Port-A-Gee

Sat, 5/20/23 - Lock #2, Waterford, NY to Vischer Ferry, NY (Lock 7) (12.7nm) .  Moon Dance IV, was the first to leave and catch the first lock through.  We were monitoring channel 13, and discovered the Federal Lock was full, so we decided to wait for that batch to come through and then head over to Lock 2 and begin our Erie Canal adventure. The fork in the road forced a decision to go east on the Champlain Canal or West on the Erie Canal. We chose the Western route. The area around the Welcome Center was charming.  They were setting up for the annual Canal Festival. Erie Canal rises 566 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie through 35 locks, of which we will do 23. We already went through the first one in Troy on Thursday. Day 1 - Waterford Flight of 5 locks that are done sequentially + Lock 7 for another 11 miles: MM 0.63 - E2 Waterford, up 33.6 MM 1.09 - E3 Waterford, up 34.5' MM 1.60 - E4 Waterford, up 34.5' MM 1.87 - E5 Waterford, up 33.3' MM 2.15 - E6 Cr...

Thurs, 5/11/23 - Great Kills, Staten Island, NY to Croton-On-Hudson, NY (45.5nm).   This was a BIG day in Looper Fandom - the day we cruise past the iconic Statue of Liberty!! Port-A-Gee & Kayak hated to leave the exceptional hospitality of GKYC, but we got places to go and things to see! We crossed under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, and past Fort Wadsworth, and the New York Skyline was quite literally on our Bow. New York Harbor - We had been warned that this is a very busy harbor, but on this Thursday morning, it was pretty quiet, save for tour boats and the Ferry. We made our way to the Statue of Liberty and took lots of pictures!  It was soooo cool, our chests were full of patriotism! Moon Dance IV took a couple of days enjoying the NJ ICW and when they arrived in NY they elected to go to Liberty Landing in downtown Manhattan.  But we all caught up and spent the rest of the gorgeous day on the Hudson River. We will navigate approximately half of the 315-mile Hud...