One + The Flight of Five

We left the Hudson River today and, in a baptism by fire, learned how to “lock through”. The first lock was the Federal lock in Troy where we had the entire lock to ourselves. Once on the “official” Erie Canal, we bagged the “Flight of Five” – five lift locks which lifted Aurora 169ft (51m) in 1.6 miles (2.5km). The distance is twice the total lift from sea level to the summit of the Panama Canal!

Besides two crew, the MOST important equipment needed to “lock through”!
The Federal Lock at Troy. These gates are imposing and, the first time through, you wonder “what is on the other side”…
“Oh, a scary, concrete canyon with water in it…”
The trick is to get a chunky handful of line, around a decrepit pole or line and back onto the boat cleat while the boat is bouncing around from the turbulence in the lock.
Mission accomplished.
The lock is filled with water while the line rides up the pole.
And then we happily motor out, 17ft (5m) higher than where we entered.

The Flight of Five are the same routine so we have graduated from neophyte to rookie by the end of today’s journey…

Not everyone has to work so hard to climb the Flight of Five…

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *