FLUKE Finishes the Champlain Canal

September 16 – 18, 2011

Our next planned stop after leaving Lock 7 was the wonderful little town of Mechanicville, located between Lock 2 and Lock 3.  The lowest bridge on the Champlain Canal is between Lock 4 and Lock 3, and we got under it without losing any more boat parts.

At the town wall

This photo shows FLUKE tied up at the town wall.  Eddie is there because I wanted to give you an idea how high the floodwaters rose here during the storm event.  The post top that Eddie's hand is on was what was left sticking out of the high water.  Imagine where FLUKE would be sitting if the water was that high!  If you look down on the paved area you will see all the mud scraped to the side.  There was a big pile that had been scraped off to one end, and the ground was still wet and gooey.  We just couldn't avoid tracking that sticky mud everywhere.  Even Ursa's paws had to be wiped.

That fenced in area holds the sewer pump-out, which had been underwater and was, sadly, still not working when we arrived.  However, the town had managed to get the 30 AMP free electric and potable water back in operation to the happiness of all cruisers who stopped here. 

In 2009 we had traveled as far north as Mechanicville as part of our Hudson River tour, and I posted information about the town then, so I won't try to duplicate.  Not that things have changed much, because the town looked pretty much the same.

Old town scene

The oldest commercial section of town is adjacent to the public docking area.  In fact the back of this set of buildings faces right where the boats dock.  The 1914 Municipal Building also houses the Police Department, so boaters can feel pretty safe.  There is an interesting thrift store in this same complex, and it is fun to browse through all the “stuff” and look for something you don't need, or maybe can even find useful, as turned out for us.

Other services are within easy walking distance:  grocery store, drugstores, auto supply, liquor store,  Mom's laundromat (outstanding!), and several restaurants. 

The original public school

About a block away from the Police Station you will see the old public elementary school, now used to house a private business. 

Early segregation

The first time we were here I laughed when I saw that the public school, which had a grand, prominent front entrance, still required the boys to enter one side, and the girls to enter on the completely opposite side of the building.  I wonder if they even mixed for their classrooms.

A beautiful gray stone church with huge stained glass windows is right next door to the school.  I guess if you were really bad in school, you could go right over to the church and get forgiven.  Ironically, the church is no longer used as a church, but is now the Arts Center.  Public and private functions are held there.  One evening a big catered event took place.  Early the next morning when I took Ursa for a walk, there were 2 big broken wine bottles left behind on the sidewalk in front of the “church”, behavior certainly not in keeping with the original plan.

Birthday Boy

Speaking of parties, Wayne turned 60 on Sept. 18, and the FLUKESTERS had a birthday celebration.  I baked a cake, in time to be eaten at lunch.  Gift shopping resources are limited, not that Wayne really needs anything, but Eddie and I managed to scrape together some surprise birthday goodies.  Note the bag in the photo, Eddie's clever idea of wrapping the peanut M&Ms gift.  The thrift store yielded a thin-bladed spatula and knife sharpener for Wayne's cooking paraphernalia and LED droplight for using under the helm.  Before we left, my Mom had bought him a pair of shorts.  That was a good gift since he had torn another pair on a hinge on the boat.  We topped off the day with everyone's favorite:  taco salad and beer.

URGER

We had lots of company at the town wall.  The tug URGER and the canal schooner, Lois McClure (we met her at Vergennes, VT) were there as part of their summer educational program.  I already posted about the Lois McClure, with Capt. Eric and the rest of the very friendly crew.  We had passed them at Lock 8 and yelled over that we would see them further along the way.

URGER is the ambassador for the fleet of vessels (including the Governor Cleveland and Chief I wrote about at Lock 11) operated by the New York State Canal System.  URGER was  built in 1901 to be used as a fishing boat on Lake Michigan and then was converted to a working tug.  Her new captain, Wendy, cheerfully answered all our questions and gave a detailed tour.  Operating her takes a good working relationship between the captain and engineer.  The captain can only steer the boat from the helm.  She has to rely on the engineer to take the engine out of gear, to stop the boat or go in reverse, or even change the speed.  All of this is communicated from the helm to the engine room by ringing bells.  That system would NEVER work on FLUKE; I know that for sure!

Hiveless bees

These honey bees, without a hive, were on a tree next to the dock area.  The first day I saw them I wondered if they were grouping together to get protection from the 40 degree weather that was coming.  However, they were still there the day we left, and I never saw if anything was under the mass of bee bodies.

The crews of our new friends from the Lois McClure and URGER were on deck when we pulled away from the town wall.  We waved and sounded the big horn, and they all laughed back.  Having suffered through the storm effects, all gave us a common bond.

Lock 2 is only about 2 miles from Mechanicville.  I think it has one of the most beautiful hydroelectric power stations in the NYS canal system.

Lock 2 powerhouse

This 1892 plant operates with big turbines that are turned by the water dropping from the Hudson.  Just look at those pretty, arched windows, typical of a long-ago era.  On the right hand side of the photo, see that big piece of wood?  That is a whole big tree trunk that is jammed in the overflow spillway next to the lock.  There were enormous piles of debris of all sizes that had been removed from the water and parts of the powerhouse, dam, and lock and placed on the ground next to the lock.

4 miles later when we locked through Lock 1, we were dumbfounded to see the muddy high water mark, 12' higher than the present level of the river!  However, even that didn't fully prepare us for what we would see when we pulled into our favorite Hudson River community, Waterford, NY.