We looked like a tiny little boat while docked next to TATS a 138 foot yacht owned by a young 30 something Arab man. Our NYC stay was fun but we were both really excited to get away from the mayhem. Our floating dock was constantly under attack from the ferries that ply the Hudson, we were continually bounced against the dock, there was a ton of construction noise, helicopters over head regularly etc. Fun to arrive, nice to leave. We did get to spend some time with Camille and her new baby boy Logan and with my good friend Ron and wife Liz and took a little harbor tour.
Mary and Danny arrived Friday night to Croton on Hudson and we all went out for a nice dinner. We woke up to rain and fog and little wind which made our motor-sail up the Hudson feel like we were in Scotland. The fog coming off the mountains with the fall foliage was beautiful. For some reason when I am on the boat out and about the weather doesn’t make you feel the same when on land. At home on a day like today it would be a football day or putter around the house. When on the boat its like any other day, sun or no sun, another day for adventure
We passed by West Point in the early afternoon and could hear the cannons going off as Army scored a few touch downs. It was nice to go by our old home, West Point, and see it from another perspective. The next town up, just around the corner is Cold Spring. We anchored on the bank of the river in an area that quickly went from 40 feet of depth to 3, and we were in the little sliver of slope where we could anchor and get out enough chain on the anchor to hold us in place. About 30 minutes after arrival a front came through and brought clear blue skies, and gusty wind. We took the dinghy into town and were tourists on land for a while. Back at the boat we had Mary’s 75% chile and asparagus soup. Both were fantastic. Before going to bed the wind had picked up to a steady 30knots with gust even higher. It was not a good night sleep for any of us despite the copious amount of wine imbibed with dinner. We bounced around on all night on the anchor and I was up several times an hour to check position and make sure we did not drag anchor. We only had a some 50 yards before being in very shallow water. Not an ideal situation. We do however have a Rocna anchor and all chain rode so holding for Cadence is superb
On Sunday we had beautiful weather with diminishing wind throughout the day. We tried to sail but the wind would literally clock 90 degrees what seemed to be every 5-10 minutes. So we motored sailed back to Croton where we met with family and friends for a bon voyage party in the park across from our marina. What a great weekend
Jeff from Jamestown Electronics arrived at our marina in Croton late Sunday night and made the trip with us down to NYC while finishing up his electronics install and troubleshooting. We had some issues with our inmarsat as well as our wind indicator was not working. We beat into 20-25 knot winds down the Hudson for 5 hours and arrived in Jersey city across from Manhattan to drop off Jeff and take on fuel. Our plan was to anchor up behind the statue of liberty again. this is a very small anchorage with enough room for 4 or 5 boats. It is protected from any sea or wakes from the Hudson but not the wind. It is a very very skinny inlet with depths going from 15 to 2 feet in just a few yards. You have to hug the shore on the way in and the current was cranking so getting in was pretty scary. Once in we tried to anchor 3 times and just could not find a place that was suitable and we could safely swing next to our neighbors. There were also two abandoned anchored boats that are in there taking up valuable space. The sun had set and the markers to the very very small inlet were unlit and too small to pick up on radar. We had barely twilight and still 20 knot plus wind and made the game time decision to tuck tail and run.
We lifted anchor and quickly made our way out of the area heading for Sandy Hook NJ. We were both exhausted from a full day and rough weather but had no choice but to leave the unsafe area. Sandy Hook was about 4 hours away. Thank goodness for AIS and Radar and our new Furuno electronics. We arrived Sandy Hook in pitch black with big wind and needed to luckily not hit any fish traps that were all over the area we were heading. that would have been a nightmare tangling up in fish nets in the middle of the dark windy night. Luck was on our side, we anchored in 15 feet of water next to a Coast Guard base and dodged the fish traps. I kept anchor watch and slept in the cockpit. The next morning we decided to move out of the immediate area and move to better shelter to wait for a wind shift. We anchored up behind a break wall in Atlantic Highlands. It was a perfectly situated for protection and good holding. This was our first taste of the migration that takes place of cruising sailors. The anchorage had boats from all over, mainly Canada, waiting for a wind shift to head south. The wind was blowing out of the south for the last 3 or 4 days up to 30 knots so we needed to stay put for another day.
On Wednesday the wind was expected to clock to the North so we pulled anchor and made for the overnight passage down the Jersey coast. We had fair winds up to about 25knots so had a nice sail under full moon. Thursday morning we pulled into Cape May to wait for a favorable tide to go up Delaware bay, and through the C&D canal. We left Cape May at 4am and arrived at our first Chesapeake anchorage, Still Pond, Friday night. We had a lovely chicken cachatore with a nice bottle of wine. Right now all is good, Jess is painting in the salon and i am catching up on the blog, and doing some Acumed work with John Natale. We will shove off here shortly to head to Annapolis and catch the boat show. More soon. Peace.
Boat Show to Potsdam 10-12-14
We went into the boat show with a laundry list of items to buy and questions to ask different manufacturers. The main things on our list were solar panels and LED lights. The amount of electricity we use is always front and center in my mind. I know how much energy it takes per hour for all the different lights, electronics, water pumps, even flushing the toilet. It is the bane of my existence and I deeply desire to become as free as possible from either running the generator or the engine. Both of those require responsibility, a trait i am trying to shed. We did anchor up for the show inside Spa Creek which was really nice. We left the show on Monday headed for Herrington Harbor to have our rudder seals and bearings replaced. So we pulled Cadence to get blocked so the rudder could be dropped. We timed our leaving the boat to head up to Potsdam NY to see David at school. We stopped in Trumbull to help my mom out for a night with her new toes then to Bolton, then Potsdam. On the way back we stopped in to see Jess's dad John and stepmom Sue. We enjoyed a nice dinner out than back to the house to play some pool, and finally then back to Cadence. We are anxious to get underway again.
