September 10-11

After saying goodbye to Debbie and Wayne, we traveled a full day to guard gate 2, where we stayed for the night.

Much of the eastern section of the Erie Canal passes through the Mohawk River Valley. It is very picturesque with forested hills rising on both sides. It is also becoming more populated and so there is a greater awareness of both traffic and housing.

Of this little place just east of Schenectady, called Llenroc (Cornell spelled backwards) the cruising guide says it has 30 000 square feet with 15 fireplaces, ten bathrooms and an indoor pool bar with two portholes that look underwater into the pool.

This is our last day on the Erie Canal, and we have two miles to cover. The guide book says boaters should allow two hours for this section. There are five locks collectively known as the Waterford Flight which will lower us 169 feet. This is the highest set of locks in the world.

Waterford was quite full and we ended up tying to the lock wall just below the lock.

Thirty-four locks without a scratch! Feeling pretty good about this, and rather confident that we had earned our canalmen’s papers, we settled down to coffee and breakfast when all of a sudden everything started to rock and shake. I scrambled up to the cockpit and looked back at the lock to see this torrent of water leaving the lock for a descending vessel. As soon as things calmed down, we moved the boat to a more secure location and spent the rest of the day doing laundry, grocery shopping and searching out that elusive Internet connection.

One of the things we love about cruising is the people we meet. While doing laundry, we spent a most enjoyable and informative hour talking with Barbara. She and her husband, from Germany, have been cruising for the last seven years throughout North and South America. We have so much to learn, and people are so wonderful about sharing.

September 8-9


During our exploring yesterday, we discovered that Little Falls would be hosting the annual Garlic and Herb Festival. We decided to spend the morning at the festival before moving on. Debbie found the perfect hat and we enjoyed a tasty lunch.


Immediately upon leaving Little Falls you pass through Lock 17, which has a vertical drop of 40.5 feet. This makes it the largest drop on the Erie Canal. It is also unique in that it is one of only two locks in North America that has a gate that is lifted above the boater. All other locks have doors that swing open as the vessel passes through.

We passed through three more locks before tying up at the west end of lock 13.

The next day we made another short hop from lock 13 to Amsterdam, NY. It has been raining quite steadily through yesterday evening and today, so we spent the afternoon developing our euchre skills. After dinner, the crew of the s/v Gorma hosted the Amsterdam Invitational ‘Goose and Juice’ Euchre Championship. Calling upon all of their resources, mostly legal, Debbie and her partner shocked their opponents with a one-game victory!

September 6-7

Debbie and Wayne met us in Rome, NY last night. After getting settled aboard, we drove (a luxury) over to the Savoy Hotel for a great dinner. The Savoy will be celebrating its centennial next year. The towns along the canal are usually quite old, with a history dating back to times when they supported this major transportation route.

Today we moved on to Herkimer and tied up to a wall for the night. It seems that through this section of the canal we are either next to a major highway or beside a busy railroad track, or both.

The next day we made a short hop to Little Falls. The weather has been extremely warm the past couple of days, with afternoon highs in the mid-90’s. This made Little Falls a prime destination as it has a visitor’s centre with showers. This is the town of Little Falls as seen from the bridge crossing from the visitor centre to town.