Month: July 2017

July 17 , 2017  Monday

Today we visited the Remington Arms museum, which is part of the original E. Remington Company in Ilion, NY. It has a nice selection of the rifles, pistols, art work, and other products made during the early history of the company. Before 9-11 you were able to tour the plant to see how arms were made, but now, in lieu of a tour, you can watch videos to see the process of arms making and to learn the history of the company.

At 23, Eliphalet Remington hand-made a flintlock rifle that he used in a shooting match, although he came in second, his gun so impressed other shooters that many of them requested a rifle of the same quality be made for them. That was the beginning of what would become E. Remington Company. By 1861, Remington had established itself as a premier firearm manufacturer and received many government contracts to supply arms for the civil war. After the Civil War, without government contracts, the company struggled to survive. It was during that time they turned to the manufacturing of other products such as; bridges, bicycles, typewriters, and other various items, some of which can be viewed at the museum.

Our original plan was to visit the museum and then continue on the canal, but it seems that Mother Nature has decided to make this an unusually wet summer which translates into an unusual amount of debris in the canal. The boats coming into the marina were recommending not going, we took their advice and stayed another night at the marina.

July 16, 2017  Sunday

What we like about renting from Enterprise is that they will pick us up and drop us off at our marina. This time the car was a little pricey so we rented it for only one day. Since the Herkimer Enterprise office was closed on Sunday we needed to find a different way home, since it was such a nice day we decided to drop the car off, tour the town, have lunch, and walk the 3.7 miles back to the boat.

During the American Revolution, the residents in this area were protected by Fort Dayton. In 1777 General Nicholas Herkimer mustered the Tryon County Militia here to march west in order to aid Col. Peter Gansevoort at Fort Stanwix. They were all fatally ambushed at Oriskany, five miles short of their goal. In 1788, after the Revolution was over and Fort Dayton was dismantled, the Village of Herkimer was established and in 1788 Herkimer became the county seat.

On our tour of the city, we passed many beautiful homes, churches, and public buildings. Four of Herkimer’s most historical buildings can be found at the corner of Church and Main Streets: the 1834 Herkimer County Jail, the 1834 Herkimer Reformed Church, the 1873 Herkimer County Courthouse, and the 1884 Suiter Building.
In 1906, Chester Gillette was interned at Herkimer County Jail during his famous trial for the murder of Grace Brown, the trial was held at the Herkimer County Courthouse with Gellette being convicted of murder. This murder was the basis for the novel “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser. The 1834 Reformed Church was built on the same site as the 1722 church that was built by the Palantine Germans that arrived in this area after fleeing religious persecution in Europe and is still active. The 1884 Suiter Building is now the home of the Herkimer County Historical Society.

The current Folts Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing was originally The Folts Mission Institute, which opened in 1893 as a training school for young women.

A more recent icon of Herkimer, the Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner, housed in a 1952 Vintage Mountain View prefabricated diner, was our lunch destination. Our first lunch in a classic New York dinner was just what we hoped for, excellent food, good service, and a fantastic people watching location. After that lunch, we needed that walk back to the boat.

July 15, 2017  Saturday (con’t)

Saturday was a busy day, after leaving Little Falls we visited the Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York.  Completed in 1762, Fort Stanwix, a colonial star fort, was built to guard the Oneida Carrying Place, the portage path between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, during the French and Indian War. Today, Fort Stanwix National Monument occupies that same location. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation for the creation of the national monument in 1935 but it did not become a reality until 1976, just in time for the United States Bicentennial celebration. A great place to learn more about the fort and the monument is at the National Parks website.

The American Flag was first authorized by Congress June 14, 1777 and according to local legend, on August 3, 1777, the first stars and stripes were created out of “a soldier’s white shirt, strips of fabric from a woman’s red petticoat and the blue straps from Captain Abraham Swartwout’s cloak.”

 

 

July 12-14, 2017  Tuesday-Friday

July 12-Wed: We first encountered Lois McClure and her side kick, companion tug, C.L. Churchill, at Waterford but did not know their mission. Last night they also stayed at the Schenectady Yacht Club, and today we transited through Lock #9 with them. Lois McClure is a full-scale replica of an 1862-class sailing boat and belongs to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Her sidekick is the C.L. Churchill, a 50 year old wooden tugboat that was named Tug of the Year for the 2014 Waterford Tugboat Roundup.

Together they are on a Canal Legacy Tour that will pay tribute to the legacy of the canals and the Northern Forest. Through an initiative called Stem to Stern, the crew of these vessels will share their maritime perspective on the relationship between waterways and trees, canal boats and forests.

We pulled into the Amsterdam Riverlink Park only to find out that the electric panel gave us the message “reverse polarity” when we connected our cord so we left Amsterdam and continued up the canal. At Fonda, we were able to get 15 amps by dragging a hundred foot cord across a grassy field to plug in at the Canal Corp Maintenance Dock. By the end of the day, we had transited Locks 8-12 for a total lift of 67 feet.

July 13-Thur: The plan for today was to go to Canajoharie, hike to the boiling pots, and visit the local Art Gallery collection of 350 paintings by American artist Winslow Homer. I read that Canajoharie has the most original architecturally intact Erie Canal commercial district on the Mohawk River and we were looking forward to our visit. As luck would have it, there was no room at the dock so we continued on to St. Johnsville. Today we transited Locks 13-15 for a total lift of 44 feet.
July 14-Fri: Today we transited Locks 16-18 for a total of 80 feet. Before entering the locks we thought that Lock #17 would be the most challenging, it is the highest lock in the canal, 40 feet, and requires that you lock through on the port side. Each boat has its own unique quirks and Andiamo is easier to handle with a starboard tie. Instead, Lock #18 at 20 feet, was the most difficult. Just as we entered the lock the wind increased and changed direction making it difficult to hang onto the ropes, we were happy that that was the last lock of the day. If you look closely at the pictures of Lock #17 you will see that it is unique in that the entrance gate is lifted above the boat instead of out, this ensures a wet ride through the entrance as the water drains off of the lock door above.

Tonight we are at the Ilion Community Marina, where we will stay for the weekend.

July 11, 2017  Monday

Before entering our first Erie Canal Lock we decided to watch Papa Tango and Donna Mae transit the lock.

When it was our turn, we entered the lock followed by m/v Ramble On, with loopers Linda & Scott aboard, and two other boats.  It took about ninety minutes to complete the Waterford Flight and the two guard gates at the end of the flight. The guard gates are lift gates so you can count on your boat getting wet as you drive under them.

The Waterford Flight consists of Lock #2 (34’), Lock #3 (35’), Lock #4 (35’), Lock #5 (33’), and Lock #6 (33’), for a total rise of 170 feet in just one and a half miles. With a motor these are pretty easy to transit, however, on the original Erie Canal, a ten-foot wide towpath had to be built along the bank of the canal so that hoggees, young boys driving the mules, could pull boats along the narrow canal.

Before arriving at the Schenectady Yacht Club for the evening, we locked through Lock #7 (27’), for a daily total of 197 feet. Behind the yacht club is one of the 1862 locks. Just past the yacht club, at the Balltown Road Bridge, are the remains of the 1842 Rexford Aqueduct.

The sun reflecting off the Mohawk River Cliffs made for a picturesque evening.

 

 

July 10, 2017  Monday

In Rome, NY, on July 4th, 1817, ground was broken for the Erie Canal. In 2017, two hundred years later, the canal is celebrating its bicentennial. Lucky us, in honor of the bicentennial, all canal fees are waived this year.

Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. In the beginning, many called the concept of the canal “Clinton’s Folly,” believing that, the then Governor of New York, was just wasting taxpayers money. In the end, it was an engineering marvel that some called the Eighth Wonder of the World. More important than being the Eighth Wonder of the World, the opening of the canal played an important role in the westward expansion.

The original canal was hand dug to a depth of 4 feet and width of 40 feet, in the late 1800’s it was enlarged to 7 feet deep and 70 feet wide. The next improvement increased the canal to today’s current dimensions of 12 to 14 feet deep, 120 to 200 feet wide, and 338 miles long. going from Waterford to Tonawanda.

In this improvement, five large locks on the Waterford side of the canal replaced the original sixteen locks that had brought the old canal through Cohoes. The ‘Waterford Flight’ of five locks raises boats from 15.2 feet to 180 feet above sea level, in just a short 1.5 miles, this is the world’s greatest vertical lift in such a short distance.

The canal starts at Lock #2 and goes to Lock #35, with two locks at #28, 28A & 28B and no lock numbered 1 or 31, a total of 34 locks. At each lock, there will be an information sign so that we will know how far it is to the next lock. Tonight we are tied to the Waterford Free Dock and primed to start our Erie Canal journey first thing tomorrow.

July 9, 2017  Sunday

I’m sad to say that this was our last day on the Hudson River, we have loved being on the Hudson. The sights, sounds, people, and history have made the trip exactly what we had imagined. We have learned so much.

Leaving our marina, we cruised under the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, past Castleton-On-Hudson, past Albany, the capital of NY, and into Troy where we entered the Troy Lock. It was our honor to share the locks with a gaggle of about fifty geese. They were waiting at the lock doors when we arrived and kept us well entertained while we were locking through.

After locking though, we made a left hand turn onto the Mohawk River and tied up to the free dock at Waterford, NY. Waterford was part of the Van Schaick land patent of 1687 and is the oldest incorporated village in the US, having been incorporated in 1794. Sad to leave the Hudson but, excited about experiencing the Erie Canal.

July 8, 2017  Saturday

A relaxed start to the day, the tide change was at 9:54 am so we had time for breakfast and news before casting off at 9:45 am. Traveling under the FDR Mid-Atlantic Bridge and the Walkway Over the Hudson we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Hudson River as we made our way north; commercial traffic, pleasure boats, stately homes, train whistles, and cliffs. By the end of the day we were amazed that, on a beautiful Saturday, there were no crazies on our section of the river.

Do you love a town that loves cats? If so, you will fall in love with Catskill, NY, a quintessential Hudson River Valley town. Home of the Rip van Winkle Bridge, named after the 1819 short story by Washington Irving, home of Samuel Wilson, the butcher who, according to legend, became known as Uncle Sam, and the home area of Jimmy Fallon. Catskill, named by the Dutch who settled here in the 1600s, means “Kaat’s Creek.”

As we strolled Main Street, we saw a multitude of fiberglass cats. After a little research, we discovered that the cats are used to raise funds for various charities. In its eleventh year, the cats have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities. Each year cats are designed by local artists, placed on display for the summer, and then auctioned off.

Cat’n Around Catskill – 2017

 

July 7, 2017 Friday

The Hudson River is tidal from New York Harbor to Troy, NY, 155 miles upriver. The tide was in our favor at 7:53 this morning, so, we were up at sunrise preparing to leave, which included finding the pump-out station. By 7:45, despite the fog and rain, we were ready to continue up the Hudson. We had traveled the area by car and were was looking forward to the views from the river, unfortunately, our visibility was limited. Pulling into Shadow’s Marina I thought I could wile away the rainy hours reading, but as luck would have it, the sun came out and my afternoon of reading turned into a work afternoon. With a little teamwork, we removed all of the barnacles from our dinghy and polished the stainless steel on Andiamo.

It is the weekend and the crazies were out in force by late afternoon. Even though we were in a no-wake zone, they tossed us around as if we were rubber ducky. Objects were flying like crazy, we had to secure our cabin as though we were at sea. Once their playing was over, we enjoyed a lovely evening watching the sunset, the moon rise, and the lights coming on the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Atlantic Bridge. Opened August 25, 1930, this bridge is the oldest bridge over the Hudson River south of Albany.