Murphy's Law

John says:

The trip to Waterford was pleasant and we went to tie up at the Municipal Dock. We could not get a spot with electric so I said, " so what, we have a newly rebuilt generator". After tying up at the end of the dock I turned on the generator and after a few minutes to let the generator warm up and settle down (settle down = steady output) I turned on the hot water heater and after five minutes the generator died. I then went down the dock and asked some people to move and I tied up with electric. We went to dinner with the dockmaster and his girlfriend and a good time was had by all.

The next day we took a shorter ride than planned in order to stop at the Albany Marine Service marina that had a generator specialist(not in Albany at all, but in the town of Cohoes, NY). I spent the day troubleshooting the generator and did all I could without a gauge for a compression test. The mechanic came a 6:30PM and found only 90 pounds of pressure (it should be at least 120) which confirmed my suspicion that the timing chain had somehow slipped or skipped a gear or two rendering the generator useless. Lucky us. Now we will be planning the trip around marinas with electric. Which also probably makes the new tender and outboard engine useless because we will not be on the hook or a mooring as previously planned.

With an 850 pound anchor (the generator) in the bilge, we continued on. Our first stop was to be Amsterdam but Holly wanted to go to another place so we went on to the place she suggested but it was closed. It was not Holly's fault though because I gave her an outdated guide book to peruse. So ok, it only took five more hours of motoring along the Mohawk River to find a marina with electric and all the other amenities, in the town of St. Johnsville. A grand total of 9 1/2 hours of cruising. The town is small and most of the storefronts are empty as I imagine a lot of the storefronts in small towns in upstate New York are. Wait, let me retract that. Most of the stores have closed like stores in every small town in America. But that is just my opinion.

We will press on...

Holly says:

The photo top left is of the view from the Albany Marine Service marina. The top right photo was taken on the way into Lock 7 of the Erie Canal, and the bottom photo is of the Mohawk River heading towards Lock 14.