Continuing the report from the crew on Sally W, stateside, while Salty Paws cruised in Canada
Taking care of the mundane necessities of life aboard, we succumb to the periodic reality of reprovisioning. Across the bridge in Waterford, Hannaford's grocery store does a land office business with boaters.
The benefit was the view from the bridge; this empty barge pushed up the Hudson by the barely seen tug Lucy H. We sent this shot to our water blogger friend, Tugster, https://tugster.wordpress.com. He encourages us to send him a lot of pictures of marine traffic and it's hard to stump him. In this case he responded quickly to say that the destination was a quarry around lock 11 on the Champlain Canal. The quarry holds a high-friction stone which is mandated for paving projects in New York City. Go figure. This contract represents a sudden boom for canal business. Read:
The next morning we followed suit and headed up the Champlain Canal. This is part of the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor. It is 67 miles long and connects the Hudson River with Lake Champlain. Our goal on the Plan B route is to reach the top of Lake Champlain and welcome Jeanne and Bob on Salty Paws as they cross the border back into the US.
This day we were joined by our daughter Poppet who brought her bike. This gave two options in case of emergency. If someone went overboard we could throw them a life ring or a bicycle.
Poppet quickly learned the strenuous drill required aboard.
The heavy rains made for murky waters. The distant mountains were beckoning.
The Champlain Canal is an easy two day trip. The town of Fort Edward is located about halfway up. They've done a nice job with facilities to entice boaters to spend the night. Tie up to the wall and enjoy water, electric and showers with the free package.
A Fort Edward sight. No Dorothy, this is not West Virginia.
Having Poppet with us for one night was a treat. The enticement for the overnight was the exercise opportunity to ride 35 miles back to her car in Waterford the next morning.
Off she went to the south and we continued north up the canal. She finished the ride in a little over two hours.
We learned that the good tug Lucy H was moving up the canal just ahead, forcing us to wait at each lock while she and her barge were lifted. We could never catch up to pass her until this lucky moment when she stopped for fuel.
Not a great shot, but this is Lucy H's destination where that high-friction stone is quarried. Apparently, it is not common. Can you imagine the cost to ship it to NYC? 11 locks on the canal and 135 miles down the Hudson. Unload the barges and push them back up to the quarry for another load. All for that very important high-friction stone.
The final lock is #12 in Whitehall. Total of 11 locks; there is no #10. We tied up to another free dock with power and took a stroll around town.
The economy has seen better days. There is some beautiful architecture, but this town is sorely suffering. This is one of the occupied store spaces.
But Whitehall is very historic. It was the first settlement on Lake Champlain and a center of marine trade with gristmills, sawmills and an iron foundry. It built ships for the first fleet for battle in 1776 during the Revolutionary War and ships for the US Navy for the War of 1812.
The magnificent house on the hill was built by British Army Captain Philip Skene who founded the town and named it Skenesborough.
North of the Champlain Canal the landscape gradually changed to beautiful farmland with the Adirondack and Green Mountains in the distance. The overcast conditions produced images reminiscent of a watercolor painting.
Maybe this one not as beautiful but has a story to tell.
Lake Champlain offered the opportunity to hook up with fellow Lord Nelson Victory Tug owners Bill and Keefer Irwin. They keep their tug Callisto at the Champlain Bridge Marina and arranged for us to spend the night. We couldn't have asked for a better welcome when they waved from the Champlain Bridge and documented our pass by.
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| Keefer and Bill Irwin with Allan |
That night we dined on local pizza and celebrated the beginning of our days together on the big lake. What great hosts. They are passionate about the lake and its maritime history. We learned a lot.
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