, so we ended up on the concrete wall. Like in Cambridge, the ground above the wall is higher than Daydream's roof! We are tied up next to a ladder, so it is not too bad. We walked to the Waterford Visitor Center to sign in, and counted ten boats here besides us with AGLCA burgees!  At the Visitor Center, we were looking directly at Lock 2 (the first lock on the Erie is Lock 2, go figure). There is a flight of five locks we will need to transit within about two hours. When we go, we will be immediately into those locks. If we decide to stay here a day, we probably could move to the floating dock, which has power and water for $10 a day. 

A little detour here! Back in January in Arizona, I ordered a book on the Erie Canal from the New York Canal System. Per the website directions, I printed out a form, filled it in with my credit card information, and faxed it to Albany. A little bit later I got a phone call from Lisa, the secretary at the New York Canal System, who apologized but said that they had moved their office and were not yet able to process credit cards, could I send a check? I sent the check the next day, but heard absolutely nothing back - until today, when we are here tied up in Waterford! Lisa had sent the book to us via UPS in Arizona in May, and of course UPS could not deliver it, since we were no longer there. Fast forward to today, in an amazing coincidence, Lisa called us the day we arrived here at Waterford and explained why we did not yet have the book. She arranged to have John Callahan, the Deputy Director of the NYCS who lives here in Waterford a mere 11 miles from Albany, personally deliver the book to us here at Waterford, which he just did a few minutes ago! What service!

So we have some reading to do, but it seems there may be enough here in Waterford for us to sight-see tomorrow. Our job tonight is to figure out our plan for tomorrow!