Day 76...Canajoharie, NY to Lock 17's Southeast Wall

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012

     I had a frustrating beginning of the day.  When Gary tried to use the MiFi this morning, it wouldn’t take the password we’ve been using since we got it.  Thankfully there was a Verizon store in Canajoharie.  We spent an hour there trying to get things done to my satisfaction.  You know me; I won’t take no for an answer.  Finally they agreed to overnight the replacement unit to our next marina in Ilion, NY.  Hope the new one keeps working. 

     We did shove off at about 11:00 a.m.  We went through Lock 14(8 feet, rope and pipe) almost immediately (It's the one we took the picture of from the bridge.).  After that was Lock 15(8 feet, rope).  We've got the 8-foot locks down pat.  Grab the ropes and hold on.

     We swear it looks like we are going downhill in the canal.  Does it look like it to you? 

     Next was Lock 16(20 feet, rope).  This lock had steel walls.  No huge chunks out of the walls like in some of the previous locks.

     A little while after we saw the bridge we entered the manmade part of the canal.  This section is somewhat narrower.   It has straight sides in some sections and vegetation down to the water in others.   

      Our chartplotter has been confused from time to time.  The area it shows our boat (It's the little boat symbol with the dotted trail behind it.) traveling over right now is the yellowish land.  The blue on the right is the Mohawk River.  The white strip on the left is supposed to be the canal.  Gary said to tell you we go a little faster when we're in the water.  

     We traveled in this part of the canal until we came to a dam where the canal enters the Mohawk River again. 

     All of a sudden something swam in front of the boat.  By the time I got my camera, it was farther away.  We saw a couple of Nutria back in Waterford.  They look like big rats.   There are also muskrats around here too.  We knew it wasn't a beaver.  So take your pick.  

     We traveled to just before Lock 17(45 feet, rope) and tied up to the south lock wall for the night.  We will go through this lock tomorrow.  We traveled 18.2 miles in 3 hours and 14 minutes.  We have traveled a total of 1562 miles total. 
     Lock 17 is "impressive" according to boaters on the Erie Canal.  It is the highest lift lock on the Erie Canal.  It is also believed to be one of only two locks in North America where the entrance gate (with a clearance of about 20 feet) is lifted above the boat instead of having doors that swing open.  They say, "You will get wet from the dripping gate!"  Hah, we will be inside, not like on the sailboat. 

    We walked up to the top of Lock 17 to watch a 50-60 foot boat lock through Lock 17.  This seems to be a local pastime since at least 6 or 8 other people were there too.  Look how small that big yacht looks down in that enormous lock.  The captain was trying to keep the yacht off of the walls using his engines and bowthruster instead of just putting a bunch of fenders out and sliding up the wall like we will.  He made it look very difficult.  He even smacked the wall pretty hard on the stern.  I feel nervous after watching him.  Gary also took a picture of TRAVELLER from the top of the lock.  It's a long way down, isn't it?

       We decided to walk into the nearby town called Little Falls, N.Y.  We walked along the canal passing by a section that is used for rock climbing.  None of the climbers were on the walls yet.  Them climbing would have made a better picture than them getting ready to climb.

       We kept walking along the canal to town.  I'm glad the wall was there.  Look how high the water is behind the wall. 

     Little Falls is up hill all the way.  I thought Gary was going to have to get behind me and push.  It was a nice town, but quite a few of the businesses were closed.  We did find a bakery.  You know how I love bakeries.  I got apple cider doughnuts.  Allison introduced me to them when we visited her family in New York before.  These were fine but nowhere near as good as the ones that were freshly fried.  The Town Hall was a 1916 stone building.

Just before we left town we saw the welcome sign.

      We decided to walk back over the high bridge between the lock and the boat.  We were taking one of Gary's shortcuts.  I hope we don't get lost.  

   

     We took a picture of Lock 17 from the right side of the bridge and TRAVELLER tied up to the wall from the left side of the bridge. 

        The last pictures are of the water from the boat's stern and the view out of the salon windows on the port side of the boat.  Some locks have high walls and some have short walls.  As you can see, these are high lock walls.