3 June, 2021. Good bye Hudson River, hello Erie Canal

 

28 SM; 4.4 hours, one lock up 14 feet

A real pleasant night last night.  Storms never materialized, just gentle rain with light and variable winds.  Great sleeping; trains stopped running for most of the night.  Today’s forecast:  clouds, increasing southerly winds, rain showers and slight chance of thunderstorms with small hail, lightening and strong gusty winds.  We made ready to get underway to take advantage of the last flood tide pushing us up river; get to the first lock and then secure at the free wall in Waterford, NY.  0700,  I hauled the anchor up and using the proven bucket on a rope wash down system cleaned the mud off of the anchor and chain. Shortly, we were back in the main channel of the river, northbound making 8 mph.  If today goes as planned we will bid adieu to rising and falling tides; crazy tidal currents and salt water.  Not many miles up river we left the rural area of the Hudson valley and entered the urban industrialization of Albany, NY.  Both sides of the river lined with piers and wharfs.  Mountains of rusted metal recycle piles, with barges along side and tows standing by to move their cargos along the river.  I suppose away from the river Albany might be a nice area, but viewed from the river it was not a pretty sight.

Old run down building on east side at Albany

St Peter’s church Albany

We crossed under one of the most unusual, odd bridges we have seen on this trip.  Not sure of the architectural intent, but it looked weird to me.

Approaching Troy, NY

Approaching the end of our Hudson River journey, we needed to be lifted 14 feet to join the junction of the Erie and Champlain canals.  NY Canal System.  The Federal Lock and Dam at Tory, NY is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.  Checking in on the radio, lock master reported he was locking down a vessel and we had a 30 minute wait.  No problem, as we prepared our lines, fenders and boat hooks.  Soon enough, we had a green light to enter and we proceeded into the lock, catching a 8 inch pipe running top to bottom of the lock which we secured Serenity with a line around the pole.

Entering Troy Federal Lock

Aft lock doors secured, the chamber filled quickly and soon we were under way to our intended destination.  Just ahead of the lock exit, decision point reached.  Go north to Lake Champlain via canals or turn and go the Erie Canal route.

We turned left

Just a few minutes later we arrived at Waterford, NY visitor center.  The town provides free dockage at the wall along with showers and water.  Electricity is $10/night.  What a great deal and time to explore.  Rain and winds forecast for a couple of days, so we are here till Saturday morning.  We secured the Yanmar diesel at 1120.  Checked in, stretched our legs, hooked up shore power and had lunch.  Fee dock map

Serenity at the town wall

This afternoon we hike around this small and historical village.  Many pre-revolutionary buildings and several of the founding fathers visited or boarded here.  Waterford history. Grocery store only about 1/2 mile away so late in afternoon we headed there. We splurged tonight for supper.  We bought Brie, hummus, smoked salmon and crackers.  A really fine dinning experience tonight as we float on the waters of the Erie Canal.  

4181 SM traveled; 1759.5 hours hobbs