A Day Off in Waterford

Waterford – 0 locks, 0 nautical miles, 7 kilometres walking

We decided to give ourselves a day off after our triumphant completion of the Erie Canal. There was just a single lock remaining, but this would be an easy one in the Hudson River that we’d tackle tomorrow on our way to Castleton Boat Club to step our mast.

I popped my head out into the cockpit around 6:30 and there were already vendors setting up their stalls for the weekly farmers’ market so I went out for a walk to have a look around. The Waterford visitor centre was open and I stopped in to pay for the dockage, which was actually free but they charge ten bucks for using electricity. I was hoping they might have some Erie Canal cruising guides for sale I could get for the return trip, as we had been kicking ourselves for being cheap and not buying the Skipper Bob Erie Canal Guide at the Nautical Mind bookstore back in Toronto this summer, but unfortunately all they had for sale was Waterford t-shirts and sweatpants. One aspect of the canal that has surprised me is the limited number of towns that had developed waterfronts on the canal. Most hadn’t seemed to have changed much from the times of heavy industry where the canal was treated like a dumping ground or sewer and they kept it hidden away in their backyards.

We met with Kate and Ben around 9:30 and walked over to the local restaurant for a Sunday brunch fryup. It was a classic American diner – shoddy tables and benches, 70-year-old framed photos of old newspaper headlines, brat pack memorabilia, family photos of the owners, low prices, basic menu, and staff who had had undoubtedly worked there for decades. The place was packed, but they found room for us and the big bags of laundry we were carrying around and we enjoyed a great conversation and some decent enough food.

The next stop was a small commercial centre about a mile and a half away where we picked up some boat stuff at a hardware store, did laundry, had coffee and free wifi at McDonalds, bought some goodies at a liquor store, and nearly bought a half gallon of fancy ice cream we were all going to share, but couldn’t find five plastic spoons anywhere.

We returned to the boats, had lunch, then Ana and I decided we just couldn’t stand the disgusting state of the deck of our boat anymore so we got to work cleaning. Having the mast down and going through slimy locks makes a real mess so it took a while for us to clean all the mud and dirt and lock gunk off the parts of the deck we could access. I also scrubbed the hull from the paddleboard as it had been splattered with substances of all textures and colours. By the end it was starting to look pretty good, but honestly we couldn’t wait to get that mast back up tomorrow so we could properly clean it and convert SeaLight back into a sailboat.

I took the paddleboard for a ride while Mike and Ana chatted in the cockpit. I paddled against a surprisingly strong wind past all the boats and dock into the Hudson, which is a huge river. This river would take us all the way to New York City then into the ocean so it gave me a little thrill standing on my board looking southwards, wondering what adventures awaited us.

We assembled with our buddies for cockpit cocktails and toasted our successful completion of the Erie Canal.

The Senior Sailor’s Plan and Midnight Relationship Coaching

Amsterdam to Waterford – 9 locks and 32 nautical miles

Today was going to be our last on the Erie Canal but we had a lot of locks to get through so by 8:15 we were already in Lock 12 dropping down, along with our new buddy boat Waddington, piloted by Ben and Kate.

The canal opened up today and became much wider and there was much more boat traffic than we had seen thus far – mostly fishing boats and pontoon boats, but also a lot more housing along the canal. We passed through the larger town of Schenectady (Skin – ek – tah – dee) then twisted and turned through the winding canal, dropped down locks, including Lock 7 where they crammed in four other boats in addition to ours, including a 70 footer, then by about 2pm we reached the final stretch of the Erie Canal – a massive guard gate, which held a frightening steel guillotine, large enough to slice a yacht in half, then a series of five locks in quick progression, each dropping down 35 feet. The first one went terribly as there were currents in the lock preventing me from getting the boat close enough to the side for Ana and Mike to grab the ropes. Total panic ensued and visions of the starboard side of SeaLight getting scraped to pieces seemed imminent. I finally managed to motor the boat into position after completely stressing the transmission and we got her secured. The lockmaster Leroy calmly moseyed over and informed us that we had not completely lost our skills, but that the valves were misaligned causing the fast current. Fortunately, the rest of the locks went well and by about 4:30 we finally exited the final one and found free dockage just outside the lock in the village of Waterford.

After getting tied up and plugged in we walked over to Ben and Kate’s boat and joined them sitting on the edge of the concrete dock wall for a sundowner. It was a beautiful moment – the view over the canal, the warmth of the sun, the sound of water, the cranes and egrets in the shallows dipping for minnows. I think it was at that moment I finally internalized our new reality: reaching the Caribbean on this boat is possible, we have nothing but time on our hands, there is no schedule to maintain, and we are sure to meet new friends and get the help we need along the way. It’s a good reality.

Mike’s been coaching us on what it means to be 67. When it was time to head into town for dinner, he used this interesting technique to get up, I’d call it the Roll, Crawl, and Hoist maneuver. He flopped down onto his back, rolled to his front, dragged himself by his elbows further onto the dock, then grasped for anything solid to hang onto, in this case it was a swim ladder, but I could visualize other objects too – a Burmese Mountain dog, vine hanging off a tree, a thick-limbed child, a passing bicyclist, a cute girl’s dress or pant leg. His whole body creaked and moaned as the heaved himself up to his knees then finally staggered to his feet, out of breath, beads of sweat dripping from his silver fox hair.

“You can see the old body doesn’t bend the way it used to,” he stated after finding his footing. “Kris and Ana have been making certain, uh, accommodations for me along the way.”

“Yes, we’ve implemented a Senior Citizens Crew Program on the boat,” I explained to Kate and Ben. “We bought those little cups for dispensing morning meds, made afternoon nap time mandatory, ordered all crew to wear name tags, hand out Sudoku puzzles each morning for memory strengthening, added porridge to the breakfast options, and I’ve ordered a mini crane for hauling the old fellers out of the locks when they lose their balance and flip over the lifelines into the churning water. We also give them a few menial jobs to do so they feel useful – like folding laundry (which Ana refolds), dusting, peeling potatoes, doing lookout, and fluffing pillows before bed. The key element of the program though is we let them pay for everything along the way. Mike’s been piloting the program and really enjoys it.”

We walked the short distance into Waterford downtown and found an Irish pub for dinner, The downtown area was cute and seemed lively enough for a Saturday night. We had a great conversation, talking about the trip so far, and put together a list of what we need to improve for the return trip through the canal next year (listed out below for the benefit of Future Kris, circa May 2025). After our meal we walked back to the boat and Ben and Kate met us there for a nightcap, which turned into several, transforming Ben into a life coach and he gave Ana and I a full analysis of our relationship, at least what he could infer from some of the yelling and screaming he heard coming from our boat in the locks. His relationship rebuilding plan for us was simple, yet to me seemed insightfully constructed. It seemed I would be in for more frequent back scratches from my wife and in return, I would more regularly tell her how amazing she is.

For the cost of mere few ounces of rum, Ana and I made out like bandits and I hoped for more future sessions.

Instructions for better locking: 

-       Store boom on starboard side of boat

-       Remove the flag line as it gets in the way

-       Ensure all crew are wearing life preservers

-       Get rubberized gloves that don’t soak up the line slime

-       Enter the lock slowly and as parallel to the wall as possible

-       Have three boat hooks available, one for each crew, plus a spare if one breaks

-       Turn portside solar panel in

-       Grab first rope at midpoint of boat

-       Set fenders at regular length for down locks, but higher for up locks

-       Put foam protection at edge of spreaders and sides of arch solar panels

-       Put the big fender in the middle

-       Person in the middle to hold rope while going down; other two crew use boat hooks; while going up have two people hold ropes and one to push off