Monday, August 18th, up a little earlier to
calculate fuel consumption and physically dip the tank to confirm fuel level…we
have travelled 25 hours since last fill up and used only 15 gallons of fuel…tank
still ¾ full…that’s pretty good fuel consumption. We shove off by 08:15 before
the lock releases its first load. It’s a lot nicer travelling with the current
now…less noise and stress from the engine which hasn't had another hiccup since
we started in the canals.
The canal runs along Highway I90 and Con-rail train tracks; peace and quiet would have been better as we traverse this beautiful country side…just
saw a road sign on I90 that said Albany 42; New York 190…still a ways to go. To get an
idea of our speed, we were moving along a section that had a trail next to it
where joggers frequent…well, we didn't catch up to one jogger as we watched him for 20
minutes…hmmm.
Today we passed through Locks 15-11, after about Lock 13 it
wasn't a man-made canal any more, it opened up to 200 feet across and 20 feet
deep. And at some point today we thought we had the DOWN Locks figured out and
I think we did, but with a strong wind, which we had, our method didn't work as well as
we'd hoped…the stern hit the wall in Lock 12 with a thud! We had to shake it
off as it was very disheartening (and our
first brush with concrete in the locks.)
Our last lock for the day was Lock 11, huge construction
going on so we had to do a port-side tie up (tied up to the lock wall on the
left side of the boat) when we have always been doing a Starboard-side tie up
(the right side of the boat). We moved fenders over and thought this may be
easier as the wind is blowing us on to the wall and BoomDeYada has prop-walk
that pushes the stern to port (due to the spin of the prop, when you throttle
up in reverse the back of the boat will tend to move to the left/port)…well I
don’t even recall what the hell happened, but some nice construction man and
one of the Lock attendants helped us out…not sure what damage would have been
caused if they didn't help. So glad to get out of there, move another mile and
dock for the night in Amsterdam, NY . Oh yeah, and that train track…how about
every 15 minutes, 200 feet away and since they are passing through small towns
with crossings, they have to blow their horn several times…did you hear me say horn? Oh well,
life in small town America with all this beauty.
One of the things in normal life we take for granted is endless
supply of AC Power…we are plugged in tonight…how wonderful! (Wi-Fi
and laundry once again)
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