Day 26, 6.21.18, Lock 19

Little Falls is referred to as a jewel on the canal. There is an active art scene, and this week art was on display throughout towns in participating businesses. They also have a co-op store and many parks for a small town. The local Lions Club has been instrumental in establishing some of the parks.

Around 4pm we cast off and make it through the next lock before five. It's a long run to the next, where we tie up to the wall, right under the New York Central railroad bridge. There's a nice park here, and another sailboat is tied up above. We walk over for a short chat. Walking back to Eclipse, we meet a man strumming his guitar by the tracks. We say hi, and are soon discussing the state of the Mohawk valley, Utica and it's organized crime history, Amsterdam's struggles, businesses that have come and gone, and how it's hard to find a solution to the problems these towns and cities face. To finish our conversation we join in a rendition of 'City of NewOrleans.'

Strolling through the quaint city of Little Falls

Lock 17, the 40 foot canyon like "Guillotine" lock

The lock was rebuilt at the turn of the century, replacing the series of old locks with just one big one!

Gary and Fred inspect the remains of the old canal

Little Falls was once the largest exporter in the U.S. of cheese both domestically and to Europe!

There was much to learn at the Hysterical Museum in Little Falls

Historical archives at the museum

Eclipse is dwarfed at the gates of Lock 19 under the CSX railroad bridge

Amtraks's Lake Shore Limited barrels westbound toward Chicago

Thursday is a lovely day, and we spend most of it in the charming town of Little Falls. My Great, Great Grandfather, Samuel Page, lived here and ran a barber shop. The L. F. Historic Society opens at 1pm, so with my dad, we peruse their records to find what we can. The two volunteers are very helpful, and pull old town record books out of filing cabinets for us. We find his name in several of them, dating from the 1880s. Helen Alzina Page grew up here, and we found the address of their home and of the barber shop. The shop was right on the canal, with a door on the street for townspeople, and another on the canal path for canalwers. This was a time when townspeople and river people didn't get along well, so having two doors was a progressive move. 

Paul Whitney and Kristen singing "The City of New Orleans"

Day 25, 6.20.18, Little Falls

Lock 17 at Little Falls

Approaching the Guard Gate at Little Falls

Gary's dad, Fred, meets up with us by car at LIttle Falls - What a surprise!

Wednesday brings pleasant weather, with high clouds in the afternoon. We leave Canajoharie, take a ride up Lock 16, and leave the Mohawk River. The first canals were dug separate from the river, but close by. This third iteration uses the river itself, dredged, with dams and locks in the river for the most part. But now for about five miles we are in a totally dug canal. The river still flows just north of us, and at the next lock we re-join. The canalside is undeveloped except in the towns and a rare house. Stately trees come down to the bank. 

We are not alone here. On weekends runabouts and jet-skis ply the waters, but most of the time we see fellow boaters transiting up the canal. Some are boat deliveries, but most are fellow travelers. We meet with them at town landings, like Waterford, Canajoharie, and Little falls. Most drive 'trawlers' of 28-35 feet, diesel, and very spacious compared to Eclipse with our four foot headroom. We join some of them in the evening and talk boating, canals, and life. East-bound, some are headed to Lake Champlain, others down the Hudson to the Chesapeake or beyond. Westbound, they're headed to Oswego and the Thousand Islands where Lake Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence Seaway; or up the Trent-Severn, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, through Chicago and down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico – the Great Loop.

My dad has embarked on his own journey towing a camping trailer west. He joins us here in Little falls for Lasagne (baked on board) and conversation. 

Day 24: 6.19.18 - Schoharie, New York

The sultry south winds and thunderstorms of the previous evening were replaced with crystal clear skies of blue and refreshing breezes from the west.  A fast moving cold front brought an abrupt end to yesterday's oppressive heat.  We arose and, without feeling an immediate urgency for breakfasting, motored across the river to the Schoharie Aqueduct Park.

A "Canadian Crocodile" spotted off the bow!  In the U.S., this type of crocodile is known as "driftwood"

 Schoharie Aqueduct was built as a way for early canal boat passages in the 1830's to avoid the crossing of the tempestuous Schoharie Creek.  The creek, by nature, would often rise quickly and flood into the Mohawk River, creating some perilous navigation issues in the swirling waters.  These early builders created a series of locks on either side of the creek and raised the canal boats up through the locks, across the creek on a bridge and then back down again to river level.  The feat, done without any of the mechanical advantages we have today at our disposal, was an amazing one.  The stonework for the aqueduct was equally amazing to see as well.

 

 Underway again up the Mohawk River we motored on through and past lock 13.  The river wound its way through cuts and passes in the mountains and led us into the town docks at Canajoharie.  The town itself was settled by Dutch and German immigrants and that heritage is noted by the street sign names and by the horse and carriage consists that the Amish, who still live in this area, utilize for transportation.

Mountains meet he Mohawk River

Approaching Lock 12 on our way to Canojoharie

Gaty's grandmother taught French in Canajoharie. It may have been at this school

What the Heck?  Totally non-PC

The town is also notable for the presence and history of the Beechnut Factory.  Bartlett Artel, who co-founded the company, made a tremendous fortune in canning and packaging foods.  Bacon, baby foods, canned spaghetti.... you name it.  The list of canned and packaged goods produced at this factory was outstanding.  Artel was good to his employees and sought to bring his own love and appreciation of art to his workers.  He was known to pipe in classical music to the work floor and even offered art classes for his employees who wished to exercise their creativity.  He founded a library and an art museum in the town and collected art for others to see and appreciate.  The factory is empty now and slated to be torn down but the legacy remains and his contribution to the town and to the arts survives today in this small upstate New York town.

We moved on from the museum to visit the place for which the town derived its name.  Canojoharie is said to be a Mohawk language term meaning "the pot that washes itself," referring to the "Canajoharie Boiling Pot," a circular gorge in the Canajoharie Creek, just south of the village. 
We visited this gem of a park and soon found ourselves napping in the shade of a tree and listening to the water burbling over the rocks.

Horses park in the rear at the onvenience store

Back on board later that evening, Gary cooked up a piece of Haddock that we procured from the local meat and fish butcher and dined on the boat, tied up on the Mohawk river at the city park as the sun set.

Day 23, 6.18.18 Schoharie Crossing

Monday, it's another hot one, but we have a wind out of the west. Headwind. We have another General Delivery to pick up at the post office here, which means we don't depart until 11 am. Plenty of time to finish the sewing project I have of putting a zipper onto Partial Eclipse's tonneau cover. 

Being a weekday and now that we're away from cities, the river takes on a different character. There are few houses along the shore with their docks, boats and accoutrements, and even fewer boats zooming about. We mostly encounter other cruisers going up the canal.

We stop for water in Amsterdam and to let a thunderstorm roll through. The town is obviously trying to build itself up with riverfront improvements and a new mall, but the businesses haven't moved in yet, so downtown feels new yet empty.

Amsterdam waterfront.

AHA!  A surprise building seen in Amsterdam  No, not really.... but a bit humorous

Up through Lock 11, and we're the last boat up through Lock 12 before quitting time. We tie up to the wall above, and after dinner of salad, burgers, and pilaf, go out and explore the ruins of the Schoharie Crossing.

Lock 12, Eclipse is a small dot at the far end of the wall on the right.

All three iterations of the Erie Canal can be seen here. The original, which was quickly outgrown; the enlarged; and the current one that we're using. It's the 'enlarged one' of interest here. To cross Schoharie Creek, two locks and an aqueduct were built, the remains of which are still here. We toured lock #20, and one can imagine what it must have looked like in it's heyday. 

Old lock 20. Note indent in the walls where the doors were. 

Winch used to raise and lower gates on the dam below the bridge.

After the rain. Top of Lock 12 in Fort Hunter, NY

Day 22: 6.17.18 - Scotia to Rotterdam Junction

Scotia was a pleasant town to spend the night.  It's a suburb of Schenectady and, as such, hosts few services in comparison to it's parent city across the river.  We awaken to a warm morning and blue skies.  Temps in the mid 60's are destined for the upper 80's by afternoon.  We breakfast on oatmeal with dried fruit and pecans and then head into town.

Downtown Schenectady has been completely redone since I last visited it in the 1980's.  Businesses that were defunct and empty storefronts have since been revitalized with new businesses, repaved streets and upgraded sidewalks.  We pass a large ten movie theater and muse on the offerings.  One movie which we had postulated seeing was the "Incredibles II".  It happened to be playing there so we ambled inside to investigate show times.  The woman at the ticket counter remarked that the current 9:45 am showing was just starting in previews.  We looked at each other with a "sure, why not!" look and procured two tickets.  I just have to quickly note that the movie, while seemingly for kids, tackles themes that are very adult and provides ample entertainment for us "older kids" as well.

After the movie, we headed on down the main street a bit further to find our initially intended goal of a farmer's market.  Live music accompanied offerings of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, prepared ethnic meals and sundries as well as many vendors displaying their artistic wares.  We stocked up on the fresh vegetables, homemade bread and some meats we needed and then ambled back through the historic district where we learned that Schenectady was a terminus point for river traffic on the Mohawk river from western New York.  The city was walled in to protect it's 2,400 residents (in 1790) from the Mohawk Indians and from the British invaders.  The city was also a "gateway city"...terminus of the westward trading from the farms east in New England and a stepping off point to the newly forming farms to the west of the city.

City hall in Schenectady New York hosted a farmer's market and live music

Schenectady's historic district is home to buildings dating back to the late 1700's when the town was established.

A map of the original town of Schenectady

We returned to Eclipse and motored lazily along until we found suitable anchorage several miles upriver.  Bringing our craft up near the bank and into the shade of a large tree, we anchored in about 3 feet of water where we lunched and napped for an hour or so before continuing our travels westward through lock eight and to the base of lock nine.  Calling the lockmaster at lock nine, we learned, by his reply, that the lock system shuts down at five pm and it was now 5:07pm.  Never ye mind however.  Our intrepid voyagers were not to be deterred!  We had the permission of the lockmaster to tie up our craft on the wall just before the lock and within sight and sound of the base of the falls that marked our end of navigable progress for the evening.

Our place along the wall was well below the top by about six feet and so a sort of rope ladder line with butterfly loop footholds was quickly constructed to allow for our egress as required.  With such innovation in place and fastened to the sturdy steel bollard above, we clambered up our new rope "ladder" and ambled upwards towards the bridge over the Mohawk where what constituted the town of Rotterdam Junction lay just across the bridge.  It's not much of a town other than a collection of older homes, a fire department, a post office and a store that proudly proclaimed in its window, "If it uses a battery, we can get it for you".... Seemingly anomalous in a town of such diminutive stature.

Returning to our home for the night at the base of the lock and falls, we reboarded our craft, rocking as it gently did from the outflow at the base of the falls.  Fishermen plied the waters with their lines, searching each their own for their own prizes.  Gary ambled off to a local convenience store, part of a chain that seems to pepper this area, "Stewarts" to procure some additional gasoline for our motoring enterprises upriver tomorrow and, additionally, for a jar of pickles to add some spice and flavor to a delicious homemade potato salad.

Gary creates a potato salad from Jicama, sweet potato and Chelopodium Album collected from along a street in town and currently residing temporarily in his hat.

Potato Salad and some blogging on the computer

View from our mooring site along the wall at the base of lock nine.

Day 21: 6.16.18 Erie Canal to Scotia, NY

Saturday is blazing hot with full sun. So glad we have a tent over the cockpit. Even so, the reflection off the water plus the heat radiating off the tent is strong. 

We call on the marine radio to Tom the Lockmaster at Lock #2, and he opens the big doors for us. The walls tower over us. I loop a rope around a vertical cable to keep us in place on the wall as we rise 33 feet. The upper doors open and we're off!

Leaving Lock two - Waving goodbye to lockmaster Tom on the right

Approaching Lock Three

Tom says they are short staffed today, so he drives to the next lock while we motor along slowly. First Tom opens the valves to dump the water in the lock until it matches the level where we are. Then the doors open and we enter as before. The doors close, and the upper valves open to fill the lock until the level matches the upper pool. He then opens the upper doors and lets us out. All very simple in theory and in practice, but seeing the machinery yesterday that does it all was impressive. Especially the 1901 mechanical computer that sequences each step. Much like a mechanical music box.

All these locks has Kristen climbing the walls.

Once through lock 6, we join many speedboats as we progress toward Lock 7 and Schenectady/Scotia. Scotia has a public dock where for $20 we can spend the night. It's right by a large park and 1950s style drive-in restaurant where we get ice cream. 

The remains of an old aqueduct from 1841 crosses the Erie Canal in the town of Rexford.

Amazing how high we have climbed above sea level in such a short distance.

Lock to the left...Damn to the right... which way should we go to get upstream?

Sedimentary Rocks (shale and limestone?) appear along the river banks in Halfmoon

Kristen makes grape leaves stuffed with hot Italian sausage, onioin and pepper