Antares Cruising East

By 7:20 am Friday, October 4, five sailboats had already locked through Lock 16. We were in the next group, already feeling left behind. Everyone seemed anxious, and hovering did not help the situation. Add to that tension the rainy, cold beginning of a long dreary day. Not so many smiles this day and even grown sailors gave the evil eye to line cutters. Our same group locked through 15, but not enough room at lock 14, so AirTime and Antares hovered. Six powerboats joined us and wanted to go ahead of us. What?!! We were waiting a lot longer! Besides, sailboats react differently in the locks; we needed to go first, then they could pass us in the canal. Lock 13…the trouble maker… we had to hover because those six powerboats were locking through. Wait! It was only a ten minute hover! Although the gates opened and closed, no water was being raised or lowered, just controlled. Our turn was quick, noisy from the construction going on, and weird because of the water level. When those gates opened on the east side, I think there was a collective sigh of relief. Three powerboats and three sailboats emerged as if it were the last day of school and the first day of summer vacation. Even in the rain, there were a few shy smiles. Now all this free flowing water is going downstream, right? Lock 12 was full to the brim. I could hardly reach down far enough to grab the rope, and looking over at the dam was frightening because it seemed as if Antares could jump the wall and fall over the dam, we were that close. The same situation at Lock 11, but we came through all right. We did six locks in nine hours for 33 miles. This was a long, long day and a fine break when we stopped at River Link Park in Amsterdam. No water or facilities, but the electric outlets were still on and we were happy for it. Heat in the cabin tonight.

We piled on the foul weather gear the next day, preparing for cold and rain. My gloves were still wet from yesterday, but they blocked the wind and kept the rope slime away as I held on through the locks. We hoped to make Schenectady for refuels. Locking through 10, 9, and 8, we pretty much stayed with the same group, one or two different. It did not rain much, though it felt cold (was it really up to 69 degrees?). Just after noon we pulled up at the Schenectady Marina for diesel, water, and a pump out. Our water tank must have been on empty, since that took the longest to do. I thought 100 gallons of water would last longer; quite a surprise. At Lock 7 we were informed that the Waterford Visitors Center was full, there would be no stopping there today. We had already planned to stop at an old wall 8 miles further on in Crescent Village. And it was old…high…crumbling… It started to sprinkle, with a wave of cold. There was a carryout on the other side of the parking lot where we found comfort food and a video. With the wave action from passing boats, we snuggled in for our last night in the Erie Canal.

Sunday morning on day 37, we were ready. Not when John wanted to leave, but closer to 10 am. It had stopped raining, 51 degrees, and there was no wind. That was my last log entry until we finished at Waterford. How could we have known that it would take 3 hours to travel 4.3 miles? There were 5 locks left, numbers 6-2; also known as the “flight of five.” There is no stopping between any of them unless the lock tender tells you to. There are two guard gates preceding the flight, also. We knew that guard gate #2 required a radio call to open. It took a while for someone to respond, and longer for someone to arrive and lift the gate. The gate tender was also the lock tender for lock 6, and had to drive back and forth to operate them both. He was a bit unhappy: working on a Sunday, starting at 7 am, operating two huge machines, covering for another worker, and closing up at 8 pm. Oh, and many were laid off at the beginning of October and rehired as part-time workers at half the pay. I suspect this was the case for Mr. Lock Tender. He lifted the gate and we passed under it to find that there is a tight turn and you’re out of sight. The tender waited for another boat to pass before he lowered the gate. We went under guard gate #1. Lock 6 was directly ahead, open, green light… I knew the tender was back at the guard gate, so I radioed to ask if it was ok to enter the lock. He asked, “Is the light green?” There was a tone….hmmm. I ignored the tone, replied, “Yes, thank you,” and entered the lock. Locking through 6, 5, 4, and 3 went well. The air warmed as we descended 35 feet each lock. There were clouds, quiet surroundings, still water. We were feeling good with one lock to go.

Lock 2 is the last lock on the Erie Canal. There is one more, but it is the federal lock on the Hudson River at Troy, and you don’t need a pass for that one. So we come up to Lock 2. The other boat calls for an opening without response. A few minutes later, he calls again. We both are hovering (my least favorite thing to do) when I request an opening for two eastbound boats. No response. By now, the current is pushing us both to the lock and the first boat starts backing up. John starts to back up without any problem just that it backs so slowly against the current. We get over to the left side, but start to turn (darn prop walk!) In the meantime, I hear two boats talking about Lock 1 and if the one boat can go ahead of the other. The first responded that he was already in the lock and that the other cannot go in behind because of the turbulence. I’m not paying much attention to this conversation. Instead I helplessly watch as John tries to control our boat. He turns around and heads back toward Lock 3 and pulls up to the other side of the canal under an overpass. He gets out to tie up. The stern suddenly pulls away from the wall and John is on shore trying to hold on to the line. Who will win this tug-o-war: the man or the 20,000 pound boat? As the boat and I pull away, John throws the line on board, and grabs on to the safety line at the bow. He pulled himself up under the line and hurried back to the helm. What a man! He revs up the engine and pulls back up to the wall where I can retrieve our dock pole that was dropped there. As I turn to tell John I have it, I looked past him into Lock 2.

Have you ever had a moment when everything in motion just stops? When you cannot believe this is happening? That was me. I know my jaw dropped. I know my heart skipped a beat. As we were struggling with our boat, the lock raised and the doors opened on this humongous commercial cruiser that filled the lock up completely. It was the Grand Carib taking passengers for a Sunday cruise up the canal. We tried to head upstream into a stronger current coming from lock 3. They were releasing the water to open the doors for the Grand Carib to enter. To the right of the canal, just below lock 3, a tugboat was tied up. John headed for the space behind it. If the Grand Carib was going to squash us, it would have to take out the tug, too! John pulled up, I jump out with the bow line and wrap a loop around a post. I grab the stern line, but have nowhere to tie it. The bow line started slipping, so I grab that with my free hand and lean back, pulling both lines tight. As the cruiser goes by, I said something about them being a lot of trouble. Someone replied, “Sorry.” I said, “It’s just part of the adventure!”

When we finally got turned around and heading back to lock 2, the other boat was waiting. We grabbed our ropes and were lowered the last 35 feet to the level of the Hudson. I did mention to the lock tender that a warning would have been appreciated, but he just smiled and wished us a good trip. Luckily for other boats behind us, those lock tenders did tell them to tie up for a long wait. We exited out to Waterford Visitors Center where we were happy to tie up to the floating docks. Electricity, water, showers, all the comforts just waiting for us. If you want to see what this spot looks like, there is a live web cam facing lock 2. We were in the lower left hand side of the view you have. Judy, my sister, called me to say she was watching me. I was ecstatic. Because of going through all the events to get here, that was one validation of my efforts. And those of you who read my blog, or view photos on Face Book, and reply in one way or another, I thank you. 25% of the trip is completed.