Another short run today had us tied up before 1PM at the free town dock at the waterfront park in Canajoharie after traveling just 22.4 miles through 3 more locks but only up another 31'. The currents approaching and entering these locks can be wicked and suddenly move you dramatically sideways. We're learning to approach them under power and push through and into the lock and then ease off quickly, grab some lines and power to a stop.
All this water flows downstream alongside the lock entrance
Overall, the trip was going well until we got to our last lock of the day - Lock 13. A larger boat had left Amsterdam well before us but was slow and got held up in the lock as we approached. The captain was really belittling the lockmaster for waiting on us rather than letting him lock through. Well, don't you know we wind up right next to him which wasn't too bad until the lock gates closed and the chamber started filling at which point they lost control of their lines and drifted against us. His big boat simply pinned us to the lock wall. It wasn't an issue initially but once the lock completely filled there wasn't even room for a fender between us and the wall. Thankfully no damage to either boat but not a fun experience. He continued past us and hopefully will remain well ahead of us.
"Vision" loose in the lock and using "As You Wish" as a fender - Aaarrrghhh!!!
Beautiful scenery continues along the Mohawk River
Even along a scenic waterway civilization occasionally pops up
Canajoharie is an indian word meaning "pot that washes itself" and describes several large round depressions in a nearby creek that formed in the rockbed over centuries by circular flows of water eroding away the stone. They're a bit outside of town so we opted to visit the nearby Arkell Museum. Bartlett Arkell was the first president of Beech-Nut packaging based here in Cananjoharie. It was (is) a very large factory built in the early 1900's along the Mohawk River as their processing and packaging plant. This site gave them an advertising advantage with it's clean, natural, fresh and wholesome location. While I remember Beech Nut gum as a kid I didn't realize how diverse they were back in their heyday of the 20's and 30's when they had a diverse line of packaged foodstuffs including bacon, crackers, cooked spaghetti, fruits, ketchup, etc. as well as their gum. Bartlett loved the arts and wanted to share with his workers and community. He initially had copies of the masters commissioned that were displayed in the factory areas (along with piano playing in the factory and manicures for the female workers). In the late 20's he established a library and museum to share his art collection with the entire community. The business was sold off in the 50's and the plant now sits idle and abandoned. A reminder of better economic times.
Canajoharie has a very unique stoplight in the town center. They call it the "Dummy Light". It's a 4 sided light mounted in the center of an intersection. The dummy part comes from the fact that there's 5 streets entering the intersection.
The dummy light
Interesting dining option in town tonight. Irish pub that stopped serving food after 2 pm when the cook went home, A diner that only serves breakfast and lunch or your choice of 3 different Italian restaurants - so we had Italian again tonight.
Journey for June 19
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