Ending the Erie

On Monday, September 2nd, we waited for the weather to clear and did some maintenance, included putting a new V belt on the engine.  We cast off after noon for the trip to lock 8, only to have the new V belt break after only two miles.  Our last spare seemed a little smaller, and we had a rough time getting it on.  We succeeded when the boat was one boat length from the shore! We then went back to Amsterdam to get our worn out original belt out of the trash, since we had no more spares.  We finally reached Lock 8 at five.  Happily, the new belt held up fine.  We shared happy hour with Brian and Jane on Mar-a-Lago, which ended as a strong rain front roared through.

On Tuesday we headed out at 7:30, passing through Schenectady on our way to the flight of locks which ends the canal.  We passed some very nice homes on the water like this one.

Lock 6 through 2 are all 33 to 34 foot drops, and all close together.  They are protected by guard gate 2, which is always closed.  We had to wait for it to open.

We followed Mar-a-Lago through the two guard gates and the step locks.

90 minutes after arriving at guard gate 2, we tied up at the canal welcome center in Waterford, where we enjoyed free dockage with showers and power.  Gotta love it!

Wednesday morning we enjoyed breakfast in town with Peter and Debbie Brown.  Peter was a classmate of Sue's, and they drove up from Castleton on the Hudson for a brief visit.  We did laundry and grocery shopping, and we were ready to head south!

We started down the Hudson River on Thursday, September 5th.  We passed several barges and one ocean going ship.

We were also passed by our Canadian friends Brian and Jane.

We passed the Athens lighthouse shortly before arriving at Catskill Creek.

We tied up in front of the crane and began preparing to step the mast.  Sorry about the lack of photos and Riverview Marine Services, but we were too busy working.

The next morning the John and the crew showed up at 8:10, and by nine we were stepped and moved to another dock.  We tuned the rig and scrubbed Passage.  After lunch we bent on the sails and completed the rigging.

We went to bed early and exhausted, but we slept on a sail boat!