Hudson River Views, and Others

Albany, NY, seen from the river, has an interesting mix of building styles, old and newer. Note the high tide line - we have to pay attention now to tides and (more important) currents.





Along the shores of the Hudson: The river is bordered more often with beaches, and houses are built close by. Many have docks and boats; and there are a lot of marinas and yacht clubs, still mainly filled with power boats.
















Looking at moorings, Castleton Boat Club. Castleton boat club is the first stop for many after leaving the locks, the last before for many on their way there; we put our mast up there, in company with several others. The boat in this picture had its mast taken down the next day.









At anchor, Rattlesnake Island. We had been travelling in company with April First for a few days, since we met April and Dean at Lock 11, Erie Canal.












Looking out, Rattlesnake Island Anchorage.















Traffic on the Hudson, looking out from Rattlesnake Island. Most of the traffic we saw, that morning and that evening, was large powerboats and these much larger barges with their tugs.











Tide Coming In, Esopus Creek. In a tiny little anchorage we entered when the tide was low; we watched the sandy banks disappear as the tide came in.

















The tide is In. And now the sand banks are completely under water.





Rock Face, Esopus Creek.. It seems wild, but a road ran above the rock face. We watched the rock face too transform as the tide came in.













Now there are hills around. This was taken looking across the river from behind Pelopus Island, where we anchored for a night.















Ruins, Pelopel Island. These castle-like ruins are those of an arsenal, built by a very rich arms dealer who sold both to the British and the Yankees.










Sunrise, leaving Pelopel Island. Yes, we actually saw sunrise twice - we needed to catch the tide to help us get to our next stop in good time.












The Tappan Zee Bridge. This is an immense bridge, crossing the Hudson River, a main artery and always busy - though shut down when this picture was taken due to a bad accident.











The Mooring Field, Nyack Boat Club. A smoggy day outside New York City - the boats are all lined up facing into the current.














Finally, a clear day! The Nyack Boat Club mooring field - after the smog lifted and the effects of hurricane/tropical storm Ophelia passed.










Enjoying a windy evening. Several boats came out to play, among them this little gaff rigged beauty.












Nyack, New York - Main St. An Italian family's restaurant right next to Starbucks - up the street is an Ace Hardware jammed with all kinds of goods from floor to ceiling. Close by, a greengrocery run by some Chinese. The store behind the benches has very good ice cream...








The high cost of housing in Nyack. I'm sure we could find something better in Toronto for $699,900 - maybe it's the location?















A View of the New York Skyline. A view from Liberty State Park, as we were heading out bound for Sandy Hook, on our way to the Atlantic.






View from Liberty State Park, NYC. The anchorage at Liberty State Park, behind the Statue of Liberty, looks out at some of the New Jersey side real estate.

Through the Canals and down the Hudson

Our last letter was written in Little Falls, in the evening before we found out the internet access provided was by phone line to your own dial-up provider. Since we don’t have a dial-up provider, that was out of the question. The showers, however, were wonder ful, and Little Fall proved to be an interesting place. There were restaurants and shops within walking distance - and most importantly for us, a laundromat. Everyone was friendly, many clearly proud of their town which is making an effort to establish an attractive area close to the canal with a park, galleries, antique and craft stores and spaces for events.

Left Little Fall early, for a long day of travel, and finally tied up more than 35 miles later on the wall above Lock 11. For us, given the speed we travel at, that felt like a long day of motoring. There we met another couple heading south on their catamaran, April First. We spent the day locking through with them, and took their suggestion of docking with them for the night at a small dock off the canal, in a town called Scotia - which has a very good dollar store, almost the only thing open late in the afternoon on Labour Day. The sign at Jumping Jacks, obviously a restaurant popular with boaters and young people, said it was closed for the season...

The next day saw us going through the final set of locks before one of those towns that cruisers on their way up or down look forward to - Waterford. The locks were amazing - five locks, one almost right after the other, each with a drop/lift of more than 30 feet. While we were in the series we had to tie up in one of the few wide areas to let a tour boat go through - you’ll see it in our pictures. Talk about a close fit - almost as along and almost as wide as the locks it had to go through.

Then Waterford - from which we finally sent our pictures. A visitors centre full of welcoming volunteers, free docking for the first two days, minimal charge after that. Internet access using your own laptop, via DSL cable, or you could use their computers. One volunteer told me that all the tugboat captains retire there, and we passed through just before their annual Tugboat Roundup - when there is no mooring for pleasure boats, as all docking facilities are ma