Lock 6: 33 feet, Lock 5: 33.25 feet, Lock 4: 34.5 feet, Lock 3: 34.6 feet, Lock 2: 33.5 feet,
Federal Lock (Lock 1): 15 feet.
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| We got snubbed |
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| Guard Gate 2 |
Today we transited the last six locks on our journey. Yeah! We started out at 7:30am to be at the lock dock wall with other boats, if there were any, to head down. We were surprised to find Guard Gate 2 closed when we arrived at 7:50am. We assumed they were normally open except to prevent flooding. There was no answer from the gate master when we hailed him requesting passage. So, we tied up to the gate dock wall that is not set up with cleats. It only has the huge Snubbing Posts 10 feet from the side of the wall. Brian brought Splash Down parallel to the wall so Linda could step off with a mid-line to hold Splash Down to the wall. Thankfully, Splash Down’s freeboard is high enough for her to just walk off the boat. Then she grabbed the forward spring line and wrapped it to the post to keep Splash Down from yawing its bow or stern into the wall. Brian again called the gate master at 8:00am and got a response. The gates would open in five minutes. Then we saw a speeding car coming down the hill in front of the guard gate, and into the parking lot. The gate master was late to work. He ran into his building, the gate came up, and he gave us the green light to proceed. We were through the guard gate and at Lock 6 to find ourselves the only boat going down. We learned at Lock 5 there was one boat going up. Consequently, all locks were in our favor — in, down, and out. We arrived at Lock 6 at 8:30am and exited Lock 2 at 9:35am. At 9:40am we officially crossed our wake thus completing the Triangle Loop. What a ride we are having! We arrived at the Troy Federal Lock (which is Lock 1, but not called that for some reason) and were told
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| Moving into Lock 2 |
we had to wait 20 minutes. We approached the dock wall to tie up. Again there were no cleats and the wall was at least a foot higher than our freeboard. Brian brought Splash Down along side a recessed safety ladder on the wall. Linda secured Splash Down to it as we waited. Fortunately, it wasn’t a 20 minute wait. When we got the green light to proceed in, only one lock gate was open; not both as is usually done. By 10:18am, we were done with locks. I think I heard a big sigh from our arm muscles. The current on the Hudson was in our favor giving us an extra knot of speed. We arrived at Shady Banks Marina around 12:40pm very hungry for lunch. The marina restaurant has gluten free offerings. After lunch Brian did laundry and Linda cleaned the outside of the boat — a little change up is good for the soul. For dinner, left-overs and champagne to celebrate our accomplishing the Triangle. Around 9:30pm we lost all power. Our immediate thought was there is something wrong with Splash Down. But no, the entire marina was dark, as was anything we could see in the distance. We could see a lot more stars in the sky, which was spectacular. Brian started the generator to prevent our refrigerator from draining our batteries and the ice in the ice maker from melting, and well, to keep Linda cool. He waited until 10:30pm before going go bed, but had to leave the generator going. He wasn't worried since we have detectors on the floors of the cabin to alert us to fire or carbon leaks while sleeping.
