We are on the Hudson River - Finally !

Paul Hallman
Aug 17, 2024
3 min read

After being told that the locks from 12 to 7 would be open today we had a bit of a surprise when we started to leave our dock. Overnight we were at a wall in Fultonville, and our group of 6 boats were all going to leave at 8 am and get through the locks however, we had a visitor from Lock 8 drop by after his midnight shift as a lock master. He said the water level in all locks was good but between locks 7 and 8 it was still very low. Matter of fact, he stated that there was not even enough water to allow boats to exit lock 8. He went on to say it might be all day before we could have water high enough to get through that lock. That shattered us all and we thought we were going to be "locked down" again.

So we sat for a bit thinking that we were stuck but Jan and Cynthia kept saying, why don't we just go as far as we can go and see what happens ..... so off we went. A new Azumit 52 Fly from Oakville was in a panic to get to NYC and he went through at 8 am but we were convinced he would never get through lock 8. But we persisted and left about 2 hours after he departed.

We had a good run for 3 hours passing by Schenectady, NY and other smaller towns but it was a large winding Mohawk River day for us. At times we were able to speed up but mostly we ran at a lower speeds.

Then we arrived at the worrisome lock. We were allowed to go through the lock but were cautioned that it was low on water. As we exited, we could see a sail boater anchored about 1/2 km from the lock. The banks of the river were visible and trees, logs and other items along the shore were clearly visible. We were in 10 feet of water and for most of the trip so far, we were used to at least 15 to 200 feet depth. At this point we slowed right down and crawled out of the lock wondering what are we instore for. As we passed the Sail Boater, he asked if we would monitor Chanel 12 on our Radio and let him know the depths as he was concerned his keel would bottom out. The further we got from the lock the deeper it got and eventually the channel was about 15 feet deep. We felt relieved and we kept him abreast of the depths so he then decided it was safe for him to move on as well.

Most of our day was spent winding down the river until we reached the last 5 locks which were about 1/4 mile apart and dropped us 30 to 35 feet per lock. When we exited the final lock we were in the Hudson River and all we had left was one Federal Lock and we were then on our way to NYC.

We pulled up to a floating dock in Troy NY outside of the Dinosaur BB Que Restaurant and we ordered take out............ Amazing food. Chicken, Ribs, Pulled Pork, Sweet Potatoes, Brisket, Corn Bread, Fries, & Cole Slaw - A bit of a Feast for 4 starving sailors just in from the sea !

We are staying in Troy for the night and plan to boat to Kingston NY tomorrow to spend the day checking out the town. Not sure where we will be Monday but Tuesday is our scheduled arrival in NYC.

Enjoy a few pictures of our view on the Hudson River this evening.