We did it again! We put in another 14 hour day yesterday in order to get to Waterford, NY, which is at the junction of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal historically opens on the first of May each year. Getting back to Canada in May was important for us for a number of reasons. W will be glad to get home to friends and family! Also, as a lifetime member of MISA, Alison/we want to attend their annual conference in early June in Windsor. Finally, we do not want to be anywhere along the U.S. eastern seaboard after their Memorial Day long weekend (third weekend in May), because that weekend is synonymous with the start of pleasure boating season and every waterway will be choked with boaters (and half these boaters are crazy.
But why did we put in another 14 hour marathon day? At some point just as we arrived in Virginia, we learned that the Erie Canal opening was now delayed until May 19. So, we found ourselves caught in a bit of a conundrum. We were well into the waters of very expensive marinas and hanging out for a couple of weeks in New Jersey was not going to happen. However, we learned that there is a sizable dock in Waterford at the mouth of the Erie canal. And since the canal isn't opening until May 19, no staff is onsite and no fees are being charged. Friends already up in Waterford, informed us that the dock is starting to fill up with other boaters caught unaware of the delayed Erie Canal opening, so we need to giddy up! We arrived at dusk and tied up at the last available slip with electricity and uttered that collective sigh of relief.
Why is it that there always seem to be challenges to closeout a day on the water? In addition to being on the water for 14 hours, as we closed in on Waterford, our high tide assist had transitioned to a negative ebb tide current. Dusk was creeping up on us and the recent heavy local rains had the waters churning with significantly elevated water heights. Great, because now we are anxious about getting under one last fixed bridge before we can tie up. Our friends already in Waterford have been watching the waters all day and checking the bridge height for us. Eric got up top on Catan and dropped any and all antennas/instrument masts that we could, in order to reduce our overall height. We crossed our fingers and Catan squeaked under the bridge. Here is the picture of the waterway overflow adjacent to the Troy Lock that had to transit through 2 miles before Waterford.
The next few pictures are of our temporary Waterford pre-Erie Canal home, taken by Eric when out walking Beau. Our friends boat, Mad Hatteras, is docked in front of Catan.
We would be remiss if we did not express how much we enjoyed our 14 hour marathon boating day. The Hudson River has provided the most pleasant and picturesque boating anywhere along the loop. The following pictures testify to our long but lovely day. We were surprised and delighted to see West Point Military Academy while heading north on the Hudson River, not to mention various mansions dotting the shoreline.
We also passed by a number of stunning lighthouses that date back to the 1800's. In those days, the lighthouses were built as 'homes' so that the lighthouse keeper could reside full time onsite.
So here we sit in Waterford, NY. The downside is we now have to wait until May 19 to get going again. The upside is we get a nice break, which we so dearly enjoy the prospect of, given how challenging the boating has been since we started down the Delaware Bay. We are absolutely looking forward to this break and enjoying time with our friends Dave & Mona on Mad Hatteras, from the Alexandria Bay area. Alison is looking forward to doing some quilting and Eric has got a list of “to-dos” and reading aspirations.
Not sure how many log posts we will be publishing for the next little while as we wait for the Erie Canal to open, but you never know what other adventures will befall the Catan crew, stay tuned!
