July 7, 2024 - start of the Champlain Canal, connector to Lake Champlain

 

July 7, 2024

Here we sit at the end of the Champlain Canal, still in New York. The Champlain Canal is very similar to the Erie. We left Shady Harbor Marina, where we spent time with new friends, and backtracked to the start of the Erie Canal and started the trek north. The locks are really routine now….We put our ‘marriage savers’ on (headsets that allow us to talk to each other in a normal tone). The gates open, Dan drives the boat in, tells me which rope or pipe he wants me to grab. We ride the lock up or down, reverse the process – each lock takes about 15 minutes on average.

One great thing about these canals is that we can usually find a free wall to spend the night, most times with electricity – really important if it’s hot like it has been! I need air conditioning! First night on the Champlain, we had gone through 3 locks, and stopped at Mechanicsville. Day two, we went through 4 locks, and stopped at Ft. Edwards. We met a younger couple there who are doing the loop, so we traveled the next day with them for 4 locks. We said goodbye, since they were going further than we wanted. Tonight, 7/7, we stopped at Lock 12, the last lock on the Champlain Canal, in a town called Whitehall.

There are three pedestals for electricity at this lock, but, unfortunately, all three were being used. So, we went for a walk. There is a marina just on the other side of the lock, so we walked there in the heat. Nice guy, actually offered us a cold drink and some good conversation. He even fed us some left over lamb chops from last night! We planned to go back to the boat and come to his marina, but, when we returned to the boat, some of the other boats had left. Some very friendly Canadians helped us move out boat into position to hook up full power! Yay! It has been so hot lately, that we spend a few hours cruising and then collapse in a coma when we get the AC running!

We spent a few hours this evening talking with the three Canadian couples – very nice and fun people. We were told we MUST make a detour as we head to Burlington, Vt. To Vergenes, Vt. So, anytime we get that strong of an endorsement, we take it to heart! Tomorrow, Vergennes, it is!

One job we needed to complete was to estimate, to the best of our abilities, when we might arrive in Montreal. Dan’s daughter, Michelle, who lives in Seattle, wants to meet us there and spend a few days in Montreal, travel to Ottawa, tour there, and fly home from Ottawa. This was not an easy chore – these waters are unfamiliar, but we’ve done our best, adding in some slack time for weather or anything else we might want to do on the way. Fingers crossed we can coordinate our arrival close to when she gets there!