Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Lock Down

What goes up must come down, so as we went through 10 locks in the Chambly canal lifting us to Lake Champlain so we just went through 10 more dropping us back down. The New York State Canal system was the primary historical driver for not only the state's empire status but ultimately the entire countries superpower status (that's what it says in the canal system's information guide). We got through all ten locks in two days, which is good because we only bought a two-day pass (if you take longer they make you buy another pass). These were by far the easiest locks i have ever been through, which was a blessing because given previous lock experience I had a lot of anxiety about doing them with the mast down. All the locks were open and ready when we arrived, we'd radio ahead. We were the only boat in all the locks so there was plenty of room. In fact we never crossed another boat the entire canal! The turbulence inside was minimal so the ride was smooth. The weather was hot, sunny and windless.

The only complication was significant dredging operations going on between locks 8 to 5. We had to weave our way through ginormous barges, tugboats and earth moving equipment. Keeping an eye out was essential.

We overnighted at a municipal dock under a bridge in a small little town called Fort Ann. Quiet! We stretched our legs and went for a little walk around town and get a couple of things at the gas station convenience store.



Learning to crochet
Add caption
GPS Chartplotter accuracy... questionable...

Go right ahead sir
A guard gate
Tuckered out
Our spot overnight in Fort Ann
Living under a bridge
Old canal, they really squeezed 'em in there
Locks are so you don't have to go over this in a sailbyacht
Work gloves to keep those hands soft



















2 comments:

  1. Love your blog! Can't wait to hear more about your adventures!

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  2. Me too! nice picture Have a good trip! I found the bridge clay hill rd in Fort Ann with your docking spot on google map.

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