Working Our Way Through the Erie Canal
16 September 2015 | St. Johnsville Lock
Deb and Ron
We are 5 days into the Erie Canal System. After locking through the Little Falls 40 foot high lock we are spending the night on the West Side just prior to Lock 16 at St. Johnsville. We've experienced all types of weather, cold, windy and rainy. chilly mornings with mist rising off the warm water and hot sunny afternoons. Locking through the locks, was one of our initial apprehensions, but as others have told us, we've had no problems. The locks where the water goes down are much eaiser than the locks where the water rises, but even those haven't been bad. The hardest thing is getting a hold of the rope, pipe or cable upon entering the lock. The people that we have met along the way (lockmasters, other boaters, people hanging out at the locks) have been very friendly.
We feel like we are starting to get into a routine. We wake up, start motoring, go through locks, tie up along a wall, plan out the next day, eat dinner, go to bed. We are looking forward to getting the mast back up and becoming a sailboat again.