Well after numerous delays over the past couple of years, from Covid to unforeseen mechanical issues we finally slipped our dock lines and pointed Dagny’s bow south for the Bahamas. Cold windy weather delayed our departure from Rouses Point on Friday morning, however, we finally got under way around noon in a 15 knot westerly breeze. Travelling with a 60 foot mast tied on the deck is never fun so we called it quits after 3 hours knowing that the next day we could make it to Whitehall NY and the start of the Lake Champlain Canal.

Paul Jones, a good friend of mine, told me a few years ago that there are 2 groups of sailors, those who have run aground and those who are about to run aground. Bev and I have completed 2 round trips to the Bahamas without joining the former group knowing that sooner or later there was a sand bar waiting for us. You guessed it, we found one! We were 1 mile from the Whitehall lock, right in the middle of the channel when we ground to a halt on a muddy shoal. This part of the waterway has limited maintenance and certainly no warning, turns out in mid channel there’s only 3’ of water caused by cross currents from an adjoining creek. Fortunately it was only soft mud that we could back out of and we found a way around it on our third try.

We were up and ready for the first lock opening at 7 am and managed to travel 45 miles and transit 9 locks by 4 pm today. Although it was a long day it was pretty uneventful except for one sad note. Shortly after leaving lock 11, I spotted a large bald eagle sitting on a rock beside the canal, I called Bev so she could see it before it flew away but it never did. As we motored by, a mere 40’ from it we could see it had a broken wing. I informed the next lock master about it hoping that the wildlife people could rescue it. Dagny is securely moored to the free town dock in Mechanicville. With any luck we’ll be through the last 3 locks by noon and head to Catskills to re-step our mast.

Today’s picture is of an old church that now serves as the Arts Centre for Mechanicville.