Change of plans
May 21, 2025
Two nights ago, we tried to take down the mast. Just as we got the stays detached, the winds picked up significantly, roaring down the river. We did not think it was safe to continue especially when Lauren’s arms were wrapped around the mast holding on. Brian reattached everything and we will wait for another calmer day to tackle that job. Yesterday morning, we got up early and Brian attached a block and tackle to the front pulpit on one end and to the forestay on the other end. All the stays were released and Lauren sat on the foredeck with the end of the line and slowly let the mast down while Brian guided the mast to the deck; easy peasy. Brian also lowered the bimini and antennas so that our boat height is now less than 14 feet. Before it was closer to 24 feet. We can now clear all the bridges that we need to on the canal systems. After doing that, Lauren cooked eggs, heated up the two leftover potato cups (potatoes smashed in muffin tins and topped with a mixture of garlic, spinach, mushrooms and mixed and topped with parm cheese), breakfast sausage and toast; a hearty breakfast. After breakfast, we hauled anchor and left for Waterford. Along the way Brian called the Waterford Visitor Center and was informed that the wall where the boats dock waiting to get thru the canal system, were two to three deep and additional boats were anchored out. We intended to also anchor out and wait for the canal opening, but while going thru Troy we saw that the City of Troy Docks only had one other boat on it. As we were trying to slowly approach the dock system (the currant was rather strong against us), Eric came off of his sailboat (he was on the free dock) and helped us tie up. After making sure we our lines were secured, we connected to power. Brian called Dockwa (a boat slip reservation app) and was informed that the vendor that manages this dock was no longer doing so and that the city was in the process of finding a new vendor. Within a half hour, Brian met Tom, a retired fire fighter from the city of Troy and the new dock master. Tom could not have been nicer and informed Brian that he thinks the city is going to start renting the dock space sometime the end of this week. He told us we were fine where we were and gave us his number in case we needed anything. Brian also met Todd on Wand’rin’ Star on the same dock as us and chatted with him for a while. Brian had actually met Todd back in Delaware City where he had some boat issues that have been taken care of. Todd has been here for several days.
Yesterday evening, Lauren’s sister, Lisa and her husband Brian came by the boat for a tour. We walked to Ryan’s Wake, a pub restaurant, for dinner then we all went for a stroll about the city. There are some wonderful architectural features on the old buildings. Looks like a lot of the buildings are from the 1800’s; most of them well maintained. We had a quiet evening on the boat. Lauren, for once, won a game of Skip-Bo – yeah!
This morning Lauren had a migraine, so instead of taking it easy, she attacked the freezer taking out the built-up ice and sorting through the food to plan meals. Meanwhile, to stay out of her way, Brian took Heidi out for a stroll. He also found a wonderful bakery (The Placid Bakery) and came back with a loaf of fresh baked sour dough bread and a variety of croissants. He met up with Todd again and a nice long chat.
Because the Erie Canal will not open for several weeks we decided to go up the Champlain canal to the Saint Lawrence Seaway and then to the Rideau Canal through Ottowa and to the Trent-Severn Canal. The Champlain Canal is also closed because of damage to a lock but is expected to open soon. More rain is forecasted for this evening and all day tomorrow; this, of course, is not going to help get the locks opened any sooner. Hopefully, the canal for Lake Champlain will open by this weekend and we can than continue on. If not, we will stay here in Troy for the next 3 weeks, rent a vehicle to get back to home base for appointments and once returned will continue our journey
May 22, 2025
Another rainy day. We decided to take the bus to Albany and visit the New York State Museum. We spent a good deal of time enjoying the exhibits. Upon return to Troy, we went to The Whistling Kettle; it looked promising with quite a selection of teas and baked goods and sandwiches. We were both a bit disappointed in our choices, though.
May 23, 2025
Brian went for a run this morning before breakfast. About mid-morning we had our pastries that Brian had picked up yesterday – they were still delicious. Lauren’s sister, Lisa, her husband, Brian and their two grandsons, Declan and Kieran stopped by so the boys could tour the boat. They are in first grade and pre-school and seemed to enjoy looking about the boat. Brian even took them down into the engine room. The dock that we are on is now officially open for business – so no more freebies. Quite a number of boats have arrived, both at the city dock and the free dock. We also found out that the Lake Champlain lock is now open to lock 5. This means we most likely will be leaving by Sunday to continue our journey.
This afternoon while out taking a stroll, Brian saw a barbershop and decided to get a haircut. Upon entering, we noticed that the shop looked pretty run down. There were two barbers; one young man and one older gentleman. The older gentleman, who was very soft-spoken and seemed more comfortable speaking Spanish, indicated that he could take Brian right away. Brian was a bit concerned when the barber didn’t seem to know what a “regular” haircut was. Brian had to look at several of charts hanging on the wall to point out what type of haircut he wanted. All of the photos were of Black men sporting various hair styles. Brian chose one and crossed his fingers – lol; he did not have high hopes. Five minutes into the haircut, he knew that it was going to be the best haircut he had ever had. It was a haircut, mustache trim, beard trimming and a shave with a straight razor – gulp! Lauren was captivated by the interior of the shop – it really did need a refresh. When the barber was done with Brian, he motioned to Lauren to come over and check out his work. She thought that was sweet. Brian thought it WAS the best haircut he had ever had and he generously tipped the barber who was very pleased. So, if you’re ever in Troy, NY, Brian recommends going to the La Familia Barber Shop on Fourth Street. The barber you want is pictured below.
We had a nice comforting dinner of homemade soup – wild mushroom and rice and a slice of the sour dough bread (toasted w/ butter) that Brian bought the other day. It was a good rainy-day meal. Lauren did a couple loads of laundry and discovered that the washer/dryer unit actually works better when not plugged into shore power – crazy!
Tomorrow morning Lauren will be meeting her sister, Lisa and her son’s girlfriend here at the boat and then taking a short walk to the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market that is held every Saturday (rain or shine) from May through October.
May 25, 2025
Lauren’s Sister, Lisa and her son’s girlfriend, Renee stopped by and we all walked to the Farmer’s Market. We had been to this market years ago; it has grown quite large. There was a lot of fresh produce, dairy and meat products, variations of honeys, baked goods along with the usual craft tents. We were surprised that there were several tents that were selling whiskeys and other spirits. Don’t ever recall seeing alcohol sold at an outdoor market before. We actually saw the sun come out for all of maybe 5 minutes; everyone got so excited, thinking that maybe it would stay out. Then it was back to the boat for a nice visit. We took a walk at dinner time and found a restaurant selling pizza. We discussed leaving Troy and heading north. We looked at the charts and what we would expect along the way.
May 26, 2025
This morning, we left our dock in Troy along with Todd of Wand’rin’ Star and Mike and Pam of Carolina Can and two other sailboats. We had five locks to go through. Entering the locks and grabbing the lines to hold while the locks filled went well with all of them except for one. The fifth lock had a door malfunction, there was a tugboat on the other side of it waiting to come out. The lock master sent out a message that they had to find someone to fix the problem, so it will take some time. We all dropped anchors and sat it out. We had lunch and Lauren exercised while we waited. Didn’t keep track of the time, but figured we waited at least an hour. Once opened, the tug came through and we all entered the lock with no issues. We were trying to decide if we should find a spot to anchor or find a marina. We opted for a marina. If we had continued on, we would have had to find a place to anchor and we heard through the grapevine, that because locks further along the route were still not open, a lot of the boats were rafting up which means they were tied together in the anchorages – some 3 or 4 together. We weren’t interested in doing that. This way, we can get off the boat and walk about and check out Schuylerville. Brian called ahead to the Schuyler Yacht Basin & RV Park for a reservation. That had room for us – yeah! It was already a long day of motoring and were looking forward to stopping. The dock master told us to head to the little island before turning abruptly into the channel for the marina. The channel was fairly narrow, short and had boats on both sides. There was also quite the current running which made it rather difficult to dock. We got into a slip without any issues, but the slip was not sufficiently strong enough to hold our boat. So, it was suggested that we back out and head towards the longish dock which already had two large yachts on it. Lauren had a difficult time maneuvering the boat to the dock. She was overwhelmed because the current kept pushing the boat about and she felt there was not enough room to get our boat on the dock. After flailing around a bit, Lauren headed out of the channel and turned the boat around. It was the right thing to do. While this was happening the dock master had the two yachts on the dock move their boats back a bit to allow us in. She brought the boat up to almost bow to bow with one of the yachts and reversed the engine and got the boat in – phew!!!! She learned this maneuver from Tim, the dock master at Delaware City who had guided her onto a dock in a similar situation. Then she deflated – literally – lol. After getting the engine shut down and our notes written down in our log book, we met Mike and Pam of Carolina Can and the owner of one of the yachts whom we were sandwiched between. They both stated that they had difficulty docking and had not been successful on their first try either. Apparently, we did have an audience while trying to dock. This was the most stressful docking thus far! So, to destress, Lauren prepared stuffed peppers and steak fries for supper. That’s always been her way of destressing, thinking things through, dealing with migraines; just keep busy.
One delightful occurrence after we docked and settled in, was that the sun actually came out and not for 5 minutes. It was out for at least two hours. It’s been such a long dreary Spring.
Hope all is well and stay safe out there.