Waterford, New York

Yesterday I motored up the Hudson River to a place called Waterford, that marks the start of the Erie Canal.

It is a quaint little town that has a darling little Restaurant called McGrievey's that trip advisor rates as number one in town.

I can vouch for their eggplant risotto being superb.
The visitor center was very helpful and Bill showed me how high the water got back in 2011 with hurricane Irene.

I had to go through my first lock today and I was seriously rusty on my techniques.

You have to grab ahold of this pipe and hang onto it while the boat is being raised. Phew! Talk about a shambles! First of all the wind was blowing and I had forgotten to get my boat hook ready so that after getting it the wind had blown the boat into the middle of the lock. After nudging my boomkin a couple of times all was well and I will make sure that the boat hook will be at hand for the next lock.