June 25 - July 1 Lake Champlain: Waterford NY to Bulington VT

Sometimes it's hard to tell what state you are in and it is complicated by the fact that Lake Champlain looks more like a winding river than a lake for the first 30 miles. We left Waterford NY at 8:30 for a nice 21 mile cruise with no locks. We arrived, and docked on the opposite side of the water and were in Chipman Point (Orwell) Vermont. The lake takes you on a rural path mostly populated by a few cottages, lots of blue heron, deer, and eagles - we saw them all. We passed many small fishing boats but only one cruising boat - a 65 footer that was headed north like us. Actually, he passed us!

The Chipman Point Marina is small and run by a lady in her seventies. The office is on the first floor of a stone and timber four-story building. The second floor is the restrooms, showers and laundry facility; the third floor houses her apartment. The office offers free cake and coffee all day and has home made dried fruit, cookies and other sweets for sale. The building, along with a twin 100 feet north, were built in 1810 as warehouses.

Chipman Point Marina (not really crooked).

Beautiful morning!

Fort Ticonderoga   as we passed by.

Lighthouse and monument to Sam Chamlain

We left the next morning for another 29 miles to Westport NY (opposite side of the lake). The water was flat, the sun shining and it was a beautiful day. Within minutes we could see Fort Ticonderoga on a hilltop on the NY side. We also passed a new bridge and monument to Samuel Champlain. There is no way to access these from the water and we would travel there in a rented car from Burlington in a few days. The lake got wider and the water got clearer and about 11:30 the wind decided to blow. Luckily we were almost to Westport. We secured a great slip with dry docks - important since half of the docks were at water level due to the high water level in the lake. We had lunch at the marina restaurant and then Judie did laundry while Ger washed the boat. Casual supper and early sleep.

High Water

Low docks

The next morning was a repeat - flat water, hazy sun and a great day. We covered the 24 miles to Burlington VT in 3 hours and our slip was not yet available, so we cruised the harbor for an additional hour and then docked by 12:00. The lake is now wider and looks more like the Chesapeake Bay - you can see the other side, but not much detail. After checking in, we had lunch on the deck of the marina restaurant ( I know, has a familiar ring to it) and took the free shuttle five blocks up hill to the Church Street Mall. The city has closed five blocks to traffic and pedestrians and cafe's/shops have taken it's place. There was also a farmers market this day and we bought a few things for the house and a cigar for Ger to smoke on the back deck with a glass of rum. Back to the boat for a few hours of R&R for  Judie's knee. Took the free shuttle back up for dinner at a Pizza restaurant before walking back to the boat. Two Drifters, a boat we had met at Westport Marina docked 2 slips down - lots of great folks! Started to rain on our way back.

Day 2: The rain continued. Plain and simple. We worked on a few chores in the morning and some of this blog and in the afternoon took a 1.5 hour trolley tour in the rain to see the city. Not certain if it was the rain - but not too much to see after you leave the waterfront and the main downtown. The University of Vermont is here, so it does have a college town flair. Main industry is the University, summer tourists and some high-tech. After the trolley tour we took the free shuttle back up the hill to purchase some better rain jackets from LL Bean. Had all three meals on the boat!

Day 3: Rented a car to do some errands and sightseeing. First hit the Wal-Mart for prescriptions, then West Marine for misc. stuff and then  went to the Shelburne Museum just south of Burlington. The museum is an eclectic collection of items important to Vermont history that were procured by Mrs. Electra Havemeyer Webb and then dedicated to a trust. Items include the last constructed and serviceable paddlewheel steamship on the lake, a train and train station, a one room school, the last operating lighthouse on the lake, many 17th century homes, and misc. other buildings. She then proceeded to furnish them with items she imagined should have been there - not necessarily were there. Makes for an interesting day. One of the docents commented that it was like seeing all of New England in a day - we agree. We had dinner at the baseball park (25 cent hot dog night) as we watched the local Oakland As' affiliate - the Vermont Lake Monsters play the Lowell Spinners of the Red Sox's. Fun time but the rain caused us to leave in the 6th inning.

One of 4 guest cabins on the steamboat.

Moved 2 miles from the water! in one piece!

Twins!

Home built by Electra's children and furnished from her NYC estate.

Lake Monster's Mascot - Champ

Day 4: Up and away early to Ft. Ticonderoga! It's about an hour and a half drive south of Burlington and you can cross the lake on the new bridge I mentioned earlier. The fort, originally built by the French in 1756 and named Ft. Carillon sits at the junction of Lake Champlain and Lake George (that flows into the Hudson River and down to NY City) a critical spot in our countries history. Way too much to talk about, but a great tour that went thru the entire history and many docents dressed in period clothing performing cooking, sewing, shoemaking, and other tasks, all according to how the French did it when they occupied the fort. We spent about 3 hours and then visited the vegetable gardens as they would have planted them along with more formal gardens that were developed by the folks who bought the Fort in the early 1900's to preserve what was left. After the fort was abandoned, local settlers commandeered the rock and timber to build their own  homes and barns. Stopped at the Samuel Champlain monument and the waterfall at Vergeness on the way back.

Officer's Quarters

16 enlisted men to a room.

When restoration began

Outdoor kitchen - making bread and green bean soup.

Day 5: Returned the car after making a stop at the grocery store and spent the rest of the day inside, out of the rain,  working on keeping the blog up to date. It is supposed to be nice starting this evening for a week - it will be welcome after 4 days of rain.

Sunset from the flybridge.

June 20-24, 2015 The Champlain Canal Northbound

We left Kingston NY and traveled 42 miles to Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore NY as a stepping stone to get the boat ready to go through the Champlain Canal (11 locks and 60 miles). The day was cool, a high of 69 degrees and we were traveling into the wind and against the tide the entire way. Shady Harbor is a great stop  - almost everything new or older but very well maintained; and a great staff. After 7 hours and a tough trip, we simply squared away the boat and had a light dinner aboard and settled in for a quiet evening. Since R Island has a height of 19 feet 6 inches to the top of it's mast, we needed to lower it to get under the 17 foot bridge heights on the canal. I asked our very experienced neighbor, Bob from Field Trip,  to review the procedure we planned and see if he thought just the two of us could handle it. He gave some good input, especially for Judie in letting out some lines, and the process worked well. Also took the  boom off the mast and laid it on the port side and out of the way. That evening we had dinner at the marina restaurant with 4 other "looper" couples and slept like a baby. The next day, Friday, we worked out fender and line placement and procedures and marked the locks and destinations on the charts for quick reference. That evening it was 7  looper couples at a pot luck barbeque - such good food and so many great folks all taking the same trip - with variations.

Shady Harbor Marina as we left.

 

Anticipation - what else can be said. Ger was awake at 4:30 waiting for the 5:45 alarm to go off! Five of the seven trawlers left about 8:00 to start the trip north. Two miles later we passed a busy Coeymans Landing, a small rural port the was where all the bridge beams we have spoke about were being assembled and loaded onto the barges. Also a Cement plant and large crushed stone operation were at the waterfront. We passed Albany, the state capitol; and pretty city with great old buildings, but we hear it too suffers from rust-belt syndrome; hard to see from the water. Next was our fist lock - still on the Hudson River- the Troy Lock. By now our group had caught up with two sailboats, so it was 7 boats in the lock. All went smoothly including a flock of geese that made the trip with us. About one mile after the lock, is the junction for the Erie Canal. Only one sailboat and R Island continued north on the Champlain Canal, the rest headed west on the Erie Canal - which we will do in July and August. After 2 more locks with only us and the sailboat, we stopped for the evening at the Mechanicville Town Wall - a free dock that also provides water and power. We took showers and walked into town to a small sports bar for our "celebration of survival" dinner. Next day we walked into town for Father's Day breakfast and then to the "Price Chopper" grocery store for a few supplies before staying on the boat in the rain and beginning to plan our time on Lake Champlain.

Bridge beams waiting to head south

Our lock buddies

Inside the lock looking north

...and south before the gates are closed.

Monday morning we were up and away at 8:15 for another 4 locks and 28 miles. It takes about 30-45 minutes to travel through a lock depending on if you have to wait, and then you still need to travel between them. We arrived at Ft. Edward Town Wall about 2:00. The high water from all the rain had river levels up and it's a good thing that we lowered the Bimini top to get the boat close to 15 feet tall as we squeaked by under a few of the bridges. This area has had the wettest June in history and the water level in the Canal and Lake are 2.5 feet above "normal".  The sailboat we had traveled with on the first 2 locks on Saturday cruised into the third lock of the day, having stopped in Schuylerville for two days. As we relaxed next to the city park, two more boats came in and tied up. It was Monday, and there was not much open; there is not much to be open! Had dinner on the  boat and made Tuesday just a lazy day of reading and relaxing before going to The Anvil Inn for a lovely steak dinner and a good bottle of wine. 

Tied to the Wall at Mechanicville

This stream is usually a trickle this time of year!

R Island is the last boat in line at Ft. Edward

Looking back at our friends aboard Bungalow just prior to the end of the Canal.

Wednesday we woke to a casual breakfast as the locks do not open to recreational traffic until 8:00. The first two locks are right at the "Operations Base" for canal dredging. Seems GE is paying to clean up some extensive PCB pollution and this 2 mile stretch was loaded with barges and shore-side operations. This is also the highest point in the Canal and the next 3 locks of the day were all lowering us to the level of Lake Champlain. This section of the Canal also leaves the Hudson River and becomes a man-made ditch about 100 feet wide and very straight. There are few houses and not much to see. Completed the days travel of 5 locks and 22 miles at, again, about 2:00 and stopped at Whitehall Marina. The restaurant was closed this day, but the dockmaster agreed to cook up a couple of burgers and fries and along with a couple of cold ones - made for a pleasant celebration of completing the Champlain Canal.

June 10-16 Kingston NY

Up at 5:30 and after a light breakfast, away from the dock at 6:30 sharp for a wonderful run of 58 miles (7.5 hours) up the river. We went under 5 large bridges, past West Point, very tall rock cliffs, The Culinary Institute of America, a barge hauling long bridge beams, and a couple of great old lighthouses. But perhaps most interesting were 12 swimmers racing from Albany to NY City. They race 20 miles each day and each swimmer is accompanied by a kayak. There were 3 roving motorboats, a jet-ski, and a large trawler that served as the mother ship. Seems impossible, especially if the tide is against you - and there is a 4' tide all the way to Albany.

We stopped at Rondout Creek Yacht Basin. Had to wait 30 minutes for space to open up at the pump-out station as there was only space for one boat and it was occupied. Took all my patience to keep R Island in position against the current, tide and wind - success. Judie says we are getting much better at this sort of thing. The marina is older, as many are, but they are trying to keep up. Docks were a little unstable, and loaded with duck poop every morning - both of which made walking a little tenuous, Nice picnic tables and several lawn games and a pool. Had dinner with Brian and Ellen of Pearl, a Nordic Tug 39 that we had met in COH and had also made the trip today.

Paddle wheeler giving tours

The second bridge is old RR bridge converted to pedestrian bridge.

Elevator up to the pedestrian bridge

Culinary Institute

Barge carrying bridge beams that are blue and much longer then the barge

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse

Rondout Creek Lighthouse.

Day 2: Slept in till 8:00 and after a leisurely breakfast, all 4 of us loaded into the rental car to drive back to COH to  get Mike and Lois's car - a silver Honda CRV by the way. The Hudson River Valley is full of CRVs and Subaru Foresters! I guess because they are small, get good gas mileage, and come in 4-wheel drive. We took the scenic way back and stopped in Poughkeepsie at 5 Guys for lunch. Boat chores in the afternoon and dinner on the boat.

Day3: A goofy day! Spent most of the day planning, measuring, and shopping for needed supplies to lower our mast and Inch-N-Along's Radar Arch in order to clear bridges on the canals. Both boats need to do this and neither of us had seen another boat like ours to see exactly what it takes. We both got what we think we need and in a week or so, when we are closer to the Erie and Champlain canals, will make the changes. Just a day when you get lot's done and nothing accomplished!

Day4: Toured Kingston and the surrounding area. It is an older city surviving on the recreational boating industry - which has not been too great lately. Lots of folks from the NYC north suburbs and the surrounding area keep boats here and it is also popular with transiting folks like us as there is good shopping close by and the marinas are right in the downtown area. Many restaurants and some small shops. Toured the local Mariner's Museum and learned about the C&D Canal that ran from Pennsylvania to Kingston to haul coal to NYC. It was 108 miles and, coincidentally, had 108 locks. It was built in the early 1800's and was abandoned in 1896 thanks to the year-round reliability of trains and tracks that ran right into the city.

Ice-boat used on the Hudson 

Gerry and Mike looking  inside at engine room of old tugboat. (Make up your own caption)

Downtown Kingston Marina

Day 5: Time to check out the NY wines! We drove the hilly, tree-covered, countryside and followed our little map from the local Chamber of Commerce to the local wineries. The are is in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains and covered with small towns and trees, trees and more trees (as our children used to say when we traveled on some of our vacations long ago). Some good wine and a few bottles of reds found their way back to the boat. Also stopped at High Falls NY to see remnants of the old Canal.

Car club at the winery

Hotel and offices for the old C&D canal

This lock was 14 feet wide, 12 foot deep and 60 feet long.

Day 6: Across the Hudson to Hyde Park and a tour of the rich and famous. First stop was the home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Presidential Library. The home, though large, felt like a home anyone could have lived in. It felt real and you could imagine FDR and his family/friends being there. His mother Sara "ruled the roost" and never let FDR or his wife Eleanor be involved in running the house or any part of the estate. The estate included dairy farms, grain farms, orchards, stables, and a train stop for getting back to NYC (Sara had her own personal train car). Sara's control was so overwhelming that FDR built a "small" cottage on the far side of the estate for his retreat and Eleanor built a house for herself, near his cottage, after FDR's death. The Presidential Library, the first one to be built, was actually started by FDR while in office and while Mom was traveling in Europe as she was generally opposed to the idea. It gives a great history of FDR from birth to his legacy and through the videos and exhibits gives a better understanding of the man, his family, and what was happening in the world at the time. A person could easily spend a couple long day if you read all the information at the displays. We gave it about 5 hours and agreed that we need to visit some of the other Libraries of other Presidents.

FDR and Eleanor

Their Living Room

"Sara's House"

Gravesite, FDR and Eleanor are beneath the little  flower patches in front of the monument stone.

From the flower garden

FDR and Churchill in front of pieces of Berlin Wall in FDR and Eleanor outline.

The "Third Whitehouse" actually built into the Library. Site of many fireside chats.

FDR's car modified with hand controls. He put 19,000 miles on it.

Next, and just the opposite, was the house of Franklin and Louise Vanderbilt. Built for use for 4-5 months each year, half in the spring and half in the fall, the limestone building is extremely formal. Franklin, grandson of "Commodore" Vanderbilt  who made most of the money, and his wife considered themselves royalty and lived life that way. Louise Vanderbilt loved France and had her bedroom copied from the Queen's, including a railing (looks like a catholic communion rail) where spectators would stand during a birth to verify the child presented as heir to the thrown was the one that was actually born that day! Spooky! It was a beautiful home, a smaller "Downton Abbey", but more museum than home: hard to imagine people living there. I guess we were born too late for "The Gilded Age".

The House

The Parlor

Ceiling in Ladies sitting room

Louise's bedroom and the "rail".

Fountain in the formal gardens

Flowers!

Day 7: You guessed it - laundry, grocery shopping, and get ready to cruise the next day.

June 3-9, 2015 Croton On Hudson, NY

We've been in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, for a week and had a great time visiting NY City; but it's time to move on to a simpler and quieter way of life. Today we head for Croton On Hudson (COH) NY, about 40 miles north along the Hudson River.


It was overcast when we awoke, but no fog or rain with a light wind out of the north. We eased out of our slip and down the canal into the Hudson - felt like the little frog in the old video game "Frogger" just trying to stay alive on the freeway! Ferry boats from every direction and a couple of large ships thrown in for good measure. Waves from all directions and our key to survival was patience and anticipation. The ferry boats move at least 5-6 times faster than we do, so you have to anticipate where they are going and when to be out of their way. Both of us were at the upper helm station and Judie just called out every boat she saw and where it was coming from. Then Ger could plan on how to avoid it. Hugging an imaginary line just outside and parallel to the main channel seemed to work well except at ferry docks when we moved farther away from shore.

One World Trade as we left the Marina

George Washington Bridge

Palisades on the western shore as we traveled north.

Anyway, after about an hour and a half of this, all got quiet and we cruised peacefully past rock cliffs/palisades, under the Geo. Washington and Tappan Zee Bridges and into suburban NY. The river is still pretty wide, seems like 3/4 of a mile, and very little boat traffic as few ferry boats don't come this far north and the ships are big enough to easily keep track of. Half Moon Bay Marina at Croton On Hudson (COH) was still repairing ice damage from the extra cold winter and half of the slips were empty. Understaffed but helpful dock master did all he could to help in any way.

Day 2: Mike and Ger rented a car and drove back to Delaware City to retrieve Mike's car- a little over 3.5 hours each way. Went to a great little Italian place for diner and brought half our food home. In Judie's case she had ordered a personal pizza - and they brought a large one - she had leftovers for both of us for 2 meals!


Day 3: We left early to see the Rockefeller estate north of Tarrytown; but, with no advance purchase tickets in hand, would have had to wait 3 hours for a tour. Lesson learned. We crossed the river and headed north to West Point - the Army Military Academy. Easy to get a tour here and we were on the next bus for 2 hours of education. The building are all made from a medium gray stone and most of them look like old castles (especially from the water when we cruised past 5 days later). The terrain in hilly and it splits up the place and makes it difficult to get a sense of the entire campus. Still, very impressive and makes you proud that it is there and for you to be there!

Ft. Putnam - erected to stop the British from sailing down the river to NY City

The Chapel

Overlooking the Hudson

Firsties planning for plebes

From the river

Day 5: It's Sunday and we slept in a little, had a light breakfast and Judie joined Mike and Lois for a visit to the COH Street Fair. Mostly geared to smaller children but they browsed and had lunch. The hotdogs they got at the local church were "pencil thin" but tasted good. Chocolate brownies for desert saved the day. Ger was not feeling great and stayed at the boat for a nap - that was a miracle - must have been tired. Had a nice steak dinner aboard Inch-N-Along.

Day 6: One last trip back into NY City. We caught the early train to Grand Central Terminal, stopped for coffee and caught a cab to the American Museum of Natural History. Went straight to the top floor and the dinosaurs exhibit! Lots of skeletons, too many species to mention and many unusual ones including turtles, large fish, and many wooly types. Had lunch on site and after a 3-D movie on small creatures (partly about a small scorpion mouse in the Sonoran dessert - made us home sick) made our way to the "Hall of Human Origins". Here, for the first time, Ger finally understood the development of the species and the timing. How few years we have really been here. Nothing compared to the Dino's and the plants and rocks! Just getting started if we don't go extinct like many species before us. Anyway - great day! Back in the cab, onto the train, and into the car for a trip back to the Italian restaurant!

Big dude!

Turtle (never saw one displayed like this before)

Just ugly

"Bulwinkle" the Moose

I am glad he is extinct!

Day 7: The usual day-before-departure  routine. Laundry, check engines and other equipment, a little housekeeping and back to the Italian restaurant.