Monday, May 7

We locked thru with these cuties

1st in New York State Canal System

The length of the Hudson River between New York Harbor and Troy/Albany at the upper end is 135 miles.  At the lower end it is wide with steep cliffs rising from the shoreline.  The Mid Hudson Valley begins to narrow and the countryside becomes mountainous.  The upper end narrows even more and the shores are flat.
At Troy most Loopers choose to enter the Erie Canal, this is the shortest passage to Lake Ontario.
We decided to do yet another "side trip".  This path will take us up the Champlain Canal to Lake Champlain, thru the Rivie're Richelieu to the St. Lawrence Seaway.  In Montreal we pick up the Ottawa River to Ottawa - there we will enter the Rideau Canal to Lake Ontario.  This route adds several hundred miles to the trip.  Many of the sailboats and trawlers simply can't go fast enough to do this add on - like most things in life, everything is a compromise in boating.
Sailboats are the most economic way to do the Loop and the trawlers are slow, but have great creature
comforts.  Cruising on the White Label provides us with the speed to do these side trips.  (3 major ones so far, the Outer Banks in N.C., Long Island Sound & Lake Champlain)
However, the sailors would cringe at our fuel bills and the trawler crowd be horrified at our live aboard accommodations.

Chart of our Lake Champlain "mini loop" add-on

We were able to knock off 3 locks before calling it a day and tying up to a municipal wall in Mechanicsville, New York, about 10 miles north of Albany.