Stuck in the Erie Canal

I’ve never been through a hurricane before. That bad storm this summer at Put-in-Bay was one of the worst we’ve been through with sustained winds over 60 mph but that is not a hurricane.

The impact of hurricanes can be unpredictable. While the Hurricane Center uses sophisticated equipment to model various options, the power and force of hurricanes on water craft can be devastating. Look at that 800+ foot long commercial vessel currently missing off the coast of the Bahamas. I am sure they have weathered many storms but this one hit them the wrong way.

Several big storm systems are at work in the US. In our home base of Sandusky OH a huge storm system is whipping up huge waves and cold weather. Lake Erie looks evil. I am glad we are not there. Similarly, storms are whipping up in the Chesapeake, probably part of the Hurricane Juaquin situation, not sure. But we know for sure that even if the hurricane moves north out to see, there will be impact on the Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas. So we are moving VERY slowly through the much protected Erie Canal.

The weather here is in the 30s-40s in the morning, increasing to the 50s sometimes 60s in the afternoon. We are wearing lots of layers. Currently as I write this on Saturday morning I am wearing jeans, heavy socks, a cami, a long sleeved shirt, a sweater and a coat. It is chilly. Plus we are moving through locks. That means I zip up tight because I am outside on the swim platform hanging on to wet lines while the water in the lock goes down. It is chilly to say the least.

The first few days I was back on the boat I went on the front deck which was my typical station in the past. The wind whips so much that I had lots of trouble holding on. So now Tony takes the front position, I take the back position, Kermit is at the helm. This works better. Shirley goes on Just BilEve with Bill and Eve and takes the rear station for them while Eve is on the front and Bill is at the helm. We find it works best to have three people manning the locks on each boat. Occasionally you will hear one of the boats giving a big raspberry as the captains us the bow thruster to move the bow closer to the wall. Yes you heard me. Even Kermit uses the bow thruster sometimes. The wind whips up through the canal sometimes so hard that the boats move in unpredictable ways that require a little nudge now and again.

Old houses in Little Falls -
That is a hardy version of
hydrangea

Yesterday we had a fun experience in the lock 10 near Amsterdam. We traversed about 5 locks yesterday. On the Erie Canal the locks are about 10 miles apart, give or take about 5 miles. Since entering the lock system the fenders and lines have been on the starboard (right) side of the boat. It just makes it easier if you can do the same thing every time. The last two locks of the day required that we move the fenders and lines to the port (left) side of the boat – quite a fire drill anyway. They told us this was because the Amsterdam lock had the water valves to go up and down on the port side so it was easier for the vessels to control their movements if the boats hung on to the left port side of the lock. Ok, no problem. Except in the last one it WAS a problem. We got ourselves all catawampus. We were almost crosswise in the lock. That means our bow went to the starboard (right) side and the stern went to the port (left side) so we blocked the entire thing!! It was crazy and dangerous and scary all at one time!! Unfortunately we do on have any photos, or maybe it is all for the best. The lockmaster thought we were a bunch of amateurs, although in the moment HOW we look is so much less important than fixing the mess and being safe! No fiberglass damage, no people damage, just a bruised ego because Kermit knows he can do it better that that!

A lift lock near Little Falls NY

We are way behind our pre-trip schedule. According to the schedule by today, October 3, we should be in NYC preparing to head into the ocean for a two or three day trip to Cape May, positioning ourselves for the Chesapeake. No way. We do not want to be anywhere near the ocean until the hurricane moves away.  As you can tell, weather is a really big deal. So we are going very, very slowly.

Little Falls NY

Tony on the front during a lock - a photo moment

Today we left Amsterdam NY at about 10am for a scorching 3 hours of travel including 3 locks. Our destination is Schenectady NY, just to the west of Albany. We will go through locks 10, 9, and 8. That leaves the last lock 7 and 6 and a flight of four locks right next to each other, 5,4,3 and 2 before the Erie Canal is over at Waterford. We will save that last section for another day.

We heard that Waterford is full of people avoiding the Hudson. Our idea is to stay at the Schenectady Yacht Club for a few days, rent a car and visit the sites along the Hudson that we weren’t planning to visit. Since we have the time while waiting out the storm, we want to see the Culinary Institute and maybe some of those historical mansions like the Roosevelts and Vanderbilts and maybe West Point. The furthest down we want to be under any circumstances until the hurricane is gone is Poughkeepsie, halfway to NYC but I suspect we will stay in Schenectady.

Yesterday I scratched my itch to cook. Kermit turned on the generator and I made a chicken pot pie that we will eat tonight. I even made the crust! I will let you know how it turns out. I also made a one bowl apple cake that we are enjoying for “tea” while traveling. Yum!! Shirley makes egg sandwiches for breakfast that are yummy too. We are trying not to eat in restaurants too often but sometimes it is fun to get off the boat!

Little Falls NY - see the old mill
along the river? 

On Thursday we stopped at Little Falls NY, an old mill town on the river. We walked around and saw almost everything - the City Hall, some really cool old homes, and finally the Canal Place where we got some decent ice cream. The interesting observation was that the river is really beautiful but all the development to restore the town does not take advantage of the river vistage. Interesting.

Ron Feldner told Eve that this town has secret tunnels under the town used by mobsters during Prohibition. We could find no evidence of this fact so we asked the owner of the pizza shop where we ate lunch. He said the entire town is built on streams. The original founders just laid the town right over the streams which created natural tunnels in which water runs to this day. Old people tell stories about pulling the hood ornament off cars then disappearing down a man hole only to reappear blocks away without notice. The tunnels flooded a few years ago when a tree got stuck in the tunnels. The pizza shop had all its ovens and fryers fall into the stream below the floor - a big mess! So much for mobsters. If that part of the story is true, then no one we found is talking about it!

UPDATE: We stopped at the Schenectady Yacht Club for the evening. This is a very old club. The clubhouse dates from the late 1800s when it was the lodging place for folks working on the Erie Canal, the drivers and their mules. It is a pretty setting with the meandering river, right by a fixed bridge. The docks are pretty new because they washed away in the last hurricane. We were sitting on the back of the boat having a sandwich and a beer when suddenly an old Chris Craft came quickly into view while the dock master hung on the boat trying to keep it away from Good Karma! BANG! He hit us. There is a 6 inch gash in the side of the boat, above the rail. Darn. The owner was embarrassed. He lost control of the boat; he thinks he has a problem with his transmission or something but we have a crack. Insurance cards have been exchanged. Kermit is not happy.