June 20-24, 2015 The Champlain Canal Northbound

We left Kingston NY and traveled 42 miles to Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore NY as a stepping stone to get the boat ready to go through the Champlain Canal (11 locks and 60 miles). The day was cool, a high of 69 degrees and we were traveling into the wind and against the tide the entire way. Shady Harbor is a great stop  - almost everything new or older but very well maintained; and a great staff. After 7 hours and a tough trip, we simply squared away the boat and had a light dinner aboard and settled in for a quiet evening. Since R Island has a height of 19 feet 6 inches to the top of it's mast, we needed to lower it to get under the 17 foot bridge heights on the canal. I asked our very experienced neighbor, Bob from Field Trip,  to review the procedure we planned and see if he thought just the two of us could handle it. He gave some good input, especially for Judie in letting out some lines, and the process worked well. Also took the  boom off the mast and laid it on the port side and out of the way. That evening we had dinner at the marina restaurant with 4 other "looper" couples and slept like a baby. The next day, Friday, we worked out fender and line placement and procedures and marked the locks and destinations on the charts for quick reference. That evening it was 7  looper couples at a pot luck barbeque - such good food and so many great folks all taking the same trip - with variations.

Shady Harbor Marina as we left.

 

Anticipation - what else can be said. Ger was awake at 4:30 waiting for the 5:45 alarm to go off! Five of the seven trawlers left about 8:00 to start the trip north. Two miles later we passed a busy Coeymans Landing, a small rural port the was where all the bridge beams we have spoke about were being assembled and loaded onto the barges. Also a Cement plant and large crushed stone operation were at the waterfront. We passed Albany, the state capitol; and pretty city with great old buildings, but we hear it too suffers from rust-belt syndrome; hard to see from the water. Next was our fist lock - still on the Hudson River- the Troy Lock. By now our group had caught up with two sailboats, so it was 7 boats in the lock. All went smoothly including a flock of geese that made the trip with us. About one mile after the lock, is the junction for the Erie Canal. Only one sailboat and R Island continued north on the Champlain Canal, the rest headed west on the Erie Canal - which we will do in July and August. After 2 more locks with only us and the sailboat, we stopped for the evening at the Mechanicville Town Wall - a free dock that also provides water and power. We took showers and walked into town to a small sports bar for our "celebration of survival" dinner. Next day we walked into town for Father's Day breakfast and then to the "Price Chopper" grocery store for a few supplies before staying on the boat in the rain and beginning to plan our time on Lake Champlain.

Bridge beams waiting to head south

Our lock buddies

Inside the lock looking north

...and south before the gates are closed.

Monday morning we were up and away at 8:15 for another 4 locks and 28 miles. It takes about 30-45 minutes to travel through a lock depending on if you have to wait, and then you still need to travel between them. We arrived at Ft. Edward Town Wall about 2:00. The high water from all the rain had river levels up and it's a good thing that we lowered the Bimini top to get the boat close to 15 feet tall as we squeaked by under a few of the bridges. This area has had the wettest June in history and the water level in the Canal and Lake are 2.5 feet above "normal".  The sailboat we had traveled with on the first 2 locks on Saturday cruised into the third lock of the day, having stopped in Schuylerville for two days. As we relaxed next to the city park, two more boats came in and tied up. It was Monday, and there was not much open; there is not much to be open! Had dinner on the  boat and made Tuesday just a lazy day of reading and relaxing before going to The Anvil Inn for a lovely steak dinner and a good bottle of wine. 

Tied to the Wall at Mechanicville

This stream is usually a trickle this time of year!

R Island is the last boat in line at Ft. Edward

Looking back at our friends aboard Bungalow just prior to the end of the Canal.

Wednesday we woke to a casual breakfast as the locks do not open to recreational traffic until 8:00. The first two locks are right at the "Operations Base" for canal dredging. Seems GE is paying to clean up some extensive PCB pollution and this 2 mile stretch was loaded with barges and shore-side operations. This is also the highest point in the Canal and the next 3 locks of the day were all lowering us to the level of Lake Champlain. This section of the Canal also leaves the Hudson River and becomes a man-made ditch about 100 feet wide and very straight. There are few houses and not much to see. Completed the days travel of 5 locks and 22 miles at, again, about 2:00 and stopped at Whitehall Marina. The restaurant was closed this day, but the dockmaster agreed to cook up a couple of burgers and fries and along with a couple of cold ones - made for a pleasant celebration of completing the Champlain Canal.