HISTORICAL FUN
Steamboat Meet anchors Saturday activities around Peebles Island
WATERFORD, N.Y. » Nathan Gibson and Lindsay O’Brien hiked around Peebles Island State Park on Saturday in preparation for a 100-mile, Fourth of July trek they’re planning.
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute grads, both Cohoes residents, expect to celebrate America’s 241st birthday by starting a week-long section hike of the Appalachian Trail from Killington, Vt. to Hanover, N.H.
En route to Peebles Island, they got an unexpected treat by joining the fun at the annual Waterford Steamboat Meet, which brings together replica vessels from New York, New England and Maryland.
“Peebles Island has a two-mile loop at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers,” Gibson said. “It’s beautiful and the trail system’s nice.”
“It’s a nice getaway,
tucked between all the little cities around here,” O’Brien said. “It’s a nice place to get into the wilderness without having to go too far.”
Peebles Island was strategically significant during America’s struggle for independence, which will be observed Tuesday.
This year marks the 240th anniversary of the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, the Turning Point of the American Revolution.
“On Peebles Island, there’s emplacements, breastworks and small signs that describe how they were built in connection to the Battles of Saratoga, 25 miles north of here,” said Peter Bardunias, Southern Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce president.
“What was this for? This was the fallback position. This is where Americans would have gone, to prevent the British advance on Albany, if they had lost at Saratoga. Fortunately, that never happened.”
Weather permitting, several thousand people were expected at the Waterford harbor Saturday night for a fireworks display celebrating the young nation that patriots fought and died for.
During the day, visitors admired and took rides on steamboats assembled at the waterfront, and shopped for crafts and gift items from more than a dozen different vendors.
A vessel named the Mary Louise, owned by John and Mary O’Dea of Laurel, Md., was named the event’s “Steamboat of the Year.”
All of the small, replica boats on hand are powered by wood- and coal-burning stoves.
“The originals would have been used more than 100 years ago before gasoline engines were reliable,” John O’Dea said.
“If you had a power boat it would have been a steam engine. A boat like this is called a steam launch. It would have been a pleasure boat.”
The O’Deas brought it to Waterford on a trailer, and spent the past few days traveling about local waterways.
“Waterford has quite a history,” O’Dea said. “This was the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal. Also, the Champlain Canal starts here.”
Small steamboats such as the Mary Louise can travel about 20 miles per day. So it takes three days to make the roughly 60mile trip from Waterford to Whitehall on the Champlain Canal, he said.
“We come here as much for socializing as running the boats,” O’Dea said.
People with all kinds of maritime interests turned out for Saturday’s event including members of a Glenville-based U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla, whose primary mission is promoting recreational boating safety. The auxiliary is the volunteer branch of the Coast Guard.
“This is a perfect place for us to come and talk to people,” said Paul Berger, flotilla commander.
“The quality of the workmanship on these steamboats is incredible. Everything gleams, everything is freshly varnished and the propulsion is neat. With modern boats, almost everything is hidden away. But here, the propulsion is right out in the middle of the boat. There’s a little boiler you can see. If you like mechanical things, it’s beautiful place to come.”
Activity continues Sunday with a Waterford Harbor Farmer’s Market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“This is also an interesting place because there’s always boats from far away,” Bardunias said.
“Every single boat that does the Great Loop through Great Lakes passes through here so you might see boats from Texas, the Caribbean or Canada.”
Water Music New York, a week-long Erie Canal bicentennial celebration starts Sunday in Albany. For information go to: www.watermusicny.org.