Advertisement
Published: September 4th 2010
Andrew at the helm
Our grand nephew Andrew looking comfortable at the helm traveling down the Erie CanalAugust 21 - August 31st
As mentioned in the last entry, we had a great time visiting with family at lock 8 on the Erie Canal. We then pushed off from there on August 21st and headed toward Waterford. Made it through the flight of 5 locks which ended the locking through of the Erie Canal. We have only great things to say about all of the lockmasters - they all are very friendly and go out of the way to be helpful and provided very useful information. Got to the Waterford visitor center wall and found a space which was great. Waterford is very “boater friendly” - they have free showers, free wi-fi, grocery store within walking distance and volunteers to let you know what is available in town - really great people. We had planned on staying Sat. and Sunday night as still had quite a few things to get ready on the boat and thought this seemed like a good place to do it. Well, Sunday was a very rainy day, but they had a great farmer’s market right there which we definitely took advantage of. When we got up on Monday AM we couldn’t even get off
Checking out the boat
Keegan and Andrew checking out the boat when stopped on the Erie Canal the boat as the current had gotten very strong and it was pulling the boat away from the dock. Found out that the water was rising very quickly and as a result of the power of the water, a huge wooden dock that came from across the river broke loose and starting flying down the river. Luckily a couple of guys thought fast and were able to “catch” the dock. It just missed quite a few boats (ours included). It made for a very exciting day as everyone on the dock pulled together to figure out how to secure this out of place dock so it didn’t cause any problems with any boats in the future. It was nice to see everyone working together to get this accomplished. That evening we had a “we survived the flood cocktail party” of most of the boaters that have been at the dock at Waterford. Great to meet lots of people and exchange stories of their travels. As a result of this high water the Erie Canal closed locks 2 through 22 and the Oswego canal was closed as well. The current was very strong and a lot of debris went flying by
Some more visitors
Patrick and Virginia checking out the helm (logs, mattresses, etc) There were quite a few people that had been planning on going west but were stopped for now. Those of us that were going south were also told to hold off a day or two as the Hudson was full of debris and that the federal lock in Troy NY was closed as well due to the water level and flow. This caused us to stay in Waterford for 4 days. The nice benefit of this was that we had a shipment sent to my sister’s house (a batten was broken in our brand new sail) and my Mom delivered it to us. We got to do some shopping with her for a few things we needed and got a chance to take her out to dinner - as always it was great to see her and visit again!
Finally on Wednesday AM (August 25th) we left Waterford and headed to Catskill NY so we could have our mast put up and we could become a sailboat again. The trip was uneventful which was very good as there were lots of logs and branches in the water so had to watch very carefully when at the helm.
a family picnic
Janice's side of the family planned a picnic while we were stopped at lock 8 - great to see everyone again before leaving the area Got the boat ready Wednesday afternoon so we were able to put up the mast Thursday in about an hour. Found that we had to keep moving as the place that they put the mast up runs “dry” when the tide goes out. Needless to say, we kept moving on getting the mast secured in an upright position and then moved the boat to deeper water. Well, we found another problem today. We looked at our new sails and found that the wrong slugs were installed (the connections that allow us to run the sail up the mast) so we called the sailmaker this AM and they are sending replacements by express mail (without a cost to us). We can’t say enough good things about working with Mack Sails - they were very responsive and quickly sent us items that will get us sailing. They will be at the Annapolis boat show so will see them then to get the connections completely corrected, but at least we are able to sail with the items that were sent. Friday was spent putting on a new boom vang and ran the radar line through our cabinets to the panel. Bob had to
a different perspective
We used to drive across this Northway bridge when we lived in the area years ago - interesting to see from a different vantage point make a minor adjustment with the boom vang and luckily he has the tools on board to do this. With our new sails we bought a stack pack (it serves as the mainsail cover but also as a way for the sail to be dropped into the cover rather than on the deck) It took most of Saturday to install the system as Bob had to go up the mast and use his tap and die set to install the fastener to the mast 28 feet above the boom. This was the 2nd time Bob went up the mast as the day before he had to straighten out some of the halyards. At least being at the dock it wasn’t a bad job (just hard on the arms after awhile). Bob is very glad we have steps all the way up the mast (Janice is too as it makes it easier when winching him up the mast as the line she is cranking is a safety line rather than a line that is actually pulling him up the mast).
While working, a huge monarch butterfly starting flying around us. It was definitely attracted to Bob as it kept landing on
the runaway dock
A view of the runaway dock in Waterford caused by the flood waters. As you can see it pinned a boat in stopped at the visitor center dock him for long periods of time. As a result got a few shots of it as well. We have read in other blogs about birds that hang around a boat, hadn’t heard of a monarch!
By Saturday afternoon Tsamaya was a sailboat again! We then did all the housekeeping duties such as laundry, pumping out the head and topping off the diesel and water tanks. In the evening we decided to go to town to do some shopping. Found out that it only cost $3.50 for a taxi so decided to call. Well, the taxi company didn’t answer so we decided to start walking. When not far from the marina a man getting out of a van saw us and said “boaters, right”. Guess we have a look now that is recognizable -walking with canvas bags away from the marina area. Found out that he is renovating a 1850 house which he gave us a tour of and then he offered to drive us to the grocery store. We have already said that a big part of why we are doing this is to travel and meet interesting and pleasant people. We have already done this already by meeting Bill
moving the dock
Everyone pitched in and pulled the runaway dock so it was secure and wouldn't be able to damage anything. Quite a joint effort on everyone's part and Carol at Waterford who had us on board for dinner and reviewed the charts with us and gave us pointers on where to anchor; Lyle at Catskill helping us at the dock when trying to install the boom vang and other projects, Skip and the ride to the store in Catskill, as well as the many others that we met at the various locks and overnights that we have been at so far. As the taxi driver last night that brought us home from the store said, before he got the taxi driving job he wondered about the state of people now, but found that the majority of people are nice and interesting to meet. We agree!
Finally left Catskill NY on Sunday, August 29th at 5:55AM. It was a foggy morning but figured it would burn off quickly. Wrong… the fog didn’t lift until 8:30AM so honed our navigational skills in the heavy fog. We were just very happy we didn’t see (or was it hear) one of those large barges plying the Hudson River as they seem to take up the whole river (or so it seems) The Hudson is truly a beautiful river - with lots
A reason to party
Party time: "We survived the Waterford Flood" - met lots of great people of vegetation, great views of the Catskill Mts, beautiful homes and historic lighthouses and homes.
We left early in order to catch the tide which helps with our speed. With the rpm’s at 2200 we normally go approximately 6 knots - with the current and tide we were moving at 7.5 knots with no increase in acceleration. We stopped in Poughkeepsie at 11AM to sit out low tide and then around 3:30PM we then continued again as the tide turned and we will have it help us travel south again for a couple of hours before anchoring for the night. We found a great anchorage at Storm King Mountain just north of West Point. It was great to be anchored out (even though we did do some rocking & rolling from the tugboats going by).
The next morning we were off bright and early again to catch the tide (we are getting into the swing of watching the tide charts) through what we feel is the most beautiful part of the Hudson River. The river narrows and winds through the mountains past West Point and beautiful views of the wilderness of the Catskill Mountains. We took so many photos while
great use of barges
Found many riverside restaurants making use of old barges - great way to get waterfront property on this part of the river but the camera never do them justice. We made it down to Haverstraw Bay and anchored off of Croton-on-Hudson. There was another sailboat anchored out as well. Later in the day they came over in their kayaks to visit and of course talk about sailing as they are hoping to set sail in the future as well. That evening they (Steve & Mary) were kind enough to invite us to dinner at their home which was really appreciated. Having been cruisers themselves they also knew to offer use of their wi-fi and even took our garbage and sent some mail for us. We are finding it hard to find mailboxes - they are almost as extinct as the pay telephone booth! We also find the garbage really adds up quickly on a boat as we have been so used to recycling in Trumansburg and it is very difficult (if not impossible) as many places we have traveled do not recycle or at least it is not easy to find a place to leave recyclables. This is a very hard thing to adjust to as we have always been very careful about recycling as much
a nicer pace
This is the way to travel through Albany -nice to travel at 6 knots instead of 65 mph as we could.
We did learn one lesson while at dinner with Steve and Mary - the tide went out and the dinghy was left at a yacht club that locked up at night (even though we had asked permission to leave our dinghy there). Luckily Steve stayed around & found that we were having a problem so he looked around and borrowed a ladder so we could get down to our dinghy - again, thanks Steve!
We decided that we would stay anchored at Croton on Tuesday as well, but the day was very hot and we were having a hard time with the heat. We decided in the afternoon that we would at least be cooler if we kept moving so started up the engine and we are now moored at Upper Nyack. We took the dinghy ashore and had dinner in a restaurant with A/C. Back at the boat for the evening it is still very hot so think we will probably sleep outside back in the cockpit. It really is beautiful as we can see the lights on the Tappan Zee bridge and there is a cool soft breeze now.
We monitored the weather reports regarding
Port of Albany
We were happy to see that the port wasn't busy when we were traveling by early in the AM Earl coming up the east coast and decided to continue on to Sandy Hook NJ. From everything we looked and and heard, it appears that it would be a good place to hold up in case of strong winds and waves from Earl. As a result we left Upper Nyack on another very hot day headed south. It was slower going as the current was against us for the first part of the trip as we wanted to time it right when going through the narrows in NYC. The trip down to the City was fine and very picturesque through the Pallisades. The worse part of the trip was actually when going through NYC harbor due to the wakes from the numerous water taxis. They were all around us in all directions and threw up a wake that made us feel like we were driving through a washing machine! Luckily Tsamaya handled it all well and even Sailor didn’t seem the worse for wear from all the bouncing around. We were just glad to be through the city as once we cleared the Verrazano Bridge it was great as the water evened out and it was a pleasant trip from
Tansformation will begin soon
Hopefully this is the last time that the mast will be horizontal for a long time there. We had hoped to get to Atlantic Highlands in the daylight but didn’t quite make it, however, our chartplotter worked out great in getting us there safely. We picked up a mooring at the Atlantic Highland Yacht Club and will be staying here for a few days. Luckily the weather report is getting better for the area as well so it doesn’t sound like it will be too bad but we will still keep our guard up. The real bonus of being in this area for a few days is that we have family here (Bob’s cousin Mike and his family) so will have a chance to visit with them as well.
Our next leg of the journey will be from Sandy Hook to Cape May, NJ on the “outside” so will wait to be sure we have a good weather window for doing that. Will keep you posted on when that occurs.
For those of you that are wondering, we are definitely enjoying the journey so far. We are meeting great people and having fun exploring new places. As Bob mentioned today when walking back from the grocery store, one thing that has changed is that we go
Crane used to put up mast
This crane is what is used to put up the mast. They had it down to a science. People were great to work with at Riverview Marina in Catskill NY shopping more often now than we used to as we have to buy our food in smaller quantities due to our refrigeration limitations. This gives us an excuse to have to explore the various towns we stop at which is not a bad thing at all!
Will have to download the photos from the lower part of the Hudson through to Atlantic Highlands and will put up some photos from that section next time we have wi-fi connections.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.609s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 32; qc: 125; dbt: 0.2738s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Bev & Steve
non-member comment
great!
Photos wonderful - sounds like you're getting the "kinks" worked out and all the parts in the right places. Never thought of the Hudson as majestic - but you got to see it in a whole other light. Wonderful to hear from you and hope Earl passes so you can get on with the trip. Sounds like every day is fun so far. Thanks for the great blog news...you're doing a terrific narrative. Good Luck.