Parking Lot on the Water

The New York State Canal system was scheduled to open for the season on May 17th. While most of the system is currently up and running, the Champlain portion of the canal, from Waterford to Whitehall, has yet to open due to high water levels. The buoys for the Hudson River portion of the route still sit on barges waiting to be placed in position.

I walked around Waterford Harbor this morning and noted many boats headed for Vermont and Canada after spending the winter further south. Waterford sits a few miles south of the first Champlain lock and is as far as they can travel until the canal opens.

All other portions of the canal system are open and lock E2 on the Erie portion welcomes its first boats of the day. You can follow the status of the canal system on their website at http://www.canals.ny.gov/.