#6: Kids and Politicians

We tied up in Utica for the night. The rainy system had passed, skies had cleared and our first thoughts were that it had been a fairly uneventful day; two locks, nice scenery. Not much to inspire a blog post. After all, we are sensitive to the perils of overpublishing. That was until the politician showed up.

The proverbial day began in Little Falls, famous for accommodating boaters. The attention to detail was impressive.

 As we got underway a blue heron lead the way west.

Four miles later we entered Lock 18 and found company waiting for us - the first time in eighteen locks we had shared the lock walls. It was the fourth grade from Binghamton celebrating the end of the school year with a boat ride. Word got out that a bunch of old farts were in a pretty neat boat and the stern of the canal boat filled. It felt like kids on a school bus waving to passing cars. Wave back and the crowd goes wild.

The questions began. 

• How many on the boat?
• Do you live on it?
• Do you know Justin Bieber?
• Do you know Sponge Bob? 

So we asked them if they knew The Beatles. They did and gave them thumbs up.
 



Allan was overjoyed to finally find a visual support for a long-held joke:
What's the definition of an old maid? A woman who waited so long for her ship to come in that her pier collapsed.





 
We passed these guys who pointed out their crew member working the bow.





 




If you haven't guessed, we are partial to tugs. These cute little ones are the workhorses of the canal. Smaller than ours, but just as spiffy. And proud to be put to work.

 

Approaching Lock 19. This is one section where the canal is separate from the Mohawk River.

  



We heard on the radio that another westbound boat behind us wanted to lock through. So we waited, and Tug T7 joined us.

Our captain took his turn holding the rope while Sally recorded the passage.

Since they were working and we were just, well, playing, we let them go first.

So here we are back to the present in Utica, tied up next to a waterfront restaurant, Aqua Vino. The outdoor patio was beginning to fill at happy hour, and pretty soon three businessmen appeared on the dock with the usual questions. They passed inspection so we invited them aboard for a tour. 
 


As we were finishing, two more showed up on the dock. Aha! Camden, Maine. One of them grew up there. His parents still live there. He used to bus tables at the Waterfront. So we invited them aboard; Dan and Mike. Turns out Dan Lamb is running for US Congress for this district! Mike is his campaign manager. We had a great time chatting and wished him success in November.

There are many opportunities for free docking on the canal. You can tie up at most locks, but there are no electrical hookups and water. We don't mind paying a small fee for good dockage. Even the docks are more friendly to the fenders.

We were happy to pay $37 for our 37 foot boat. But somewhat dismayed with paying an extra $2 for Jody's two feet.

Lesson learned: every day is a good day.