Geezers, that's what we sometimes refer to ourselves as, don't always clearly understand what the other has said. Let's face it our hearing is not what it used to be. Because of these sometimes funny sometimes frustrating incidents I decided we needed headsets. This would eliminate the need to yell back and forth from fly bridge to bow or dock and minimize mistakes. Great idea, right? As we headed to our first lock I got them out and turned them on. Nada, nothing ugh! Apparently you have to take the batteries out and charge them before using! The directions didn't say that, and I did read them! Guess we wont be using them today. Upon the approach to Waterford I went down on the bow to check for space on the wall to stay for the night. We could then be fresh and well prepared for the Waterford flight, a set of five locks in succession. The wall was pretty full and Tom yelled down, what do you think, go or no because the lock is open. I grabbed a line and yelled back no. He thought I said go. If only you could have seen my expression! Of course if we were wearing the headphones that would never have happened! We were not really ready. As we drove under the 20 foot bridge before the lock,, rat tat tat, went the antennas. Oops forgot all the bridges on the Erie are a standard height of 20 ft. With antennas up we are 25 ft. With them down we are 18.5. I think I already said we weren't ready didn't I ? Two of the boats going in ahead of us were brand spanking new beautiful 46 footers. The third was the little boat that we locked through with in Troy. Now I'm thinking, oh no, we have to travel through five locks with these boats because you cannot stop between locks.
I caught my line but this time put it on a cleat to help hold us in this wind, Tom struggled to hold the his line at mid ship and our stern headed to the center of the lock. As I looked behind me to see how close we were to the new boat I saw the captain holding us off with a boat hook. No worries he yells, I'm your stern thruster. You don't have thrusters do you? I just smiled and shook my head. It was a long ride up with lots of jabbing back and forth but we were finally at the top. There in front of us stood 4 boaters we met in Shady Harbor. I wanted to crawl under a rock. One of the gals yells I took pictures. That of course thrilled me, now we have our debacle on camera. "We wanted to come around and help but they would not let They proceeded to tell me they decided to stay at Waterford because of the high winds. Good decision guys! This was lock 2 with only four more to go!!!!
A little background; The Waterford flight is a set of five locks built in 1907 that will lift your boat 165 feet within a span of a mile. They mark the beginning of the Erie and Champlain canal. This is the greatest lift in the shortest distance on any canal in the world. These locks are necessary to navigate around the Cohoes falls.
Now we only had 4 locks to go and no time to breathe in between. We will be locking through with the brand new boats the rest of the way! UGH! With each lock we became more proficient. Tom moved to the steps just before the aft deck to hold his line and I moved forward to the bow rather than along side. We stopped further back in the lock away from the new boat so he no longer needed to stand guard on his swim platform. Once through I was exhausted and ready to stop but it wasn't to be. We needed to get through one more lock to reach the free wall. As it turned out the wall was not inviting so we decided to tie up at Crescent Boat Club. We all had a great evening at the bar in the clubhouse. Quite a few members were there as well as the two guys in the Grady White who we had followed all day. We talked and laughed and told stories.
Seven locks and 10 hours on the water.
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