We are traveling on the Mohawk River, part of the Erie Canal.
Today is a beautiful day in upstate New York. The breeze is cool, and the sun is out. Both lockmasters and boaters are in excellent humor.
We left our free dock above Lock 8 around 8:00 am and traveled west through five more locks. Mostly these used the rope system, which I like. Yes, the ropes are muddy, but we wear our work gloves. The locks were fairly small, so we moved quickly. We followed a Canadian trawler, Kindred, on the Mohawk River and through the locks. We never met them or chatted, but we were together all day.
Kindred sits in front of us in a lock. Can you see the dog on the fly bridge?
After Lock 13 Kindred stopped in the channel. We saw their dog on the swim platform behind the boat. We thought there was a problem. Was Rover about to leap to freedom? Had he finally called it quits to life on the boat? As we watched, Rover took a "bathroom" break on the platform and then jumped back into the boat. That was a new trick!
Hurricane Irene did lots of damage to this area of NY in 2011. Locks and walls and docks and marinas were torn up. Some have been fully repaired, but work continues on the locks on the Erie Canal. Today we saw major construction at Lock 11, pictured below.
The din in the lock chamber was overwhelming: Construction racket,
the chamber's noisy filling with water, and a train's close passing all happened while we were inside.
We used hand gestures to communicate. Happily, only friendly gestures were needed today.
We stopped for the day at the Canajoharie Free Dock, beside a riverside park. There is even electricity here. Woohoo! George is doing a bit of work, and we will soon explore the town of Canajoharie. There is an art museum in the library with 350 paintings by American artists, including Winslow Homer oils and watercolors. Across the bridge is Stewart's convenience store with ice
cream. Happy Friday!
This is the view from Aunt Aggie, looking up at the park.
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