A Week in Waterford, NY

[Kyle]The flood for our next leg up to the start of the Erie Canal at Waterford, New York, started in the last hours of darkness. Since our new motorboat (sigh...) has no lights, we had to wait until daylight to set off.

An early start in calm waters of the Hudson River (and another of its grand lighthouses). We made it to our first lock (Troy Federal Lock)

We made it all the way to Albany before the current turned against us. I guess we’re going to have to get used to it, because we are going to be going uphill for a while. The downstream end of the Troy Federal Lock is already 40cm (1.3 feet) above sea level. Once through, we were at a whooping 4.7m (15.3 feet) in water that is definitely 100% fresh 100% of the time.

Incidentally, the Troy Federal Lock is the first to transit in the journey between the tidal Hudson River and the surface of Lake Erie. Since it is federally managed, it does not share the same naming conventions as the other locks, which are managed by New York State. Troy Federal Lock is also the first lock in the Champlain Canal system, which is why the first official lock in the Erie Canal system is designated as E-2 instead of E-1 as you might expect. Waterford is just on the Mohawk River, right where it meets up with the Hudson.

We regularly visited the delightful trails of the old Champlain Canal
Animals are: Chipmunk, Nutria, Canadian Geese, Tree Swallow, and Eastern Ribbon Snake

We were the first (former) sailboat to arrive at the big floating dock in Waterford, joining four normal power cruisers. They were clustered by the access ramp. We went to the front, in the afternoon shadow of Lock E-2, where we figured we were slightly safer as our mast hangs out at both ends, and any new arrivals could only come crashing in from one end. We had a week before E-2s gates would part to let any of us through, so we settled in for a nice stay of morning runs, evening walks, little jobs in between to keep us busy along with "Don & Paul's" the greasy spoon diner, and the occasional pub night (although we missed bingo Monday at McGreivey's since that is only held every fortnight).

Our Favourite trips were the the nearby Peebles Island State Park, once the home to a cotton bleaching factory, now full of shaded trails, great views and plenty of wildlife (and so much more than we spotted)

But we also explored the town, the old and new Erie Canal locks, the diner, the library, and hung out with other boaters waiting to transit the canal