Beginning the Erie Canal

Day 4, Tuesday, June 3

It was a dark and stormy night...at least for an hour or so while the remainder of the thunderstorms passed through. We were awakened after midnight with the loud sound of heavy rain on our bow and an occasional clap of thunder. By morning the sky was blue with just a few clouds. After a quick pump-out we hailed lock 2 (there is no lock 1 on the Erie Canal, lock 1 is the Federal lock in Troy) and they opened the gates at 8 am and we were on our way to unfamiliar territory.



Gate to lock 2 is closed until a boat locks through

 Waterford boasts having the highest flight of locks in the world. It took us two hours to make our way up the 5 locks along with the 50’ sailboat Moon Dog following in behind us. For two hours we were mostly staring at the concrete wall of the inside of a lock’s inner chambers as we gradually rose up about 170’ in all.
 

Serenity entering the first lock of the day      photo by R. Chester

When we got to the top we cruised out into the beautiful, wide Mohawk River. We had about 11 miles before reaching the next lock. Moon Dog motored past and soon a very large 60’ cruiser, Never Again, caught up with us…and passed easily on our port side. But when we got to lock 7 they were both waiting for us. The other two boats tied up inside on the starboard wall, our favored side, so as to not crowd them we headed for the port side, but wait, there were no lines therewith which to tie up ! Oops! The doors were closing as Captain John maneuvered over to the last bit of space on the starboard wall, we grabbed two lines and held fast just as the water started coming in. We didn't hit anyone, not even close and our dignity was intact. Rule two in boating: always be ready for anything!
 

Map of the Erie Canal - we went as far as Fonda the first day, between locks 12 & 13

There was a lot of construction on the way as the lock system was still making repairs after the devastation of hurricane Irene and a few stopping places along the canal were not available to us. We had planned to stop in Amsterdam in Riverlink Park after lock 10, a long day at 8 hours, but the water had been lowered and the wall was too high for us and not safe, so we motored on and finally stopped at Fonda, named for the well known actor’s family, on the free Fonda wall, and settled in for the night.

Captain’s Log:

Depart Waterford 0800 hrs
Locked through locks 2 to 12
Engine hours: 10.1
Clock time 10 hrs, 15 min.
Arrive: Fonda Wall, Fonda, NY 18:15 hrs