Sylvan Beach to Castleton On Hudson - 9/6/10

Honking Horns

Land BridgeReal Pirates?

Port of Albany

Dalliance has been taking her time moving down that lazy river (the Mohawk).  Since leaving Oswego she has cleared 30 locks.  Seven on the Oswego River and 23 on the Erie Canal.  The 40' drop at Little Falls was pretty impressive.  Equally impressive and some what tiring is the Waterford "flight". The final five locks on the Erie Canal all within a mile and a half.  Each drop is in excess of 30'.  We entered lock #7 exactly at 8AM and arrived in Waterford ( the Hudson River) at 12 noon on Saturday 9/4/10.  Since leaving Sylvan Beach on 8/30/10 Dalliance made stops at Bellamy Park in Rome, the Ilion Marina, St. Johnsville Marina, Riverlink Park in Amsterdam and Schenectady Yacht Club.  Dockage ranged from $1 per foot at Ilion and St. Johnsville to a $1.25 at Riverlink and the Schenectady Yacht Club.  We certainly could have stayed on the wall at most of the locks for free or anchored in a number of spots in the river.  The weather was very hot and we decided a shower and fans on at night more than justified the price.  Schenectady Yacht Club actually has a swimming pool which was nice given the fact that the canal and many parts of the Mohawk River don't look very appealing to go for a swim.  We have kept a very close eye on the weather particularly Earl and Fiona moving up the east coast.  We weren't too anxious to get into the Hudson River and points south until we knew what was happening with these two weather systems.  Upon our arrival in the Hudson River this past Saturday a fairly strong cold front moved through creating very high winds.  Weather forcasts going out 24 - 48 hrs. predicted high winds over that time period.  After a very short stop at the Troy Motor Boat and Canoe Club we made the decision to get to Castleton that afternoon.  The Hudson was just reaching high tide at 12 noon and we were able to catch a ride on the falling tide arriving at Castleton Yacht Club by 4PM.  While at Castleton Yacht Club we have stepped our mast,  washed Dalliance, provisioned and completed a general maintenance check.  Dalliance has been running well and the only mechanical issue has been corrosion on the battery and ignition wire on the starter.  After taking some sandpaper to these connections the problem apepars to be solved.  I met an old friend Rob who is a member at the CYC and Rob, Sue, Kris and I are going out to dinner this evening.   Rob and Sue have done extensive cruising in the Bahamas,  the BVI's and other parts of the Carribean.  We look forward to the information they will share with us.  Finally we just want to share a couple of interesting tidbits we've picked up along the way.  The lock tender at lock #18  knew our boat when it was on Oneida Lake (with the previous owner) and had been aboard.  The wall at St. Johnsville Marina is extremely high making it difficult to get on and off a sailboat.  You can't get away from trains on the Erie Canal.  Cars and trucks on the NYS Thruway honk their horns at us at points where the canal meets the thruway.  We assume they share our dream.  Little Falls and Canajoharie both offer dockage at municipal docks.  Power and water are available.  We've met many people from all over and continue to run into them at various locations as we move along.  Everyone is anxious to help us in any way they can.  They want us to reach Belize.  We plan to drop the hook at several anchorages on the Hudson River.  The members of the CYC can really "party".   The Mohawk River is very beautiful !  You can visit General Herkimer's home by tying up at a dock on the Mohawk River.  General Herkimer was a hero at the battle of Oriskany during the revolutionary war.  Kris and I both marvel at the sense of freedom and independence we're experiencing on this journey.  We also are amazed at the amount of work we're doing to maintain Dalliance, navigate safely and keep an up to date log of our journey.  Please don't hesitate to add comments or let us know what you'd like to see in our blog postings.  We're hoping to do a bit more exploring now that Dalliance is sailing.  Stay tuned.