Day 53 ... Monday, June 12, 2017 ... 22.8 miles traveled in 3.5 hours

RCYC to Waterford Visitors Center, Waterford, NY

Leaving RCYC, the home of the Steak & Lobster Bake, was sort of sad ... like leaving old friends behind. However, new adventures wait for us ahead.

more of the scenic Hudson River

approaching Albany, NY (a member of RCYC is captain of the boat on the right)

Albany, NY

Odd saucer building

Interesting billboard ... it is a UHaul truck above a UHaul storage building

Closer view of the UHaul up in the air ... it's a full size truck!

Older yacht and gunship by the interstate - interesting

neat building

A much prettier day today. With the sunshine came HOT temps. On the run from RCYC to Waterford, NY was just as scenic as the rest of the Hudson. Right before we leave the Hudson to get to the Erie Canal we have one lock to go through. This is the Federal Lock in Troy, NY. It is the only lock on the Hudson operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

approaching the Federal Lock at Troy. Dam to the left
following 3 buddy boats; Firestorm, Kia Mae & Bad Habit

Inside the lock as we prepare to exit looking back at the dam

Buddy boat, Bad Habit, took our picture as we left the lock

Bad Habit leaving the lock in front of us

Lock gates closing so they can lower the water level & bring up another boat/boats

At the point you leave the Hudson, there is a sign telling you which way to go ... Erie Canal, go Port (left) ... Champlain Canal, stay straight. As soon as you make the turn, the Waterford Visitors Center is not on the Erie Canal, the canal starts after the visitor center with the “Flight of Five” … 5 locks within less than 2 miles raising us up approximately 170’. We’ll do that on Wednesday. Today we’ll settle in, explore town, etc. There are 4 of us that traveled together today, Firestorm, Bad Habit & Kia Mae; we all found space at the floating docks. We were last, as the slow boat of the group. Our buddy boats saved us the end spot so Cally’s ramp was out of everyone’s way on the dock. Each time a boat comes in, other boater go out to help catch lines and secure boats. This is a municipal dock, so no dock hands running about to help. Boaters are seriously a great group of people.

Highway sign giving directions to boaters

the close up view

Waterford Visitor Center looking towards the Hudson

Waterford docks looking toward the 1st lock of the Erie Canal

 Day 54 … Tuesday, June 13, 2017 … 00 miles traveled

Waterford Visitor Center, Waterford, NY

Today was time to relax and take in some of the sights of Waterford.

Our view while in Waterford

Visitor Center with statue of a mule
the original canal used mules walking along the edge to pull narrow barges

View from the top of the lock back to the dock at Waterford

  

pretty garden of house by the old lock and park

what a fun location by remains of the original canal

quite scenic

The first lock for tomorrow, E2 is staring at us. A walk up to check it out was in order.

Here we go ...

HUGE doors to hold the water back

view of the lock filled with water, but no boats this time
it's just waiting for one to approach from one side or the other

a look inside the filled lock up close

 Some of the original Erie Canal is to the side. It is amazing to see how small it was back in its day. Then, mules walked along the side and pulled narrow barges up or down the canal. Hence, the mule statue at the Waterford Visitor Center.

the original section of the canal is right
the current canal is behind the massive concrete wall to the left

the falls of the original canal section

look how narrow the original canal was

 By afternoon, 10 Looper boats were at the docks in Waterford. Some we had meet before, some were new.

view down the dock to the visitor center

 10 of us head out to dinner to celebrate Mike’s birthday (Firestorm). Great dinner out and a nice way to work out a plan for leaving tomorrow. Heavens to Betsy, Firestorm, Bad Habit, Lab Partners and Kia Mae in attendance.

Dinner out at McGrievey's in Waterfrod, NY

Steak & Lobster Bake Weekend on the Hudson River

Day 50 - 52 ... June 9-11, 2017 ... 20.1 miles traveled in 3 Hours ... Catskill, NY to Ravena Coeymans Yacht Club, Selkirk, NY
What luck ... 3 Looper boats pulled into Catskill Marina by us for 2 days. Great, fun folks all from Florida and traveling the Loop together. They told us about a weekend Steak & Lobster Bake at a yacht club up river. The deal sounded to good to be true, but what the heck. We quickly decided this was a great way to slow ourselves down and not race up to the Erie canal which had closed for days as the current was deemed unsafe for boats. With no one moving there ... no reason for us to go quite yet. We will let the crowds move on, free up dock space for us and let the water calm down. Well, that's the plan anyway.
Before we left Catskill ... Some trawlers/power boats needed to lower their radar masts to fit under upcoming bridges.

Radar mast lowered back so the boat fits under upcoming bridges
Both the Erie & the Champlain routes have low bridges
Erie ... 21' (which we fit under & where we are going)
Champlain ... 17'6" (not going that way)

Mast lowered on neighbor boat (left); ours is still up (right)

Here's what a sailboat looks like with their mast lowered & stored on the boat.
Quite odd.

LOOPERS to the RESCUE  -  Along the way ... the 3 boats in front of us (friends traveling the loop together) spot a boat in distress. The boat had hit something and was taking on water. They all, Firestorm, Bad Habit & Kia Mae, circle to help. A plan is devised and Jim from Kia Mae drops his dinghy so he can tow the boat to shore. With that much help, there isn't anything we more we can do. We motor on knowing the 3 faster than us boats will catch up to us.

The Hudson is still beautiful ... even on a deary day

Our 3 Looper boat friends and a sailboat with mast down on deck

LOTS of debris to watch out for in the water

Finally, the festivities begin. The Steak & Lobster Bake weekend covers dockage (electric, water & wifi), plus DJ Friday night, Band Saturday night and all meals from Friday dinner to Sunday Breakfast. TONS of other games going on; mostly for the kids. 

Lab Partners center of pic at RCYC

Our view for the night; weather turned nice finally

Cally enjoyed all the people and all the attention, too

Fire pit both nights

Our traveling friends by the fire pit, Cally, too. Though she
looks like the donkey from Winnie the Pooh

Steak & Lobster Bake!!

Some of the crowd ... 330 for Saturday dinner

Band Sat night

This was a really fun weekend. So much food, too much. So many new friends. Everyone from the club we meet wanted to know if we were having a good time, if we needed anything, etc. Couldn't have felt more welcome. Plus, a good time spent with new Looper friends from Kia Mae, Fire Storm & Bad Habit!!

Kids fishing tournament

Band played to midnight ... we were back on the boat by 10 or so

RCYC
Note, the RV's to the right ... not everyone comes by boat

And, there came a moment I did need something. Relying on the kindness of strangers is not easy. I would rather be the doer. Remember back in the last post I talked about getting prescription refills for the first time while on the Loop?? Guess who forgot to even freaking pick them up when she was at WalMart???? Yep, me. 😕 So, I needed a ride BACK to Catskill to retrieve the waiting meds. The Vice Commodore, John, took me in the Commodore's new truck the hour+ round trip (a lot faster than by boat) to pick up meds. Now, not only did he take the time to do that, but it was after the kids fishing tournament, after the pony rides/petting zoo and before he had to prep the steaks for the night's dinner. AMAZING. I felt like such an idiot, but John was gracious and happy to help ... calling it "paying it forward" from a time someone loaned him a car when he was in a pinch some years ago.
Even with my mistake, it was a wonderful weekend. AND ... no cooking and no dishes!! Felt like a real vacation. The down time was fun for all.
The show didn't end there ... a boat ran aground on top of the sea wall that protects the docks we are on from the passing boat waves. There was an astronomical high tide because of the full moon and the sea wall was under water. HOWEVER, it is marked on charts (paper & electronic) and has danger buoys out, too.

the white boat is hard aground on the concrete /rock sea wall

A small boat came by quickly to help pull him off. The problem was he was pulling him the wrong way. Remember the people on the white boat can't see they are on the far side of the wall from us. So pulling him towards us only pulls him over more sea wall, not off.

Kim on Kia Mae watching the show with the rest of us

Fire boat pulling the wrong way

The members say a boat grounds on the wall once a weekend in the summer; they are used to it, know the wall and know how to help folks. They know the ripples in the water and know what they mean in relationship to the wall. Also, one of our buddy boats is/was a Sea Tow Captain for a decade or more. All ashore knew the boat needed to be pulled off from the far side of the wall. The boat just spins on top of the wall. Neither the boat in distress or the small boat helping would listen to them.

Fire boat trying to help

The line snaps as the original small boat trying to help pulls and the distress boat doesn't move. The helping boat called it quits and left. Our boats were to big to go help and be able to maneuver adequately and our dinghys were too small to be of any help.  Sea Tow and Boat US (paid towing insurance companies; most boaters are a member) are too far away; the tide is going out and the boat won't be able to be pulled with the tide out; he will be high and dry. Members think this guy has 20-30 minutes before he can't get off.
Finally a fire boat pulls up to help, but still tries to pull him off the wrong way. It doesn't work. Then, this odd looking push boat with a small crane pulls up. The push boat pushes the boat in distress while the fire boat pulls and in the correct direction to get him in deeper water quicker.

Push boat arriving to help

Push boat pushes and the fire boat pulls and he get off the wall
See how far he is out of the water now compared to before