Down the Hudson River to NYC

There was one more lock to contend with on the Hudson River.  The Federal Lock separates the upper Hudson estuary from the lower river and its tidal flows. It is a big lock, built for ships, and one must hook a line to a cable amidship and ride it down.  We locked through with 3 other boats, and were happy that the rumored strong current was not too bad. Our first stop would be in Catskill, to have our mast stepped and become a sailboat again. The folks at Riverview Marina were great, and our mast was up by 11 am the next morning. We took another day to make sure all the rigging was in order, which allowed for a dinghy ride up the creek to a shoreside restaurant, laundry, and seeing a bit of the quaint town. A fellow cruiser had told us about the artsy cat statues in town, but they were being auctioned off that evening as a fundraiser. We got to see a couple going to their new home, and now the artists have all winter to create new cats for next year.  We also noticed many town and waterway names ended with “kill”, and wondered if cats, fish and Indians were actually “offed” in these places! Then we learned that kill is a Dutch word for a creek, inlet or river – thank you early settlers of New Netherland and New Amsterdam.

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We found the Hudson more beautiful the further south we travelled.  We encountered several rowing crews racing near Albany, along with many fishermen, and the capital building looked quite historic contrasted with the newer architecture.  Near Catskill the misty mountains began appearing in the background.  There were many areas along the river set aside as state parkland or conservation areas. Our stop after Catskill was the Mills Norrie State Park Marina.  This park includes the gilded age Mills Mansion, one of many along this stretch of the river, including the Vanderbilt Mansion, the FDR Home and Library, and Eleanor Roosevelt’s home at Fall Kill. We looked across the river to an old monastery, now a private high school, and enjoyed hearing the carillon echo across the hills. Lisa found some interesting pods along the creek, the ranger explained they were water chestnuts. These plants have invaded the waterways and threaten to choke out everything else.  Park staff rake them up by the roots, and there were wheelbarrows full of them sitting at the edge of the marina.  Given the tide timetable we had to leave our dock early the next morning, and headed for Haverstraw Bay south of Peekskill. 

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The Palisades Cliffs run from Bear Mountain (north of West Point) all the way to the George Washington Bridge in NYC.  The river bend near West Point is called World’s End – named by ship captains navigating through this narrow canyon of the Hudson Highlands. They give radio “securite” calls before they enter – good thing because we could not hear or see them until they were very close – and we had two large barges pass us in this stretch.  The river opens up in Haverstraw Bay, where we took a slip in Croton-on-Hudson to ride out the predicted thunderstorms before we headed for NYC.  We were happy to be tied up as the winds and rain rolled through, but shocked in the morning to see the boat in front us had sank!  We left before we found out the cause, trying to ride the ebbing tide and current to NYC, where we were meeting our daughter.

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We passed under the Tappan Zee bridge and skyscrapers came within view.  Seemed like forever until we actually passed under the George Washington Bridge and neared the 79^th Street Boat Basin on the Upper West Side.  This location is 3 blocks from Broadway and a subway station and 6 blocks from Central Park.  The plan was to grab a mooring ball here ($30 a night vs $140 for a slip) and spend several days with Lauren.  

What ensued was more like “Laurel and Hardy catch a mooring ball”.  We approached the ball against the 2.5 kt current, but the lines on the ball were wrapped tightly underneath the ball around the chain and we couldn’t get the boat hook on a line to pull it up. On the second pass, the boathook got entangled in the line, and the choice was for Fred to lose an arm or the hook (he still has his arm).  On the third pass we tried to grab the boathook with the fishing net but no luck, and it was last seen floating down the Hudson.  We decided that Lisa would get in the dinghy and grab the ball, then pull out a line and hand it to Fred, but she dropped the tow line before reaching the ball and was now also being carried downriver, despite rowing like the dickens (the motor was still riding on the stern rail of Ritual).  Round five – Lisa gets ahold of ball and line, Fred gets Ritual tied on, and we end up using our own bridle to actually attach to the mooring ball.  O…M…G.  In the morning we put the engine on the dinghy to go into the marina to pay and meet up with Lauren, but it wouldn’t start!  After several attempts, and while being rocked by ferry wakes, we gave up and took a slip. The docks at this basin are old and rickety (and slated to be completely reconstructed after this fall), and still rocked violently with the occasional big ferry wake, but at least we could come and go for a few days without worrying about getting to shore.

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We had so much fun with Lauren – we walked through Central Park, ate some great meals, shopped at Zabar’s deli, walked Times Square and attended a show (Come From Away – excellent!).  We were on the waiting list for Late Night with Steven Colbert, but didn’t get in (bummer – his guest was Jon Stewart!), and had fun at the Chelsea Market and the new Little Island Park on the Hudson. It ended all too soon, and after we said goodbye on Tuesday we headed for the anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty.  What a cool spot when the lights came up on the city skyline, and the statue lit up.  It was great to enjoy a quiet night after all that rocking and rolling at the dock.  From here we headed south under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and across the Lower Bay to Atlantic Highlands, NJ to prep for our offshore leg around New Jersey.  Tucking behind the breakwall, we anchored here and visited the quaint little town and the Yacht Club. This area had been severely damaged from Hurricane Sandy, but seems to have rebounded, and the large marina was full.

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Fair Winds, Fred and Lisa