Cranesville to past Lock 16 on the wall at St. Josephsville, New York

 We had a pleasant overnight stay at Cranesville with only the Canada geese for company. We did hear some loud freight trains with horns but that is to be expected along this route and they were on the other side. As we went past the Amsterdam Riverlink Park where we had thought about staying motor yacht Mariah pulled out ahead of us and we followed her through the next lock. The other alternate stop we considered was Guy Park on the other side of the lock and another motor yacht Vector pulled out ahead and all three of us went through the next locks together. Then a fast trawler passed us all and raced to the next lock and four of us squeezed in with us only having one rope. Luckily he raced away and it was back to us three until the first boat pulled off after Lock 13 and the next boat pulled away after 14. We went through Locks 15 and 16 by ourselves and the wind had picked up so we thought it was a good stop here at Lock 16 against the wall with a park with picnic table and charcoal grill and bike path. We lost half of a boat hook pole trying to grab a small rope on a loop or a ladder due to the wind pushing on us like the engine was still on. We finally got tied up and it has been a quiet evening. The temperature is expected to drop from the 70's to 48 tonight. We had jackets on today and rain jackets as we had a few sprinkles before the black clouds moved on.  Another beautiful partly cloudy day with little boat traffic.

Passing Amsterdam Riverfront Park

Vector and Mariah ahead of us

Canada Geese

Our tie up for the night past Lock 16

Waterford through to E10 Lock, on the wall near Cranesville, New York

 We walked to an early breakfast and were there when they opened the doors at 7 am. It was a delicious diner breakfast and we headed back to the boat for the first lock opening. Because of a valve issue, they were only allowing four boats in so we watched and waited. The boat in front of us moved up and we thought we were going to be the only boat going through but then  trawler Avalon joined us through lock E8, The first six locks had cables that you wrapped a line around midship. Then the next locks were to hang on to a bow and stern rope from the lock wall. At lock 8, the lock tender made Avalon move up and that was frustrating enough so they ended up stopping on the wall  outside which had a nice park and easy tie ups. We continued on through lock E9 which had floating debris from the dam spillway  in the way. There was no place to stop so we continued through lock E10 and saw the smooth wall and bollards on the other side so we stopped for the night. We were unable to reach anybody at Amsterdam Riverlink Park and the next stopping point would be through Lock E11 and we were tired for our first day out. We enjoyed happy hour on the back benches in the shade and had a mild rain shower and not the thunderstorms predicted. It was noisy when the freight trains rolled through during the night but no way to avoid the train noise.

Our lock buddy Avalon

The lock filling

Glenn at the wall holding rope

  

Security gate down from the lock

Tractors harvesting the duck weed

Deer along the bank

Plenty of Amazon train containers

Just us and the geese along the E10 lock wall for the night

Cranesville Block Company

Reflections on a calm evening

Saugerties to Lock E2 of Erie Canal, Waterford, New York

 We left our cozy creek anchorage and continued up the Hudson River planning osn stopping at Hoponose Marina for fuel where the first cruisers we met after we retired kept their boat. No fuel there so we continued on to Donovan's Shady side Marina which was a great spot with excellent service for diesel, water, pump out and garbage. We were then on our way to Troy and the first Corp of Engineers Lock 1 on the Erie Canal. It had poles that you looped a line around midship. Our first lock was smooth and by ourselves as we then went on to Waterford where we met a crowd of boats. The free floating docks were under construction so we wedged ourselves into a small spot on the wall. We had visited here on a car trip so the Welcome Center was familiar and we walked to the E2 Lock and watched a boat go through late in the afternoon. You have to go through the first fight of five lock together as there is no spot to stop. We walked the short distance to the closest McGrievy's Pub for a beer then got a pizza to at Bella's. It was hot and plenty of locals down at the waterfront until dark.

Freighters passing us on the Hudson River

Lighthouses acting as red or green markers

Not your ordinary red nun marker

Looking for green markers in the trees

Masts being destepped and put on the deck as we entered low bridges

Albany waterfront

Troy Lock #1

Welcome to Waterford, New York

Glad to have made it through first lock

First lock of the New York Canal System

We watched from the wall

Here is the space on the wall we left behind

Croton-on-Hudson to Esopus Creek, Saugerties, New York

 It was windy and we were rocking in the slip at Half Moon Marina when we backed out of the slip and were underway north on the Hudson River. A tug and barge passed us which we followed for most of the trip along with a trawler. We only saw  two boats headed the other way and had one fast picnic looper boat pass us near where we decided to turn into the creek. We had the current against us until noon but were still making good time and then the current speeded us up but the wind against us also picked up.  The weather radar showed rain but once it got gusty and dark we decided to stop at the Esopus Creek anchorage as it was advertised to be out of the wind. We decided we could get an early start in the morning as the rain clouds were still threatening. We are wearing long pants and jackets and quite the contrast from yesterday's heat wave. We enjoyed an anchor's down beer on the fly bridge as we look down the creek past the yacht club and Coast guard station to the Saugerties Light house.

Every bridge is different

Bear Mountain

West Point

Tugs and barge we followed and met him on his return

Long, long trains

Castle ruins

Hidden on the hill

Saugerties Lighthouse guarding Esopus Creek

Our beautiful anchorage

Docked along the creek

Coast Guard Station at Saugerties

Boat and house boat

Enjoying the early morning