July 11th 2016
Island Schuylerville, NY
A light rainstorm hit overnight, I awoke early to begin to dry things off and get to work writing, but before I did, I downloaded the files Daniel had given me for the ICW (Inter Coastal Water Canal) on a thumb drive he loaned me. Around 7am, he and his family awoke and offered me some coffee. Real coffee is so much nicer than instant. Lola came out to visit with me while I was charging my devices and drying things off. I had already packed up my tent and sleeping bag when I went to return the thumb drive to Daniel, but it was missing. I figured I left it in the tent (now packed) so I took it out and went through it. Nothing. Daniel told me not to worry about it, but I was. What I lost didn’t belong to me. I tried two more times going through the tent, but to no avail, it was not there nor in any of my other gear. It was time for them to cast off, so I helped them with their lines and we said our goodbyes, but not before getting an invite to see them in Montreal sometime in the future.
I made my breakfast and finished up the blog while eating. Then it was time to load up my kayak 8’ below the dock tied to the ladder. I had to work very carefully so as not to drop anything in the water, but also to not fall in myself. It was difficult, but I managed. Perhaps living on your kayak for tens days improves ones sea legs. I do know that when on land, I feel like I am floating on water now. I rather like that feeling.
As I was packing up, I somehow managed to lose my red bungee cord holding my sandals to the deck. I think it fell overboard one of the times I lifted the lid. That means that in 24 hours, I’d lost my sunglasses, a thumb drive and a bungee cord. I was not doing well. That is added to the plug in section of my phone charger and the special cord for my heavy duty back up battery. At this rate, I will arrive in Key West empty handed. Now loaded up, I too cast off from the city dock at Fort Edward, NY excited to see what paddling on the Hudson would have in store for me today.
It was a nice paddle and a bit different than being on the canal I had grown use to these past few days, but now I was in larger water. Soon enough though, I was directed back into a Channel as they called it (no longer a canal though still part of the Champlain Canal System) and there was a large metal gate that I mistook as the Lock until I realized it was merely a way to block water off from flowing to the lock. Perhaps for maintenance, but I don’t know.
Lock 6 was in sight and I was paddling comfortably as there was no rush, then I heard it. I turned around to see a barge coming in behind me. I began paddling hard for two reasons. One; I did not want to miss the lock though I am not sure they would let me share it with the barge. Two; The closer I was to that lock, the slower it would be going which meant I would not have to deal with its giant wake and Three; The channel was very narrow where I was. There was a lot more room for him to pass me at the lock.
I turned on VHF to Ch 16 and paddled hard. Then I heard him toot. I gave him a shout on the radio, but there was no answer so I switched to Ch 13 for the Lock. We both arrived at the Lock wall at the same time. I pulled up along side the Port Wall to allow him to pass on my Starboard, but then I heard him say from the barge that they were pulling up to that spot and for me to go ahead, so I did. I was excited that I would finally get to share the Lock with someone. So far, I have gone through everyone alone.
The Lockmaster then radioed him asking what he was doing. He said they are parking for the night and then the Captain told the Lock that I was waiting to go in. He hadn’t seen me and I was keeping the channel clear for them to communicate. They went back and fourth for a bit and the Lockmaster said they were having electrical issues and it may be a few minutes before he could get the door open. I radioed the Lockmaster to let him know I was on air. Then the Captain radioed me inviting me to tie up to his Tug rather than the concrete wall since we didn’t know how long I would be waiting. I thought that was a mighty nice gesture, but soon I saw the water churning and knew the doors were getting ready to open. I entered Lock 6 alone and chatted with the Lockmaster as he drained the Lock.
Leaving Lock 6 I turned around and saw the waterfalls that the lock brought us around. It was a cool sight and I thought about how much went into making these Locks. I headed off for Lock 5, which was only a few miles down river. Before I got to Lock 5, I had to go around a Dam to enter the Channel. It was well marked, but I could see the spray from the water falling and the current over the Dam was strong. If I stopped paddling, I was sucked towards it. Then I saw my first boat headed Northbound all day. It was a large sailboat with a shinny blue hull. She looked brand new and had to be 50’ or more in length. A minute behind her was a large Motor Yacht. I’m strange, but I always think of Motorboats as He’s and Sailboats and She’s. I don’t know why though. Up ahead I saw the old Lock 5 right next to the new Lock 5. I radioed the Lockmaster and he opened the gates for me. Before shutting them, he asked where I was going to stay for the night, knowing full well I would not make it to Lock 4 tonight. He said I could camp at a nice spot between the new lock and the old lock, but that meant I would not got through Lock 5 today. I asked about camping downriver more since it was only 3:30pm and I didn’t want to stop. He told me there was a Marina and some islands so I went through and headed toward the Marina.
Arriving at the Schuyler Yacht Basin on Schuyler Island, I docked and inquired inside to see if I could get a free spot for the night. Like the last Marina, this one also had a campground associated with it, but unlike the last one, they wanted $20 a night to camp. Way out of my budget of Free so I pushed on for one of the Islands. Just down river I came across an unnamed island. I found a nice spot to camp, a sandy beach and it was much quieter than the campground just up the road. I also found out what all these white signs I’ve been seeing all day on the shoreline were.
This is the area of the Hudson that got polluted by General Electric PCB’s back between 1947 and 1977. They still have not gotten it all cleaned up and perhaps they never will. The island where I am staying tonight is known to have PCB’s in it’s soil because it use to be underwater before they took down the Dam down river. I was a bit concerned about bathing in the water, but I figured one five minute swim can’t hurt me that much and I am seeing others skiing and fishing. Don’t think I’d swim or fish here for recreation though. Keep that in mind next time you see a proposal for a factor to be built on the waters edge. 1977 is a long time ago. I was only 13 years old when they put a stop to it. Now here I am at 51 and it’s still an environmental hazard that has not gotten cleaned up. A Damn Shame!
Well, tomorrow I push for Lock 4, which is some 13 to 14 miles downstream. In the meantime, I’m going to get some rest on my own private island.
Day 10 Done!
Enjoy the pictures.
