June 8-11, 2024: I make my way back down the Champlain Canal at a more leisurely pace.
After my week in Lake Champlain, I stopped for the night at the free wall in Whitehall, NY. That’s where I met Capt Paul and his crew member Joe for lunch at Skene Manor. And when I noticed that another boater at the wall seemed to be going solo, I invited him to join us.
I knew Capt Paul from my first Great Loop trip on his 2017 Ranger Tug R-27, Nano. You can read a day-by-day account of my five weeks on board with him and another crew member in this blog. The best place to start is probably the post where I list each post in that series: Index to Great Loop 2021 Posts. Although I learned a ton on that trip and, for the most part, had a good time, I did depart the boat three weeks earlier than originally planned. I generally get along well with others, but there are some people I simply cannot tolerate. My fellow crew member was one of those people. I stayed in touch with Paul since then, following his progress on what’s called the Down East Loop. I knew we’d cross paths somewhere between the Hudson River and Lake Champlain and Whitehall turned out to be the place. So we made arrangements to meet up for lunch that day.
Old boaters having lunch. Capt Paul is sitting across from me.
Lunch, which was served by a staff of older women — and when a 62-year-old refers to “older women,” those women are considerably older than 62 — wasn’t anything special. (Sorry, ladies.) The tour of the old mansion was interesting, though. We were able to visit rooms on all four floors, including the tower. What really fascinated me, though, was being able to see rooms that had not yet been restored. It really gave me an appreciation for the work they’d done. Still, it’s so sad that remarkable buildings like Skene Manor are allowed to get into such deplorable condition in the first place.
Afterwards, I walked with my pups down to New Whitehall Marina to pick up my mail. Things were hopping in the tavern and I almost stuck around. But I went back to the boat, where I folded up my sail-like bimini top and prepped the fenders for a week of locking. Then I flew the drone for a while to get shots of Skene Manor and our boats parked along the wall. Then I just relaxed. I was asleep before 9 PM. It had been a long day.
Here’s a drone shot that puts Skene Manor in context with the rest of the town and the lock.
This drone shot is a look up the lock wall with the bridge and lock beyond. My boat is the first one; Paul’s is the last.
Whitehall to Fort Edward
In the morning, Capt Paul and Joe in Nano pulled away from the wall about 15 minutes before the lock was due to open at 8 AM. They were going north so they needed to lock through; I was going south so I didn’t need to. (That’s one of the reasons I spent the night at the wall — so I could leave any time I wanted to.) The lockmaster took his time getting the lock ready for them, although I know the chamber was already more than half full since that’s how they leave them at night. I honestly believe that the lockmasters are slower to open if you’re already waiting at 8 AM than if you show up at 8:05 AM. In any case, Nano and the other boat that had been waiting even longer didn’t get into the lock until 8:15 AM. Then the lock closed and Capt Paul was gone.
I didn’t get under way until 10:20 AM. I didn’t have far to go. I cruised at 7-8 knots on the narrow canal, passing through four locks. I was the only southbound boat.
I parked my boat with the ladder next to my swim platform so it would be easier to get in and out.
The free wall in Fort Edwards is a little tricky to get to, especially from the north. You come out of the lock — you’re locking down when southbound — and make a 180° starboard turn around the end of the lock into a marked channel. (Northbound, you stay in the channel immediately left of the lock, on your port side.) You cross under two low bridges and the wall is ahead on the starboard side. It’s a very high wall with metal ladders attached to it. It’s so high, in fact, that if I didn’t park with my swim platform adjacent to a ladder, I would not be able to get in and out of my boat — except, perhaps, from the command bridge.
I secured the boat to cleats on top of the wall and shut everything down. Then I lifted my pups out onto the wall and let them run around in the park up there. Everything was clean and pleasant and there were flowers in planters. I was the only boater there. There weren’t many other people there, either — just some folks fishing on the other end of the wall.
Fort Edward has this very dated rules sign. We only broke one rule.
I leashed up my pups and walked into town. It was a Sunday and my expectations were low. Just about everything was closed except a Stewarts gas station/convenience store and a diner. The local church was doing a yard sale with a lot of stuff that should have been in a dumpster. We went back to the boat.
Another boat came in and docked closer to where the folks were fishing. It was a big boat called Dande Girl and there were five people on board. They’d been in the tavern at New Whitehall Marina the afternoon before and remembered me. Later on, I joined them on their boat for docktails.
Before the end of the day, I flew my drone again to get some footage of our surroundings.
Here’s a drone shot that shows Do It Now and Dande Girl parked alongside the wall in Fort Edward. While I had to use the ladder to get in and out, the folks in Dande Girl did not.
Overall, I enjoyed my stay in Fort Edward and would stop there again.
Fort Edward to Mechanicville
The water level was definitely down in the morning, making it an even higher climb to the top of the wall. After walking my pups in the park, I deposited them on the command bridge and let them climb down themselves. It was simply too difficult to climb down a metal ladder with a dog under one arm.
The water level was probably down because Dande Girl needed clearance under an upcoming extra low bridge. The lockmasters have the ability to adjust water levels — within a limited range, of course — to accommodate taller boats. Dande Girl had called ahead and was told to wait a few hours.
When I pulled out at 10:20 AM, Dande Girl pulled out behind me. We headed south at about 8 knots along the canal, locking through together at each lock along the way. When I turned in at Mechanicville, they continued south. Their destination was Troy.
After Fort Edward, the free dock wall in Mechanicville was a sore disappointment. I parked at one end of the wall with a ladder down to my swim platform, as I had at Fort Edward. The wall was not as tall, but all of the ladders were damaged. The park was unpleasant and filled with litter. Later, teens would come down to hang out; they were loud and unruly, although they didn’t harass me in any way. Other than a vape shop, the only thing open near the canal was a convenience store. I think there may have been shops and restaurants a few blocks away, but I honestly did not want to leave my boat long enough to find them.
I was there about an hour when I noticed a handful of boats coming up the canal on Nebo. Before long, I was joined by four other (much larger, of course) boats. We helped each other in. Later, a boat that had planned to stay on a lock wall farther south joined us; we had to move a few boats up to fit them in. The entire wall was filled with six boats.
I flew the drone to capture an image of the six boats parked at Mechanicville. It looks much more pleasant from this altitude.
We had a nice docktail hour down at the other end of the wall. I got some good information about the new pet rules the CDC is planning to implement on August 1 for pets coming back into the country. My solution was easy: get back into the country before August 1. We talked about our trip up the Hudson to that point and every single one of them had been suckered into staying at Half Moon Bay Marina. We all agreed that it sucked — and at least one of them paid $4/foot/night!
Meanwhile, my end of the dock had the rowdy teens, who, unfortunately, were still there when I retired for the evening. I closed my curtains and, since they could look into my hatches from the top of the wall, installed my the shades I’d made to keep bright marina lights from shining in. Privacy!
My opinion on Mechanicville? Skip it.
Mechanicville to Waterford
The next morning, I rigged up two GoPros and a new microphone setup to create a video about how I go through locks single handed. I only had two locks left on the Champlain Canal. (I posted about it; you can access the video directly here.)
I left at nearly 9 AM. One or two of the other boats had already left, heading northbound. I honestly couldn’t wait to leave. I really did not like the place.
I passed through the first lock and then passed a tug pushing a barge with a huge spool of cable on it. This barge was the reason that last boat to arrive couldn’t stay at the lock wall.
I stopped at Lock One Marina to fuel up. The price was not what I’d been told on the phone a few days before, which kind of pissed me off. It was still cheaper than Whitehall, but if I’d known the price was so close, I probably would have given Lynn the business. I did, however, get the best pump out I’ve gotten so far. I think the suction on this guy’s pump could have sucked my toilet out of the boat if the hose were bigger.
I had to wait for the last lock. There’s some kind of fish flushing operation going on — I talk about it in the locking video — and the lockmaster was out mowing the lawn while I was trying to raise him on the radio and phone. So I waited about 30 minutes longer than I should have, most of which was at the marina on the advice of the dockmaster there. In reality, if I’d just pulled out in front of the lock where the lockmaster would have seen me from his lawnmower, I would have gotten through quicker. Sometimes advice is just plain bad.
I took another shot of this sign as I passed it. Most folks take one route or the other; I took both.
In any case, I got through the lock and hurried down to Waterford. There was a free dock there but half of it was closed. My goal was to get there before the westbound boats arrived from Troy lock. I could see several on Nebo and then saw them up ahead of me in the Hudson River.
I got to Waterford at 11:45 AM — before the other inbound boats — but there was no space at the open dock. Still, I squeezed my boat into the far end — it’s great to have a smaller boat in times like these — and tied up beside the walkway ramp. I knew that at least one of the boats parked in front of me would depart and I wanted to be in position to move up into that spot. Until then, it was a real challenge to get off and back on my boat, especially with my pups.
I checked in and then walked a few blocks to a brand new Mexican restaurant, I Love Rosa, to get lunch to go. I ate on my aft deck, in the shade. The food was amazing and there was a ton of it. I highly recommend it. Not your typical Mexican food.
After lunch, and after the three folks on board the sailboat in front of me had showered, the sailboat pushed off. I wasted no time moving my boat up so it was fully on the dock. There was still a bit of space behind me; later that day a boat would back into that spot so they could get on and off the boat using their swim platform.
I wound up spending two nights at Waterford. But that’s another story.
