Hurry Up and Wait

We left the beaches and shallows of New Jersey behind and reached the squeezing cliffs of the Hudson River. First we encountered the man-made walls in New York, then the Palisades on the western shores.

We scooted up the Hudson from NYC stopping for a night in five places. Our longest day on the water was about five hours. That meant we started at a reasonable time in the morning and finished with enough time to explore the neighbourhood after we arrived.

In Croton-on-Hudson, we stopped at Half Moon Bay Marina. The harbour master is great but the docks themselves are getting long in the tooth. We were subjected to weird waves that bounce us around even when no boats had passed by on the river. I thought they were caused by the trains passing over a bridge nearby – think of that famous scene in Jurassic Park with the ripples in the glass of water. We had a pleasant walk along the river for a mile or so which led us to a great grocery store.

The next day we cruised through Kent Narrows. This is where the revolutionary army famously deployed a chain across the river from West Point to block British warships from moving upriver and taking control of Lake Champlain.

We had a great day in our next stop, Poughkeepsie. We scootered to “Walkway over the Hudson” to have another perspective on the river. Dozens of people walking, biking, and strolling their kids enjoyed being 212 feet above the river. Me? I would rather be on the boat.

Plus, we had dinner at Bocuse in the Culinary Institute of America. Wonderful to have white linen and French service from young people learning their art. We thoroughly enjoyed the students enthusiasm and I empathized with the server opening his first bottle of wine at table. I remembered sweating bullets the first time I did. The servers can not receive tips but a twenty percent charge added to the bill goes to the Institute’s scholarship fund. I am sure it helps as the tuition is $35,000.

The campus is stunningly beautiful so we spent a hour strolling the grounds after dinner.

Day three saw us land at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston NY. The channel in is lined with evidence of its glory years. Starting with a Dutch trading post in the 1600s, it was a transportation hub until the development of rail. Now the channel is lined with the remmenants of old wharves and rusting metal hulks. But it is a lovely town with strong community support for the museum though.

The museum is home to the Wooden Boat School which is dedicated to preserving and teaching maritime history and skills. It offers a diverse curriculum from boat building and maintenance to sailing and rowing for all age groups.

Our next stop was in New Baltimore at Shady Harbour. This marina is famous for hosting a pig roast for Loopers in early June. We were too early for the BBQ of course. But, were glad for a place to tie up even if there really wasn’t anything near and the courtesy cars were in the shop.

Our last stop on the Hudson was in Troy at the Boat Club. Their members’ boats were still on the hard somewhere along the canals so they welcome transient boats until the canal opens. We had the place to ourselves for three days so we caught up on chores and relaxed. Loral and Brian on Port-a-gee, Kim and John on Kayak and Trish and Jodi on Last Chance joined us to wait.

The Erie and Oswego canals are the last leg of the Great Loop for us. The canal opens on May 19th.

The Troy Boat Club was just across from the first lock. We had planned to lock through on the first day but ended up watching the show from the dock as sport fishers and delivery captains started lining up at 6:30 for the 8 am opening. Plus it was blowing a gale. Some harsh words were exchanged and no doubt feelings were hurt but it was fun to watch.

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