New Baltimore, NY to Waterford, NY

Miles Traveled 27.6

Total Miles Traveled 4570

Day 268

Now this is what I call comfortable boating, plenty of water in the channel, trees and hills for wind protection, and anchorages with more than 10 feet of water in them.  We weighed anchor about 7 this morning with a little fog on the horizon.

We have seen more wildlife the past few days than in the last few months.

At first I thought this was another lighthouse breaking through the distant fog, but it turned out to be a tug pushing water down river.

As we approached Albany, NY we thought we were going to get a boat wash, turns out the fire department was having a training exercise.

Albany New York.

Lift bridge at Troy New York.

Troy Lock, also known as the Federal Lock, is the first lock traveling north from Manhattan on the Hudson River.  The lock raised us about 14 feet and after passing through this lock we will not experience tidal changes or salt water.  At our anchorage last night, behind Houghtaling Island, we had a tide change of about 5 feet. 

Now we have to make a decision, turn right and take the Champlain Canal Route, or turn left and take the Erie Canal Route.  We are taking the Champlain Canal Route to the St. Lawrence River, but first we are stopping at Waterford City Dock for a couple of days.

Oh no!  We moved north too fast, it’s snowing!  Okay, it’s 85 degrees, its’ just cottonwood seeds floating through the air.

This has been a great stop, some of the other boaters we have met along the way are here, “Cat Daddy”, “Miss My Money” and a previous owner of “Moni Jean”, “Mascot”, they are all taking the Erie Canal route.

It was a busy day, we cruised 27 miles, went through a lock, Moni had her hair cut and I changed the engine oil and filter.  We did have time to have baby back ribs delivered to the boat and visit with our looper friends.