We arrived in on Monday, June 10. We had planned to leave the
following day in route to St. Johnsville as we had our mail and a new icemaker
forwarded there for pickup. Instead the following
day (Tues, June 11) locks E-6 – E19 on the Erie Canal closed due to high water and current in
the Mohawk River. We made the most of
our time and enjoyed the free stay at the Visitors Center. We toured the town, sent packages back home to nieces, stocked up on needed items at the grocery, and enjoyed a
night on the town at the Angry Penguin. We couldn't believe our luck as one month a year the Angry Penguin hosts the Fiddlers Tour. The Tour is a multi-generational gathering of musicians playing Appalachian and Celtic music! There was a 90 year old gentleman playing a mandolin and many, many talented musicians playing recorders, fiddles, flutes, drums, squeeze boxes, spoons - totally incredible!! We delighted in our luck and danced in our chairs as the music went on and on... Afterward, the musicians thanked our group of boaters for our enthusiasm and making their night so special - needless to say, we felt the same way.
George from BeachQuest with our favorite mandolin player.
Some of the Fiddlers Tour musicians.
JoAnn (Wayward), George (BeachQuest), and Randy and Vicki (Barefoot'n) at the Angry Penguin.
On Wednesday, June 12 the rest of the Erie Canal closed due to high water in the Mohawk. So we caught up on laundry at the local laundromat and walked on Peebles Island. On Thursday, June 13 we were informed that the Mohawk River was expected to flood the Visitors Center and that the Canal Authority was moving us up in between locks to an area where the water level could be controlled. Some boats went up above lock 2 into the Old Champlain Canal. Other larger boats (SeaGlide, Barefoot’n, BeachQuest, Miss GG) were moved up above lock 3 and tied to working barges. Again, we locked through in a downpour, but the Canal Authority employees helped us dock at the barges and got us secured.
Waterville prepares for the 1st flood by emptying out the Visitors Center. All the boaters had to move into the flight of locks where the water could be regulated.
The first group moved between locks 2 and 3 and included Wayward, Drakes Dream, Happy Ours, Great Laker and others.
We were part of the second group that moved between locks 3 and 4. With us were Barefoot'n, BeachQuest, and Miss GG.
"Our" working barge - the Chief
SeaGlide and the Chief
Lock 3 Yacht Club
SeaGlide and the Chief
Other boats sharing the pool with us:
Troy Motor Boat & Canoe Company
During a previous flood their dock broke loose and the boats attached to it went over the Troy dam. Since then they are diligent about moving their boats into this area when flooding is expected.
Lock 2 Yacht Club
Some shots of the flooding at Waterford:
The Visitors Center where we were docked.
Trees and debris coming down the Mohawk
Friday, the Canal Authority sent an electrician over to get
power to everyone and made arrangements for a pump out truck to give us all a
pump out. Fortunately, we filled our
water tanks before we left the Visitors Center so everyone was good on
water. Just in case though, the Canal
Authority supplied us all with two five gallon jugs of spring water. We got a tour of the working barges we were
tied to and told to make ourselves at home over the weekend as the employees
were off until Monday. We decided to all
get together and grill out atop the Governors barge – the Grand Erie.
Dining atop the Governor's Barge - the Grand Erie.
Saturday, June 15 the neighboring town of Troy had a big farmer's market and a River Street Festival - the equivalent of Asheville's Bele Chere. We took the bus
from Waterford and met some folks on the bus that recommended Dinosaur’s BBQ in
Troy - it was some really great bbq!! I never thought of New York as bbq country.
The Troy Farmer's Market
Music, Art, Crafts at the River Street Festival
Sunday we hung around the boat doing chores and went back to
the grocery for some more supplies. On
Monday, June 17 we moved back to the Visitor’s Center to await the reopening of
the Erie Canal. This time we got a space
underneath the bridge to Peebles Island (mixed blessing – shade but lots of
dirt and debris – cigar, beer can, rust, paint chips). That night the Canal Authority along with
some local merchants sponsored a bbq for us up at the park at lock 2. It was fun spending time with all the other
stranded boaters (Drake’s Dream, Happy Ours, Great Laker, Wayward, and some
others). We also got to tour an old
canal schooner - the Lois McClure - not many of these boats around these days.
The move back to the Visitors Center after the flood waters subsided.
The Canal Authority had a bbq for us at the park at lock 2. Henry's Meat Market donated the hamburgers and hotdogs. The folks here couldn't be nicer.
An old Canal Schooner - the Lois McClure and her tug.
Tuesday, it was back to the Angry Penguin to enjoy the
Fiddler’s Tour musicians who were shocked that we were all still in town. Wednesday, June 19 Barefoot’n went to Indiana
to pickup new batteries for their boat.
On Thursday, June 20 we biked to Cohoes Falls and walked the Old
Champlain Canal tow path.
The Old Champlain Canal Tow Path featuring attack geese and beautiful old bridges
The Waterford Cemetery
Cohoes had many old factories that are being converted to condos
Cohoes Falls - a baby Niagra
Friday, June 21 we rented a car and drove west to check out the damage from the recent floods – it was extensive. The locks and dams at 9 and 12 were undergoing extensive repairs. We visited Help Me Rhonda who were trapped inside lock 11. There were in extremely good spirits even though at times they were 16’ below the top of the lock – they were listening to a huge generator brought in to power all the boats (4) – and they had to endure constant train traffic every 10-15 minutes coming through Amsterdam. After assuring us that they were not in need of anything, we continued on to St Johnsville to retrieve our packages. Once there we saw pictures of previous flooding there however they were untouched in this most recent incident.
Trapped inside lock 11
Missing gate in dam being refabricated on shore.
Saturday, June 22 we took the car up to Lake George and Lake
Champlain. We stopped and toured Fort
Ticonderoga and the Kings Garden there.
We then went on to Port Henry to see if we could spot Champ (Lake
Champlain’s equivalent to the Lock Ness Monster). From there we took the bridge to Vermont
(Middlebury) and then through the Green Mountain National Park passing through
Leicester, VT, which was even smaller than Leicester, NC!
Lake Champlain
Beautiful French cannon at Ft Ticondaroga
An early 1900s inn at Ft Ticondaroga - no longer operational
- too bad as it would be an awesome place to stay.
- too bad as it would be an awesome place to stay.
Drove up to Port Henry searching for Champ all along the way. Champ is Lake Champlain's version of the Loch Ness Monster. We didn't have any luck spotting her so went into town thinking there would be a shrine of some type - the above sign is the only mention of Champ in town. We were surprised that they didn't try to capitalize more on such a fun thing. In fact, it took some doing for us to even find the sign!
Next, it was on to Vermont via the 185 bridge.
The Green Mountain National Park
Sunday, June 23 we stuck close to Waterford using the car to stock up on some bulky items. We were most hopeful of getting back underway at some point this week. Waterford's Farmers Market returned to the Visitor's Center after having been cancelled the previous week due to the flood. We enjoyed the fresh strawberries and all the visitors back at the waterfront. Many of the locals walk the waterfront talking to the boaters. We saw one man everyday as he would come by on his lunch hour. We gave a single father and his daughter a tour of the boat as the little girl was most anxious to get aboard and see where Amos lived.
Monday, June 24 we had to return the rental car so we were back to taking the 11 again (foot power). We shared a cab with BeachQuest and went out to dinner and a movie. We saw Superman and they saw Star Trek. While in the theatre a big storm raged outside and the mall actually lost power - we never knew as the theatre wasn't affected. When we got back to the Visitor's Center we saw Barefoot'n's rental truck in the parking lot full of new batteries. We were happy to see that they had made it back from Indiana.
Tue, June 25 Jeff helped Randy with the batteries - it was quite an undertaking as their boat took 13 house sized batteries. Vicki and I tried to help where we could getting batteries off the truck and onto the dock. Of course it being a Tuesday, the day wouldn't be complete without a trip back to see our musician buddies at the Angry Penguin. Needless to say, there were some shocked faces to see that we were back once again...
Wed, June 26 the Canal Authority issued a memo stating that the Erie Canal would open on Friday, June 28. We were very skeptical at the news being told that the engineer up at lock 11 said the memo was issued from the Albany office and they had no idea what was going on on the ground - they weren't ready to open. We kept busy washing the boat, hiking, biking, and socializing with our buddies. We had a women's day out and walked over to Ursula's (a specialty women's clothing boutique) then stopped to have a mudslide at McGrievy's. The Stacy's had treated Jeff and I to an outstanding dinner at McGrievy's for helping them. The women also started having early morning yoga classes as Papillion joined the Visitors Center wall with us.
The bridge to Peebles Island that we were parked under. The shade was welcome as the temperatures rose into the upper 80s; however, it was difficult keeping the debris off the boat.
More sights from Peebles Island.
On our last hike there we spotted several deer, a turtle and a snake in the path, and a ground hog.
On Thursday, June 27 the Canal Authority recanated their memo stating that heavy rains were predicted and the canal would not open. In fact, they expected to shut down previously opened sections. The rain moved in and on Friday, June 28 we learned that communities west of us got 4.65 inches of rain in a sudden deluge. Several communities were wiped out and 2 lives were lost. We were very much concerned about our buddies, Help Me Rhonda, as the Canal Authority had led them into the heart of the would be flood the previous day. After many messages they were finally able to get back in touch with us to report that they were okay, but their boat had gone over the wall in the middle of the night during the flooding. They were able to get anchored and were just waiting it out. What an ordeal these folks have had as they were the same folks trapped inside lock 11 for weeks!
Knowing that all this water was heading straight for Waterford, the Canal Authority once again moved us between locks 3 and 4 - our Lock 3 Yacht Club was back! This time we gained a new member as Miss GG had gone up the Champlain making room for Papillion. The scene had changed somewhat as the Grand Erie had been put to work. So Barefoot'n and BeachQuest tied up to The Chief, Papillion tied up to a tug, and we tied up to the wall. We all had power and once again settled in to weather the storm. As we were lucky enough to have Sue, the yoga instructor, in our group, we began a new ritual of doing yoga atop The Chief in the early morning.
On Saturday, June 29 as reports came in about the damage incurred during the flood we learned that it was more extensive than the previous flood. The Canal Authority had just finished with repairs to the dam at lock 12 and now it was damaged even worse and new parts would have to be refabricated. We knew we were looking at another 3 week delay minimum. The Lock 3 Yacht Club got together and brainstormed about our options. We contacted Fred (Tug 44) up the Champlain Canal to find out about conditions there. He (along with many other sources) stated that unless you can get under 17' do not attempt the Champlain. We all got to work on taking down equipment in order to meet the requirements.
SeaGlide with her radar arch down. We still had room to keep up half the bimini!
We were lucky as we knew we could make the Champlain - our buddies however were struggling to get under the height restrictions. After working all day Saturday on our boats, on Sunday, June 30 the Canal Authority agreed to let us return to the Visitors Center late in the day as long as we promised to leave first thing the next morning as the Visitors Center was officially "closed." SeaGlide, Barefootin, BeachQuest, and Freedom all agreed. Freedom was a couple from Ottawa that we met a couple of weeks earlier. They bought Freedom on June 1 and had been trying since that time to just get home.
The lean and mean Lock 3 Yacht Club. Everyone lowered and ready for journey.
BeachQuest remeasured and found they were 3" too high.
Trying some last minute fixes to gain more clearance.
Barefoot'n ready to pull out.
So is Freedom, the newest member of the club.
On Monday, July 1, three weeks to the day that we landed in Waterford, we said goodbye to the Visitor's Center and the Peebles Island bridge that we had been parked under for so long. It was sad leaving BeachQuest behind, but they decided it was too risky to make the trip.
The entrance to the Champlain Canal was a welcome sight as our journey was back on track once again. We can hardly wait to see what adventures await as we make our way to Quebec!
Champlain Canal Lock 1
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