TEXAS RANGER: Albany, NY to Lake Champlain, VT June 23--26

We took on fuel in Albany for the first time since the Kadey-Krogen Rendezvous in Solomons, MD last October--327 gallons. Not bad for having returned to Virginia, and then traveled north around Delaware, south around New Jersey, and then up the Hudson River into Lake Champlain! In Albany we dropped the radar arch, mast lights, and all antennas to get our "air draft" down to the 15.5 feet required to pass under all of the upcoming low bridges. Normally my tallest antenna is 33 feet above the waterline, with the next-tallest 24 feet and the anchor light above the radar antenna 20.5 feet. North of Troy, NY we passed through a federal Corps of Engineers lock that effectively stops the Hudson River tidal currents and tide rise/fall (140 miles upstream of NYC harbor), and then turned into the Waterford, NY harbor to lie along the free dock. We were directly in front of the first lock gates to be traversed by those transiting the Erie Canal to the west, but we will return to the Hudson River and travel up the Champlain Canal northward. A trip to the grocery store across the Hudson River and a return to the marina pushing (with permission--they had to unlock the wheels) their cart enabled us to fill the larder. We had good visits with a number of boaters, then the next morning entered a series of eleven locks of the New York Champlain Canal System. The first eight raise the boat from about 15 feet above sea level to 150 feet above sea level, and the next three lower the boat back down to about 97 feet above sea level, the level of Lake Champlain. After the first six locks, we reached Fort Edward, NY where we docked at the free town wall, and explored the town, visiting a neat old hardware store (still selling BBs and BB guns--but in NY, only to those age 18 or older!) and a restaurant which has been present in an old blacksmith shop from the 1700s.

The next morning, we resumed our travels north in cloudy or drizzly weather, passing through 5 more locks to reach the end of the NY canal system at Whitehall. We had considered staying there, but all marinas, docks, and in fact most of the city seems to have dried up and gone away. We pressed on, soon technically entering Lake Champlain, though at this point it is really still a river. Vermont--appropriately nicknamed the Green Mountain State--is now on the eastern shore of our waterway, and NY (and its ubiquitous trains) is on the western shore. About 1500 we arrived (in a rain shower) at Chipman Point Marina in Orwell, VT, and docked. The folks here are superb, and there is good Wi-Fi, cell (roaming) service, and marina offices in houses dating from the very early 19th century. The next day the weather was clearing, and the marina operator took us in his small outboard up and across the lake to the Ticonderoga, NY public dock, from which we hiked up the hill a mile or more to tour Fort Ticonderoga. There were stunning views, and an interesting insight into a spot that played such a crucial role in American history. We will press on from here into the wider portion of Lake Champlain for a few days of scenic anchorages, and then into Burlington, VT to re-supply a few items that can only be found in larger cities before heading northward into Canada.