Category: locks

Count: To Rely or Depend on Someone or Something {Intuition Diaries}

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 
(Psalm 90:12 NIV)

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
(Exodus 33:15 NIV)




10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 . . . 1! We made it! We finished the Erie Canal today. We officially locked through forty-one locks, 34 on the canal itself and 3 twice on the Cayuga-Seneca canal and the first one out of Buffalo, the Black Rock Lock.

What an adventure we’ve had together. Truly we sensed God’s presence each day through His marvelous creation, the ingenuity of the locks and His tender care of providing food, docks, laundry, showers, companions along the way and even some interesting challenges.

Over the past two days we planned to go through Locks 10 through 2 and spend a couple days in Waterford. But the Tugboat Roundup is scheduled this weekend, so we weren’t able to stay on the wall both Wednesday and Thursday night. We regrouped and found a marina near Albany, which really ends up being very convenient to catch the train back to Buffalo, get the truck and trailer and then on Friday morning take the boat out of the water. Then we head to visit my sister in New Jersey and then home.

The last days of a journey are bittersweet. The last couple of days I felt like saying good-bye to each lock, enjoying the majesty of the doors opening and closing, the soothing fountain effect while the “tub” filled with water and the scenic waterways always opening up before us. 

Our last night on the canal (really the Mohawk River) was behind the south wall of Lock 7. The lock master at Lock 8 questioned our choice, because “there’s really nothing to do there, but you will have peace and quiet.” We tied off to the wall arriving around dinner time. We went over and met the friendliest lock master yet. A young man following in his father’s footsteps. His father had been a lock master for thirty years. We talked with him, while a sailboat locked up. They were going to stay on the wall, too. So much for a remote place. 

We shared our boating stories. They had been cruising and and sailing since the end of May, having left from Toronto, their hometown and were circling around down from Canada, Maine and now the across the Erie Canal up to Oswego and back across Lake Ontario to Toronto. They were traveling with their 13 yr old daughter, their dog and their cat. 

In the morning, I went for a run. I had wanted to do a 5K run one of the weekends we were out, if we happened to be in a town hosting one. Never did find one, so I made my own today along the Erie Canalway Bike Trail. (The trail follows fairly close along the route we took; it’s another fun way to see the canal.) We headed out to go through Lock 7 and then to the “Flight of Five” in Waterford, where five locks are within a half mile of the next one. It was a great way to end this trip. At the beginning of the day, we thought we wouldn’t get to see the Hudson River or do the last lock, but as I said, we decided Albany was the better place to take out, so this is where we say “bye” to this journey.

Until the next time. 

Photos of the last several locks and highlights along the way:

Lock 10

Dam next to Lock 9

Lock 8


Sunset at Lock 7
Moored with our new neighbors from Toronto behind Lock 7 wall
Good-bye, Lock 7!

Lock 6, first in the Flight of Five

Lock 5

Lock 4

Lock 3

Leaving Lock 3

Leaving Lock 2, looking out into Waterford

Lock 1

Good-bye Erie Canal!

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Hold: To Maintain a Grasp on Something {Intuition Diaries}

But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, 
as you have until now. 
(Joshua 23:8 NIV)





Oftentimes on a journey, we don’t know what the next moment holds.

Little plants growing in the lock wall

On this journey, we have been going through several locks and each time we enter, I sit on the front of the boat, while Les drives us slowly next to the wall. I have a long hook that I grab a rope with and then I hold on while Les backs the boat in place to grab his rope. Then we both grip our ropes until the water drains or fills. Most of this trip has been locking down, but a couple time we go up to get to the water level of a lake or connecting river.

A lock being filled up makes this soothing fountain effect.

On Saturday, where our anchor held us securely near the beach, Les took the time to wash off the sides of the boat, while I walked the beach. After that we took the boat around the bend to the canal wall to tie up for a few hours. I wanted to ride the roller coaster at the old amusement park.
Boats moored along the wall for the day at Sylvan Beach


We ate lunch at Pizza King. Pizza for Les, a sub for me, and some hot wings Buffalo style for us to share. At the amusement park, bought tickets for each ride. We eased into the excitement with a ride on a carousel that had been there since 1896. 


Then we found the Himalayan. This ride was supposed to simulate skiing, I guess. We were the only ones on each ride. We laughed so hard on the Himalayan, holding onto the safety bar keeping us in. The ride made me a bit nauseous, so we walked to a shaded area to watch the roller coaster. 

The Himalayan

Self-portrait after riding the Himalayan

I finally got my courage up and we boarded the coaster. It really was a very tame one, with two drops that were probably half of any regular roller coaster. The best part was being up on top looking down at all the boats gathered at the beach. Again Les and I were the only passengers on the ride. We each had our own car. That way I could scream as loud as I wanted, which I did. We ended our afternoon with ice cream, since the fried dough or funnel cake machine wasn’t working. 



We cruised for about five miles and went up two locks. That night we decided to just tie up below the lock on the wall. It was a very quiet uneventful night, except for the light outside our boat that shone in my eyes through the hatch every time I rolled over.

Today, we woke up and decided Les would ride his bike and I would drive the boat again. It was a wonderful morning to enjoy the quiet and beauty of God’s creation. We joined up at Lock 20, got ourselves situated. We ate our lunch (taco salad) while we cruised to Lock 19.

Les’ path took him along the original  Erie Canal

My view from the helm 


When we arrived three or four boats that had passed me during the morning were moored on the wall. We were shortly informed that the lock was having trouble closing the western doors. We chatted with the other boaters, comparing boats and stories of why we each were there and where we were headed. After about 2 hours, they were able to get the doors closed and fill the lock with water to let us through. All five boats fit in the lock.

If you look closely, you can see only
one side of the gate
 was able to open, when we exited.


We each held our place, then one by one emptied from the lock like a mini parade. We had one more lock to get through before 6pm. We got to Lock 18 by 5pm. The lock master told us that the next lock was having problems as well, which we will have to face tomorrow because we were done for the day. We found a spot at the Little Falls wall to spend the night. 

You never know what a day may hold.
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Rest: To Remain Confident {Intuition Diaries}

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living. 
(Psalm 27:13 NIV)

Over and over again, we have witnessed the goodness of the LORD on this trip. Over the past two days, His goodness and mercy have been following us like faithful companions.

Palmyra, New York

On Sunday we left the quietude of Palmyra, listening to praise music and witnessing nature. We saw this cormorant basking in the sun, which made us think of lifting our praises to our Creator. 



We took a shorter jaunt (10 miles) to the town of Newark, where we found fresh, local produce at the Sav-a-Lot. The town, like many of the towns along the western section of the canal provided free shore power, a shower and this time free laundry facilities. After picking up groceries and ice, we sat at the dock reading and catching up on our laundry.

Newark, New York

Free Laundry Facilities!

Leaving Newark

Our destination this morning was Seneca Falls. Each day Les tells me the itinerary and I half listen. So when I went to bed Sunday night, I thought I heard him say that we had three locks to go through on Monday. The next morning, he told me we had eight! What? I thought you said three! Oh, that’s on the Seneca-Cayuga canal, we have five to go through on the Erie Canal first. 

We left at 8:00am, when the locks open to head to Seneca Falls, the birth place of the Women’s Rights movement. On the  way we passed through the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, where we witnessed the majesty of God’s birds: blue heron, bald eagle, osprey, kingfisher and a crow.

Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

We made it through the locks with no incidence. That is always good. Mostly if you make a mistake in the lock, you look foolish, but it also can smash up the bow or the motor, if you don’t have a good handle on the process. 

Lock 25 on the Erie Canal, one of five for the day

Les holding his end of the boat in the lock.

Double lock on Cayuga-Seneca Canal 

The lock filling up and water seeps through gate.
[We experienced the goodness of rest and the beauty of nature, and some more invigorating work through the locks, but if you really want to hear about God’s goodness read to the end.]

It was raining off and on all day. When we arrived in Seneca Falls it had subsided. We walked uptown to find a grocery to get some lettuce. (Forgot to buy that in Newark.) Instead we found more delicious bread, an apple fritter loaf. 

We were near the Women’s Rights National Historic Park, so we stopped in to see how late they were open and tour times. We decided to watch their informational movie, as the tours were over for the day. When we came out of the movie, it was pouring outside. So we browsed the gift shop. Once the rain let up, we headed back to the boat to think about starting dinner.

As we walked towards the dock, we noticed that our boat had been moved down about four spots. We thought that odd. And then we noticed a man tying off another boat near ours. We figured he had just arrived, so we offered to help him tie up. Once we started talking to him, we realized that the goodness and mercy of God does exist in the land of the living.

While we were away, someone came by and randomly untied both boats. George was rescuing the boats. Apparently, his wife was waking up from a nap and noticed our boat was next to the dock wall with just its stern against the wall, then the boat turned some more and started bow first floating towards their boat. That’s when she got George out to stop the boat and tie it up. We were just appalled that someone would do such a thing. For no reason other than possibly a prank. 

We helped George secure the other boat. They invited us over to visit after we checked on our boat. We enjoyed getting their take on the canal and hearing about their adventures in life; they have been boating for 52 years.

Later that evening, we all consoled another very distraught couple, when they arrived back to their boat. We could see on their faces that they believed they had almost lost their boat. George retold the rescue story and the guy gave him a big bear hug. 

At the end of this day, Les said, “Well, I think I’ve had just about enough excitement for one vacation.” Tonight, we go to bed thanking God for watching over us and for meeting good people along the way.


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