From Dede's Perspective:

...it's all about the locks (and a little bit about the dummy traffic light)!! Truth be told, I freak out each time we prepare to and/or enter a lock!

The New York Canal System today consists of the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga-Seneca, and Champlain Canals. There are many quaint and picturesque towns and villages along the way. Many boats, including Hope, are using the NY Canal System between Troy, NY on the Hudson River and Oswego on Lake Ontario. This entails traveling on the Erie Canal some 160 miles roughly east or west and then north or south some 24 miles to Lake Ontario via the Oswego Canal.

Tonight we are comfortably docked in Canajoharie along the Mohawk River. We have "locked up" 294ft above sea level so far...have 200 more to go along the canal. We anticipate "locking" up and/or down 42 locks in total trip.

Let me say a few things about "locking through." You approach the "chamber" with a whole lot of water swirling and flotsam. Once we enter the lock, I secure our vessel in 1 of 3 ways...a pipe which I grab and run a rope around; steel cables coated with rubber which I grab and again run a rope around; or, (the worst type) are robes hanging down the lock walls which I need to hold on to as we rise up! Did I mention the walls of the "chamber" are very rough and any/all of the lines are pretty dirty and slimy (hence, big old fenders and work gloves are a must)!

Today our final lock before docking was L13 (they shouldn't have a "13"). The swirling of the water as we entered caused "Hope" to head north, south, east and west before she settled down, and avoided the flotsam, which included "dead-heads", and a large fire extinguisher lost from someone's vessel! We secured ourselves to the port side, and I proceeded to grab the slimy rope (with Jim assisting to hold the forward slimy rope)!! We were the only vessel in the lock, so I had a lovely conversation with the lock attendant as I peered up some 30+ feet at him (they are really very friendly!!) After we exchanged jokes about the Red Sox and the Patriots (Tom Brady was part of the discussion), I proceeded to tell him I was freaked out by the locks...as you enter the lock, the gate in front has water pouring in and as you look behind the gates are closing and you are in THE chamber! H asked if I thought I was in a bathtub! I promptly told him, "no, more like a coffin"! He then told me the story of the "almost 70yr old woman" (be careful here with age) who fell off the boat and into the chamber waters!!

The lock gates opened, the canal was now 30+ feet above when we entered and we exited to a dock at Canajoharie...who proclaims to have 1 of only 3 (in the country) "dummy traffic lights"...

Stay tuned...