STUCK IN THE SYSTEM

Sunday, June 15

It was raining on and off this morning, so we delayed leaving the dock to start our trek through the Erie Canal. I had the VHF radio on and heard another boat request passage through the lock and the lockmaster replied that it would be at least 30 minutes before he could open the lock. We felt we could be ready to go in 30 minutes, so got everything together and followed the other boat into the first of the Waterford flight of 5 locks.

We have a fair amount of experience in going through locks, having transited them in Seattle, Ireland, France, Lake Okeechobee, Norfolk and probably others I can’t think of right now. However, these locks are different due to their height. It’s not unusual to have locks on the Erie Canal lift 40 feet - considerably more than most locks. One enters the lock and positions their boat against one of the walls. There are different ways of securing to the wall, but, for the most part, the locks here have a vertical cable recessed in the concrete wall to loop a line around and keep you next to the wall. The gate you entered through is closed and water from upstream is allowed to flow in through a series of conduits which enter deep within the lock. The result is that the water level raises, but with a large amount of turbulence which moves the boat around and presses it agains the lock wall. To prevent damage, one places “fenders,” inflated vinyl cylinders, between the boat and the wall. Unfortunately, since the wall of the locks are underwater so much, a lot of gunky stuff grows on them. This stuff gets all over the fenders and then, all over the hull of the boat. This is exactly what happened on our first set of locks today. Because we decided quickly to enter the first lock, we didn’t set up our “fender boards,” wood guards that ride outside of the fenders and slide against the lock wall.

After waiting 45 minutes to enter lock #7 due to some repair work going on, we decided to dock in the village of Scotia, right across the river from Schenectady. We took a walk into the village, then spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning the fenders and hull.

Monday, June 16

Talking with folks from another boat docked next to us, we learned that the locks in the last part of the canal where we are headed are closed for the next week due to high water.

Runoff entering the canal system

There has been an unusual amount of rain here this month, and the forecast is for another heavy storm to come through today. We decided to stay put in Scotia for another day, since we are now stuck inside this canal system for another week - there’s no hurry to go anywhere.

There are a number of necessary procedures for taking the boat out of the country and returning. We went through these last year when we cruised the Bahamas, but Canada has a few more requirements. I spent a couple of hours on the phone today calling the US Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection trying to figure out exactly what documentation I need to get back into the US. It ended up being a three-ring circus. I got a different story from each agency, no one could tell me exactly what I needed, and each agency referred me to the other. I probably have enough pieces of paper, and emails, to get back into the country, if only because of all the confusion. 

Before the heavy rains came, I spent some time cleaning and oiling the bikes, which live on the aft deck, exposed to the weather. Then I installed the fender boards so I wouldn’t have to keep cleaning the fenders and hull. I tried with the fenders horizontal and vertical - I'll have to see which way works best.

Fenders placed horizontally behind boards

It looked like the storm was going to fizzle out, so Elaine walked back into the village to mail a package, and got stuck there during a huge deluge. During the downpour I went out on deck with the deck brush and scrubbed more of the “lock gunk” off.

Fenders vertical

After the rain, it started clearing, and we took a walk over the bridge to Schenectady, wandering around their historic district. Another squall came through so we ran under a nearby awning for protection - what do you know - it happened to be an awning for a nice tavern…