Six locks -196 feet

Mileage wise, today was short. But there were still six locks. The last five are called the flight of five. They are back to back - one right after the other. Going east bound they pull up a lift gate for you to go under as the water runs off it and drips on you from overhead as you enter the magical land of locks. At the end you are dumped into the town of Waterford, which sits at the junction of the Hudson River and Erie Canal.

We walked to the store and bought a shopping cart full of stuff. On the way, we walked over a bridge spanning the Hudson River. We were told we could take the shopping cart back to the boat and the store would pick up the carts later. But in New York, the parking lots have a wire buried around the perimeter. When you try to push the cart out of the parking lot, the wheels lock up. So the manager has to come with a device and unlock the wheels after you pass the buried wire.

Today more friends were made as we went through the locks as a caravan of three boats. A trawler from Kalamazoo met up with us. Roger and Tari's hometown is ... Kalamazoo. We did not see the trawler after that. Here we also met Bob and Phyllis (and cat), from Michigan. They are tied up right behind Roger and Tari. We shared drinks and stories with them, then we all walked into town and had dinner with more drinks and even more stories. The sad news is that tomorrow Ron is leaving us.

Tomorrow is a rest day - at least from traveling. The boats are trashed from going through the locks, so boat scrubbing will be a major focus.