Day 313
Miles Traveled: 37
Total Miles Traveled: 4487
Today began our journey up the Champlain Canal. Started in 1817, this was the first canal of the New York Canal System. It was completed in 1822, three years before the completion of the well known Erie Canal. The canal connects Waterford, NY to Whitehall, NY linking the Hudson River with Lake Champlain. It has 11 locks, numbered 1-12 (there is no lock 10 - originally planned but never constructed), and courses over 60 miles. The first 37 miles of the canal are comprised of the Hudson River. Near each of the locks is the dam, and, as seen at Lock 2 can have impressive waterfalls.
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| Champlain Lock and Dam #2 |
We traveled with Mark & Vicki on "Blue Willow". They are Loopers that we met while at Waterford, NY. The locks were not very far apart, with the greatest distance being 14 miles between Lock 4 and 5 (just enough time for a quick lunch). In between each lock we enjoyed beautiful vistas.
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| traveling along the Champlain Canal |
We overcame an important hurdle on our travels today. One of the bridges along the Champlain Canal, just after Lock 3, usually only has 15.5 feet of clearance. We are 16.5 feet high. In this particular area, the lock master can fluctuate the level of the water. He was able to drop the level 2 feet thus giving us 17.5 feet of clearance. We made it under the bridge, but not without a little anxiety.
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| going under the lowest bridge on Champlain Canal - not much room to spare |
We also passed under "The Guillotine" (we heard a tow boat refer to it by this name.) Officially called the Crocker's Reef Guard Gate, this gate protects the man-made section of the canal above Lock 6 from spring flooding. The gate is lowered in the winter and raised in late Spring. It keeps any high water out of the upper portion of Lake Champlain. It is the only Guard Gate on the Champlain Canal.
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| Crocker's Reef Guard Gate |
As we approached Lock 7, the navigable portion of the Hudson River ends and the man-made section of the canal begins. Not only did we end our travels on the Hudson River, we also ended our travels for the day.
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| Hudson River to the left, Lock Number 7 to right, channel to Fort Edward in middle |
We took the short channel up to Fort Edward, NY and tied up to the free town wall. Not only was it free, it also had power and water. Fort Edward played a key role in transportation up the Hudson Valley. Before the canal was built, boats were removed form the Hudson River in this area and carried west towards Lake George to proceeded further north. Fort Edward was built to protect the waterway.
After getting the boat secured to the wall, Dan washed the decks that were full of mud that came of the wall at Waterford during the storm, and, Angie worked on (what else) the blog. We finished up just in time to grill some chicken for dinner. Afterwards, we took a quick walk in the small town (not much there) and then visited with Mark and Vicki.
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| "Seahorse" tied up to free wall at Fort Edward, NY |
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