June 3, Friday; Waterford, NY to Lock 12 on the Erie Canal: We got our package and we were on our way by 08:00 and got to Lock 2 by 08:15. We were the only boat in the lock. This lock also had a cable but it was only about 1" in diameter and was coated so your line did not get caught. Right after we left our first lock we saw an old barge. The gentleman told us it was the first barge ever made for the Erie Canal and it is motorized. Now they are making it into a moving museum and will do narrated tours on the canal; pretty cool. The next 2 locks were the same as Lock 2. The rest of the locks for the day we had to use the lines they provided as there were no cables. We did 11 locks and went under 27 bridges today; a very long day, 9 hours. By 17:00 we were tied up to the west side of Lock 12 for the night. Visited with the Lock Master while we went for our walk, then it was back to the boat for dinner and we were in bed by 20:30. My arms were sore and tired from holding 25,000 + pounds of boat in 11 locks with 35 mph winds.
CO's comments: We learned the hard way that you must place fenders at the water line of your boat and also on the rub rail. These are unlike other locks that we have seen before. When you get to the top of the lock you feel like you are going to come out of the water completely. There is only a foot or less left of the lock wall. The locks are all rough concrete and we received a few scratches not to mention what it did to our fenders. By the time the lock stopped rising Bobbie was looking down a good 6 feet and pulling up on her line.
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W74 17.477
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| Lock and Dam 7 Just beautiful |
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| Tie up above Lock 12 |
June 4, 2011, Saturday; Lock 12 on the Erie Canal to Village of Ilion Marina, NY: Got going pretty early and it was a beautiful day and the wind was a lot calmer than yesterday. We had 6 locks and we went under 19 bridges to day. We are staying at a marina tonight and tomorrow so we can charge every thing up. We also got gas, and; besides,the weather for the next few days does not look good.
CO's comments: The dock master here at Ilion Marina told us of a brand new boat costing a million- seven stopped for fuel earlier today. The Skipper was just about in tears because he didn't have enough fenders and/or they were not in the right place. The whole length of his boat was scrapped terribly. Even his lower windows were all scratched up.
We can tell we are up north now because I saw fire flies tonight. I haven't seen them in years as we do not have any where we live in Montana.
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W75 01.744
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| Lock 17 has the highest vertical lift; 40 feet, of all the locks on the whole New York Canal System |
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| Our view when leaving Lock 17 |
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