Tuesday October 12th - The fog finally lifted and we had a great three hour crossing of Lake Oneida. We travelled most of the day with three sail boats and two other trawlers. We pushed on to make it to Lock 18 for the night but the lock master left right at 5pm and we arrived at 17:10 so we docked with Motor Vessel (M/V) Joanne Marie at the top of the lock for the night.
Wednesday October 13th – In the morning we awoke to more fog. We travelled 65 minutes to the next lock in fog. Joanne Marie was leading us through the twists and turns and hailed us on the VHF to say they were turning around to go to the dock at Little Falls which we had just past. We decided to continue on to the lock and take the lead. We then realized that the lock was just 200 feet ahead of us. The fog was so thick that we couldn’t tell if the lock was open or closed. Once in the lock we all decided to pull over until the fog lifted, however one sailboat continued. MV Go Forth helped us dock and once again we waited for the sun to burn off the fog. We spent the morning travelling with Go Forth, Joanne Marie, and two other sailboats. As the day wore on we remained alone in the locks with Go Forth with the other slower boats going in the lock behind us. We now had the challenge of entering a full lock with wall that slanted at the top causing our fenders to roll up. We tried several techniques and finally decided to put a fender side ways and finally it worked but not before we got a scrape along the side, but no big deal. Go Forth needed to get through lock 8 to be able to get under a bridge before more rain came otherwise they would be stuck. We discovered that our bow thrusters was not responding in the last lock, the breaker had gone but also the batteries were weak. I walked to the dock on the east side of the lock to catch lines and we docked their for the night on the east side of the lock which was more protected for the winds and rain of upcoming NorWester. The upper dock on the other side was newly finished but didn’t afford as much protection from the winds. We listened to the weather and decided that we would stay put for a day or two at this location and wait out the approaching storm. We thought we had a protected location with trees all around us. We had only the soft sound of the waterfalls from the dam behind us as we headed off to bed after an exciting game of Farcle.
Thursday October 15th – we woke up to 40 degree weather....burrr. After a quick coffee I decided to head back to my warm bed to snooze for awhile. Ted & Phil headed up to get local knowledge from the lockmaster at lock 8. The next thing Ted was nudging me awake and announced that we had to get moving, that this was the worst place to wait with the impeding storm. So off we went in the rain. We had dropped the canvas top down a few feet to be able to clear all the bridges which was not a problem in good weather however now with rain, visibility was pretty poor out the front window. George worked with Ted to navigate through all the markers to the next lock. Now we approached the final locks at the Waterford Flight. The last 5 step locks were only a mile apart. We once again perfect our docking and locking techniques providing the captain with additional assistance in locking through with limited visibility. A few times I jumped on the dock to handle lines and keep everything in control. The countdown was no on! Four more locks, three more, two more, one more aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. Once out of Lock 2 we slowly went past the Waterford town docks but there was no room for us. We pushed on and called the next marina on the radio but no answer. So we moved on to the final lock, the dreaded federal lock. We called the lock master for an opening since the light was red. No answer so we tie up to the wall. As soon as we tie up he opens the gates. By this time our bow thrusters was weak so we couldn’t rely on it to get us into the lock and secured. After some frantic manoeuvres we managed to get secured in the lock. The problem in this lock was that they only have poles to rap a line around and no ropes hanging down. To make things even more difficult the poles are spaced to far apart to be able to secure the boat at the bow and stern because the pole are over 65 feet apart.
Next we called Troy Docks on the VHF radio and the land line but still no answer. Isn’t anyone going to answer us today? We go downstream and come back up so that the current is in our favour. With a low bow thruster we are looking for help to dock but no help is available. After alot of quick action on the part of the crew we manage to miss the boat behind us and secure the boat with a few feet ahead and aft. Phew what an ordeal. I am soaked to the bone, not bad considering this was our only day of rain. Off to West Marine to buy new batteries for our bow thruster. 30 locks and our batteries are done. We decide to spend two days at Troy to get marine supplies, groceries and do some boat maintenance and to wait out the impeding winds that have not yet happened Wind warning is now in effect but nothing so far. We go to the local brew pub for dinner.
Saturday October 16th. Saturday morning we were off to the local Saturday farmers market near the canal. We all went for a walk and brought back bags of local produce, bread and cheeses. Off to the grocery store for the rest of the provisions with Liz and Joe our dock master. Back to the boat in time to head out for the Troy annual Chowder Fest – amazing is the only way to describe this event. Hundreds of people showed up to test chowders from chefs from the area. There was a total of over 25 chowders of which we managed to sample 10 and voted for our favourites. What a great community fun raiser. I think we will plan a Chowder Fest in George Town this winter. We return to the boat with full bellies to finish some maintenance work before dinner. But then again how many ways can you do Lobster chowder? We had to get all the grime off the boat from the locks and wash the fenders. After much discussion on tides and what time to leave, we have dinner and computer time before bed. The storm and strong winds that were forecasted never happened. Tomorrow the Hudson River to NY.
One of the cooks heating up chowder in the makeshift booths. Note the crowds in line!
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