We awoke to a 52° temperature, damp air, and overcast skies. We put our raincoats on to stay warm. We did not expect we’d be cruising through drizzle and rain all the way to St. Johnsville. Linda called to Lock E-18 (lift down 20 feet) to let them know we were on our way. The Lock Master had not set for either direction and was happy to set up for us We did not know their was another yacht a head of us, the first boat in the same direction since we left Oswego. The lock master mistook them for us and was locking them through when we arrived. We waited for the lock to reset, only 15 minutes. After passing the 10 MPH speed limit sign we made a mad dash (legal speed of course) to
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| Vacuuming the canal |
lock E-17 to catch up with the other boat. There were two on-going dredging operations we had to pass at 5 knots. We caught up with the other boat just as it was entering Lock E-17. It was the Nordic Tug, Penny-Wise, from Oswego, NY who was at the Ilion wall with us. Lock E-17 is the largest lift/drop in New York. We dropped 40 feet
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| Splash Down at St. Johnsville |
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| St. Johnsville Village Marina Office |
in elevation, rather quickly, but very smoothly. In addition to the drizzle, the lock walls leaked. There was a waterfall that rose above Brian and a hole that ejected water nearly six feet from the wall near Linda. Upon exiting, the owners of Penny-Wise asked us to exit first as they intended to walk their dog at the park just past the lock. We pressed on, through rain and drizzle, and into Lock E-16 (lift 20.5 feet down). We asked the Lock Master to call to Penny-Wise to see if they were close behind so we would wait for them and go down together. Since they didn’t respond, he put us through. They called in when we were half way down. Some times it just works that way. We were greeted by the dock master, Bernie, when we arrived at St. Johnsville. St. Johnsville’s claim to fame is it is the geographical center of New York State. When the drizzle stopped, we walked into the village to check out reprovisioning capabilities and walked away with one time from our list and two bags of groceries. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the boat out of the drizzle and damp air. Linda finished yet another book and Brian did research and data points regarding our trip thus far. Tomorrow we head for Riverlink Marina at Amsterdam, NY.
