43°2′9″ N 74°51′57″ W

Aug 13 – Little Falls, NY

We left Amsterdam yesterday (Sunday) morning at 7:30 & headed towards Little Falls. We were still not sure of how far we would get because we had to pass through several more locks & they could go quickly or slow us down if there were other boats ahead of us using the locks too. As it turned out, we went through each lock with no delays.

Catherine & I were the lead boat today & Kim & Judy on board their boat “Trust Me Too” followed our “path”

We saw several eagles today & even saw one swoop down right in front of us & catch a fish in it’s talons.

Kim & Judy took the lead boat position as we entered the last lock for the day – & it was a “biggie” – lifting us 40 feet in one shot.

This lock was also very interesting because it’s lower end has a massive guillotine gate that rises straight up (rather that the swing gates at all of the other locks).

Entering the lock was like going through the massive fortress gates in the Lord of the rings movies. Thankfully the lock master gave us a gentle ride up & we were soon back in the sunlight.

We stopped for the day at a small community marina in Little Falls. The place is cooperatively run by the Town & the local Rotary Club. It is a great place to stop with really friendly hosts, very reasonable dock fees, super clean bathrooms & showers, a small laundry & a club room. It’s one of the nicest spots we’ve encountered on our entire trip from Jacksonville.

At the marina we met another couple, Robert & Mora who were traveling in the opposite direction (towards Florida) on a sailboat that they bought in Georgian Bay, Ontario!

Our goal for Monday is to make it to the entrance to Lake Oneida. Kim & Judy liked Little Falls so much that they decided to stay another day – so we bid them adieu & who knows, we may see them somewhere else along the way.

Cheers!

42.9377° N, 74.1904° W

Aug 12 – Amsterdam, NY

We left Waterford at 7:00am Saturday morning. The first series of locks were immediately in front of us, so it was less than a 5 minute trip from the dock until we were inside the lock & ready to lift.

There was another boat in front of us & they entered the lock at the same time.

The Waterford Flight includes a series of 5 locks that lifts (or lowers) boats a total of 169 feet in less than 2 miles. It is claimed the only series of locks in the world to accomplish this elevation change in such a short distance.

Catherine liked going through these locks because all we had to do was keep the boat steady while the lockmaster opened & closed the gates & filled the locks. This was pretty easy compared to all the work she had to do on the locks during our narrow boat canal trip in England last fall.

We went through a total of eight locks and covered about 38 nm distance. Each lock had a dam close by & once the boat reached its top elevation it was easy to appreciate how much we had risen.

We stopped for the night at a small marina along the river in Amsterdam. By the time we got secured the sky was clouding over heavily & it poured rain for about an hour.

We introduced ourselves to the folks who were traveling in the trawler ahead of us all day. Kim & Judy are from Fort Myers FL & started an extended cruise this past April.

Today we will go through several more locks that are spread out along the Mohawk River & try to get another 35-40 miles distance covered.

Cheers!

42°46′58″ N 73°40′22″ W

Aug 10-11 – Waterford Welcome Center

(photo below copied from Waterway Guide – much better than the one I could take 😉).

We arrived at Waterford Welcome Center at 6:30pm on Thursday evening & spent Friday doing boat chores & being tourists.

Waterford’s Welcome Center offers great value. Visitors can tie up on the dock just below the lock for free for up to 48 hours.We tied up near the end of the dock, closest to lithe lock gates.

If you want electrical service that’s only $10 per stay & they also offer access to clean washrooms & showers!

This is a smart strategy for the Town to encourage boaters to stay longer in the town being tourists (& spending money).

We had a great breakfast at Don & Paul’s Cafe, a local restaurant on Waterford’s main street & then we walked along a trail that followed the old canal system to the new lock.

This part of the canal system is no longer in use

but it reminded us a lot of the narrow boat canals that we travelled on in England last fall.

After our brief hike along the trails we walked to a nearby grocery store & picked up some more supplies. Then Catherine did the laundry on board – the old fashioned way – in a wash bucket… (pink job)

and I changed the engine oil… (blue job)

… the glamour & excitement of the boating life is unlimited!

Following our “pink & blue” chores we hit the showers & then BBQ’d hamburgers for supper.

Welcome Center Volunteers put on a movie night in front of the Welcome Center & we watched Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” movie.

We have experienced a lot of great hospitality at marinas & towns during our journey from Jacksonville, however, Waterford, NY is at the top of our list for places to stop, value & community spirit.

42°46′55″ N 73°40′27″ W
August 10 – Waterford, NY

We arrived in Waterford at 6:30pm this evening. Our travelled distance today was not all that great (about 35 nm) but we achieved a few significant milestones. Here’s a screenshot of where we are tonight.

When we leave Waterford we will be taking the river & canal system that heads towards Schenectady. If we headed north instead that would take us to Lake Champlain & Montreal …. perhaps another time, eh!

At noon today we stopped at Castleton on Hudson Yacht Club & rented their “gin pole” (aka yardarm or hoist) to lower & remove (unstep) our mast. While planning our trip last night we learned that once we were in the Erie canal system we would encounter multiple bridges that had a fixed height of only 20 feet & our mast is 27 1/2 feet high – so it had to come down in order for us to be able to go any further. With the mast down our height is now 15 1/2 feet to the top of the Bimini, so we can safely pass under all of the bridges that we will encounter.

Catherine ran the controls for the hoist & I looked after the rigging. Here’s what the mast & steady sail setup looked like before it was removed.

Now the boom & steady sail is removed.

Catherine did a great job as the crane operator.

And finally the mast was safely lowered.

We laid & lashed the mast & boom along the port side walkway & railing. It will stay secure there until we get “home”. I will not put the mast back up again as we will never really need it for the type of cruising we plan to do.

With the mast down the access & visibility at the back of the boat is also vastly improved.

On our way into Albany we encountered our first freighter since we left New York City. This particular ship was from St Johns, Newfoundland. We made sure they had lots of room to pass us by.

Shortly after we got through Albany we encountered our first lock in the Erie Canal System.

This lock lifted us approximately 5 feet & once we were through it there was no more tidal influence from the Atlantic Ocean & we are essentially no longer in salt water, but instead in fresh water from the Great Lakes watershed.

We finally arrived at Waterford at 6:30pm & have tied up at the town dock which is immediately in front of a series of 5 more locks in the system.

We plan to stay here tomorrow to do some boat chores (another engine oil change, etc. ), galley provisioning & some tourist time.

It’s approximately 175 nm from here to Oswego, NY on the shore of Lake Ontario. It will take us about 4 days to travel that distance.

The weather forecast for Oswego this weekend & for early next week is not all that great & because of that we would not be able to travel across Lake Ontario until the middle of next week – so we will not really lose much time by spending an extra day here in Waterford.

Cheers!

42°12′51″ N 73°51′36″ W

Aug 9 – Catskill Marina

Yesterday afternoon we changed our destination to Catskill, NY. There were more choices for marinas here & the town also looked appealing in the cruising guide.

Photo above – looking back the channel towards the Hudson River from our dock at the Catskill Marina.

En route to the marina we passed several lighthouses that were not the conventional pillar with red & white stripes.

These lighthouses all look like small mansions. Not sure if they were ever lived in but they all look well maintained on the outside.

After we got settled in to the marina we took a walk through downtown Catskill which was only a couple of short blocks from where we were docked.

The downtown area is full of small restaurants, antique stores & curiosity shops. The town also has dozens of fiberglass cats perched on short posts along the sidewalk. Each cat has a different pose & is decorated differently from the others. The photo below shows Catherine standing beside “The Great Catsby”. This fellow was wearing spats & had a martini glass between his front paws.

Catherine had cooked Tikka Masala the night before, so we had that for dinner & then began planning the next day’s journey, which will take us through Albany & Troy & then to the entrance to the Erie Canal at Waterford. We also learned that we will have to take down the boat’s mast as it is too tall to pass under all of the fixed bridges along the canal.

The top of the boat’s mast is 28 1/2 feet above the water & the maximum clearance under the bridges is only 20 feet. We will stop for the night in Waterford & use the mast hoists there to help us with this task. Once the mast is down we will lay it along the side deck & keep it there until we exit the canal system at Oswego. Then we will put it back up again.

We got up at 6:00am this morning to a gentle, misty sunrise.

Before we had a chance to leave the dock a few of the local neighbors & their kids dropped by for breakfast. Catherine fed them all some Quinoa that she had cooked last night to go with the Tikka Masala. I was happy to share my portion of the leftovers with the ducks 🙂

By the time we were ready to cast off the mist had rolled in from the hills above & our visibility dropped to less than 100 meters. We got as far as the marina fuel dock & decided to tie up there until the sun cleared off the mist.

Time for a second cup of coffee for me & another tea for Catherine. The fuel dock opened up at 8:00am so we topped off our diesel tanks & pumped out our holding tank. By the time all that was done the sun had burned off the mist & we were able to get back underway.

Cheers!