Mechanicville, NY to Fort Edward, NY

Miles Traveled 28.3

Total Miles Traveled 4607

Day 271

Today we had to lock through 5 locks, Lock #3,4,5 and 6 were on the Hudson River, the last Lock #7 starts our course on the Champlain Canal.  The section of the canal between Fort Edward to Lake Champlain was completed in 1819.

Our first obstacle was not the first lock of the day, but the railroad bridge after it.  Bridge C5 has a normal height above the water of 15.5 feet.  The lockmaster can drop the water level to 17 feet clearance if notified in advance.   We made that request yesterday, and making the necessary changes to our boat height we were ready to squeeze under it.

At this point, I’m starting to second guess our boat measurements.  Did I have a full tank of fuel and water when I measured our height above the water?

Okay, I’m coasting in neutral and ready to full throttle reverse if needed.

We made it with about 8 inches to spare.

We had a great cruise up the river………..

We didn’t have any delays until Lock #6, the lockmaster asked us to tie up on the wall as they had a disabled vessel in the lock.  We took advantage of the downtime and warmed up our leftover pizza for lunch.  With less than an hour wait, we were in the lock.  This is the Crocker's Reef Guard Gate, it is basically a guillotine that is closed to protect the canal from flooding.  The excess flood water is diverted to the Hudson River overflow dam.

When we reached Lock #7 we had the same delay with a disabled boat, but this time we had a thunderstorm brewing behind us and had planned to tie up to a dock on the other side of the lock.  As soon as the lock doors started to open, we started for the lock and had the green light to enter.  It started to sprinkle while we were rising up in the lock, and when the exit doors opened we headed for the dock.  The wind was blowing and light rain starting as we secured the boat to the dock.  We had a lot of wind, but the storm passed around us.

Fort Edward city dock.

The dock is across the street from a New York Canal Maintenance building.  The superintendent walked over and thanked us for being patient waiting on the disabled vessel.  It turns out that a sailboat ahead of us, wiring harness had caught fire before entering Lock #6,  but was able to extinguish it before engulfing the boat.  The lock maintenance personnel towed the sailboat to the maintenance area of the lock.