First Locks and Canals

We survived the first lock! Surprisingly,  there was no yelling at/from anyone. Everyone except Roo and Dixie helped. The kids thought it was cool. Bear said she didn't even realize we were going up. 

Fun fact: We entered fresh water at the first lock today. 

After that lock, we put on our new bug bands because there were a lot of bugs flying around and muck on the walls. We had our own lines for this one, but some will be on the lock wall already. I can see why people want gloves. Our gloves were still sealed and in the boat. We got them out for next time (lock 2 of the trip, Champlain Canal Lock 1). The 2 big kids used boat poles and pushed the bow or the stern away from the wall, so they didn't touch yucky. 

Our 2nd lock was a little easier cuz we knew what to do and expect. We had to tie up to a wall and wait until 12 when they ran it again for 3 of us boats. 

After locks 3-5, we talked about how the variety of styles was interesting. We've had poles with our lines, cables with our poles and their lines, and all thus far were going up. We've figured it out so far! 

A sketchy sailboat behind us had their mast stepped (laying down on top of their boat) and they've hit it at least twice in locks that we've seen. 😱 We got to separate from them before the next lock because we moved faster and these 2 were further apart. 

A dead beaver joined us in Lock 7 of the day (Canal Lock 6). It was the first beaver we'd seen in person, so it was especially sad that it was dead.

At 5 pm, we tried to get one more lock in before they closed at 6 and we were 7 miles away. Ben tried hailing them on the radio and couldn't get a response. We finally got within yelling distance and got everything figured out. He told us we could be the last lock and go up to the free floating dock or could go the other direction into town and get on a town wall for free with hookups, and make that lock be our first of tomorrow. We don't need hookups, so we locked and proceeded to the floating dock. 

As we got close, Roo said (no less than 7 times!) how sketchy it looked. We all agreed and understood why the lock operator suggested staying the night at the wall instead, but knew we didn't have any other option as we were between locks and it was just past 6 PM, when locks stop operating for the day. We tied up and dropped the anchor as backup, and hoped for the best. 

The locks are taking neither longer or shorter than I thought they would. The last 3 locks of the day, we were all alone so we didn't have to wait for everyone to get situated. Some locks have a lot of elevation change and some have fewer (last one today was 10 ft) I think 25 ft was biggest so far. More change takes longer cuz it needs more water to get us where we need to go.

Fort Edward, NY