Traveling the Erie Canal - The Flight of Five +1

Day 55 … Wednesday, June 14, 2017 …  20.9 miles traveled/ 4 hours, 40 minutes

Waterford Visitor Center, Waterford, NY to the Village of Scotia Municipal Docks, Scotia, NY

Lab Partners leaving a lock
Thanks for the pic Kia Mae

We start the Erie canal today, but first … our buddy boats and us need to pump out (remove waste from our holding tanks). Each boat moves up to the pump out station, pumps out, moves to a wall by the lock entrance. 4 of us end up being pumped out and ready when the lock opens back up. Others have already left before us.

The FLIGHT OF FIVE … 5 locks raising us 169’ in less than 2 miles. Once you start the Flight of Five, you must finish. NO stopping allowed in between. We were the 4^th boat of 4 to enter and to exit each lock.

the bridge height is 21' or more. We are 19'10" without lowering our radar mast

one of the working canal barges

section of the original aqua duct 

leaving a lock after it raised us 23' so we could go past a dam
sure cannot go up the dam

Heaven to Betsy, Kia Mae and Bad Habit entering a lock

Rip drives the boat in and eases her over to the wall and I am to catch a rope or pipe depending on what the lock has to hold onto. These 5 are all the same, so you start to get the hang of it. Rip and I have headsets on so we can talk to each other. He tells me which rope or pipe he wants me to get and I tell him when I have it so he can line up the boat, put her in neutral and then run down from the fly bridge to catch another line to keep us by the wall.

 

here we are in a lock starting to raise us up

here - almost up to the top
just able to start seeing what is around us now

waiting for the doors to open to go out a lock

boats enter the lock on the left to avoid the dam on the right!

another original section of the old Erie Canal system

you never know what you will see

There is turbulence when the lock starts to fill and it or wind can move the boat about. You must stay by the wall and not let the bow or stern drift out. In theory, it is easy and people do it all the time, but each lock and each trip thru is different.

It is funny when you come up and are at eye level with the top of the lock.

The Flight of Five is complete and we all did pretty well! Saying this was nerve racking might be a stretch, but it certainly gets your attention.

1 More lock to go before we stop for the day. This time isn’t perfect. Rip does great easing us in and I do grab a line well … but then all of a sudden Cally is off the flybrige and on deck. NOT where we want her as we need all concentration on holding the ropes/pipe. Rip hold both while I get her back up on the flybridge and get her gate closed again. Not sure how the gate became unsnapped at the top or how she went over it … but she did it. I race back to re-grab my hold point and we finish.

down in a lock coming up

in the Erie you do not have to stop the engine ... so lots of exhaust until you are up higher

it's a little intimidating ... easier each time

neat bridge

raised up and ready to exit

Another boat, Heavens to Betsy, ahead of us didn’t fare well in this lock. Betsy accidentally put her line around a rope to ride up, not a pipe. The pipes are what you put a line around as they are attached at 2 both ends. The ropes that hang down are only attached at the top with a small weight at the bottom. Their boat stern swings out into the middle of the lock and somehow Steve is able to maneuver (muscle) the boat back to the wall. We couldn’t see how he did it with a boat in-between us, but great job Steve!! Unfortunately, we heard later Betsy fell when they were docking … they had stopped at the first marina after this lock. They waited there for Betsy to feel better before moving on. We hope they catch up and we can see them again soon.

Just some of the piled up debris caught and not floating down the river at us

while trees floating or snagged at a buoy

quite scenic

 We went a little farther to Scotia, the dock is at a very nice and rather large park. There are trails, ball fields, vast picnic area with lots of grills & trash cans, plus a grass amphitheater. There are supposed to be free concerts at here on Wednesday nights. It’s Wednesday … but, they start next week with … Taylor Hicks, from American Idol.

This is also the home of the US Ski Show Team. They practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Alas, we will leave in the am and miss the show. Bummer. That would have been fun.

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