Waterford, New York, Southbound on the Hudson River.

We have just finished the first two legs of the NY Canal System; the Oswego & the Erie. After a two day stop, we will start down the Hudson River, named after the same Henry Hudson that accidentally dicovered that pesky bay that prevented him from ever reaching India...did you know the poor guy was mutinied and set adrift in the Hudson's Bay?

Anyhow, Waterford is quite pretty. Most of the buildings are in good shape, as opposed to some of the poorer towns we saw on the way down. The severe flooding that damaged the NY Canal system two springs ago must have nailed their poor coffins shut. Some towns were dead on their feet and that flood knocked right down. We chatted with one lockkeeper about how his lockstation fared. He lost his lockhouse and much of the dam. Work had been underway to rebuild the dam, on Lock#10, one abuttment was almost done when the water swept the it and one other away. Alond the way, you could see which locks were still being rebuilt after the flood and which one were untouched. The unharmed ones were all freshly painted and looking great. The damaged ones looked as though they were putting off repainting until all the work was done. There was still a lot of work to go!

Anyhow, we're starting to meet more people now. Along the way, we met but did'nt get to know other boaters because they were in such a hurry to get south. We, however, are taking our time and visiting the areas we are in. Now that we are in a common rest and fuelling up stop for boaters, they too are taking advantage of the two free days dockage, so they have time to shmooze. Most are seasonal boaters who still have houses, cars and mortagages to get back to. Others are out for the two or three years sabbatical from work. Still others have gone no further than their two week vacation will take them. We've met only a few other couple who are out there permanently, like us.

Life has been very relaxing and quiet. As soon as I feel tired of that and need some fun, I figure I'll crawl out from under this rock and start being more friendly toward other boaters. I think I've depressurized from owning and operating a very busy cafe and am getting ready to start focussing on what I'm doing!