We are at Half Moon Marina in Croton on the Hudson. I got a shock last
night. I was preparing last night for today's trip when I realized
that the chart did not go north of New York City. I thought I had
charts (maps) for the whole trip but it turns out I am 150 miles short.
So this morning I checked with the Marina to see whether they had a chart,
no and they thought the only possibility was in Manhattan and that store
was closed it being Sunday. After an hour walk I located a chart
at a bait shop and at 930 am we took off. It was a great trip up
the Hudson. We saw the New York skyline with old docks and warehouses
many in disrepair. Many are being put to other uses like a driving
golf range. In the background are the huge skyscrapers. Then the scenery
turned to high cliff covered with trees called the Palisades. We passed
the George Washington and Tappan Zee Bridges. We saw Sing Sing prison
and Tarrytown and Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow. Tomorrow we
will spend the day with Jan and Burt and hopefully the dentist. (The
crown became unglued again.)
5-31-00
We spent two days with Jan and Burt. The first day we went to Rockefeller's
Estate. The Gardens were the best I have ever seen. The setting
up on the hills overlooking the Hudson is spectacular. The sculptures,
the flowers the bushes and hedges create an unbelievable beauty.
We had an exceptional guide for the tour who was very knowledgeable and
delightful. We also visited the Phillips's Manor. He was a
very successful landowner who chose the wrong side in the Revolutionary
War and lost everything. The Manor has been restored with a mill
to the original setting. The second day I went to the dentist again
and the crown stayed in until dinner. I am going to wait until I
return to DM to fix it. Today we traveled to Hyde Park, NY 77 miles
up the Hudson. We left at 545am and arrived 1145. We traveled between
8-9 mph because we had the tidal current with us.
6-5-00
The message sent earlier today dated June 4 was incorrectly dated. We have
been off line due to modem failure. I tried repeatedly to repair
it but today finally gave up and went to a computer store and got new modem
installed. The last log was the day we arrived at Hyde Park. We visited
FDR's home. The next day we made it to Waterford, NY where the Erie
Canal begins. We had to go thru a Federal Lock. We tied up
to the wall at the Welcome Center. We stayed two nights because of thunderstorms
the second day. We got a short duration of storms but not as bad
as all around us. Then we went thru Locks 2-8 and stopped sooner
then expected due to engine battery problems. The owner of the marina
loaned us his pickup and we went to town and purchased two batteries.
The locale was beautiful. It was a combination campground and marina.
The area had lots of trees. We arrived here in Amsterdam, NY at Lock
11 and we are tied up to the lock's wall with free electricity and free
tie up. We will spend a few days here as we love the area.
The Hudson was majestic with a lot of variety of scenes, mansions, West
Point, high cliff, mountains, river more then a mile wide, etc. The
canal is about 300 feet wide lined with trees and lots of wild flowers.
We went to a movie yesterday. It is raining today and expected to
for a couple of days.
6-6-00
It has been raining for 48 hours(now 5pm)and cold (56F) and expected to
continue most of the night hopefully done by morning. The boat ahead
of us from Newport Beach, CA, Howard and Jane on Stormy Petrol a 42 Grand
Banks took us to a mall today in their car where we spent 3 hours.
They have been living aboard since 1992 and have cruised to Alaska and
thru the Panama Canal and Venezuela, plan to go to Nova Scotia then Cuba
and then back to CA. They have a car here because their children
and grandchildren are here. They have been here more than a month.
We hope to leave tomorrow assuming there isn't too much trash coming down
the river due to the rain.
6-7-00
My oldest daughter, Gayle has a birthday today. I hope she has a
very good one. We are in the lock with 4 other boats. The two plus
days of heavy rains have filled the canal to bank full. The water
was about to go over the wall we were tied up to so about 25 townspeople
help us move the boats to the lock. We are secure in here but may
have to remain here for a few days depending on when the water reaches
its crest. Life goes on pretty normal, basketball game etc.
6-8-00
We are changing our plans. We are leaving the Erie Canal and going to Lake
Champlain. We spent the night last night in the lock. The water level
was controllable. The next lock west was 2 ft over the wall. The
authorities say the canal west from where we are will be down for 2 weeks
to a month. Friends Howard and Jane moved their boat west before
the lock was closed for repair. We took their car to their next stop went
to our postal stop got my medicine and picked them up and they returned
us to our boat. We will leave Amsterdam tomorrow morning heading east.
6-9-00
We are still in Amsterdam, NY. The dockmaster is awaiting word from
his boss to give us the go ahead to return east to the Hudson River.
We will then go on the Champlain Canal and Lake Champlain returning to
New York City on July 9. There is a lot of debree in the dams affecting
their ability to lift the gates to let water flow. The local newspaper
ran a picture of our boat together with the other boats moored on the town
wall explaining we were confined here due to the heavy rain. The
other boats went thru the lock yesterday that is now closed for repair.
The estimated time to repair was 2-4 weeks and we didn't want to get caught
west and not be able to return east on time. During the repair no boats
can traverse the lock.
6-10-00
We are still at lock 11 waiting for debris to be cleared from lock 9. We
saw the movie Gladiators at least on par with Ben Hur.
6-12-00
At 130pm today we received permission from the canal authorities to travel
east on the Erie Canal. We are back at Arrowhead Marina and will
be on the Champlain Canal tomorrow evening. All is well.
6-13-00
We are in Mechanicville, NY on the Champlain Canal. We made 49 miles
and went thru 11 locks and arrived at 2pm. It rained off and on most
of the day. We plan to spend at least two days here as it is a quaint town.
6-15-00
We remain at Mechanicville.We are repairing the water pump. People
are great here and the town terminal we are tied to is the best one so
far.We spent the day driving around the battlefield site at Saratoga, NY.
It is hugh and very picturesque. The mechanic working on the boat
(water pump) loaned us his car. We probably will stay here tomorrow then
head north on Saturday.
6-16-00
The water pump is fixed and we will leave tomorrow if weather ok.
Forecast is for chance of thunderstorms all day if it remains so tomorrow
we will stay put.
6-18-00
Yesterday we left Mechanicville and arrived in Fort Edward. The facilities
are excellent and free at both places. There is a lot of history
in this area. Fort Winslow in Stillwater was built in 1756.
A house used by a general in the Revolutionary War still stands today.
We motored past the Saratoga Battlefield site we visited by car a few days
ago. Fort Edward was built to defend this waterway. Today an old
unused feeder canal is being cleaned up as a tourist attraction and a walking
path exists along almost its entire length 10 miles. If it isn't
raining tomorrow we will biked it. We have been watching Tiger Woods play
great golf.
6-19-00
We are tied to another wall with free water and 30 amp electricity.
This may not mean anything to the non-boaters, but 30 amps is enough to
run everything on SNUG but the airconditioning(the spots along the wall
aren't all taken, so we have plugged into two plugs and have enough power
to run EVERYTHING at once. However, we don't need the air conditioning.
It is another rainy day, and we are on the cool side. Had planned
on taking a bike ride along the canal trail, but didn't want to ride
in the rain. Maybe tomorrow will be a bit better weather-wise. We
have been watching the U.S. Open on TV. We are big Tiger Woods fans.
What a talented young man. Rainy days always gives me the bug to bake.
We now have a double batch of gingies (gingersnaps). This should
get Leo thru the next basketball game. He tends to get gingie attacks
during the games. We would love to share our cruising experiences
in person. The sights are breath taking, and being locked up or down
is an engineering marvel. We have not locked 18 times this trip and
have more to do. All the lock keepers have been very professional,
and helpful. The locks have all been well kept with flowers planted
around the locks. When you lock thru you can expect to be part of
a show. Each lock has a park area and the locals and tourists alike
come to see the locks work and to talk with the boaters as we sit in the
locks. The children seem tentative in their waves, but love to be
talked to as you go up or down. Have a wonder Father's Day to all the fathers
out there! Mona
6-20-00
We are in Whitehall, NY tomorrow we will be on Lake Champlain. The
scenery changed today to big mountains and farm land. We had cattle
grazing near the
canal. Whitehall is where the US Naval was started. Also
during the evoluntary War 3 ships were scuttled by the Colonist to prevent
the British from capturing them. We are staying at Liberty Eatery and Marina.
It is full of antiques. It is like a Bed and Breakfast. We are having
dinner here tonight.
6-21-00
We stayed at Whitehall. The weather forecast was winds 15-25 with
thunderstorms and damaging winds and hail. It is 330pm winds are
10-15 and we have had occasional light rain expect thunderstorms later.
We walked 6 blocks to hardware and grocery store. We love Whitehall.
The Canal Authority is spending 2 million to improve the downtown terminal
wall with an amphitheater and pavilion. There is a magnificent mansion
on a very high hill or small mountain overlooking the town. It is
being restored and would make a great bed and breakfast with mystery dinner
theater. The owner of our restaurant and marina is spending money
to upgrade his place. He and his wife operate it. It is noisy
as the bar is the gathering place for the town but he shuts the music off
at 11pm week nights. The porch with tables is just above us within
6 ft. Still we will return here on our way back.
6-22-00
We left Whitehall at 0700 this morning and locked thru our last lock by
0715. The weather was beautiful. There was a forecast for a
possibility of afternoon thunder showers but it is 3:30pm and the sky is
blue. The lake was pretty calm, with the wind behind us so we just
scooted along a bit over 8 knots. That's fast for us.
The topography has changed again. There were steep cliffs, and mountains,
lots of waterfront houses, and more boat traffic. Fort Ticonderoga
is most impressive when viewed from the water. The fort by land is
not nearly as impressive. We are ready for the evening here at Westport.
Had a Volvo mechanic look at the engine and give some options to getting
the needed bung repaired or replaced. A "bung" in that pesky little
round thing that has become one of life's little challenges.
What an eventful day. First we the most beautiful 5 hours of the
trip up Lake Champlain. The mountains come down to the lake shore
and surround us.
The lake is only 2-3 miles wide. Burlington, Vt is fairly large
college town. We rented a car and drove 25 miles into the mountains
to Stove, VT to
the Von Trapp Lodge of Sound of Music fame. The mountains are
lush with all kinds of vegetation, huge pine trees, many green bushes and
ferns and lots of
flowers. Sound of Music could have been filmed here. Back at
the marina we are being serenaded by a live rock music band. There
is a least a 100 people
around us.
6-24-00
We continued our car tour of Burlington. We drove north instead of
east. It wasn't as pretty but we saw several college campus which
were very
attractive. Burlington has 7 colleges. We returned the car at noon
and then went to a movie and saw Mission Impossible 2. We took the metro
bus back
downtown. This morning we had breakfast at Brueggers Bagels.
Their home office is in Burlington. We went back to Brueggers and
had coffee. Mona got
on the public phone to continue her efforts for our transportation
home. Up to today the best price was $600, today she got round trip
Norfolk to Dm and
return for $177.00. The city fathers have blocked off Church St for
4 blocks and everything goes. We saw some of the weirdest people.
There was a
playground for kids. Musicians were playing. It was fantastic.
We went to eat at Mona's Restaurant. We will return to Burlington.
CLICK HERE to begin the southbound trip
back towards Florida
