Waterford

June 13, 2009

End of the Erie Canal, at last! Tomorrow we lock through the Federal Lock and we’re on the Hudson.

Tied up at the wall in Waterford. Nice place for boaters, although the showers could be hotter. Wore my NY Erie Canal Corporation t-shirt all day; only one lock attendant noticed, and he asked if I wanted free passage. I told him I bought the shirt in a thrift shop in Buffalo (didn’t want to get Chris in trouble). I asked if I got free beer with the shirt. That set him to laughing. All the other lock attendants were very officious – I suspect the lock operator network was at work. “Hey, one of Carmella’s stooges is on the Pleiades. Look sharp.”

Went into town (two blocks – whoopee) to an Irish pub for burgers and beer. Alex and I explored town while Ziggy and Eve went back to the boat. Wasn’t much to explore, but we saw a few bars and ended up back at the Irish pub because the rain was too intense to comfortably make the trek back to the boat. One beer later, we went to leave, only to be met at the door by Chris coming in looking for us (see previous post). He had been tracking our progress all day and knew we were tied up in Waterford. Figuring us to be the boozehounds we are, he went looking for us. (Side note: MS Word accepts “boozehounds” in its spellchecker.) So, back into the Irish pub where I bought a few rounds and we all made plans to meet up again on the return trip. Chris has promised an official Erie Canal cap for me and a sweatshirt for Alex.

Farmer’s market is on tomorrow where we’re tied up. Going to re-provision and then supplement with supermarket fare. Then we’ll be casting off for the run to Catskill on the Hudson, where we can step the mast and start looking like a sailboat once again.