TI: Waterford to Kingston NY

Monday 8/6/2018
Depart: Waterford Free Dock 8:05
Arrive: Kingston Municipal Marina 2:55
Distance: 57 nm
Locks: 1 (Troy Federal Lock)

With our trip today, we completed our locking adventures as we exited the Troy Federal Lock. I calculated some statistics and noted some "fun facts" from our trip.

• By the time we arrive home, we will have traveled 883 nautical miles which translates to 1016 statute miles.
• We docked at 8 Lock Walls / Town Docks (only one town dock charged a fee of $20 docking + $10 electric).
• We docked at 9 marinas along the way.

• All told, we transited 60 locks -- 
• the Troy Federal Lock, 
• 22 locks on the NY State Erie Canal, and 
• 7 locks on the NY State Oswego Canal.

• The thirty locks each way lifted us up and dropped us down a total of 595.1 feet for a total round trip lift / drop of 1190.2 feet. 
• Troy Lock - 14'
• The combined, "Flight-of-Five", locks at Waterford lifted us 169.1'.
• Lock E-17 is the deepest lock we transited with a 40' lift.
• Total Erie Lift is 462.5'.
• Total Oswego lift is 118.6'.

• We reached the Erie Canal Summit at Rome, NY at 420' above sea level.

• The Troy Lock has no hanging lines, and the pipes to tie to are spaced such that only one can be used for locking through - tied at midships.
• The Erie and the Oswego Canals have a variety of options
• all have hanging lines
• some also have cables to tie to if preferred
• some have pipes to tie to instead of cables
• Some locks have mandatory sides to use when locking (port or starboard).
• (The NY Canal Website provides lots of useful information on locking rules.)

•  Going down in a lock is much less turbulent than a lift, i.e. a smoother ride

• Tying to a cable or pipe on a "going down" lock can be hard and is sometimes impossible.

• Locking Essentials
• 2 or more boat hooks (3 is a good idea in case one is lost overboard during locking)
• 3 "short" lines - for our size boat: 25' at bow and 15' midships and stern preferable. 
• Work Gloves for grabbing and holding slimy lines hanging from the locks
• (we like the ones sold at Home Depot that have plastic on palm side and breathable fabric on the other)
• Fenders
• Fender Boards
• Sun Protection
• Rain Gear

• For the Eastern Erie, a vertical clearance allowing for a 19' bridge clearance is required.
• (we modified our mast to allow us to lower it for our canal travels)

---------------

Although my phone told me that the air temperature registered above 90 degrees today with a heat index well above that, on the Hudson River, with the wind blowing in our faces, it was cool enough to require a jacket to keep the chill off. Nice!

We passed through many familiar places on today's voyage - Troy, Albany, and Kingston to name a few.

Troy ...

Dam at Troy Federal Lock

Power Plant at Troy Federal Lock

Albany ...

Albany, NY

Highway Interchange at Albany, NY

Old Delaware & Hudson Railroad Building
(Now SUNY admin building)

U-haul Building in Albany
(I love the full-sized truck up in the air)

Kingston ...

Rondout Lighthouse

Tug - "Gowanus Bay"

Hudson River Maritime Museum

"Riverport Wooden Boat School"

A replica of the 141', 17th Century tall ship, "Kalmar Nyckel", is visiting Kingston and docked at the Maritime Museum until August 12th.

"Kalmar Nyckel"

So much rigging !!!!!

Figurehead

When we got off the Hudson River and onto the Rondout Creek, the heat found us. We quickly tied up the boat and prepared to kick back with air conditioning. Sadly, no sooner did we have ourselves all set to relax, than the dock master came and told us we had to move the boat forward several feet to allow for a boat coming in. 

Although there appeared to be plenty of space, the dock master was concerned because the 45 footer coming in did not have thrusters. I hate tying up multiple times (in the heat) when once would have served. He should have put us all the way forward to begin with!

I looked at the list of restaurants in the area, but nothing struck my fancy, so ultimately we ate on board. After dinner Clark said he wanted to go to an ice cream store. Only one was open. The dock master told him that we could find ice cream at the top of the hill. Anyone who has walked the streets of Kingston know that it is a pretty steep climb to walk through town.

We walked "up the hill" to the edge of the downtown - no ice cream. A check of Google maps revealed that the store was another .4 miles away. We kept walking - all the time climbing the hill. Finally, towards the summit of the hill, we found the ice cream store. It was indeed "at the top of the hill" just the hill was much taller than we expected.

As we approached the ice cream store, we found a pleasant surprise. We got to see the sunset! I asked Clark if he had us walk up there just to find it! He said, "No".

Sunset in Kingston, NY

The ice cream store turned out to be a "Stewart's Shop" where they had scooped, hard ice cream. I decided to pass on the ice cream, and Clark had one of his favorites - cookies and cream. When I asked him how he liked it, he said, "It's not bad."

Of course the walk back to the boat was all downhill. Although I was glad that I was not pushing a bike going up the hill, I did think about what a great bike ride it would be going down. On our walk, we passed the St. Mary's Catholic Campus. Some of the architecture made me think of "The Sound of Music" movie. (For some unknown reason, my photographer was on vacation as we passed this spot!)

Once back in downtown, we saw a monument of the Rondout Lighthouse.

I guess the 1.2 mile walk / climb to the ice cream store was not enough for Clark because when we got to the bottom of the hill, he wanted to walk around the streets at the riverfront. I certainly got some exercise which is good after sitting on a boat for hours.

Kingston, NY