Another well anticipated part of our adventure is the ERIE CANAL. We pulled out of New Baltimore once again heading north. Albany is the capital of New York and was much larger than most of the little towns we see along the rivers and canals. The port was busy and the architecture and scenery kept us (and the camera) occupied.
We passed the Albany Yacht Club……
Notice the U-Haul truck atop this building…….not sure how they managed that!
The town of Waterford is the start/finish port on the Erie Canal. It is a popular stop for loopers but we hadn’t traveled far so we continued on……
AND FINALLY HERE WE WERE – the fork in the road – THE ERIE CANAL…..we turned to port and awaited our first of seven locks for the day. There are a total of 35 locks on the Erie Canal.
There were other looper boats already waiting at the Welcome Center. Normally there is a fee for entering each of the Erie Canal’s locks but the entire system is now free in celebration of their 200th. anniversary. You see here a statue honoring the original horse-power for operating the locks – a mule.
In the seven locks we enter today, we will rise 169 feet in elevation in less than two miles. The first five locks are called “The Flight”. This sequence of locks is the largest lift in the shortest distance (only 1.5 miles) of any system in the world.
These are the muddy, slimy cables we attach our boat to at each lock. There were thousands of tiny mussels in this one!
It was beautiful scenery and perfect weather along the way…….
Everything associated with the Canal System is painted a vivid blue and gold – the locks, tugs and work boats.
We saw bald eagles…..(if you look real close)…..
“One” of these is not real!
We were in need of some much over-due rest and relaxation, and we would arrive in Schenectady in anticipation of a well appointed Yacht Club. But much to our dismay, we found this instead. We even wondered if we had arrived in the wrong place – but no, this was The Schenectady Yacht Club! It was surreal indeed!
View from our starboard-side (left photo), view from our port-side (right photo)…..
Although we showed disrespect for this place at first, it turned out to be the most serene and pleasant surroundings that did allow us to decompress…..