June 2025, Hanging out at Coeymans

Not much is happening except rain

There has been a steady diet of rain with some days where the sun has made an appearance. The Erie canal is still closed, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They say they have fixed the levee and are in the testing phase. Nasty rains last weekend did not help and they closed other parts of the canal that were affected by this most recent storm.

When we purchased Journey, our boat, the surveyor found that one of the three air conditioning units was on its last leg. Before we started cruising, we had a marine air conditioning repair person look at it and he determined the condenser was bad. Rather than wait for a new unit to be shipped into the marina, we decided to fix it later. Well, since we are delayed in cruising we decided to look into replacing it. There was an issue with trying to find an a/c with a similar small footprint. Dometic had taken over the brand that was installed in the boat 13 years ago. It turns out they have a self contained unit that looked like almost a direct replacement. Bev found one in stock at Defender in Connecticut. We looked up the driving instructions in maps and found it was a only 2.5 hour drive from our location. We ordered online so it would be ready to pick up the next day. What a wonderful drive . . . it was raining cats and dogs and the wipers had a difficult time keeping up with the deluge. We thought we were going to a large amusement park, instead it was like going to a county carnival. Defender has a large warehouse and a small store. We were surprised that they list having all this boating stuff in stock online, but, not showing it in their store. Their property was probably a couple of acres and their store was the size of a West Marine in a strip mall. The warehouse was large. Anyway, the air conditioner was ready for us to pick up, then we turned around and drove back to New York. Kevin worked on it for about 6 hours on Sunday and had it running within an hour on Monday. Woo hoo, we will be able withstand the Midwest heat waves this summer.

Meanwhile, Bev got the bright idea of oiling the teak since she was avoiding going outside during the rain. Not a good idea to oil the table while living on the boat. It took about three days for the oil to dry. Unfortunately, that is our only table and it looks worse from all the finger prints, flying tree cotton, insects and placemats. Note to self: do not oil teak while living on the boat. Wait until leaving for a few days so it can dry properly. Ah, learning experiences.

Kevin installed some WYZE security cameras looking forward and back. The cameras can also see in the dark. Hopefully, we will get some interesting video.

Albany, NY, the capital is very different from Olympia. There is no urban sprawl in Albany. The lots in the suburbs are large and there are wooded sections between towns. We have been to several restaurants with our friends Greg and Robin who live in Albany. The best of all of them was in Schenectady NY called Appian Way. Reasonably priced made to order Italian where everything on the menu was made from scratch. The meals included family style salad and scratch made pasta with the main course. Every entrée was less than $30. If you ever get out this way, check it out.

The delay with cruising and subsequently posting new blog entries was due to a closure on a section of the Erie Canal. Well, it opened last Friday, June 13 letting boats through on areduced schedule. We decided to wait a few days before continuing our cruise to let all the boaters waiting in the canal and north of us on the Hudson River clear out.

Today, we left our van at Coeymans Landing Marina, said goodbye to all the friends we made at the marina, untied the lines and headed north toward the Erie Canal. When hope to see them all healthy and happy when we go back and pick up our van in a month or so.

We passed through Albany to the first lock of this trip, the Troy locks. They have a vertical bar in the lock that you string your line around. You can only do one line as the bars are spaced about 100 feet apart. Bev placed a line around the midship cleat and had it handy to wrap around the bar and bring back to the boat. Kevin brought the boat into the lock and used the thrusters to get us close to the bar. We were lifted 14 feet to the next level of the Hudson River. We might be able to have video once Bev figures out how to get it off the security camera videos and onto the website.

Not too far after leaving the lock we made the left turn into the Erie Canal at the town of Waterford, NY.

They provide a free dock and a $10 charge for power. The dock was full of boats doing the loop. We spotted an opening and asked some fellow loopers if 40 feet could fit. It was close and then they started moving the boats in front and behind to allow us a spot on the dock. After they shifted the boats, they waited for us to thrust sideways into the spot and took our lines to tie us down. After that, 4 different couples came out and introduced themselves. It was awesome. They say one of the best memories of doing the loop are the people.

We are tied up where the old donkey paths used to pull barges along the canal. We don’t know whether we will go through the next locks tomorrow or wait a day. Our next stop will probably be around Schenectady. Hmm, Italian food anyone?

Strawberry Moon