Date: July 18, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 94
From: Shady Harbor Marina, New Baltimore, NY
To: Crescent Boat Club, Crescent, NY
Statute Miles: 31.0 SM
Time: 5.95 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 1,947.0 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are at the Crescent Boat Club near Crescent, NY, which is on the Erie Canal about 5 miles West of the Hudson River and between Albany and Schenectady, NY
Lots of pictures to share today!!
Westward HO! I am reminded of an old black and white movie from my childhood where a wagon master puts up a gloved hand and says "Westward HO" as he leads a group of covered wagons off into the new frontier. After traveling North since April 3 (except for a 60 mile run South on the Delaware Bay to get to the Atlantic Ocean), "Blue Moon" turned off the Hudson River today at about 12:20 PM and headed West on the Erie Canal toward the Great Lakes. This was a huge milestone that three weeks ago, we were not sure that we would make.
Earlier in the day, we transited the Federal Lock at Troy, NY where we left the tidal basin of the Hudson River. This was another milestone because since April 3, we have been traveling in tidal waters where there are high and low tides every day. No more tides now until we get about 40 miles North of Mobile, AL!
It was unbelievably hot and humid early this morning. One of those mornings where it is tough to breath. We ran the Generator and the AC all day as we cruised. We kept Maggie in the cabin in the cool until just before we docked for the night. This seemed to help her deal with the heat.
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| Looking out the front door this morning, calm waters and very hot |
We bought our Erie Canal pass this morning at the marina before we left, and we were in Albany in just over an hour after we left the marina. The Port of Albany stretches along the Hudson for several miles. There were two big ocean-going ships at the port and some tugs and barges. We saw minerals and scrap iron being loaded and unloaded, as well as petroleum products. There are a number of bridges across the River in the Albany/Troy, NY area.
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| Coming up on The Port of Albany |
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| Ocean - going ship at the Port |
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| Ocean - going ship at the Port |
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| Looking North on the Hudson at Albany |
The River got very narrow at Albany, as the city is spread out along the Hudson. Albany is also the Capital of New York, and there are two very tall buildings in town, which I believe have something to do with State Government.
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| Downtown Albany and the tall buildings |
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| I think this is a destroyer escort on display along the River |
North of Albany is the city of Troy, NY on the East bank of the River, and just past the downtown area is the Federal Lock (as opposed to State Locks on the Erie Canal). So, what is a Lock? Locks are structures that allow one to move up and down a navigable waterway around dams on the waterway. The lock is a concrete chamber that is built on one end of a dam, usually against the shore. The lock usually has double doors or "gates" on each end of the chamber.
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| Troy, NY |
If you are traveling upriver and come to a dam, you enter the lock at the lower level of the river. The gates on the upper end of the lock are closed. Once a boat is in the lock, the gates on the lower end of the lock close, and the boat is totally within the chamber. The lock is filled with water that flows into the chamber from big pipes under the lock until the water level in the chamber is equal to the water level of the river above the dam. The gates on the upper end of the lock then open and the boat moves up river at the higher water elevation.
Going down river, the process is reversed, with water released from the lock to lower the boat down to the water level below the dam.
We had to wait while the lock emptied so that we could go in for the lift up. The lift was about 12' according to the lock master. Susan handled the lines and she did a great job of keeping us against the lock wall as we rode the rising water up in the lock. You have to secure the boat to a vertical pipe or vertical cable at the wall in the lock to keep it from turning in the lock. You also have to put out bumpers or fenders on the side of the boat to keep it from bumping into the concrete lock walls.
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| Troy Lock |
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| Approaching Troy Lock. Note dam on left |
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| Approaching Troy Lock |
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| Here we go into the Lock! |
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| In the Troy Lock |
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| This is the Troy Dam |
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| Leaving the Troy Lock on the Hudson River |
Three miles or so upriver after the Troy Lock, we saw the famous sig that directs you to either the Champlain Canal or the Erie Canal. We turned West into the Erie Canal entrance at Waterford, NY. We passed the Visitor's Center to which we had been two times during our three week wait for the Canal to open. The first lock on the Canal is Lock E-2, and we had to wait for the water to drain from the Lock so,that we could enter.
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| The famous sign. at Waterford, NY. Which way to go? Turn left then Westward HO! |
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| Looking at the first lock on the Erie Canal with the wall at the Visitor's Center on the right |
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| The Waterford Visitor's Center. We have been here before! |
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| Entering the Erie Canal |
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| Green light moving into Lock 2, which is the First Lock of the Waterford Flight |
When the lock master was ready for us to enter the lock, he turned on a green light, and we drove into the lock. We had all our lines and fenders set up on the port side or left side of the boat, so that is the wall that we went against in the locks. Susan wrapped a line around a cable and held us tight to the wall. I stayed at the controls and used the thrusters and gear shift to keep us in place.
It took about 10 minutes to go up 30 or so feet in the lock. When we got to the top, the lock master took our canal pass and gave us a registration number and we posted one sticker on each side of the boat. He would not let us leave the lock until the stickers were on the boat!
The next four locks, E-3 through E-6, were one after another. Out of one, go a few tenths of a mile, then into the next one. We transited a total of five locks at the beginning of the Erie Canal. These five are called the "Waterford Flight", and together, they lift you up more than 150' above the level of the Hudson River.
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| Moving out of Lock E-2 toward E-3 |
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| A side channel at Lock E-2 |
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| Looking at Lock E-3 |
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| Water coming out of the lock at E-3 |
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| Looking at the upper gates on the concrete sill |
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| Ready to leave the Lock |
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Looking behind us at one of the Locks.
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| The lower door in one of the Locks. Note our antennae Mast which we have lowered for low bridges. |
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| This fella was filming us as we locked through. |
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| Last Lock in the Waterford Flight |
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| Looking to the East behind us as we leave the last Lock |
After leaving Lock E-6, we went through two Guard Gates, then into the Mohawk River portion of the Erie Canal. Guard gates look like giant guillotines that lower down to block off sections of the canal when there is high water.
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| Guard Gate |
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| Guard Gate - Looks like a Guillotine |
The Mohawk reminds me a little of the Hudson. It is wide and winding. We got a little taste of the canal like scenery that we will encounter in the days ahead while transiting the Waterford Flight. Narrow, high walls cut out of rock, and very primitive looking is what I think of the Erie Canal as being.
So, we have more than three hundred miles to go to get to Buffalo. Westward HO! On the Buffalo! Tomorrow we will go about 30 miles to Amsterdam, NY.
Thanks for Reading!
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