It’s blowing really hard here in Waterford, N.Y., so we’ve decided to stay put until it calms down. This morning’s weather report said gusts to 58mph. We figure we need a little more experience maneuvering the vessel before we venture out in this kind of wind (we had scary visions of unintended yacht-pirouettes in Lock 3).

I’m sitting under a tree in Waterford Harbour Park, using electricity from the nearby Third Street Pump Station outdoor outlet, and the complimentary WiFi provided by the Village of Waterford Visitor Centre. Since we’re not going anywhere today, I have time to tell you all about how we got here.

We’re tied up between Locks E-3 & E4 in the “Waterford Flight”, which includes Erie Canal Locks E-2, E-3, E-4, E-5, E-6, Guard Gates 1 and 2.

Amsterdam NY to Amsterdam NY (06-Sep-2012)

All the comforts of home kept us in Amsterdam an extra day. We coughed up another $34, did more laundry and boat jobs. We organized the mess on the boat a bit, completed a few administrative tasks and Phill made some very delicious chilli, even tough we don’t have a pot (we were going to buy nesting pots for easy storage before we left, but didn’t get around to it). He improvised and made “Fry Pan Chilli”. As we like to say, Nothin’s Easy.

The very frequent trains started to get on our nerves (one came by while Phill was trying to change his voicemail greeting). By about the 8th train of the day, we were wishing we kept moving, but it was good to stay put and get some jobs done. We went to bed early, didn’t even watch a Deadwood episode.

Amsterdam to Waterford, NY (07-Sep-2012)

It was another nice motor yesterday along the beautiful Mohawk River. (I think I’ll let the pictures do the talking ’til we get to the Tugboat Roundup in the Village of Waterford).

We were instructed by the Lock Master at Lock E-6 that if we were planning to stay in Waterford for the night we’d need to stop between Lock E-4 and E-3, rather than tie up to the Waterford Visitor’s Centre dock, like we normally would, because it’s the Tugboat Roundup weekend. Good timing for us, ’cause it’s a real party! By the way, Lock E-6 was our first lock in the Waterford Flight (the five locks in the flight have a total lift of about 170 feet!). We’re only halfway through the flight and we’ve already been lowered about 100 feet.

Anyhow, back to the Tugboat Roundup. We walked into Waterford after we got ourselves situated on the wall below Lock 4.

It was a really nice walk past all the old lock infrastructure.

Here are some pics from the Tugboat Roundup (the largest annual tugboat festival in the Northeastern U.S).

It probably doesn’t come across, but there was a real festival atmosphere. Like everywhere else we’ve been, people in Waterford are very, very friendly. We sat down at a picnic table and listened to some of the live music. Here’s a sample (again, try right-clicking to save it). Singing at theTugboat Roundup

The group singing in that clip said they practice at the “Angry Penguin”, so we decided to stop in our way home for a bite. We each had a $2.50 pint of “Utica Club” (let’s just say you get what you pay for). Walked home and went straight to bed.

Waiting in Waterford (08-Sep-2012)

So we’re still in Waterford…it’s still really windy and supposed to get worse, so it’ll be two nights in Waterford, which suits us just fine. The Tugboat Roundup continues, and we’re enjoying the music (I gotta get a boat-sized banjo 🙂 ). I’m still under that tree I told you about. My butt’s getting sore, so I’ll sign off for now. Check out the pics we took this morning. Hurricane Irene had a major impact on this community.

Hi to everyone back home…we miss you! We expect to be in Castleton on Hudson tomorrow, where we’ll be raising the headache-maker…err…the mast. Thank GOODNESS!

Talk again later.