Aug. 29 – Mechanicville, NY

Just Another Day on the Water

Mechanicville City Dock

We woke to a beautiful day; clear blue skies and the temperatures were going to stay in the 70’s all day…a perfect cruising day. Between the last lock we went through yesterday (lock 7) and the first lock we were heading for today (lock 6) there were a lot of barges and work going on. We thought they were dredging the canal, but we found out from people in Mechanicville they were actually cleaning up PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyl) in the water. I guess I won’t be swimming again until we get back to the Chesapeake. 

Today’s trip took us through part of the Hudson River and through dug canals that went around the rapids. Some of the trees are beginning to change color…a sign that boaters need to be heading south. We are in Mechanicville tonight, not full of history like some of the other towns on the canal, but there are plenty of basic stores for provisioning. We walked around town a little this afternoon and then went by the grocery store to get a steak and a piece of salmon to cook on the grill.

Mechanicville History: The first listing for a settlement on Thenendehowa Creek is 1721 and the first documented occurrence of the name "Mechanicville" dates back to 1829. The name comes from the early settlers, who were independent master craftsmen such as millers, carpenters, or butchers, whose professions were commonly known as the "mechanicalarts" at the time.

When the Champlain Canal reached the settlement in 1823, and especially when the railway laid a track through the area in 1835, Mechanicville became an important commerce interchange. The first conspicuous casualty of the American Civil War, Elmer E. Ellsworth, was buried in Mechanicville in 1861. In 1898, a hydroelectric power plant was built on the Hudson River and is now the oldest continuously-operating hydroelectric plant in the United States. The Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. With the decline of the railroads and loss of industry in the area, the once thriving city is today a quiet residential city, whose residents work in nearby communities.

We haven't seen this much barge traffic since we left the Gulf Coast

Digging up the contaminated dirt

The first covered bridge we've seen

Trees beginning to change colors

Low bridge ahead...they say it's 15 1/2' but we think it was just a little higher

Going slow just in case!

No problem...a whole foot or so to spare. The river is a little low this summer so there was a little more room.

The Volunteer Fire Department were out practicing this evening along the city dock

Aug. 28 – Fort Edwards, NY

Locks, Locks, Locks

Fort Edward Yacht Basin

We went through another four locks today. We only have six more locks in the Champlain Canal and the Federal Lock at Troy, and then we will be back to open water. Once we pass the Troy lock we'll have to start looking at the tides and current again...there's always something trying to slow us down. Two more travel days and we'll be back in Waterford, where we started the Erie Canal. From there we'll start back tracking through familiar waters south.

We're docked in Fort Edwards tonight. The town provides a great place to tie up with free water and electricity. It's in a little park right in the heart of town. Fort Edwards was established in 1859 and a lot of the old homes are still in beautiful shape. We rode our bikes along Old Champlain Canal Towpath to the Glens Falls Feeder Canal. It was interesting to see the old locks; they were just like the locks we've been in, just smaller. The Glens Falls Feeder Canal is a canal from Glens Falls, New York, through Hudson Falls and into Fort Edward. It's seven miles long and delivers water from above Glen's Falls on the Hudson River to the highest point of the Champlain Canal. The first Feeder Canal was constructed around 1822. In 1832, the Feeder Canal was widened and deepened to accommodate boat traffic as well. The locks were 15 feet wide and 100 feet long; these dimensions controlled the size of canal boats in the Champlain Canal system while the locks were in use. The present-day Champlain Barge Canal eliminated the need for boat traffic on the Feeder Canal in the early 1900s. Today the canal is still an important source of water for the Champlain Canal. When all these canals were opened, mules and horses pulled the barges through, so the canals were just wide enough for one barge. Turning basins were created in certain areas so barges could pass.

Coming through the locks today made me start thinking of all the locks we've done this summer and how different all the canals were. We've come through six canal systems and four stand alone locks. Their size changed drastically and each canal system had a little different way to tie up as you locked through. Park Canada's locks were the oldest locks we were in, but seemed the cleanest. I think it only seemed that way since you use your own lines to place around cables...no need to grab an old slimy line that has been hanging in the water all season. The locks on the Ottawa River were the easiest, because we were tied off to a floating dock, we didn't have to hold onto any lines at all. Generally we didn't have any trouble in the locks, our boat's size and layout of the deck made it easy to hold it in place once we were in the lock...of course the captain did a wonderful job maneuvering the boat into place. The locks have been fun, but we're both looking forward to being through with them.

Lock Statistics:

Troy Federal Lock (1 lock) 45’ x 520’ (We’ll go through this one twice)

Erie Canal (22 locks) 45’ x 328’

Oswego Canal (7 locks) 45’ x 328’

Rideau Canal Locks (48 locks) 33’ x 134’

Carillon Lock (1 lock) 33’ x 134’ our largest lift @ 65’

St. Anne de Bellevue Lock (1 lock) 40’ x 180’

St. Lawrence Seaway Locks (2 locks) 80’ x 766’

St. Ours Lock (1 lock) 39’ x 325”

Chambly Canal Locks (9 locks) 23’ x 120’

Champlain Canal Locks (11 locks) 45’ x 328’

Champlain Canal Lock 11

We're getting into flatter country...a lot more farms today

Happy cows of New York

Not everything we see is beautiful! This is located right after lock 7.

Lock one on the feeder canal - it looks smaller than 15' to me

The five combined locks on the old feeder canal

Aug. 27 - Whitehall, NY

Champlain Canal

Champlain Canal Lock 12 Wall

Today’s journey took us through farmland, mountains and marshes…the lake narrowed to a small meandering river and we had to begin to watch our depth again. It was a beautiful area, but different from the rest of Lake Champlain. We are officially out of Lake Champlain and in the Champlain Canal. 

The Champlain Canal connects the Hudson River to Lake Champlain, a total distance of 64 miles from Troy on the Hudson to Whitehall on Lake Champlain, with twelve locks. The Champlain Canal, which begins where the Erie Canal leaves the Hudson is composed of eleven locks. From Troy north it follows the Hudson for 40 miles to Fort Edward, with locks, dams, and dug channels to bypass falls and rapids in the river. At Fort Edward the canal leaves the Hudson and follows a dug channel for an additional 24 miles to Whitehall, at the bottom of Lake Champlain. We went through the first lock today and then tied up to the wall near the Skenesboro Park in Whitehall. The town provides water and electricity at no charge.

Whitehall was settled in 1759 at the southern end of Lake Champlain. It was originally known as Skenesboro, it became the first settlement on the lake and was a center of maritime trade. During the Revolutionary War Benedict Arnold built his fleet here. Because of this action and the significance of the battles that took place afterwards, the New York State Legislature, in 1960, declared Whitehall as the Birthplace of the United States Navy. The Whitehall harbor also produced ships used for service by the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812.

We spent the afternoon riding our bikes around the old section of town and doing a little grocery shopping at the Dollar Store. This evening we had dinner at Lucia’s…wonderful 1/2 priced pizzas on Mondays. We then walked over the canal and looked around. We ended up visiting with a few very nice ladies that shared a little of their local knowledge of the area. Tomorrow’s weather doesn’t look the greatest, so we don’t know whether we'll move on in the rain or stay put.

Fort Ticonderoga

Some of our scenery today

Approaching the lock at Whitehall

The canal in Whitehall

Skene Manor built in the 1870s, looks down on the town

Our view across the canal

Looking back at Lock 12