We arose early for our trip to the free docks at Ft. Edward, NY. We only saw Warren to say our “good by’s.” We’d catch up with Monica later by phone.
 |
Splash Down behind one of the tugs pushing
a small barge |
We were off the dock at 8:02am. Brian crawled up to the Lanai roof to angle the antenna down as we headed for Lock C–1. The first bridge we encountered at Waterford had a height of 20 feet. We reached Lock C–1 within 30 minutes of leaving Waterford. Lock C–1 lifted us 14 feet to an elevation of 31 feet above sea level. Next was Lock C–2 for a lift of 18.5 feet to 49 feet above sea level. It also had a utility bridge with a height of 17 feet. The tips of our antennas touched the bridge, so Brian crawled back up to rotate the antennas horizontal just to be safe. Lock C-3 lifted us 19.5 feet (the highest lift in the Champlain Locks) to 69 feet above sea level. We reached Lock C–4 by 10:50am with a general speed of 8 knots for a 16 foot lift. We shortly encountered barges and mini-tugs (lots of them). Some barges and tugs doing dredging and others transporting the dredged material to makeshift terminals. It slowed us down some as we made slow passes through the work areas.
 |
Narrow part of the Champlain Canal
30 feet deep |
By 12:30 we reached the Schuylerville Yacht Basin, a half-way point between Waterford and Ft. Edward, to top off the fuel tanks and do a pump-out. It was a quick and informative stop. We learned the two marinas north of Lock C–12 at Whitehall, NY were closed completely with no dockage available. We thought the trip would continue without issues, but at Lock C–5 (19 foot lift) we waited for over 30 minutes for a barge to lock though and then at Lock C–6 (16.5 foot lift), the mast of the sailboat “Mill Evasion” came within a few feet of our lanai. (Sailboats must have their masts removed and set in make-shift cradles so the mast straddles the centerline of the boat to allow them to pass under the bridges.) We arrived Ft. Edward and Lock C–7 around 4:15. Ft. Edward lies less than a quarter mile west of Lock C–7. We motored into a
 |
| Free Dock Wall at Ft. Edward, NY |
space at the free dock wall. After getting water and power connected, we relaxed with glasses of wine then took a stroll round a small part of the town. Linda had read a review of high praise for a local restaurant, but we found they close on Monday’s and we ended up eating on the boat.
