Most of the boats who were doing the great loop at Shady Harbor were there because of a Pig roast event that was scheduled for the weekend. We did not plan to stay for the pig roast but instead were planning to continue north. So at around 7am we headed onto the Hudson River for one last day of easy river cruising.

Today took us through the cities of Albany and Troy. The river is pretty narrow through here so we were very aware of large boat traffic. The first destination was the Federal lock at Troy. This would be our first lock in a while so before we headed out in the morning I had tied all our fenders around the boat in anticipation of being in close proximity of the rough lock walls.

We arrived at the lock at the same time as several other boats, so the lock chamber was sort of crowded. The Troy lock raised us up 15 feet, which is not very high compared to some, but it was the first lock in a while. At the end of the lock ride we were only a short distance from our destination of Waterford. This is a free tie-up at the city wall where they have a welcome center and other amenities for boaters as they enter the Erie Canal system.

This would mark the end of our Hudson River experience and begin the Erie Canal part of our  journey. This also marks the last bit of saltwater we will see for quite a while, and the beginning of our westbound travel.

We took the opportunity to walk to the first lock on the Erie Canal, which is right next to the welcome center. We got the grand tour from the lockmaster, Leroy, who told us how the locks work and what to expect. The first “flight” of five locks would raise us a total of over 168 feet over a distance of about 6 miles. We were glad to get to see things from this perspective, as it seemed to make the locks less intimidating.

We had dinner in town and then went to sleep early anticipating the 9 locks we were going to traverse the next day.