We made it to Lock 11

So Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over till it's over."

Well, guess what ?

It's over, and we are on our way down the Erie Canal.

Kyle and Captain at the Helm

The notification last night gave us the green light to move beyond Lock 17 to the top of Lock 11 so this morning, off we went. They said the locks would open at noon, so we prep'd the boat, moved it to the end of the dock in the Little Falls Marina, and did a pump out of our holding tanks because we may not be able to do that again until we arrive in NYC Tuesday. Three of the boaters left together at 11 am to get to Lock 17 and we all entered the biggest lock on the system at 11:30 on the button.

Lock 17 is the largest lift on the canal, with a lift of 40 foot. It was constructed in 1915 and at one time it was the highest single lift in the world. The lock was built to help boats navigate around multiple drops and rapids, that make up the "Little Falls" of the Mohawk River.

They constructed the new lock while the old series of locks were still in operation and it took a longer time than expected, to get the new lock operable. The most challenging part of the construction, was the "new technology" they used. Unlike the swinging gates, a "guillotine" gate was used at the lower end. It is counter-balanced and drops down to close the chambers eastern end. The design was felt to be strongest and better able to resist the water pressure of the enormous chamber which, when filled, holds more than 6 million gallons of water - in metric that is 22,712,470 Liters of water and that is used every time they move boats up or down the lock.

We had a series of 6 locks to pass through from noon to 6 pm and we moved as a group through all the locks. We immediately passed by the Herkimer Estate where we saw the Georgian-style mansion of the home that General Nicholas Herkimer owned. It was constructed in 1764 and his place in history was assured in 1777 when he assembled 800 militiamen, supported by 60 allied Oneida warriors, and marched to defend Fort Stanwix against a British siege. It was a major turning point in the Revolutionary War.

General Herkimer is buried on this property and many places bear his name including the county the neighboring town of Herkimer NY and the famous Herkimer Diamonds.

After we passed the Herkimer estate, we saw these large buildings on the righthand side of the canal and did a quick search to see what they were. One was Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, another the Saints of Auriesville Museum and the last the Holy Mountain Buddha Land. We found it very interesting that they were all together high on the hill.

As we moved further down the canal system, we dodged floating logs and debris as a result of draining the canal and refilling it quickly. They say this is similar to conditions early in the spring after a winter shutdown. Also I have included some interesting things we saw on the canal system banks.

When we passed Fultonville, Kyle was thrilled to see McDonald's on the water and we really wondered if we could get online and place an order for a drive thru pickup at their Drive Thru.............. we guessed they would not deliver.

The waterway in this part of the canal system has a maximum speed limit of 30 mph but we ran at 10 mph all day. Here are some photos of the various locks we passed through.

We had another boater that we met that was travelling alongside our group and he came upon a Mennonite family. Rich and Paula were kind enough to take them down the canal system on their boat so they could experience the canal. They were thrilled and such a nice gesture on their part.

When we came down the canal system, we had some amazing views of the countryside. This part of Upstate New York is very picturesque.

At 5 pm we arrived at the top of Lock 11 in Amsterdam NY. So far there are 6 boats tied up on the wall and we expect a few sailboats to arrive yet, as they travel a bit slower. We will overnight here and then set off tomorrow morning at 8 am in hopes to get through all the locks and arrive in Troy New York by the end of the day.

All in all it was a good day. We got lots of sun and it was hot, so relaxing for the night is on our agenda. Watch for an update tomorrow as we pass the last set of locks on the Erie Canal.

We have only had good Hallman Experiences - Good evening all.

Here is our Nebo Log for the day. 5.29 hours underway and 7.1 hours total and travelled 64.7 km 2ith an average speed of 11.8 km per hour.