Brown Eyed Girl: Schnectady, Amsterdam and St. Johnsville

Schenectady, NY

Schenectady Yacht Club

June 13, 2012

We were going to leave Albany on Tuesday but the weather was rainy and windy so we stayed another day. Happy hour that night was spent on our boat with "Kismet", "Marc's Ark" and "Jim's Joy". We left Albany Yacht Club at 6:30 on Wednesday headed for Schenectady, NY but not before going through 7 locks. The weather was not great when we left but it got better as the day went on. We had to travel about 10 miles on the Hudson before we came to the Erie Canal which starts at Waterford, NY. "Marc's Ark" and "Jim's Joy" were going to continue on the Hudson to the Champlain Canal which leads to Montreal and we were going to head West on the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario. We said goodbye on the radio and headed West. The first 5 locks are very close together and you are not allowed to stop between the locks. After the "Flight of Five" we went through one more lock and then we stopped at Schenectady Yacht Club for the night. When we were going through the locks, Marc called and said that "Jim's Joy" had turned around because their boat could not fit under the 17' bridges on the Champlain. Jim called later and he said he was coming to Schenectady. They didn't get to the dock until about 5:00 and they were completely exhausted so we had a few beers and ate dinner on a picnic table at the marina. Dinner was brats, hot dogs and some sides that we all put together. Everybody at the marina were very nice and helpful.

Beth, Ginny, Michele and Joy

Craig, Jim, Dean and Marc

Downtown Albany, NY

Looking for a new career?

The Federal Lock on the Hudson North of Albany

Probably a remnant of hurricane Irene

Decision Time

The free wall at Waterford, NY

The start of the Erie Canal

A flood gate

Waterfall from the rocks

Ruins of an aqueduct across the Mohawk River

Our dock at the Schenectady Yacht Club

Taken from the bridge

Amsterdam, NY

Riverlink Park Marina

June 14, 2012

We were going to have a short day of travel and Jim needed fuel so we agreed to leave at 8:30. It turned out that Jim didn't need fuel so we left at 8:00. We only had 3 locks to go through. We got to Amsterdam and Riverlink Park Marina at noon and tied up. We were going to eat lunch at the restaurant but they were only open for dinner so we ate lunch on the boat and then walked into town to the True Value Hardware. The town is really depressed so we didn't spend a lot of time walking around. The weather was absolutely perfect so we went back to the boat and enjoyed the rest of the day outside. We had drinks on the dock and then went to dinner at the restaurant. We had one of the best meals we have had on the trip. The restaurant is owned and operated by a family with three generations all working. They treated us like family and as I said the food and wine were fantastic. We heard that the deserts were all homemade so we all saved room. The dinner was great but the deserts were to die for. If you are ever in the area of Amsterdam, NY you should go to the Riverlink Marina for dinner.

Lock E9

Don't know why but we blew our horn

Lock 10

The restaurant at Riverlink

Brown Eyed Girl on the Wall

Great Dinner

St. Johnsville, NY

St. Johnsville Marina

June 15, 2012

The first lock after Amsterdam was less than a mile away and the locks don't start operating until 7 so we left at 7. We had 5 locks to go through and 30 miles. Most of the locks were pretty easy but one of them had some bad current entering the lock so we had to be careful. We got the St. Johnsville about 1:00 and walked into town for lunch at a local pizzeria which was pretty good. We went back to the boat and took naps. We are in for the night and going to bed early. Tomorrow we are headed for Ilion, NY.