Utica - sort of

Sunday July 21, 2013
43 08.618 N
75 17.530 W

Lesson for the day - Deidre is a Saint

We are finding the Erie Canal hard going. Friday and Saturday we managed 31 and 32 miles respectively. If we are going to make our schedule we need to increase the pace. So today our target was 39 NM. In the ICW or the Atlantic, this would be a short day, but in the Erie.....

This baby is DEEP

We set off at about 8:15 AM and arrived at our target at about 5:45 PM. I can say I was tired and Deidre almost exhausted. She finds the locks hard work and today we passed thru 7 locks, including a "monster". Its hard work keeping a 35 ton boat against a wall with an almost vertical rope. The good news is that we have not scratched Tide Hiker.

When we come back we will have some friends with us and that will give Deidre a break. She deserves it.

We stopped and took on 260 gallons of fuel at St. Johnsville. The price had just gone up 16 cents from the day before. Even so, its still a lot less expensive than in Canada.

Some time this afternoon, in 12' plus water, we hit something hard. Was probably a tree trunk but we will never know. I was concerned it bent a prop as we seem to have a new vibration, but I have a very active imagination. Lets see how we run in the AM.

Our destination was a free dock with power. The dock was straight after the last lock and I headed straight in before Deidre was ready. The result was that our docking efforts were a bit messy and I got all stressed. Some Indians came over to "help" and added to the chaos. (One guy took a line and tied both ends to the dock, the boat was just not involved. He was probably a structural engineer!) Turns out the dock is a real mess and I cannot get any power to work, and that did not help my mood. Sometime I have to remind myself that I am doing this FOR FUN!

The free dock west of Utica

Tired girl

The top of the mast with cap removed.
What a mess. Its rotten.