The Hudson River

The waterway guide measures the Hudson River from Troy, New York to the New York harbour at 154 miles.  But that is literally only half of the story as the river is actually 315 miles long measured from its headwaters at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondak mountains to New York harbour.  Denise and I have explored only the lower 146 miles of this very diverse river.

From our anchorage at the Statue of Liberty we slowly cruised around Ellis Island trying to imagine what it was like for our ancestors when they arrived there more than 100 years ago.

From there we headed back across the Hudson to the Manhattan side to take in the skyline from up close.  Its impossible to get the entire skyline is one picture, but this is lower Manhattan, with the southern tip at Battery Park on the far right.  The World Trade Center towers used to be the center of this picture.

The George Washington bridge essentially defines the norther border of the city.

From there the scenery slowly starts to change.  It was a nice warm Sunday, so the pleasure boats were out in abundance.  We didn't leave from the Statue of Liberty until 10:30 as we were trying to time the rising tide.  The Hudson is tidal all the way to Albany and our already slow cruising speed is reduced considerably on a falling tide.  It was ok since we weren't in a hurry as we wanted to take in the sights, but for the first couple of hours we were barely maintaining 6 miles per hour.  As the afternoon progressed and the tide started in we were boosted to over 9 MPH.

We were looking for a place to stop for lunch and found a marina and restaurant just past the Tappan Zee bridge, but space was on a first come basis and they didn't have room for us, so we kept going.

This over 16,000 foot bridge crosses the Hudson at one of its widest points.  I hope bridge pictures aren't boring to you because I have pictures of almost all of the ones we pass under and plan to post many more.

A few more miles and approaching dinner time we found another restaurant with a dock and pulled into the Hudson Water Company across from Haversall Bay, a very popular boating spot on the river.  This was just past the town of Ossining, NY, which is home to Sing Sing prison, right on the water front.

The last time we had had a land dinner was at Chesapeake City, 4 days earlier, so we were due.  That was also the last time Denise was off the boat.  I got off when we got fuel 1 day later in Cape May, NJ.

After dinner we went just another few miles and found an apparently quiet anchorage, across the river from the Indian River nuclear power plant.  The cruising guide warned that you might be boarded by the Coast Guard if anchored there, but it didn't happen, even though they were cruising in front of the plant.  What I missed in the guide about this particular anchorage was that there were railroad tracks - on both sides of the river.  On the east bank was Amtrak and commuter trains to and from Manhattan. 

On the west bank, just a hundred or so yards from us, freight trains.  I was out taking pictures and counting cars, this was fun, for awhile.  But then they continued at a rate of at least 2 an hour. 

Being a river, we encountered more debris in the water, mostly logs.  It wasn't as thick as on the Potomac, but I think on average the logs were bigger.  It was a constant vigil to avoid them and of course we weren't 100% succesful.  We had one big thump, but everything seemed ok.  I'm sure we dinged another prop though.

While relaxing on the back deck in the anchorage we had this visitor.

Denise, who has continued studying the guides, informed me that this was a Mute White Swan and we should expect to see many.  They are called mute because they make no sounds.  We decided to feed it some bread and then weren't sure if it would ever leave.

Denise promised to provide more if she or he came back in the morning.

At this point we were only 45 miles north of the Statue of Liberty and scenery changes were more dramatic as the river narrowed and the Appalachian mountains came into view to our west.  The bridge up ahead is the Bear Mountain bridge, which also is where the Appalachian trail crosses the river.

 Just a bit further and we came upon West Point, maybe the most scenic part of the river.

Unlike the Naval Academy, West Point has a variety of architecture.

There was a time when you could get permission to dock and tour West Point, but since heightened security this is no longer possible.

Just past West Point is Pollepel Island, at one time home to the Bannerman castle.  Ruins of the castle that burned in 1969 are still there. 

At Newburgh, NY Interstate 84 crosses the river.

Poughkeepsie, NY was next with a variety of attractions, but we didn't stop.  I don't have pictures, but along the river was Marist College, and on the east side of town was Vassar College.  The Culinary Institute of America is here too and on the river.  There are several restaurants on campus, but reservations were required.  Just north of Poughkeepsie is Hyde Park, home of Franklin Roosevelt, now a museum and the Vanderbilt mansion.  The latter is on the river, but pretty well hidden in the trees.

What makes the river diverse is the mix of these kinds of estates with small, traditional river towns.

Just before Kingston, NY we began seeing the Catskill Mountains and the first of a series of very old lighthouses, usually well out in the river marking a shoal or rocky point.

This one was called the Esopus Lighthouse and was built in 1871. 

At Saugerties, NY is one built a little earlier in 1869.

Along with all of this diverse scenery, this is still a working river for shipping a diverse mix of products.  Everything from sand and gravel, grain, oil and gas and container ships.

The anchorage we chose was next to this grain elevator, which a barge pulled up to after we were there.  I assumed it was going to load with grain, but nothing happened that night.  At 7 the next morning it was already gone, again I assumed it had loaded and left while we were asleep.

As we neared Albany the next day, this barge was there and already being loaded with material from a riverside quarry.

Another picture of this anchorage shows the Catskills to the west.

From here it was only 37 miles to Albany and we were at the marina before 2.

We went across the river to downtown Albany for dinner and then walked a little around the capital city.  We weren't exactly sure where the capital was, but started up a hill since they always seem to be there.  Sure enough, it was under construction.

That makes the Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, the Maryland state capital in Annapolis and now the NY state capital as sites we've visited while under construction.

We weren't sure who this man was or why he was famous,

Denise insisted on a picture, and later we found out  Mr Swyer owned a construction company and had built many local landmark buildings.  The statue is actually called the "Sit by Me" statue, we're not sure what the rules are concerning kissing it.

Denise leaves for home tomorrow and I will be in Albany through Monday when my brother Ron and another friend, Mark arrive to spend a week or so as we cruise to Buffalo on the Erie Canal.  I'm anticipating a change in the daily routine with these guys on board, we'll see.

Start Spreading the News

We left Avalon relatively early because we thought we'd try to make Masaquan in one day.  At 97 miles, it would have been our longest day.  We've done 93 and 92, but most are much shorter.  It wasn't to be though, we got to Atlantic City and found a bridge that needed opening, but were told that due to a big concert on the beach (Dave Mathews) that they couldn't open until 2 pm.  It was noon.  We found a restaurant with a small dock with two boats on it.  There would have been room for us if one of the boats (a small skiff) could be pulled up closer to the other boat.  We couldn't get the restaurant on the radio and couldn't find a phone number, so pulled up close and asked a guy on the dock if he could just pull up the small boat.  He said no, it wasn't his boat, then left the dock.  What a guy.  It is New Jersey though.

We tried to anchor in the narrow and shallow channel, but with the wind, we couldn't let out enough anchor line to hold, so decided to keep looking for a place to tie up.   Another trawler came along and over the radio we decided we would both tie up to a new floating dock in front of some new condos.  There was a big sign announcing the sales information of the condos and docks.  We figured we'd move if someone told us to, but no one did.  I might have yelled at Denise as she was attempting to get a line on a dock cleat.  Sorry.

The channel through Atlantic City is very narrow with some sharp turns and very close to the houses that line it.  Before this picture, we got so close to this house that Denise said she could see their refrigerator inside.

We came around one of the sharp corners and were surprised to find another bridge that needed opening.  We had to wait 15 minutes because they opened on a schedule.

I'm not much of a gambler, so I've never had a desire to go to Atlantic City, I guess its the Las Vegas of the east.  Denise took pictures as we cruised through.

Not all of Atlantic City is glitz though.

After talking to the other couple in the trawler we met at the bridge, we thought we'd be cruising together for awhile as they were headed to Canada via the Hudson River and Lake Champlain.  Following the delayed bridge opening, I let them go first because this part of the NJICW is very shallow and I thought they could show me the way.  But just a few miles from the bridge they motioned for us to come around. 

Then on the radio he told us he had lost his port engine.  He had just had a fuel pump put in it earlier that day after waiting for three days for the part to arrive.  He was going into a marina, so we wished them luck and continued on.  Southern New Jersey is almost like Georgia with a very shallow channel and lots of marsh.  But even out in the marsh, some people find a spot they like.

Even though we found many spots showing barely 4 feet of water, we didn't find the bottom with our props.  We did find a lot of flies though and they were biting our feet.  By the end of the day they had found their way into the cabin.  I don't like flies, but Denise HATES them and went on a rampage with the fly swatter.

This one was lucky.  He was on the outside.

After the two bridge delays, we realized we could not make Manasquan, so decided to head for an anchorage at the Barnegat Inlet.  A spot 25 miles south of Manasquan with access to the ocean.  Even Denise agreed that it would be better to run in the ocean from there rather than the shorter run from Manasquan.  She had read in the cruising guide how busy it was around Manasquan, especially on the weekends.  There is a bridge there that only allows one boat in one direction through at a time and the guide reported times when 100 boats were waiting to get through.

Even the Barnegat inlet was going to be a stretch and when the Weather Officer checked the NOAA website, she found that there was a severe thunderstorm warning for Barnegat.  We made the wise decision to duck into a spot we thought would be protected.

The first spot we picked didn't work out.  We were anchored for a little while and when the wind shifted we lost our hold.   Again, there wasn't enough room to let out enough anchor line.  Some of the neighbors though weren't very welcoming.  We got a few dirty looks and no return waves when Denise waved.  One couple a few houses down came out and were looking at us with binoculars.  There was one nice couple though, they were in their hot tub and the guy got out and yelled to me offering a drink.  We ended up moving up one more inlet, which was bigger and that's where we spent the night.  The storm stayed to the north of us.

In anticipation of the longer ocean passage, Denise was up early, 4:30.  She quoted the saying, "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."

Eventually, I got up at 5:30 and after some coffee we were off.  It was a little foggy when we got to the Barnegat Inlet, but we headed out.  The Barnegat light, at 165 feet, is the second tallest operating light house in the US.

The weather forecast sounded good, with 5 to 10 knot winds from the southwest and 2 to 3 foot seas.  The cruising guide said this about the Barnegat Inlet: "If you see waves breaking outside the inlet, do not proceed.   If you have to return through the inlet, you had better be wearing life jackets."  Well we didn't see waves breaking, but I now know what they meant.  Even in decent conditions, the inlet was quite rough.  I assured Denise it wouldn't be like this once we were clear of the breakwater.

I was almost right.  It sure seemed like more than 2 to 3 feet, but they were on our stern once we turned north east and it was tolerable.  Eventually, it settled down some, but Denise admitted later that she had gotten quite nauseous and thought she would "lose it", but didn't.  Here she is pretending to be enjoying the ride.

After about 65 miles of ocean going, we started seeing the sights through the haze.

From still a few miles away this is the Verrazano Narrows bridge.  Prior to its completion in 1964, there was no way to reach Staten Island from New York City except by boat.  But the bridge didn't completely replace the ferrys.

Entering New York harbour seemed like complete chaos.  Freighters, barges, ferrys, pleasure boats and this New York fire boat.

Shortly after passing him, we got a New York City welcome.

Somehow we managed to evade destruction and wiggled our way through the chaos and found our destination for the night.

And that's where we are.  The only anchorage in the city, next to the statue of liberty.

So start spreading the news, we are in New York, New York!

Finally, Crabs

Just 5 miles out of Annapolis Harbour is the William Preston Lane Jr Memorial Bridge, or the US Hwy 301 bridge over the Chesapeake Bay.  It was so hazy when we left, we couldn't see the bridge from the harbour.  This picture is from over a mile away.

 

There are two spans that were completed at different times and are different designs.  Maybe nephew Jason can explain these to me.

From directly below.

We met a fair amount of commercial traffic headed south as we neared the Chesapeake and Delaware Cannal.  Military too.  There were five of these traveling together.

I did a little research and  found that this class of ship is for training and is assigned to the Naval Academy.  This particular one was built in Marinette, WI.  We learned on our Naval Academy tour that Sophomore, Junior and Senior Midshipmen go to field training in the summer, so I assume that's what these guys were doing.

Our trip from Annapolis was just 59 miles and ended in Chesapeake City, MD.

I knew this was going to be the place to stop for crabs.  One of my old bosses from my working days had told me stories about eating crabs in Chesapeake City when he worked in the area just out of college.  I had also talked to a guy in Annapolis who told me that "The Tap Room" was pretty well known and in addition to attracting locals, also attracted people more famous than us whenever they were in the area.  Kind of like Maria's for those of you from Rockford.  It wasn't fancy, the staff had been there for a long time and had stories of the famous people they had waited on over the years.

Of course, I got the all you can eat steamed crabs and Denise took lots of pictures.

After a quick on how to clean crabs from the waitress, a young lady sitting next to us also offered to show me her method.  She was a bit of an expert having grown up working in her father's restaurant cleaning crabs for crab cakes.

Denise has been having crab cakes all the way up the east coast and has officially proclaimed Maryland Lump Crab Cakes as the best.

After a brief break, I successfully completed the first platter and ordered a few more.

Denise was comparing my inexperienced method of opening crabs to others around us and noticed that no one else was making the same mess as me.

After dinner, we had to stop here.

Lights out at the marina.

Today we were planning to complete the trip through the rest of the canal and then head back south down the Delaware Bay to Cape May, New Jersey, a trip of about 70 miles.  The cruising guide said the best time to leave Chesapeake City was an hour before high tide at the east end of the canal.  This would provide the maximum boost down the bay from the outgoing tide.  The only problem with that plan was it would have meant leaving Chesapeake City at 4:30 this morning, an hour before sun up.  The best I could do was to was to leave at 6 AM.

I expected that the tide boost would start in the canal and was starting to doubt the guide book when our speed was around 7.5 MPH, a mile slower than what I normally get at my standard 2000 RPMs, but I pushed on.  When I made the southbound turn into Delaware Bay, the speed immediately picked up and we were "flying" along at over 10 MPH.  An hour into the bay and we were as high as 12.5 MPH.  This continued until about an hour out from Cape May when the tide switched and we slowed back down to about normal.  This really helps fuel mileage and today I filled up and calculated 2.9 MPG on this last tank.

There's not a lot to see in the bay and about half way down you lose sight of both shores, Delaware on the right and New Jersey on the left.

After fuel and a quick trip to the Marine store for a NJICW chart, we decided to keep going and arrived in Avalon, NJ this afternoon about 5:30.  This is mile 97 on the NJICW, Cape May is mile 115 and Manasquan, NJ is mile 0.  At point the ICW ends and we'll need to make a 25 mile ocean run to New York Harbour.  Denise is sweating this part, but we'll only go in favorable weather and should be fine.  If you don't see another post in a couple of days call the Coast Guard.