After a week off the water, a 500-mile car ride each way (yes, it took us one day to cover the same geographical area in a car that it took us 4 months to cover by boat), a wonderful celebration of 90 years of living and a good visit with family, we were anxious to get back to the boat and our Great Loop adventure.
It was time to bid farewell (reluctantly) to the Hudson River and move into the New York State Canal System. As we threw off our lines in Albany, it started to rain. It didn’t just rain, it poured. It stormed. Visibility became very poor, so we circled in the Hudson River until the storm subsided. Thankfully, the rain stopped before we entered our first lock, Lock 1, the federal lock in Troy NY. With our PFD’s and gloves on, fenders out, we entered the lock. This was a small lift, only 14 feet, and it went smoothly. Yeah! One down, thirty-three to go.
We tied up just past the Troy lock in Waterford at the free town dock and registered at the Visitor Center. We planned to stay 2 nights, so we could make some minor repairs and take advantage of shore power to do some cooking. However, a tragic turn of events delayed our departure. A 14-year old boy was missing, and his clothing was discovered on the river bank. They closed the locks to boat traffic until the boy could be found.
The town became a beehive of activity with EMS personnel, police boats and the town folk searching for Anthony. The search went on until after dark and resumed early the next morning. An airboat and helicopter joined the search. We needed to get away from the activity for the afternoon, so we hiked the old canal to the town museum then walked to the town of Cohoes to see the Cohoes Falls. Very impressive bank of waterfalls with a 90-foot drop!
When we returned to the boat, the search was still in progress; a dive boat had joined the search. Tragically, about 24-hours after the search began, Anthony’s body was found within sight of the town dock. The locks re-opened and the 6 boats that had been delayed in Waterford were free to proceed as the small town mourned.
Stealaway entered the famous “Waterford Flight” the following morning. This is a series of 5 locks that raise your vessel 169 feet in 1.5 miles. The largest lift in such short distance in the world! We were locking through alone as we had let the other 5 “fast” boats lock through ahead of us. The first 3 locks went beautifully, boosting our confidence. However, the 4th lock had a valve malfunction and water was entering from only one side, pinning Stealaway against the rough concrete wall. After nearly knocking our grill off the stern and bending our inflatable in half, we exited the lock exhausted! But we had at least one more to go as there is nowhere to tie up between the 5 locks. Great! Fortunately, the 5th and final lock was operating properly, and we locked through smoothly.
Once in the Erie Canal, there are numerous town docks that accept transients; some free, some with a nominal charge. Some have services (electric, water, restrooms, pump out, showers, laundry, etc.), some have none. Most towns have invested in their waterfronts with parks, outdoor concerts and even beautiful pedestrian bridges over the canal, luring boaters in to pump money in to their economy.
We overnighted on lock walls, town docks and canal parks. We walked the small canal-side towns, visited their museums, and dined in their pubs and cafés. We listened to a free concert in Amsterdam (even had our picture taken for the local paper!), toured an art museum at Canajoharie (home of Beech-nut Foods and visited a Revolutionary War fort, Fort Stanwix, in Rome. We ate ice cream, went to a classic car “cruise in” and played at Sylvan Beach on the shore of Oneida Lake. Our favorite stop was Little Falls Canal Harbor; neat little town with the BEST boater facility on the canal. Dinner at the Copper Moose wasn’t bad either!
All along the canal, we met the coolest people traveling by boat, and sometimes we would see them again a town or two later! Eventually, being the slow boat, we bid farewell to Dale, Carol & Spooky on Wee Bit, Simon on Heartbeat and our Canadian friends, Terry and Madelen, on a pontoon boat, as they moved on ahead of us.
After crossing Oneida Lake, we head to Brewerton. This is where Stealaway will winter, out of the water and shrink-wrapped, until we return in May. Color is starting to peek through the green leaves and there is a crispness in the air, indicating that our journey is drawing to a close. We will do one last side-trip before hauling out at Ess-Kay Yards, the Western Erie to Niagara Falls. I now realize, it doesn’t matter if it’s a one or two-week vacation or a 5-month sabbatical, it picks up speed as it’s coming to an end and we’re not quite ready for it to be over.