June 28-29, 2013 Above Lock #3 Waterford

We Moved!  About a half mile.  And right back to the same spot where we were ensconced on June 14th.  But this time we're tied a barge named The Chief.


The move from the Visitor Center dock was necessary because of the anticipated high water moving down the Mohawk river.



Just found out today (Saturday, June 29) the optimistic outlook is for us to be stranded here at least another week, more likely two.  And there is some major flooding up north with the potential for another 2-5 inches of rainfall over the course of the next 7 days.   

 The property tax assessor has begun to eye us up.



Locking through Lock 2 and 3 was routine although this time there was no rain, an oversight corrected as we emerged from the last Lock.  As we maneuvered to dock among the tugs and barges it began to pour.  Perhaps there is a subtle message escaping us here since it's rained every time we have been in these locks!

We are here along with three other boats  for another few days.  Two of the 3 other boats are veterans of this maintenance basin too so we all know each other.  We have power and as before the walk to town is only about 1/2 mile.   Once we were all secured all we could do was host a cocktail party.  Thankfully there is a liquor store only a few miles away!








We will be here for a few days.  Good thing too cause it gives me time to track down an electrical problem on the fly bridge.

June 25, 2013 Waterford,NY

Still here in Waterford   We took the dingy into Troy a few miles down river and locked through the Federal Lock (lock #1) with Rob and Sue.  On the return trip we were just in the lock when another torrential downpour hit us.  It was somewhat exhilarating zipping along at 20mph in an open dinghy during a downpour.  But that rain really stung!

Rob and Sue











We returned for the third time in as many weeks to the Angry Pelican bar where the Four Fiddlers play Celtic music.  They know us there now.


Speculation still insists that by this weekend, we will be on the move north. And actually, since they are having a tugboat festival here at the Waterford docks, we wont have any place to tie up.  So it has to be this weekend!

June 23-24 2013 Waterford, NY

Still here in Waterford.  Rampant speculations suggest we may be able to leave by next Wednesday or the weekend.

And with all this idle time some people set aside boat projects for hobbies such as photography.  Nice looking boat framed by good tasting rum. The rich amber of  Captain Morgan helps moderate the glaring splotch of our ICW mustache.

Thanks Rob!

Waiting around can sometimes lead to good habits.  That's Grace, Sue and Mary engaging in a little early (8;30am) yoga on the dock.  Rob (who took the picture) Jeff and I were, as you can see, not.

June 20-22, 2013 Waterford Visitor Center

We are still here.  No firm idea of when all the locks will be open.  The Waterford Visitor Center does operate a live Web Cam which shows us along the dock.  We are the third boat to the left behind Papillon and BareFoot'n.

June 18, 2013 Waterford Visitor Center

We had moved from the Waterford Visitor Center on June 13 up to the Maintenance basin above lock #3.

Picture Credit Miss gg

Today (Monday June 17 ) the Canal officials decided we should all return to the Waterford Visitor Center since most of the flooding has subsided and they need to move some of the tugs and barges serving as our temporary docks.  So around 2pm we took in our lines and bid farewell to our familiar tug/dock and headed over to lock #3.










We locked through #3 and then headed the quarter mile to lock #2.

Picture credit Joanne (Wayward)

Heading into Lock #2.

Picture credit Joanne (Wayward)

In lock #2 and waiting to drop another 34 feet.

Picture Credit Miss gg

Just as we emerged from lock #2 in front of the Visitors Center docks (on the left), it began to pour.  Fitting, as it was raining when we first left the Visitor Center on Thursday, June 13. 











Thanks Dave for getting soaked and helping us all get tied up to the dock!











Latest word is we will be here for at least another week as the locks upstream undergo repairs.

June 16, 2013. Still above Lock #3 Waterford, NY

No change in location.  The latest collection of rumors and speculation have us staying here for 10 more days (best case) or possibly 2 weeks (worse case).  2 upstream  locks reportedly have some minor damage requiring a barge/crane for repairs.

We're rather fortunate to have been stranded here.  Incredibly attentive Canal employees have created a little oasis for us.  The Lock 3 yacht club, as one person referred to it, has a full complement of social gatherings so we aren't nearly as bad off as some of the folks stuck in the upper locks.

June 14-15 2013 above Lock #3 Waterford NY

The Canal officials indeed asked us to move up into the chain of locks yesterday.  So in the pouring rain we went through Lock #2.   It's about a 33 foot rise.  Most of us had to go through Lock #3 as well.  It's  another 33 foot rise.  We were directed to tie up against two tugs in a small basin where there is an Erie Canal  maintenance yard.  It's right above Lock #3.  We are tied against the Grand Erie, a pusher
tug.  Very nice people here.


Entering the lock.  10 boats in the very narrow lock made for some exciting moments since the idea is to stay close to the lock wall.  But when you have two people trying to hold a 52,000 lb boat against a wall with swirling current, excitement is the only word to describe the experience.








The Canal officials are working to get us power and pump-outs as well.  This basin is very calm and so while the scenery is "industrial" at least we aren't battling flood waters and high currents.

We'll most likely be here a few days until the water recedes enough for the upstream locks to re-open.  And we can still walk to town about 1/2 mile away.

From the web cam they have running at the Visitor Center.  The dock is usually a few feet below the concrete embankment which is under water.

Here we are tied up with 3 other boats to this tug and the barge behind us.

Just got tied up (Picture taken by the couple from  Miss gg)

June 9-12, 2013 Waterford NY

Thursday June 13, 2013
All the boats here at the Visitor Center are moving up into the pools between Lock 2 and 3 or up beyond Lock 3.  Projections based on forecasts are predicting a rise of another foot in water levels which creates a risky situation.  Much safer up in the pools above the locks.  But we'll still be ensconced here  for several days if the rain fall amounts meet the forecast levels.

And we made the Paper!  Our boat is near the back with the blue canvas.  And Mary was interviewed at length by the local TV station, an ABC affiliate out Albany.  We couldn't get the broadcast though.










Wednesday, June 12, 2013
With the rainfall over the last few days some of the upstream Erie Canal locks (6-19) are closed due to high water.  That leaves us pretty much stranded here in Waterford which is right before lock #2.  With the predicted heavy rains again tomorrow (Thursday) the rising water has the potential for pushing our floating dock up and over the embankment.  Not good.  So we may have to move off this wall and into one of the pools between the locks to wait out the high water.   Waiting to see what the Canal officials are deciding.

When we first arrived you can see the wooden dock next to the sea wall is much lower than the sea wall.

Today (Wednesday, June 12) the wooden docks are about a foot above the sea wall.  We did move the boat from the high cement wall to here this portion of the dock which is lower but has electrical hookups.











We are tided along the Waterford Welcome center dock along with about a dozen other boats.  And the dock is free!  .We'll be here a few days while we do some shopping and I do some engine maintenance and repair a few other things on board.

Waterford is a bit north of Albany on the Hudson river and is adjacent to Troy NY.  Its the cross roads for the Champlain or Erie canal routes.

The Welcome Center is right in front of Erie Canal Lock #2.  We already went through Lock #1 in Troy a few miles south

The Waterford free dock is long  and can accommodate a dozen boats without any crowding.  We're on the high wall portion.  Makes it easier to get on and off the boat.  But no electrical hookups on this end.

June 8, 2013 Esopus Creek in Saugerties, New York

We left Croton Bay rather early to make this 60 mile run up here to Esopus Creek in Saugerties NY which is where  we're anchored.  Run off , debris and muddy water in here most likely from the big rain storm last night.  Guess we wont be making water tonight.  And alas, we wont be going into town this evening either because we're basically too tired to take the dinghy down and then get it back up before we leave early tomorrow for Waterford and the beginning of the Erie Canal.

Mary is just about to lower the anchor.  It's a little tight in here but forecast has lite winds so what the hell ...

June 7, 2013 Croton Bay

We left Liberty Park in a down pour and dodged ferries all the way to the George Washington Bridge.   We couldn't see much of the Hudson through the rain but what we could make out looked wonderful.  Anchored in this popular spot, Croton Bay.  Its a state park.  With all the rain we were the only boat there.

Not many pictures turned out because of he rain but this one of the Statue of  Liberty as we started up the Hudson River is about the best.

And of course proof that were anchored here.  The Hudson river is to the right and the little park and beach is to the left.

June 6, 2013 Liberty Park New York

After a 146 mile overnight journey on the ocean complete with no sleep, a moonless night, heavy fog, numerous conversations with ships and tows, radar navigation (I remembered how!) and the awe of seeing New York from the water, we made it and anchored behind the Statue of Liberty in Liberty Park.  We're heading up the Hudson tomorrow morning and will hopefully escape some of the drenching rain forecast for tomorrow.

146.8 miles

Our route for those who asked for it.  Lots of commercial traffic north of Atlantic City.  Of course that's when it was pitch black and heavy fog.  Thank goodness for radar.

And of course the obligatory picture of the Statue of Liberty as we passed by going into the anchorage.  Here are more details.

Our destinations from Stuart, FL to Cape May, NJ

Click the image for a more detailed google map

To satiate those who may suffer mild geographic mal-nourishment I put this map together in an effort to pictorially convey our track northward.

This probably won't help those who think New Jersey is north of New York (wasn't that a question on a 5th grade geography test?) but it might assist those who thought Stuart was in Georgia.



For those unfamiliar with google maps: Click the little red balloons for more specific information.  The map can be zoomed in or out by double clicking anywhere on the map.  We did, on a few occasions only move the boat a mile or so from an initial point so multiple balloons may occupy the same space on the map until its zoomed in.

June 1, 2013 2 Mile Landing Marina Cape May,NJ

We left the Delaware anchorage at 6:10am.  On an ebb tide we picked up about 3 knots of speed giving us a startling speed of 9.5 mph over the ground. Astounding since I was only turning 1100 rpm on the engines.  We ended up arriving at Cape May around 1pm, not the 5pm we told the marina.  They weren't expecting us so early and had to jostle a few boats around before we could enter.  There was 20 mph winds and a 2 knot current pushing us into the dock.  We had to go past the dock then back down into the current and wind to keep control and get close enough so Mary could throw a line to them.  Another exciting experience.  You can see the Cape May canal to the left on the map.  Rather narrow and what I'd label a drag strip since every boat in there was full throttle and throwing huge wakes.

Here's where we've stopped beginning at Norfolk and working our way up the Chesapeake and down into Delaware Bay where we'll be until the weather is mild enough to do the 120 mile ocean route to New York.