Blowin' Bubbles - South Carolina to Lake Ontario 2010: Lock 2

We started off this morning with a little tiny drizzle which took the edge off the heat. It lasted a few minutes then the sun came out with it's 90 F temps and we soaked it all up :) ( well except the area around my eyes which are starting to be racoon-ish)

The ride up from Catskill to Troy for Federal lock #1 went well. I was a little nervous going into our first lock not sure what to expect but it went fine.
We drove the next 3 miles to Lock 2 of the Erie Canal and were halted :(
They apparently have problems with lock 6 and have drained it. They hope to open tomorrow at noon but are unsure.
We are in Waterford NY. The people here are so friendly. They great you with a hand kiss/shake and let you dock, have power, water, showers, local rides etc...all free !!!
The village was incorporated in 1794 but started way before that. The houses, churchs, everything is so ornate and individual. The original locks run thru here right beside the old ones.

Where we are is called the "flight the 5". The first lock in the Erie Canal system is the federal one in Troy. The next five, locks 2 -6, start at the Hudson River with an elevation of 15.2 feet at lock 2 and end 2 hours later at the Mohawk River, lock 6, at an elevation of 184 feet....about 34 feet lift per lock...but #6 door had some problems so we are here.
All is not lost though as this is a great village to relax.
One of the restuarants, Traders Eds which clains to be the oldest pub in the USA picks up at the dock and brings you to eat and back :) I had in house smoked pulled pork and 2 for 1 margaritas. Kyle had a whole platter of seafood ( that boy is gonna grow gills soon) http://traderedstroyny.com/
We are going to get a little clean up and maintenance done on the masts' in the morning since we are stuck here and they are on deck. Hopefully the locks will re-open tomorrow afternoon and we will catch upto schedule. If not we will have to put our re-masting appt off another day. All in all not a bad place to be stuck :)

Town Hall - Waterford NY

Part of the original Canal now used for run off water...it look so tiny :)

Lock 2 of Erie Canal where we are docked for the night.

Lock 1 in Troy NY. The only lock operated federally and not by NY State.

Going under a small train bridge this morning. We though it was so strange to not have to call them to open the bridge. We actually ducked because we were nervous ...lol