Tuesday, June 2, 2009

We were up before 05:30 and left the dock wall by 06:00. For the first few miles, we had to slow down to about 3 or 4 knots because there was so much debris in the water – mostly logs and branches. Along the way, people had mentioned that there had been some heavy rains recently, so we thought that was what had churned up all the stuff floating downriver. We locked through Locks 13 through 19 today; seven locks for a total lift of 126 feet. Lock 17 is the largest single step lock on the Erie Canal with a lift of 40.5 feet and it is one of only two locks in North America where the entrance gate is lifted above the boater. Lucy didn’t care too much for this lock because she got wet when we went under the gate!
At Lock 18 we shared the lift with the sailing vessel, Volare, a very large, deep draft sailboat flying a British flag and carrying a crew of 5 or 6 twenty-somethings. We had locked through with them once yesterday and once earlier today. While in the lock, one of the young women aboard said she had bought a dog biscuit for Lucy when they stopped for lunch today and wanted to give it to her. As we left the lock, they attached the treat to a boat hook and extended it over to us so Maureen could grab it. Lucy loved the cookie so much she wanted the paper bag it came in, too!
At 15:30 we stopped at the Ilion Marina and RV Park for diesel fuel and water. It was as neat and tidy as it could be; the lawns were well-maintained and the bathrooms were cleaner than most people’s homes! They had a little snack shop where Gale enjoyed a banana ice and Lucy was able to have a nice walk. After an hour there, we got back on the boat and traveled a few more miles upriver to Lock 19 where we tied up to the lock wall after locking through. Just after getting settled, two large westbound sailing catamarans came through the locks together. We stopped and visited with the Captain of Moondancer, a custom made 60 foot long, 31 foot wide vessel headed for Chicago. (For comparison purposes, Blue Heron is 34 feet long and 14 feet wide.) We had seen this boat on Saturday when we came through the first lock at Troy. It was traveling in the opposite direction we were and we thought they had probably been turned back at that lock since they were too wide to pass through with only one gate open. This, in fact, turned out to be the case.