Just north of Lock 7 the Mohawk River does a grand loop to the north and then back south around the city of Schenectady. The canal affords a good view of the General Electric plants. GE was formed in this upstate city in 1892 and the original plant still operates there today. It was one of the original 12 companies that formed the DJIA when that index was created in 1896. It is now the third largest firm in the world globally. Innovations in green tech put it at 63rd in the nation in Newsweek's ranking of green companies. Apart from the 30 years that their plants near Lake Champlain spent pumping PCBs into the Hudson, and apart from the recent headlines regarding the Fukushima nuclear plants design, you rarely see negatives about this company in the news. For a company so large and so diverse, they have a pretty good track record. With over 100 years of sustained operations, you would also have to call them a model for successful corporate capitalism. But even with a greener giant in the neighborhood, and with the local economy buoyed by this huge corporate citizen, the local headline on Monday morning was that fully 50 percent of the city's children live in households below the poverty line. GE has been very good for Schenectady, but apparently not good enough for a lot of its citizens.
We passed some pretty little waterfalls created by the outfall from the GE Knolls Atomic Power Lab. The parking lot was full at the GE Research and Development Facility. The Mohawk Park Marina and Wells Seaplane Base had more RVs in the yard than boats, and not an airplane in sight. Things appeared to be booming at the GE Renewable Energy plant. Let's hope they keep shipping those containers of product to India and beyond.
We saw more evidence that NYS was investing in canal infrastructure. The old damaged bridge pictured here was being dismantled and rebuilt so that us boaters could continue to enjoy the Erie.
We were happy to see that NY supports recycling on these projects. Instead of dumping the steel into the river bottom, this barge was slated to headed back down to that big stack of steel we saw outside of Albany.
Flights of black ducks were crowding the shoreline. This was the first time we had seen this species in large numbers.
We began to notice a lot of suds and foam below the dams on the canal. It did not seem to faze these geese at all.
We came up on Lock 12 and curiously noticed that a middle 40 foot section of the north seawall was missing. After the filling water lifted us up to the top of the lock, the lockmaster advised us that the seawall was not missing. They knew exactly where it was. The overflow from the recent floods had scoured a 65 foot deep hole in the bank behind the seawall, and deposited all that concrete directly into the depression at the bottom.
Lock 13 presented some special challenges with current, which prevented us from getting photos of the approach to the lock. Here is a before photo off the web.
In order to repair storm damage, the entire right side of the bridge had been surrounded by a cofferdam diverting the flow to the left. The gates on the left side of the bridge closest to the lock entrance were shutdown completely except for the one lone wide open gate alongside of the lock wall. All the overflow of the river was being directed through this one gate. This created a very strong current with a tremendous ebb into the lock entrance. Niki did a really superior job of getting the boat lined up and into the lock while working the helm back and forth at a frantic pace. We covered our ears as best we could, to shield out the huge noise of the pumps working to keep the coffer workspace dry, while we were lifted up to the next level. We were very glad to leave this job site behind us.
We had heard that there was a nice public marina at Canajoharie. We were very pleasantly surprised when we turned the corner at Green Buoy 357 to see a brand new park and new docks on the south side of the river. The town provides free dockage and shorepower to boaters.
If you drive the NY State Thruway from Syracuse to Albany you cannot help seeing the huge chewing gum and baby food plant alongside the canal and freeway here. We have passed this little hamlet hundreds of times, but never took the opportunity to explore it.
As we walked into town to find dinner, we walked past the front entrance to the plant. The parking lot was empty, all was quiet, and there was a For Sale sign at the main walkway. A lot of the store fronts in downtown were also empty or closed. Fortunately for us, Jim's Irish Pub showed an "Open" sign in the window. The place had two local feelin-no-pain patrons at the bar and one German born barmaid at the tap. They told us that after 118 years in this town, Beech-Nut had decided to relocate to a new plant 20 miles away. Some of the local workers were able to make the transfer, but the major revenue source for the local economy had left the town for good last year. Despite this hardship, the locals were upbeat and hopeful. I laughed until my belly hurt at many of the stories and opinions leveled at us non-stop from bar stool number 2. The Guinness was even better than the food, and the stories got better with more Guinness. It was a great night. Besides the web lists this bar as a great place to go if you are spoiling for a fist fight, and who can resist a good old fashion Irish bar fight? "May the good Lord take a likin to you, but not too soon!"
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