Travels with KOKOMO II: July 12, Schuylerville, NY

Today was an interesting day. First we left the Albany Yacht Club and headed north past Troy, NY and through the first lock which takes us into the NY Canal system. We are now in fresh water. We stopped at the Van Strech Marina to have our air conditioners (we have 3) checked out. The weather has been very warm (even hot) and we want our a/c units working at peak efficiency. The technician finally came to the boat just before noon and finished in an hour with several suggestions and work items we need to do. He did not have the parts so we decided to move on and find the parts in another town along the way.

Bridge at Troy, NY.
Marina wall at Troy visible under the bridge ahead.
We did not stop. Reports are that this spot in Troy, NY, is a good stop.

Federal Lock at Troy, NY.
The first lock of the NY Canal System going north.

Erie Canal to the left. Champlain Canal to the right.
Last time we went left (west) through the Erie Canal to Oswego and Lake Ontario. This time we go right (north) through the Champlain Canal to Lake Champlain.

Just after leaving this marina we came to the intersection of the NY Canal where we either go left to the Erie Canal or go right to the Champlain Canal. We went right. There are 11 locks on the Champlain Canal taking us up over the hills (to a height of 140 feet above sea level) and back down into Lake Champlain (with a height of 95 feet above sea level). Lots of history in this area as this was a waterway/portage that French used bringing troops from Montreal and Quebec, Canada, and the British used bringing troops from New York City and Boston. The American Colonial forces captured Ft Ticonderoga in 1775 and the American forces won and lost several battles near here during the War of 1812. The NY Champlain Canal was completed in 1823 to make travel by boat and barge possible without hauling the cargo and passengers over the hills. Neat to follow this historic route.

The locks on the Champlain Canal are standard locks and easy for us to transit but the bridges require us to make some adjustments. These bridges are fixed bridges (the bridges do not open) and are mostly 17-18 feet off the water. Our normal air height of the boat in the water is 22 feet including our mast which has our radar, TV satellite receiver and anchor light. We have rigged the boat so we can take the mast down with our own crane (the mast is hinged at the base) and reduce our air height to 16' 8" allowing us to get under those 17 foot bridges.

One of the RR bridges is 15' 6". This bridge will not allow us to pass under with our air height of 16' 8" even with our mast down. Dilemma. The solution that the Champlain Canal has come up with, is to lower the water level in the whole lake by 1' 6" before we go under the RR bridge. Now there will be 17' clearance under the bridge. And, in theory, we will have 4 inches to spare.

We wait on the lock wall after lock 3 while the lock master drops the water level of this lake one and a half feet so we can pass under the RR bridge ahead.

Approaching the RR bridge (between lock 3 and 4) of the Champlain Canal. We pass under with three inches to spare.
Amazing.

To make this work, the lock master at lock 3 asks us to tie up and wait while he lowers the lake. The lake is large, about a mile wide by a mile long. The lock master at lock 3 calls on our radio in about 30 minutes and tells us the lake has been lowered allowing 17 feet of clearance and we can proceed. We motor about 1/2 mile to the RR bridge and proceed very slowly under the bridge. We have three or four inches to spare. These engineers are ingenious. Most boats in these waters do not have to have the lake lowered and it was a unique experience of us. Without this solution, we would not be able to transit the Champlain Canal.