Great Loop Overall Statistics to date:
Statute Miles: 1935.4
Average Miles/Day: 49.6
Total Hours Underway: 267.7
Average speed (mph): 7.5
States Transited: 9
Total Days: 96
Travel Days: 39
Locks: 8
Fuel Purchased: 472.9
Miles / Gallon: 3.4
Nights at Extra Days
Marinas: 23 54
Anchor: 13 3
City dock: 2 0
Free Wall: 1 0
Mooring: 0 0
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A couple of smooth days along the Hudson River brought us to the town of Waterford, NY. We left Catskill a little after 7 AM and turned north out of the creek.
Partway up the river, we heard chatter on the VHF radio about a Towboat US crew attending to a boat that had sunk in the middle of the Hudson River. They had just arrived on scene. They were discussing with commercial barges the water depth of 40ft and that the top of the boat (now sitting on the bottom) allowed for 17ft of clearance to the water's surface. After plotting the GPS coordinates of where they were, we found out that we had just passed right over the top of the sunken boat about 30 minutes earlier!
An easy stop at the Albany Yacht Club right on the riverfront. We were concerned about wakes from boat traffic right on the river, but we only had about 4 or 5 medium "rockings" the whole time we were there. The yacht club is very nice with fuel and pumpout available.
The next day was our first "Erie Canal" lock in Troy, NY. This lock is named "E-1" for the Erie Canal even though it is still on the Hudson River proper and is prior to the "hard left turn" onto the Erie (Mohawk River). The lock-through was calm and without any stress or incident. It has both ropes and pipes to hold boats along the wall during locking. We prefer the pipes on our boat, because we have a mid-ship cleat that balances the boat fairly well and requires only one line to secure. The ropes on the other hand, are hung high up from the top wall and typically do not provide as much lateral pull to keep the boat secure even with a bow and stern connection.
It is interesting to think that, once through the Troy lock, there will be no more influence of ocean tides or currents on our journey until we get all the way back to the Gulf of Mexico in the fall. This is one less thing we have to worry about when doing navigation planning. The canal does join and depart from several rivers along the way, but these have only mild currents except during times of rain/storm flooding.
Also, there is now little below the water (our “draft”) to worry about as the Erie Canal water level is maintained plenty deep enough for us - and without any tidal influence. Instead, our focus now shifts to things above the water -- to our “air draft” -- when navigating low highway/railroad bridges and the lock guard gates.
We arrived in Waterford very early after a VERY short travel day (shortest day so far) and there was plenty of space on the Visitor's Center linear dock. We made arrangements to stay through the Fourth of July celebration, pickup of prescriptions, and a visit with family.
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Great Loop Travel Days (GLTD):
038: Albany NY from Catskill NY
039: Waterford NY from Albany NY
Map of our Overall Great Loop travel:
GLTD038 Albany NY (from Catskill NY): We dropped lines from Catskill NY around 7:00 am. Water was flat as we motored toward Rip Van Winkle Bridge, which is noticeably narrower than previous bridges – the river is beginning to close in.
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse was gorgeous against the blue skies reflected on the mirror-like river.
I captured photos of a bird “fight”. I think this eagle took over the osprey’s “space”…
… and the eagle was staunchly defending his new space!
Ray captured a photo of this family of geese.
By 10:00 AM, it was hot. The heat index was 107, so we decided it was time for air conditioning. We were still underway, so Ray started the generator then turned on the AC in the salon, which quickly cooled us down to a frigid 80 degrees. It felt decadent to have air conditioning while underway for the final two hours to Albany!
We passed the small port of Albany and docked at Albany Yacht Club before noon.
After securing the lines and having a light lunch, we scootered to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription refills. We also went to the nearby auto parts store for 3 gallons of oil, which we brought back in our backpacks.
🟠 Life Afloat Tip: States have different regulations concerning prescription transfers; keep track of which pharmacy is “holding” your refills.
When we got back “home” to the boat, I noticed some of my prescriptions were not showing the correct number of refills remaining. When I called the pharmacy to inquire, I learned that New York allows the transfer of only 1 refill at a time.
📝 Thankfully, I keep meticulous notes about when/where I fill prescriptions. Now, I just need to track the last place(s) where refills remain to be transferred.
mv Griffin arrived a few hours later, and we Ubered downtown to Druthers Brewing.
Interesting Fact: Daniel, our Uber driver on the way to the brewery, gave us some Albany highlights. We learned the movie “Salt” was filmed in Albany; apparently film makers like the triple-decker streets.
“The Punisher” was filmed in what he called the “eye-sore building”, Central Warehouse.
Ref: https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/erry-2018/07/a5445f35944860/marvels-punisher-season-2-is-a.html
History and Dinner: After sampling the beers at the brewery, we took another Uber for dinner at Olde English Pub. Locals call it The Quackenbush House, after the Dutch family who lived here, in the home which is estimated to have been built in 1736.
Interesting Fact: This Uber driver was from Troy NY, and told us about the HBO series “The Gilded Age” that is currently filming in Troy. “The next creative project of Julian Fellowes, best known for creating, writing and executive-producing the award-winning “Downton Abbey”, the series will be a “period drama that follows the millionaire titans of New York City in the 1880s.”
While researching Albany filming, I discovered Woody Harrelson recently filmed part of the HBO series “The White House Plumbers” -- about the Watergate Scandel -- in Albany, as well as Kingston and Poughkeepsie.
The next day, we were rained out all day, so we “worked”:
✅ studied some videos about Erie Canal locks and processes
✅ prepared lines to be used in the Erie Canal locks
✅ readied our normally-stowed, big ball fenders
✅ assessed bridge clearances (no need to drop the mast yet)
✅ washed a load of clothes
✅ caught up on blogs (I fell behind during the whirlwind trip to & through New York city)
🟠 Life Afloat Tip: When cruising, consider setting return address to that of a “delegate” mail handler.
Back in Chestertown, I mailed souvenir t-shirts to my great niece and nephew. My sister (their “Mimi”) called to let me know she got the package – not of the children’s parents. I must have had a senior moment and mailed it to the wrong address. Fortunately, I had used my sister on the return address.
While cruising, I usually set the return address to someone nearby so they can complete the delivery for me -- just in case the package gets lost in the mail, or sent to the wrong place, or I screw up the address. 😒
My “just-in-case return address” scheme worked beautifully. Incidentally, in this case, the “delegate” return address also saved the postal service from shipping the package all the way back to …. well, you see my point. Cruisers don’t have a fixed shipping address.
My “greats” are as cute as ever! I’ll have to send them clothes more often to model for a return photo. 😊
⚡ Severe weather prompted our decision to skip the Uber downtown for a different brewery & restaurant.
🚫 More Post-Covid Misses:
Park Playhouse
The Egg
Palace Theatre
Albany Symphony
Marina Notes: Our stay in Albany Yacht Club was pleasant. We had thought we may be rocking & rolling, since it seems unprotected from the river. Surprisingly, boaters in the area actually heed the “NO WAKE” zone.
Pedestrian Notes: The dockmaster advised us that anything over the bridge (toward downtown) requires Uber or Taxi. We didn’t attempt to cross on foot. According to the routes we saw on Maps apps, there is no pedestrian access across. When we took the Uber across, the roadways seemed pretty complex, so I concur with the dockmaster. 😊
Across the river from our marina in Albany was the USS Slater escort. “The USS SLATER DE-766 is a CANNON class destroyer escort that served in the United States Navy during World War II. One of 563 similar ships constructed between 1943 and 1945, the SLATER is the last destroyer escort remaining afloat in the United States today.”
This ornate building is currently the SUNY (State University of New York) admin building, but it was built 1914-1918 as the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Building.
“The central tower is thirteen stories high and is capped by an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) working weathervane that is a replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon.”
Ref: https://www.albany.org/listing/suny-system-administration-building-(former-d%26h-building)/841/
“Designed in a Flemish Gothic style, the building commemorates the original Dutch settlement of the City of Albany.”
We also saw the “eyesore” building the Uber driver told us about, where “The Punisher” was filmed. It is quite a juxtaposition behind the green foliage at the river’s edge.
We transited our first New York lock in Troy NY, which lifted us about 15 feet. Here you can see Ray is holding the line, which slides up the pole as the water rises in the lock.
On SCOUT, we have 2 short 15-foot lines with a loop on one end that we leave attached to the mid-ship cleats on both port and starboard sides. While in the lock, we wrap the bitter end around the pipe/cable inside the lock wall and hold it fast, wrapped with a partial loop around the cleat.
The lock tender saw me with my camera and told me I had just missed the eagle (now hiding in a nearby tree). After leaving the lock, I noticed a large bird landing in a tree, and voila!
Since we have seen several eagles near locks, we guess they have learned that fish get trapped in the lock.
🔷 Boater Tip: Refer to guide books and internet information for descriptions of the locks.
A good starting place for New York locks is the New York Canal Corporation website.
When I clicked on Troy Federal Lock from this list, I found more information about the Troy lock:
Northbound lift height 14 feet
Attachment type = Pipes and Cables
To use the pipes and cables, you will secure your line to your vessel, then loop it around the pipe or cable.
Study any references carefully. When I searched for our next lock, Waterford, I noticed there are locks for both the Erie Canal and the Champlain Canal.
By mid-morning, we arrived at the Waterford lock, where we planned to hang out for a few days (to see family) before heading west on the Erie Canal.
There was space on the 1st-come-1st-serve floating dock at the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center, but we waited for the boat in front of us to leave his space and enter the lock before trying to negotiate in to tie up.
We tied up a couple of spots behind our friends on mv Griffin (the green boat in front).
Waterford was a convenient stop. There is a grocery and a pharmacy about 1/2-mile away. If you speak to customer service at the grocery store and let them know you are docked at the visitor center, they will let you roll the shopping cart all the way to the visitor center, where the store picks them up once a week.
NOTE: Someone has to remove the perimeter lock on the wheels. 😊
History: Waterford is the oldest incorporated village in the country, c.1793.
Waterford is also the birthplace of Ethelda Bleibtrey, the first US woman to win an Olympic event and the first woman in the world to win 3 golds in swimming (in 1920). Interesting Fact: She took up swimming as therapy for curvature of the spine. Ref: https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/09/archives/ethelda-bleibtrey-76-won-3-medals-for-swimming-in-1920-olympic.html
Bethesda Church (Episcopal) is a beautiful stone church, originally completed in 1842 and renovated in 1861 and 1887.
Lysander Button House (22 Third Street): This beautiful second empire house, built in 1876, was the home of Lysander Button, the manufacturer of Waterford’s famed Button Fire Engines.
Waterford Rural Cemetery: We took a brief stroll through this cemetery on one of our exercise walks.
Visiting Family: Ray’s brother and sister-in-law drove about 3 hours to visit us in Waterford. They came bearing gifts (sort of) ----- Ray had ordered some spare parts to be delivered to their house.
After walking to McGreivey’s Irish Pub for lunch, they drove us to Brown’s Brewing in Troy (too far to walk).
We then drove to Saratoga Springs, where they checked in to their hotel and where we had dinner at another brewery, Druthers Brewing. (We had Ubered to their Albany location at our last stop.) Note the mountain of bottled water in the background below. Saratoga Springs had a boil-water advisory, so they were probably serving as many bottles of water as beer that weekend. They even had bottles in the bathrooms telling you to use them for washing your hands! 😮
Before heading back home, our visitors watched a cycle of lock E2 and swapped RVing stories with mv Griffin.
Steam Boats: We got to see – and hear – small steamboats during their annual harbor meet-up in Waterford.
Warning: This short video includes the firing of a small cannon – after a 4-whistle warning.
Food:
Convenient: Don & Paul’s Coffee Shop is a short walk from the Waterford Visitor Center. I was surprised they served grits (this far north) – and they were good!
Not to Miss: Babes Café, Cohoes (pronounced cu-HOES) (3.0 miles). If you can handle a 3-mile walk (or scooter), don’t miss a delicious, filling breakfast at Babes. I recommend home fries with onions.
Not to Miss: the Daisy, Cohoes. Schedule an Uber for this 3-mile trip and enjoy a delicious tacos dinner with a creative beverage. I recommend the Spicy Caramelized Pineapple margarita with jalapenos!
Before dinner in Cohoes, we stopped into 2 breweries. BYE-i Brewring was nearly empty. They had just celebrated their 1-year anniversary the night before – and most of the downtown restaurants were closed for the holiday weekend. Unfortunately, the stout Ray wanted try sold out during the anniversary party. 😒
Table 41 Brewing (meaning “table-for-one”) is about 1 block away. There is a great selection of different beer styles here and a nice cozy vibe inside.
Waterford Farmers Market: We were still in Waterford on Sunday for the Farmers Market right on the harbor. (This is the first time, in a while, that our schedule aligned with the local market.)
BINGO! BYE-i Brewing had a tent – AND sold me the last 2 crowlers of the stout Ray had wanted to try when they were sold out. Who owes who now, Ray? 😊
mv Griffin was already planning to grill hot dogs for the 4th of July evening festivities, so I bought a small container of chili from award-winning “chili master” Edward DuClos – a “regular” at the Waterford market. He was proud of his many awards and of all the people, including Taylor Swift, who have tried his chili. 😊
I also bought a pint of blueberries and made topping for an Instant Pot cheesecake. Mmmm! And we also grilled some purple snap beans – that turned green when we cooked them. (That was a new one for us.)
4th of July Fireworks: We enjoyed front row (well, cockpit) seats for the Waterford fireworks on the harbor.
This was the last time we will see the mv Griffin crew for a while. We are going separate ways from here, but hopefully our paths will cross again “down the river”. 😊
From here, having made the “hard left turn” at Waterford, we will change course from North to generally West, along the historic Erie Canal.
What’s next? In the next blog, we will enter the Erie Canal and pass through almost half of the locks.
Click here to view our previous blog posts: https://n37scout.wixsite.com/travels/blog