Jack Tar Adventures

link to today’s route: https://share.nebo.global/voyage/d8bc80e5-a541-4997-9f2a-232fe046fb7e

Happy Birthday, Mummy!  Hope you have a good celebration with the boys 🎉💐🎂

We started the morning at Federal Lock #1 in Troy.  The lock opens at 8:00, and at 8:05, we entered right behind another boat named Dinner Out.  Lock #2 starts the Erie Canal run by the state of New York.  From here on out, the journey will be completely new to us.  Four years ago, we continued north from here on the Champlain Canal.  Today, we traveled west on the Erie Canal, where the Hudson River ends and the Mohawk River begins.

We got through locks 3-5 with starboard ties and Peter at the helm below, so we could both grab the ropes.  The door to the outside is next to the lower helm on the starboard side, so that was the easiest access for Peter. However, on lock #6, we were required to have a port tie, and locks 5 & 6 were only minutes apart, so my fender-tying skills were really tested. But I passed. Just.  Then it was back to the starboard side for lock #7, this time with an hour’s breathing room, thank goodness. The seven locks today raised us 160 feet.  Only 166 more to go. Our clean boat didn’t last long on the locks.

When there was time between locks, it was a very peaceful, windy (as in twists, not breezes) neck of the river with lots of modest houses along the shoreline.  Peter really had to keep a sharp eye on the channel markers.

We saw a huge brood of goslings.  Peter said it looked like a school outing with four chaperones 🙂

Just before we docked in Scotia, we passed through Schenectady, where there was a kinda crazy looking set of condos with a small marina.  

About a week ago, someone named Skipper Jack started sending me DMs through Nebo, a social media platform for boaters (it’s where the map routes I link come from). He sent me information about the Hudson River and the Erie Canal, which was very helpful. He’s with the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA), a group of boaters who circumnavigate the eastern half of the US through rivers, canals, lakes, and the Intracoastal Waterway.  Boaters who take this journey are called loopers.  We’re doing about half of the loop, plus what’s called the triangle loop, when we go back through the Rideau Canal to Ottawa, the Ottawa River to Montreal, and down Lake Champlain back to Albany and the Hudson River.

Peter was joking that Skipper Jack must be on the membership committee for this area because he was encouraging us to join.  Nevertheless, his information has been very helpful, and I was able to return the favor this evening by confirming that the Scotia Town Docks are operational and the power pedestals are working.

This evening, Skipper Jack sent us this picture of Jack Tar as he happened to see us pass by at the Schenectady Yacht Club.  Is he stalking us on Nebo?  Maybe 🤔

A very nice couple, Susan and Charlie, from Sarnia, Ontario, helped us dock. They’re on a 55’  Tollycraft. They have been power boating for more than 40 years, so they have a lot of experience to share.  Having just finished the loop, they’re deciding now whether to do it again.

We had planned to have chicken and salad for dinner this evening, but Peter had heard about how good the ice cream is at Jumpin’ Jacks. So we decided to have dessert first.  Then we got to Jack’s and smelled the burgers.  Chicken and salad went out the window.  The place is a local institution.  It was all outdoor seating. We were surprised by the huge number of people in line, but it moved incredibly quickly as they took orders and moved them through an assembly line.

As we walked home from Jack’s, we stopped to watch the Little League game.  This is truly Hometown USA.  We fell asleep to the sound of singing frogs.