Kingston, NY to Little Falls, NY

6/10/2015

Downtown Kingston, NY

Esopus Lighthouse

Bridge sections being moved down the Hudson

Entering the Port of Albany

Downtown Albany



Troy Lock - Troy, NY



Intersection of the Erie and Champlain Canals

We left Kingston at 6 a.m. for a 64 mile trip to Waterford, where the Erie Canal would begin. The journey took us up the Hudson River through the New York State Capital of Albany, and then through the second of the 104 locks (and perhaps more) that we will eventually transit on our second Great Loop adventure – the Troy Lock.  Two other “Looper” boats were in the lock with us, but as we were leaving, the last boat in passed around us as we were leaving.  This is a definite “No-No” in boating etiquette, and a sign of a real novice, or a person with a big ego! Evidently he was in a rush to get a spot at the Waterford Visitors’ Center where we were all headed to dock before entering the Erie Canal.  This is a major gathering place for all boats making this trip, and indeed dock spaces were few, but we temporarily tied up at the pump-out dock until space became available when five boats moved out for the 2 p.m. opening.  We were happy to see our Banana Bay Marina friends, Randy and Cindy, here already to greet us, and we made new acquaintances: Lynn and Bob Bauers aboard “American Pie” from N.J., Bob and Pat Amidon from Maine aboard “Velo Mer”, and Mark and Vicki Hill aboard “Blue Willow” from Michigan at “Dock-Tail” time at the picnic table near our boats.

 

6/11/15

 

 

 

 

The walkway at the Waterford Welcome Center is a depiction of the New York State Canal System

 

 

We walked to the local laundromat this morning, and while Pat was busy with that chore, George walked up to the Lockmaster’s office to get our 10-day Pass for the Erie Canal.  Later we had lunch at one of our favorite places in town, “Don & Paul’s Café”, which has great food at 1970s prices!  Afterwards, in our new positions as Cruising Editors for “Waterway Guide”, we got some local brochures at the Visitors’ Center, and interviewed the Desk Volunteer regarding any new information about Waterford that should be up-dated for the next edition of the guide.  At 5 p.m. we met some of the same boaters as yesterday for “Dock-Tails”, and afterwards we had a lovely dinner out at “McGrievey’s” Pub and Restaurant.

 

 

6/12/2015

 

 

 

 

Waterford  Welcome Center

Tug and Barge entering lock E 2

 Guard Gate at the end of the five Waterford Flight Locks

 Waterfall next to Lock E7

George found out yesterday that we could not get through the lock this morning for the 8 a.m. opening because a tug and barge were scheduled to come through and they have priority over pleasure boats.  This issue was compounded by the fact that the tug and barge could not fit in the lock together, so that the process of getting them through the Waterford flight – a series of 5 locks in a row that are sequentially completed – took almost three hours – and now all of us who followed would have to stay behind these vessels until, or if we could manage to pass them somewhere along the Canal.  We led this merry band of travelers for most of the day, until a number of them broke off for the Schenectady Yacht Club, and we headed further on to Scotia Landing, a free municipal dock which we wanted to investigate.  It was located on a sheltered side creek near the town of Scotia, and we had the whole place to ourselves!  We managed to get there at 5:45 p.m. and were safely settled in before the heavy rainstorms with lightning drew near.  We watched the progress of these storms on the local TV station, and prayed that the possible high winds, hail, and even a potential tornado wouldn’t reach us – and outside of the heavy rain, they didn’t.

 

6/13/2015

 

Some scenes from the Erie Canal

 

 

 Our dock at the Greater Amsterdam Riverlink Park

 







“Reflection” left Scotia Landing at 7:40 a.m., and after transiting 3 locks and 15 miles, we docked at the Greater Amsterdam Riverlink Park Marina at 10:40 a.m., and again we were by ourselves.  The water was high all along the way with lots of debris in the water caused by last night’s rain.  At the park they were setting up for a charity benefit event, and music was being provided by a local radio station, there was a bounce park for kids, a tent with various vendors, and a huge barbecue area being run by the marina’s dockmaster, who also owned the café restaurant on the grounds.  Of course, we partook of the barbecue food for lunch and for dinner!  Eventually we were joined by Bob and Lynn aboard “American Pie”, and Klaus and Elizabeth Loehr on “Chinook”, and both couples had cocktails later with us aboard ‘Reflection”.

 

6/14/15

"Reflection" at the dock in Amsterdam, NY

Small cruise ship  on the Erie Canal

Tug "Grover Cleveland"

 Scenery on our way to St. Johnsvillle, NY

This morning we left the dock at 8:10 a.m. because a small cruise ship had passed our marina earlier, and we knew that it would have precedence before us in the lock.  Today’s journey would take us through five locks over 32 miles to the town of St. Johnsville.  Again rainy weather was predicted, so we were happy to arrive at the St. Johnsville Municipal Marina, a lovely spot right off the Canal at 1:10 p.m., and we were warmly welcomed by the dockmaster. Again, on our way we observed a lot of debris in the water, and the water levels were high in the locks as well as in the canal, and some areas of the canal have been closed off because of these conditions.  Shortly after we were settled in, we were joined by Klaus and Elizabeth aboard “Chinook”, who invited us for cocktails on their boat later that afternoon.

 

6/15/15

Lock E17 - The highest lift lock on the Erie Canal (40')
 


Park next to the Little Falls Yacht Harbor 
 

The Little Falls Yacht Harbor marina office - originally the 1918 Barge Canal terminal building

Another “Looper” boat stayed at the marina last evening, a 63’ Viking named “Special Request” from Tennessee.  After another night of rain, we left the dock at 7:45 a.m. and that boat eventually passed us on their way to the first of our two lockings today, which was fine with us.  The second of the two locks, Lock 17, is the highest lift lock on the Erie Canal (40 ‘), and is one of only two locks in North America where the entrance gate is lifted above the boat as you enter the lock – causing water to rain down on you!  Today’s trip was only 10 1/2 miles to Little Falls Yacht Harbor, which is right on the Erie Canal, and is a place we enjoyed visiting on our first “Loop” adventure.  Since we arrived here early at 9:45 a.m., we enjoyed a quiet day getting caught up on our itinerary planning, and on photos, phone calls, and the blog.    Several boats have joined us here including several sailboats, and a new “Looper” boat, “Pearl”, with Brian and Ellen Clarke from Connecticut aboard.  Later in the afternoon we invited Brian and Ellen over for cocktails and had a wonderful time chatting with this brand new “Looping” couple. Afterwards, we had pizza and an antipasto salad delivered to the boat by “Pizza Boys” in Little Falls – all the comforts of home!