Sunday, July 27, 2014

Day 133 - Search and Recovery in Schenectady

The rain started early, hard at times, and we decided not to leave until it was over.  We made breakfast and watched the vendors set up their tents for the Farmer’s Market, held every Sunday morning on the waterfront.  Jenny’s Sweet Adventures was right next to us and we watched as Jenny worked to set up her tent and carry her baked goods from her vehicle in the driving rain.  There were about a dozen vendors in all and a guitar duo playing under cover of the Visitor’s Center.  Thankfully, the rain stopped at 10:00 am and it cleared up nicely.  Captain Randy walked to the Post Office, then we all walked the market.  I wanted to support Jenny after having watched her fight the rain all morning.  Dad and I sampled her wares and we picked out banana bread and cookies to purchase.  We were ready to go now and pulled up to the first lock at 11:20 am.




The first 5 locks of the Erie Canal are called “the Flight of Five” as they are very close together.  As you exit one, you can see then next one in front of you.  The lift was 30 feet each so they have lines hanging over the side for you to grab and hang on to.  I went up on the bow and caught the first line and Dad was stationed at the stern, grabbing the second.  Captain Randy used the bow thruster to keep us off the wall or from drifting towards the opposite wall.  These locks are narrower than we are used to - only 44 feet wide.  Lock 2 went smoothly, but we had more trouble at Lock 3.  The lock takes the boat up above the side wall and the Captain wanted me to lower the fender at the bow to better protect it at the top.  We had more turbulence in Lock 3 and it was pushing the rub rail into the wall.  I snatched up the boat hook and used one hand to keep us off the wall and one to hold the line.  Captain Randy had to work the thruster more and my Dad was also trying to keep us off.  This was a lot more work and nerve-wracking as well.  We kept the large fender low at the bow, but stacked another smaller one above it, covering the rub rail.  We did the same at mid-ship.  Between this and Captain Randy being more aware of the turbulence, we handled the other 4 locks that day without a hitch!  We were through “the Flight of Five” by 12:50 pm and were about 175 feet above the Hudson.

 
 

 
 



We were now in the Mohawk River, which forms part of the modern day canal system.  We next passed under two “guard gates,”  flood gates that can be opened or closed to control the flow of water.  These were open for us.  There is some housing both at the water’s edge and up on the cliffs.  At Cohoes, NY, we pass Blaine’s Bay Marina and a red arching bridge.  At this point we entered the Vischer’s Ferry Nature Preserve.  We passed a sailboat with it's mast down.  All sailboats entering the Erie Canal have to take their masts down due to low bridges.  At 2:15 pm we were at Lock 7 and out by 2:30 pm.  Just as we finished removing all the fenders, it started to rain, but the rain only lasted a short time.

 


 






We had 3.5 miles to go to the Schenectady Yacht Club, our stopping place for the night.  Captain Randy had called them earlier and the dockmaster told us that there was a search and rescue operation underway.  He called them on the radio as we got close and we were told the operation was still going on and the only place he had for us was on the fuel dock where the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Police had their dive boats.  Apparently the dockmaster cleared it with the Sheriff for us to dock near their boats, so we tied up at 3:15pm.   We eyed the county boats circling the area by the bridge in front of us and the squad cars in the parking lot, wondering what was going on.  The rain had stopped by now and we questioned the dockmaster when we checked in.  He told us that a man had jumped off the bridge and was presumed drowned, so there were divers searching for his body.  His wife was on the outside deck, watching and waiting.  By about 5:30 pm, the boats were in and the team had left without finding anything.

 
The sun was back out and we took a walk around the marina and boatyard.  The yacht club had a covered outdoor facility they called the Pole Barn, complete with a commercial stove, refrigerator, coolers and picnic tables.  Clearly they had some fun parties out here.  The club also had an indoor facility with a bar, dining area and galley.  The door was open so we went in to look around.   A member and his wife came in behind us and gave us some history and information.  The building had been there since the original canal was operating and housed the M. Travis General Store.  It carried feed for the mules and general merchandise.  An aqueduct ran right in front of the building.  (When the Erie Canal was built in 1825, aqueducts were built over the Mohawk River to carry the barges.  The river was not used as part of the canal because it was too wide.)  Pictures of the building and grounds are on the club’s walls. We walked to a back water channel to see the club's boat lift that uses part of one of the original locks on the canal to haul boats out of the water. 





The yacht club has no liquor license so the bottles behind the bar all belong to members.  There are about 67 boats in the marina and most of the owners are members.  There is no regular food service.  The member also told us that the onsite pool was not licensed and so closed, but we later saw a few people using it.  We walked the dock back to our boat and took a few pictures of it.  The fuel dock was now empty and we had a clear shot.



Town was too far to walk to, so we ordered Chinese food for delivery.  We were just finishing up when I saw a Sheriff’s deputy and the dockmaster behind the boat.  I went out to the back deck and was told that we might need to move our boat.  I noticed that a number of squad cars were back in the parking lot behind him.  He said, “depending on what happens, you might need to move”.   I told him that we would be on the boat and to let us know.   It was now about 7:30 pm and all 3 of us sat in the upper helm area to see what was going on.
 


A small dinghy was tied to the dock several yards away from us – about where we had taken our pictures earlier.  A man wearing a white shirt, tie, and rubber gloves climbed into the boat and was pulling on some lines at the stern.  We could see something floating at the end of the lines: yes, the body!  Over the next couple hours, we watched the coroner and EMS truck arrive.  The EMS workers pulled the body out of the water on a stretcher and then placed it into a body bag.  The body was then lifted to a gurney and taken away.  Evidently a boater saw the body, tied it to his dinghy, and brought it to the fuel dock.  WOW – I felt like I was backstage of a TV cop show!  It was a very sad occurrence but still fascinating for us to watch the drama unfold.  After the EMS truck left, the parking lot emptied again and we went below.  It was a very unusual ending to the day.

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