We loved the Hudson River. Starting west on the Erie Canal we knew would begin another great adventure. Plans for the first day were to travel from Troy to Amsterdam...37 miles...10 locks. The first five to be covered in the first two hours are pretty much back to front...not much wiggle room. Lock masters are friendly and kind enough to talk to each other and get you lined up to move rather rapidly through. Compared to the locks we had encountered on the way down to Mobile, we thought these were just pretty darn cute. The space itself is much smaller. Most lifts are 8-10 feet. All locks have hanging lines you can hold on to (of course, they are covered with icky stuff), some have pipes or cable you can tie up on ... either way you chose, you better wear gloves and be prepared. We all had jobs...Bob manned to front boat hook or the aft rope depending on whether we used lock ropes or tied to cable/pipe; I manned the bow line when we tied and the bow rope when we used their lines; Hilary manned the aft boat hook; and Floyd manned the helm. It became quite routine...easy...now, we don't know how we'll do without Bob and Hilary to help.