Chesapeake to Erie Canal
May 22, 2026
Arrived back to the boat on Tuesday, the 19th. It was a 10-hour drive from home. After unloading the rental car, Brian took it back to Enterprise to drop it off and put the keys in their drop box. When he arrived, he requested an Uber. He tried several times, with no response to any of the requests. So he drove back to the marina; thankfully, he hadn’t dropped off the keys before trying to get a return ride. This was going to be an issue because we always plan to leave at the crack of dawn. The next morning after a run, he tried Uber again and was scheduled for a pickup from Enterprise, so off he went. He no sooner arrives at Enterprise and dropped the keys in the box when the Uber driver canceled. So, he was stuck as Enterprise hadn’t opened yet. There was a Walmart nearby, so he went and picked up a few items to kill time. He still tried Uber a few more times with no luck. Ray, the representative for our Rainmaker water maker also works in the Marina office. He offered to pick Brian up, but not until 8. In the meantime, Brian was still trying to get someone from Uber to respond. Eight a.m. came and went with a no-show from Ray. Brian called Ray; Ray was waiting for another Marina employee to show up at work so he could leave to pick Brian up. Brian eventually got an Uber back. He was still in his running gear and definitely needed a shower. So three hours after our originally planned exit, we finally left the dock.
After a 9-hour run, we anchored at the mouth of the Potomac. There were several choices for anchorages, but the first one we came across was perfect. Close to a rundown marina, but perfectly tranquil. It was a nice quiet and calm night. Knowing the winds were going to be kicking up the next few days, we lifted anchor and headed out at 5:45. The water was like a mirror which was wonderful; it was much easier to see the crab pots. The winds did pick up during the day and we had about a 1-foot chop, but the going was easy. We saw only three seagulls, an osprey and one pelican; we miss the dolphins.
Along the way, Lauren reached out to Grace on State of Grace; they were still in the Solomons. She said there was space available at the marina they were staying at. The winds were starting to knotch up which meant the waters would have been kicking up, so we decided to head to the Solomons instead of going all the way to Annapolis. It was a four-hour run. On the way in to the marina bay, we stopped for fuel. It was a perfect time because of the weather; there was no one out except for the crabbers. We needed fuel and it would take quite a while to fill the tanks so didn’t have to worry about anyone else coming in to fuel; it took an hour. The gentleman helping us was amiable and because it was so cold and windy he kept going back into the office. Lauren gave him a thick slice of banana bread; he was thrilled. He hadn’t had breakfast yet. Lauren told him there was no need for him to stand outside when he could stay in the office and enjoy his bread and coffee; he thought that was a great idea.
Even though the winds were pushing us into the dock, we were able to easily get off of it and there were no issues getting onto our assigned dock at Calvert Marina. State of Grace is one dock over from us. There are a number of Kadey-Krogen boats here.
After settling in, Brian changed out the oil in the engine and changed the fuel filters. When the oil is changed out, we need a place to dispose the waste oil which we could do here.
Last night Mike and Jan on Kwiat Nights III hosted docktails on their boat; too cold and windy to be sitting out. Everyone brought a dish; it was good to see a variety of munchies other than the usual mixed nuts, chips, etc. We had an enjoyable time meeting everyone and chatting about our adventures.
Today is a rainy chilly day. Brian went for a run this morning. Lauren prepped and served a hearty breakfast. After breakfast, Brian caught up on bills, figured out our fuel usage, changed one of the oil filters which he forgot to do yesterday. This morning, he decided to chase wires again looking for the compass ball for the autopilot and low and behold he finally found it!!! YEAH!!! Now he needs to figure out how to replace it (has to run new wires). Once it is installed and ready to go, we need to take the boat out and calibrate it by running the boat in circles and a couple of other patterns. We had done this before years ago with our sailboat. The new auto pilot will up-to-date and much more accurate than what is currently installed. It will also enable us to use it when we are piloting from fly deck.
In the meantime, Lauren cleaned up the breakfast dishes and galley, wiped down and disinfected the bathroom made the bed, swiped a few slats (never ending job) and took Heidi out for a lengthy walk. After returning to the boat, she tackled the guest bedroom. After a year, she finally decided to store all of the extra guest bedding and bath towels, rugs and non-skid mats under the main bed; it’s a rather large area and takes two to get into it.
Brian reading (still): Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Lauren: The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts (a wonderful read)
May 24, 2026
Spent the last two days at the Calvert Marina in the Solomons; the weather was rainy and winds were a tad high. Brian finished installing the compass ball and installed the wiring for it; it was an all-afternoon affair. Lauren and Roz met with Grace on State of Grace and played Five Crowns; a game Grace taught us some time ago while Looping. Yesterday morning, we took the boat out to calibrate the new autopilot. After finishing the first part of the process, the engine died. Brian dropped the anchor so he could figure out the problem. While he was doing that, Lauren called Kurt and Melissa on Double Eagle. They were on the same dock as us and Kurt is a mechanic. He offered to come right out to us on his dinghy, but Lauren asked him to give Brian a few minutes to figure things out. Both the primary and secondary fuel filters were not full to the top. After taking care of that, the engine started with no problem. Kurt was probably happy that he didn’t have to put his dinghy in the water; it was raining.
This morning, we left the dock just be 6:00 am. Once we got past all of the marinas and out into the bay, we recalibrated the autopilot again. This time, we finished the set up and it worked. It rained for most of our trip arriving to Annapolis and picking up a mooring ball just after 12 noon. There were several freighters anchored outside of Annapolis.
It is a busy mooring field; touring boats, pirate boats, small cruise ships, lots of recreational boats (sailing and motor) and the launch boats that will pick up boaters and take them to the town. We did think about getting off, but after a late lunch, Lauren was still fighting a migraine from two days ago, so we decided to stay put. We’ve been to Annapolis many times in the past. Tomorrow we will travel about 60 miles.
Brian reading: Nash Falls by David Baldacci
Lauren: The Kraken Project by Douglas Preston
May 25, 2026
Left our mooring ball in Annapolis at 6:00 am and headed out. It was very foggy, so we turned on the radar and the running lights. The fog stayed with us until early afternoon. We were able to see any commercial traffic and pleasure craft on the radar. The waters were flat and there was no wind.
We got waked way too many times. The last pleasure craft that waked us had come up behind us; he didn’t have AIS and by this time our radar was off as the fog had lifted. We heard him coming; he was going very fast and was way too close to our boat. Brian stepped to the side window and yelled at him to slow down. One of the guys said “Well, if you had slowed down, I would have been able to pass at a slower speed.” Brian told him the courteous thing would be to use his VHF to alert any boaters he wanted to overtake and not just blow by them and wake them hard. The guy did slow a bit, but by that time, he was already by us, so we turned into the wake so we weren’t careening all over the place. We did hear him on the VHF about a mile ahead asking a boater for a slow pass; so, lesson learned?
During our ride today, Brian kept in touch with Steve on Barefoot Shoes. He and his wife, Rae were heading in the same direction and same anchorage. We arrived at an anchorage behind Reedy Island Bar off the Delaware River and anchor dropped by 3:35 pm. Several other boats arrived to the anchorage. We finally saw some sunshine about 6:00 pm; haven’t seen that in days. Along the way we picked up a passenger.
As soon as we were set on our anchor, Brian set our route for tomorrow, then Lauren gave him a much-needed haircut before prepping dinner. After dinner, she made brownies while Brian talked to Steve regarding our travels for tomorrow discussing time to leave because of the tide. If we leave at our usual time of about 6:00 am, the tide will be against us for a couple of hours. The plan is to head to Cape May and anchor. Once, there we will have to carefully watch the weather to make the next jump to Atlantic City or if we are able, go all the way to Sandy Hook. The weather is not looking promising. We may be on the hook at Cape May for a few days.
May 26, 2026
Anchor up at 7:00am. We had a restful night on the anchor; nice and quiet. It was an easy day on the water; light winds and about 1-foot waves and another cloudy day. We passed a nuclear power plant a few freighters and a neat-looking lighthouse.
Arrived at Cape May and dropped our anchor right near the Coast Guard Station at 1:50pm. The anchorage had numerous boats already here with more coming in. We think we have a great spot! We have two ospreys nesting on the green marker right behind our boat.
May 27, 2026
After much discussion with Steve on Barefoot Shoes, we decided to leave Cape May about 9:00am; the start of an outgoing tide. Brian and Steve figured if we puttered along, we would arrive to Sandy Hook at the break of light tomorrow morning. As we were bringing up the anchor (the chain coated with sticky mud), the fog rolled in pretty fast, so we turned on the radar. The waves were minimal with about 1-foot rollers about every 7 seconds coming from our starboard rear quarter. Since it was going to be a very long day, Brian turned on the Seakeeper just in case it got rough out there. It was actually a comfortable ride, though another dreary day. Well, we didn’t putter, even though we wanted to only motor along at about 6 knots, the current pushed us right along. We told Steve we would follow him so he could set the pace. We were surprised that he was doing over 7 knots, so along we went. Several hours out, there was a broadcast of a severe thunderstorm. We heard it and saw it coming in, but thankfully blew right over us with hardly any rain. Heidi was dosed at breakfast, knowing it was going to be a very long day and not exactly knowing what the conditions would be. The second storm was much more severe. We were still several hours from our anchorage when we saw the lightening. We were so glad Heidi was still in her drugged stupor; she would have been having a melt-down. The storm kept getting closer and closer until it was over us; scary!! We just didn’t want the boat to get struck. As soon as the lightening passed over (none too soon), we were in a torrential downpour with winds buffeting in the high 20’s. The boat handled the weather well, but we couldn’t see anything outside the boat til it passed. Lauren is not at all fan of traveling in the dark, but is thankful we have all of the navigational instruments needed on board to guide us.
We finally arrived at Huguenot Bay and dropped anchor at 2:25am; 118.9 nautical miles – 17 hours and 45 minutes. A very, very long day. As soon as we were set and brief notes made in the log book, we cleaned up ourselves, the boat, took care of Heidi and off to bed we went. We were exhausted!!
May 28, 2026
Lauren was up at 7:00am because Heidi, rightfully so, wanted to get fed. It was nice to see sunshine. There are some ritzy houses in this area. The winds will be picking up later today, so we will be moving our boat nearby to the Richmond Yacht Club and pick up a mooring ball. Depending on the winds, we may be there for several days. Lauren would like to get to a marina fairly soon, so we can plug in and she can do laundry, plus it would also be nice to get off the boat for a bit.
Brian reading: River-Horse by William Least Heat-Moon
(Well, Brian tried to get through it, but gave up)
He moved onto: a book of plays by Henrik
Ibsen – 1st play is A Doll’s House
Lauren reading: The Target by Catherine Coulter
May 29, 2026
Yesterday, the winds were whipping when we entered the mooring field at Richmond Yacht Club. It took us a few tries to pick up the line from the ball; it wasn’t easy trying to hold the boat in one place. The winds never abated and we were hoping no one was foolish enough to make the run from Cape May area to Sandy Hook; it would have been rough out on the water. Steve and Rae on Barefoot Shoes also came in to pick up a mooring ball. About 4:30, Steve picked us up in his dinghy and brought us to his boat. They also have a Kadey-Krogen. We got a tour of their boat and spent a wonderful evening getting to know them.
This morning we left our mooring balls just before 6:00am and headed out. The winds had died down and the sun was shining. Lauren was a bit nervous about getting through NYC. She remembers it being a nightmare when we traveled through last year. She asked Steve if he wouldn’t mind being in the lead; Steve was fine with that. We were very surprised that there was hardly any traffic except for numerous ferries, we saw only a few pleasure craft and two barges underway. There were quite a few barges anchored. Because there was so little traffic, it gave us a chance to check out all of the interesting buildings.
Brian received a message from Rob on ?????. (forgot the name of the boat). Rob saw us on NEBO and new we were going to go by the Statue of Liberty. He was floating around in front of it and wanted a picture of his boat with Lady Liberty. We obliged. The waters were a bit rolly from all of the ferry traffic, but Brian was able to get a decent picture for Rob and forwarded it to him.
We arrived at Half Moon Bay and were directed to our slip. Because we were here last year and it was Lauren’s first time backing into a slip, she was comfortable doing it again. Steve, the owner along with Alex came by to help us with our lines and we were tied off by 12:20pm. Steve had put us into a slip next to a small boat lift. After getting settled, about a half hour later, Steve called and wanted us to move the boat to another slip. The winds were supposed to pick up significantly and he was nervous about us being so close to the boat lift. So out of the slip and around the corner and onto a T-dock. We are right next to Barefoot Shoes. Lauren also noticed that Why Knot’s boat is here. She sent a message to Sarah on Why Knot mid-afternoon after getting Heidi out for a much-needed walk. Sarah responded. They were back on board after taking a walk into town. They will be leaving here on Monday. We are planning on just 2 nights here. Hopefully, we can get together with them. After Lauren returned with Heidi, Brian took a hike to the grocery store and Lauren started laundry. Plans for dinner are to eat out with Steve and Rae.
May 30, 2026
Last night we took about a mile walk with Rae and Steve into town to Capriccio. The place was very busy, but we were able to get a table. The food was good and we had an enjoyable evening out. Before we went to bed, the winds picked up significantly. We made sure everything was battened down and windows and hatch closed because of imminent rain. About 2:00am, Lauren got up because the boat was really see-sawing. She turned on the Seakeeper hoping it would dampen the bucking. While waiting for it to upload, Heidi kept her company and Lauren figured out her Wordle game for the day. When we got up this morning, all of the boats in the marina were bouncing, so much so, that Lauren was starting to feel a bit queasy. She still managed to fix breakfast, but then she could only get down a slice of toast. Brian spent some time figuring out next stops along the Hudson River on our way to Troy, NY. Late morning, we got off the boat. The walk down the docks was a bit precarious; we must have looked like we had been drinking all night. The winds still hadn’t abated, but the fresh air did us both some good. We walked to a bakery and treated ourselves. Then stopped at a local market and bought another few food items.
Late afternoon, we invited Rae and Steve and Sarah and Jeff on Why Knot for a get together. Brian gave everyone a tour, while Lauren put out snacks. She made a new “dip”. The bottom layer was a thin spread of cream cheese, then a layer of mozzarella, then a layer of parmesan. Over that was a mix of cut up grape tomatoes, finely chopped garlic and herbs mixed with olive oil and spooned it on top then baked; delicious and smelled wonderful! After our dinner of leftovers from last night, we took a stroll with Heidi. Tomorrow morning about 8:00am we head to Cold Springs for the day.
May 30, 2026
Left Half Moon Bay Marina at 8:00am with Barefoot Shores following and headed to Cold Spring. It was a beautiful day on the Hudson River.
Arrived at Cold Spring and dropped anchor 11:00am. We immediately took down the dinghy off the fly deck. After Barefoot Shoes was settled and we all had lunch, we took our dinghies to the marina dock. Last year we were free to come and go as we pleased. As last year, there were a few older guys sitting around at the picnic tables near the dock system. This year they wanted $10 per dinghy, but they accepted $10 for both. One of them stated that they were changing the gate to get out of the marina to an electric gate and once up and running it would cost $25 to get back to the dinghies or boats. Guess we won’t be stopping here again.
We walked into town. Rae and Steve, in all their years of boating up and down this stretch, had never stopped here. Rae was quite taken with the quaintness of it. Lauren and Rae perused several shops while they guys sat outside on the benches and chatted. Before heading back to the boat, Rae, Steve and Brian got ice cream cones; everyone enjoyed their choices. Back on board, we put the dinghy back on top. Tomorrow we will head to Hyde Park Marina. We are looking forward to having a meal at the CIA. Stever and Rae originally had decided to bypass this area, but are now having second thoughts. We hope they join us and go to the CIA together.
June 1, 2026
This morning anchor was up about 8:00am. Steve and Rae decided not to stop at the Hyde Park Marina, but continue on. We said our goodbyes via texting. We hope to meet up again; they were great company. We had a nice bright sunny day with brisk winds. Our ride was about 3 hours and we were placed on the outer dock at the Hyde Park Marina. Our boat is too big for the slips. The winds didn’t abate until about 2:00pm, but we were comfortable aboard. Mid-afternoon, we took Heidi out for a walk. We walked about half way to the CIA and the half we walked was literally all uphill. We have a luncheon date at the CIA tomorrow at their Italian restaurant; we are so looking forward to that meal! We decided to get a ride to the restaurant because Lauren doesn’t want to arrive all sweaty. We will walk off our meal on the way back to the boat. There were a few tugs with barges going by in both directions. Even when they are heading south, way over on the other side of the river, we still feel a bit of an impact from the wake; thankfully minimal.
Lauren got another load of laundry done before bed.
Brian reading; Two of Four Plays (A Doll’s House #1 & Ghosts #2 by Henrik Ibsen
Lauren: The Innocent by David Baldacci (book 1)
June 2, 2026
Woke to a beautiful sunny calm day. The winds will kick up a bit for the afternoon, but nothing substantial. We saw several people out sculling. Sculling apparently uses two oars (one in each hand) whereas rowing (often referred to as “sweep rowing”) uses a single larger oar held with both hands. The water was almost like a mirror. Brian went for a run while Lauren got Hiedi fed. After returning from his run, Brian took Heidi out for her business while Lauren vacuumed. It’s amazing how quickly the boat accumulates dust, dirt and pollen. After his shower, we had bagels while watching home improvement shows. Mid-morning, Lauren needed some fresh air and took Heidi out for a walk. After Heidi did her business again, Lauren used the bag to pick up pieces of trash as they walked along. Heidi’s donation leaves 99% of the bag empty, so why not fill it up with trash? We are surrounded with trains. The commuter train tracks are about 100 yards from our boat. The freight trains run on the other side of the river. Both tracks are very busy during the day and the freight trains also run during the night. Lauren counted 313 containers on one of the trains. Just like last year, traversing the Hudson River is a favorite part of being on the water.
This afternoon we got a ride from Paul (dock hand) to the CIA complex. We had reservations at the Ristorante Caterina de Medici. Our first waiter brought our menus and walked away for a bit. Another waiter stepped in after seeing us sitting there for a while. Both waiters were in their second year at the culinary institute; it’s a three-year program. Between the two of them, we were taken care of. We were in absolutely no rush and knew they were learning. Our selections for all courses were very good. In between courses, we had wonderful chats with both of our waiters. We each had an appetizer, a piece of focaccia bread, shared a bottle of Prosecco, the main meal and a dessert. The portions were adequate, but we walked away feeling stuffed. Lauren had half of her main course boxed. It’s been quite a while since we’ve splurged on a decadent meal. We got Paul a gift card to the restaurant for giving us a ride to the campus and for giving us reduced rate for dockage. We are already talking about stopping at the CIA on our return south after traveling the Erie Canal.
June 4, 2 026
Yesterday we off the dock in Hyde Park at 7:30am. On the way, Brian’s brother called; their mom was taken to the hospital because of severe back pain. She had a UTI, but it looks like she may have cancer. We won’t have the facts until a biopsy is taken. Their mom is 97 and still living at home with Brian’s brother. She was diagnosed with dementia almost three years ago and the last several months, we’ve seen quite a decline in her cognitive abilities along with her physical abilities to get around on her own. Depending on the test results, we may be looking for a place to keep the boat while we head home. In the meantime, while waiting on test results, we will continue on to Troy tomorrow.
The trip to Kingston was only about 2 ½ hours.
Along the way, Brian discovered two tiny bird eggs, one on each side of the forward deck. We think they were purple martin eggs, as they were flying around our boat while docked in Hyde Park.
We watched more people out on the river sculling.
There were some stately-looking houses perched above the river.
We docked at the Hudson River Maritime Museum Marina. Dockage here gives us free admission to the Maritime Museum which we took full advantage of. We did walk into town about mid-morning checking out the layout. Back on board, Brian gave the boat a much-needed scrubbing; Lauren went behind him and wiped it all down. Heidi-Ho is looking much better. The dock has limited space for larger boats. When we arrived, there was exactly one opening for us to slide into. We had reservations, we just arrived a bit too early. All of the boats that were here eventually took off and another wave came in; all Loopers – some just starting their Loop journey and others nearing the end. It’s always interesting talking to others about their travels.
Late afternoon, Brian took down all of the Eisen glass and screens on the aft deck and taped all around the woodwork. We sat out on the deck early evening after dinner and watched the mallards and boat activity. What a view without the Eisen glass and screens! This morning after his run and breakfast, he lightly sanded the teak and then applied his first coat of sealer.
Brian reading: The Wild Duck – play #3 & Hedda Gabler paly #4 by Henrik Ibsen
Lauren: Finished The Innocent by David Baldacci (1 of 5)
Started #2, the Hit
June 5, 2026
Pulled away from Hudson River Maritime Marina just before 6:00am and headed up the Hudson River. The first several hours there was quite a bit of debris in the water.
There were a couple of neat looking lighthouses.
Also saw several barges passing by.
Arrived to Albany and watched humongous piles of scrap metal being loaded and hauled off.
It was an uneventful ride overall. We did see several bald eagles; arrived at Troy City Marina and we were tied off by 2:15pm. Tom, the dock master was on hand to help with the lines. We met Tom last year when we stopped here, thinking we were going to travel the Erie canal. But, when we arrived, it was going to be closed for a month, so we headed to Lake Champlain to continue our Loop journey.
Tomorrow morning, we will meet up with Lauren’s sister and walk through the farmer’s market; it is a rather large and enjoyable market to peruse.
Brian reading: The Wild Duck (3rd play) by Henrik Ibsen
Hope all is well and stay safe out there
June 9, 2026
We had an enjoyable stay in Troy, meeting up with Lauren’s sister and walking around the huge farmer’s market. Sunday, she picked us up, along with Heidi, and took us to her grandson’s baseball game. We got to see our niece and her husband and the other grandson. Then onto a grocery store and then to her house for dinner with her hubby. We had an enjoyable evening. Heidi was in her element, walking the yard, sniffing at everything. Lauren’s sister gave her an Erie Canal poster for the boat.
Yesterday, we spent time cleaning the boat. Brian was able to find a 1-inch wooden dowel and a 1-inch drill bit. He found yet another hole (because of a leak) that should have been taken care of by one of the three marinas we’ve been to, to fix this issue. Hopefully, this will be the end of the leaks at the bow. Later in the day, we went for a pizza that was meh! Saturday while the farmer’s market was in progress, there was a film company on location setting up to film Gilded Age; it’s a HBO historical drama series set in the 1880’s New York City. Yesterday on our walkabout, we saw two actors walking around in period garb. There was a lot of activity (cleaning & picking up) going on where the filming had taken place. Early evening, Diane and Chris on Midnight Rambler came to our boat to discuss navigating the locks.
This morning we left the Troy City Dock with Diane and Chris and headed to our first lock. Diane and Chris are only one week into their Loop journey. Heard from them today that they also traversed the Flight of Five (5 locks) and made it to the Schenectady Yacht Club where there was a Looper gathering hosted by the harbor host. This is most likely the last time we will ever see them. Our journey to the Waterford City dock took us an hour and a half; really, really short travel day. We enjoyed our stay in both Troy and Waterford.
Lauren reading: Susannah’s Garden by Debbie Macomber
June 10, 2026
Left the Waterford City dock at 8:05 am and went right into our first lock of the day. There was only one other boat that joined us. Then it was onto the next five locks known at the “Flight of Five”. Since it was just the two boats, it was easy going. After the first lock in the five series, the next lock and those thereafter were open and ready for us. It took about an hour and half to traverse the locks. Exiting at one of the locks, we saw an adult bald eagle sitting on a sign marker on the concrete wall.
We also saw an immature bald eagle and numerous herons. It was an idyllic day the water. We arrived at Scotia Landing. Scotia and Schenectady are separated by the Erie Canal. Scotia is considered a small village consisting of approximately 8,000 residents. Other than a fire boat, we are the only other boat here. Lauren was a bit nervous coming down the channel as the waters were rather shallow. The water in the docking area was a bit deeper. There was a minimal charge and a drop box available for payment. We also have electric hookup. Brian read about a burger joint that was supposed to be very popular. We took about a quarter mile walk to Jumpin’ Jacks about 1:30pm. The place was busy; it was a constant stream of patrons coming in. Jumpin’ Jacks also had seafood, numerous sides to choose from and ice cream. Brian ordered a cheeseburger, Lauren got a fish fry and both shared a vanilla shake. From there we walked further into town looking for a bakery. We were actually looking for bagels and the bakery didn’t have them, though we bought a raspberry, lemon bar with a shortbread bottom crust and a filling similar to cheesecake. We were directed further into town to another place that did have bagels. We picked up two everything bagels and headed back to the boat. On the way back, we cut through the park; big and well-maintained with a baseball field. It was a hot and humid walk with a slight breeze that felt wonderful. Once back on board, Lauren took Heidi for a short walk, then started a load of laundry and then had a much-needed shower. We are here for only one night. Early evening we watched mostly young women water skiing and one young man using the ski jump. We enjoyed the practice sessions.
Brian reading: Dream Town by David Baldacci
Lauren: Chill Factor by Sandra Brown
June 11, 2026
We left out slip about 7:30am and headed to Amsterdam and headed to our first of three locks for the day; a 2 ½ hour ride. We have about 10 days before we have to return home for a bit, so plenty of time to mosey up the Erie.
We were joined by five other boats in the locks. In the second lock, the lock master started closing the doors before we were fully settled; we almost lost the back line. They are supposed to wait until all boats are secured before closing the doors as the wash from the waters can create havoc if one is not secured to the wall. We were the last boat to enter the second and third lock as we are not a fast boat. We don’t understand the need to get to a lock and sit while waiting for everyone else to catch up. The lock masters talk to one another and are made aware the number of boats traveling to the next lock. The third lock, we were joined by another boat who came in behind us. After exiting the lock, the last boat started passing us; that’s f&d (fine & dandy) as Brian would say, but he was too close and didn’t let us know his intentions, so we got a bit of a wake. Then the driver got up to speed and really waked the boat in front of us; the occupants of that boat hailed him on the VHF sarcastically thanking him for the wake and telling him to slow down. No response. The boater continued on right up the canal waking all the rest of the boats in front of us. Everyone was bit upset. A woman from the passing boat finally responded and said, “Well, if you slowed down, we could pass you at a slower speed.” Response was: “Well, proper protocol is to hail the boat you are overtaking and give warning or ask permission to pass and that boat will (9 our of 10 times) respond favorably.” There was a little, not-favorable chatter from the boats that got waked. Brian got on the VHF and said “Well, you lucky folks will be with him at the next lock.” We heard, “Oh, joy!”
There were no boats at the Amsterdam Riverlink Park. The concrete wall (free, no electric hookup) would have been fine to tie off to, but the wall was too high and would have been difficult getting off the boat. The wall ramped down, so Lauren moved the boat ahead, but then one of the cleats to tie off at was busted. So, again, the boat was moved further along to the dock with electric, though the electric pedestal almost fell over; it was not secured to the dock. A guy came down to help tie off, but he was clueless as to how to tie off the docking lines; he was pleasant though. The grounds are well-kept. There’s a laundry room, bathrooms with showers and a small restaurant on the property. Brian walked to the office to pay for our stay. He had to go into the kitchen to pay and said that he would not have been comfortable eating there; not the cleanest.
We took a walk into town. You have to walk up 48 steps to the walkway that goes over the highway and train tracks. We decided to try a pizza restaurant that got favorable reviews, but it was takeout only. Then onto a burrito restaurant. We walked in and waited for someone to acknowledge us. No one did, so we sat at the bar, actually a counter top as there was nothing behind the counter. We were there for about 10 minutes and still no one said anything to us. The one employee working saw us, but was busy running from the “bar” to the kitchen? Who knows. We left there and tried another Italian restaurant. We ordered a veggie pizza; it was okay. On the way there, Brian spotted a baker, so, of course, we stopped and bought Linzer cookies and two bagels.
Back to the boat; another Looper came in and is parked behind us; Jairaj and Betty Ann on Yatra. Their boat name translates primarily to “journey”, “travel” or “procession”. Jairaj and Betty Ann are a couple of months into their Loop journey. We said or hellos and talked a bit about the Erie Canal. Once on board, Brian checked the hydraulic fluid and looked for a picture hook. Not finding any, he removed a coat hook from another area of the boat that we weren’t using and replaced a dinky picture hook with it. Now his big brimmed sun hat will not constantly be on the floor. It’s another hot and humid day; it’s physically draining. Lauren is doing a load of laundry and hemming a pair of pants. Early evening we sat outside at a picnic table with Jairaj and Betty Ann discussing the locking system and places that Heidi-Ho has traveled.
Brian reading: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Lauren: Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
June 12, 2026
Left Amsterdam just before 8:00am to catch the first lock of the day. Jairaj and Betty Ann on Yatra traveled with us; they asked us to lead and if we would go slower than usual. Their boat is pokier than ours. Since we were not in any hurry, we said it was fine. It was a majestic day on the Mohawk River. We were the only two boats heading west all day. Disappointed that we didn’t get see any wildlife other than the tiny crayfish that came aboard on one of the lock lines.
We didn’t see one turtle and it was the perfect day for them to be out sunning themselves. There was quite a bit of debris for most of the day, so there was a bit of zig zagging. When we got to Fort Plain, we decided to tie up to the wall and call it a day; it was about 1:00pm. Yatra continued on. Chris and Diane on Midnight Rambler were the only other boat on the wall. They helped us tie off and we were able to snag the only electric post. After having a lunch and getting cleaned up, we walked into town in Chris and Diane. We walked to Fort Plain and toured the museum; thankfully, the building had a/c as we were all dripping with sweat. On the way back through town, we stopped for ice coffees and water. Chris and Diane continued on to the grocery store and headed back to the boat. Lauren took Heidi out without her leash as there was a large area for her to roam. The area was covered in quit a lot of geese droppings; a bit of two-stepping as she walked Heidi around. Heidi thoroughly enjoyed being off leash. When she saw Chris and Diane walking back to their boat, Lauren made her sit until they reached her. Lauren showed Diane that she taught Heidi how to play dead when she gets shot (finger pointing and saying bang, bang!). Lauren was surprised Heidi remembered as it’s been a long time since she did it. Diane had a good laugh. Brian caught up with our expenses and ran the water maker. Leftovers were eaten for dinner. There is a peacock on the property. Diane and Chris have seen it; Chris demonstrated his peacock call hoping to lure it out. Lauren’s been checking on and off hoping to see it.
June 13, 2026
Well, the peacock did make a showing last night, but didn’t get a great picture as it was starting to get dark.
There was a great sunset.
We left Ft. Plain at 7:00am along with Midnight Rambler. The first lock opened at 8:00am, so we timed our arrival. When we arrived, there were four other boats waiting for the lock opening. We all fit in the chamber. When leaving the chamber, one boat from the port side left, then one from the starboard side, etc.; like a zipper. Got to boat number five; he felt that he should gone on before boat number four; seriously! so petty. Leaving this lock, the speed limit between this lock and the next was only 5mph; there was so much debris in the water; very large branches. Also, there have been issues the banks crumbling in because of the boat wakes, so a slow-go.
Needless to say, the lead boats were a bit faster. The second lock wasn’t scheduled to open until 10:00am, so there was no need for the rush and by doing the advised 5mph, we would arrive at 10:00am. We, along with Midnight Rambler poked along and when we arrived, of course, the rest of the boats were just floating about waiting on the opening. We had decided before hand, to tie up on the dock wall just before the lock. Lauren didn’t want to drive through the gauntlet of floating boats, so she held back. Once the lock opened, we moseyed to the wall and tied off. After everyone else was in the lock and tied off, the lock master called us on the VHF looking for us. Lauren told him we were staying on the dock. He asked “For how long?” Lauren told him “overnight”. He said here was no overnight dockage there. She told him we would then enter the lock. Brian quickly untied the lines and into the lock we went. Because it was only a port-side tie up for all boats, we had to raft off to the last boat, which was Midnight Rambler. It didn’t take long to get settled. Leaving the lock, Lauren contacted the lock master regarding where we could tie off for the night so we could walk into Little Falls. He said anywhere along the wall. Exiting the lock, there was a very long concrete wall, but the bollards for tying off were too far apart with no cleats in between to tie of spring lines. On one section of the wall, even if we were able to tie off, there was no way to get off the wall to walk about. So, we decided to move on with the rest of the pack. As we came around a bend in the river, there was the wall to tie off, plus a floating dock. This is what we had been looking for. We pulled over and tied off just before 11:00am on a portion of the wall that had an electric pedestal. Tom, the harbor master greeted u. Once settled, we met Dave and Carol on Summer Hours. They were with our flotilla the other day, when we all got rocked by an inconsiderate boater. Carol, didn’t mince words with the offender. After they gave us the lay of the land, Tom drove us into and gave us the lay of the land in Little Falls. We stopped at Price Chopper and picked up a few things. Tom pointed out the restaurants and bakeries (checked out both). He let us out in the down town so we could walk about. We had lunch and then wandered through an antique store. Tonight, it’s clean out the fridge for dinner and meet up with some or all of the boaters on the wall. All the boats are Loopers including another Golden Looper.
Lauren finished: Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
June 15, 2026
Yesterday afternoon, we walked into town with Carol and Dave on Summer Hours and stopped for a pizza at Ed’s and then we all walked through another antique store. Early evening, the winds picked up and the temperature started dropping significantly. The skies darkened and opened with torrential downpours. The rain went all through the night. This morning we left the wall at Little Falls at 7:33am; one lock and two fixed bridges later we landed in Ilion on the wall and were tied off by 9:20am. A really short run. The rain stopped early morning, but winds never abated; it was 52 degrees when we got up. Going from 80-degree weather with high humidity for a week to 30 degrees colder was a bit of a shock.
Once we settled, Lauren made oatmeal with fresh fruit. After breakfast, we took a walk into the village of Ilion which is located in the Mohawk Valley. Ilion is known for its history as a manufacturing hub, particularly for Remington Arms. What we didn’t realize was that there is no longer a factory tour; it was closed down three years ago. That would have been an interesting tour. Ilion seems typical of the towns we’ve been frequenting along the Erie Canal; a bit depressed with run down houses. Ilion, though has more businesses than the towns we have frequented lately. Besides the usual pizza joints, hair salons, gas stations, one grocery store, several churches, they also had two pharmacies and two medical clinics and a few other necessary businesses. We stopped in an auto parts store looking for transmission fluid. They did not stock Delcron II; Brian had checked the service manual to make sure he would get the correct fluid. Back on board, Brian discovered that he could purchase SAE#30. So, he will pick up a few next time we are back home. Three boats arrived (Loopers we hadn’t met), the occupants walked into town to provision and once back on board they all left. Two other boats came in for the night.
June 16, 2026
Already mid-June – geesh! This morning lines off the wall at Ilion and headed to our first lock. It was a picturesque day on the water. We finally saw a turtle today, several heron and kingfishers and a duck we couldn’t identify. We could hear a lot of bird chatter along the way. After it warmed up a bit, we navigated from the fly deck. Our plan for the day was up in the air, so we just tootled along enjoying the scenery. Arrived at our first lock and got right in; we were the only boat. Upon exiting the lock, we heard Nine Lives calling the lock master for an opening. Lauren decided to go really slow hoping Nine Lives would eventually catch up to us for the next lock. Brian tried several times to hail them, but because our antennae is down (because of bridge height restrictions), we couldn’t get through to them. Brian adjusted the antennae up a bit, tied it off and was able to get through to Nine Lives. We told them we would poke along until they caught up so we could lock together. They were most appreciative. After the second lock, we decided to look at a free wall in Rome. Brian put the binoculars on the wall. He said it looked rather sketchy; really run down, so we bypassed that. He hailed Nine Lives to let them know we would continue on and lock through with them until we reached Sylvan Beach. We lost track of how many fixed bridges we went under. There was one area that Nine Lives called back to us to say they had no water under their keel – YIKES!! Thankfully, it was soft enough for them to plow through. Lauren watched where they hit and she went slightly to starboard (right) of that area. We still saw 4.2 feet and yes, we also plowed through. The area wasn’t marked on the chart where it apparently shoals. Another problem with the area of the Mohawk River that we traveled today, was the huge trees that had fallen into the river and the branches that were broken off and floating by. Sometimes there were chucks poking up in the middle of the channel. When you got fairly close to them, you could see they were part of large branches that were snagged in the river and not moving. We were on constant watch all day; wouldn’t want to hit any of them.
Arriving at Sylvan Beach, we were able to dock at the free wall; no water or electric, but we were okay with that. We can always run the generator if need be. After docking, Brian went and helped Grant and Cindy on Crows Aweigh dock their boat. Cindy thanked him by giving him a homemade bracelet. She makes a lot of them and gives them to anyone who helps them with their boating. Brian put it on right away.
Lauren was surprised that he would wear it, as he doesn’t wear jewelry of any kind except his wrist watch. After helping them, we walked back to meet the occupants of Nine Lives; Kenny and Rhonda. They’ve been on their boat for a number of years and had finished the Loop years ago. Now they’re just out traveling about. We enjoyed our visit with them. Kenny said they were going to cross Oswego Lake tomorrow as the weather would be perfect and the day after that the winds would be up. The lake is shallow, so with high winds, it would get rather choppy. We had planned on spending at least two days here at Sylvan Beach, but decided we should cross the lake while the weather was more to our liking. We have reservations at a marina in Brewerton (at the other end of the lake), but not until Saturday. Hopefully, there will be room for our boat on the free wall once we cross the lake. If not, we will see if the marina can get us in earlier than planned. After dinner, we walked into town and found an ice cream shop. Lauren actually got an ice cream. Cindy and Grant were also there and invited us to sit with them. They are from Canada and are heading home. The most interesting part of boating is meeting the people. Even though we are all from different walks of life, we all share that commonality of the boat life.
Brian still reading: Tom Jones
Lauren: Extreme Prey by John Sanford