The marina at Waterford is located just before the first lock on the Erie Canal. It is operated by the city and staffed by volunteers. Volunteer Jimmy was quite taken with Margaret and said she was a very good captain. (Margaret had docked the boat). There is free electricity, showers and WiFi, and as we mentioned previously, free dockage for the first two nights. After that dockage is a $10.00 per night donation. There is no limit to how long you can stay. There are many restaurants within a couple blocks of the marina and post office, grocery store, and laundry very close. The people are all very nice and friendly.
On Sunday we met Bill and Sherry. They were traveling on a sailboat and had left from Chicago. They were going the “wrong way” and were going to travel around Long Island Sound and end up at Annapolis for the boat show. The six of us went to dinner together. One of the nice benefits from this trip is meeting people.
Bob and Margaret left this morning. We are staying another day, yet more boat projects to get done. We will catch up with them again.
Waterford is the oldest unincorporated village in New York. Three of the original locks are still here, located next to the newer lock. These locks are still used as overflow for water in the canal. They were very narrow, only about 20 feet wide.
Today was a beautiful day. The sun was out, there was a little breeze and it was a little cool. Just right. Darrell needed something at the hardware store, so we took our bicycles and rode about 2 ½ miles along the Old Champlain Canal Trail to the store. It was a very scenic ride. While Darrell was looking for the items he needed Beth discovered the sky was getting very dark. We hurried back to the boat but it never did rain.
