'Pink' and I spent a nice cool day kayaking at Waterford, which is where the Champlain and Erie Canals meet.
It was quiet along the waterfront and not one boat went through the first lock of the the 'flight of 5' locks, spaced very close together as they reach up towards the Mohawk River.
These locks are protected from flooding with two huge metal gates that are lowered during times of flooding. This area, above the first lock, is where many boats spent the time of rising and receding waters during Hurricane Irene last fall. They were trapped for quite some time before the canals were traversable again.
Up one of the side creeks I found this tree that had floated up during the floods and deposited on the bridge. It is hard to believe that the water came up this high.
Right now the water is low and very little run off coming over the falls.
At the Waterford docks, I was just in time to witness the 'Onrust' dropping its mast, inorder to go up the canal system with the low overhead clearance at the bridges.
The mast had a very slow and controlled descent.
The Onrust is a replica of an exploration ship built in 1614. It was built in Rotterdam Junction and launched on the Mohawk River in 2009. It is used as a floating museum. To learn more about the Onrust project, click HERE for their website. What really made today special was knowing that our friend Jim Ryan donated the trees from his property for the mast and rig.
Another way to learn about the area is to charter one of these canal boats. What a fun way to experience the lock system and all the quaint towns and waterfronts along the Erie Canal.
It certainly is an historical area, and my kayak trip turned out to be a pleasant step back in time.
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