Finally out of Sandy Hook

Hello Family and Friends. We have had quite an adventure. Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, Earthquakes, Floods and Fog. Bring on the locust. After four days stuck in Sandy Hook because of unbelievable, pea soup fog we finally made it to Manasquan, NJ.

Sandy Hook is a very pretty seaside area with beautiful, white, sandy beaches that I would someday love to see.  We were in the town of Atlantic Highlands which was quite picturesque - for a day or two. We made an attempt to go to Manasquan and the fog at the Hook was so thick, we could not see the front of the boat. Plus we could hear fog horns from ships far greater in size than us and I could see them on our radar as very large blips. The question was, could they see me? For the first time in my boating life, I used my fog horn to let these big tankers or whatever known I was out there. Ultimately, we turned around and went back to Atlantic Highlands and hung out another couple of days until the fog finally lifted.

So off to Manasquan we went. The winds were heavy, the seas were high, but at least we could see where we were going. After pounding along for 5 hours or so, we arrived at the Manasquan Inlet just in time to experience max ebb tide currents. There was an easterly wind of about 15kts and the inlet, at max ebb, was running from west to east at about 4 knots. That made for an explosive rendezvous at the entrance to the inlet. After a couple of scary moments we got into the channel and headed to the marina. Lake Erie boater take note. Tides and Currents can add many grey hairs to your body. We tied up at the marina's fuel dock and waited until slack tide to go into our slip because there was no way I could back our boat into the slip with the current running like it was. Later, the tide came back in. Tidal range at Manasquan is about six feet. We were in a fixed dock which meant that at hide tide, the dock was under water and the boat was about three feet above the dock. We were an island. I wished I took a picture of this. It was weird. We've been on another weather hold but expect to leave for Atlantic City tomorrow, September 30th.

We're in Hoffman's Marina. Pretty nice place but it cater almost exclusively to sports fishermen in their million dollar tuna wagons. These boats are incredible. 55' to 65' Hatteras yachts all over the place. A guy tonight returned from a day's fishing with a boatload of tuna. One of them was 140 lbs. That'll fill a bunch of those little cans.

So tomorrow we head out to Atlantic City. I will try to keep Marg and I out of the casinos. But we are another step closer to our destination. We'll keep you informed of all the excitement. See you later.

New York, NY

 (Please Note: I wrote this on Thurs. September 22nd. Since then, we have had no internet connection until today. We are now in Manasquan, NJ. I will post again tomorrow and bring this blog up to date)

Manhattan from the Hudson River

Our first view of the George
Washington Bridge

We finally arrived. Only 2 ½ weeks late but we are here. Crossing under the George Washington Bridge was incredible. Passing Manhattan was breathtaking. But approaching Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty left us speechless. We are at anchor now in Liberty Park just behind the Statue. This is a pretty interesting view. Unfortunately, it’s been raining non-stop since we arrived and we have also been in a fog bank so thick that the thought of trying to leave and transit under the Verrazano Bridge would be foolhardy. If we can’t see the ocean going ships, they sure as hell can’t see us. We’ll wait for a weather window and then proceed to Atlantic Highlands near Sandy Hook, NJ.

The Empire State Bldg and the ever-
present Coast Guard

Union City and Hoboken, NJ.
Ancestral homes of my parents 

The New World Trade Center 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. On Wednesday, Marg and I and our friends Andre and Nathalie from Quebec, took the train from Croton-on-Hudson to NYC; an easy 45 minute commute to Grand Central Station. Andre and Nathalie had never been to NYC and couldn’t contain themselves. We went to Times Square, the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Canal Street, Little Italy and Central Park. Talk about sensory overload. The city never disappoints.  At one of the subway stations, we were treated to a concert by a woman playing a saw. If you have never heard original music played on a saw, consider yourself blessed. We had to wait about 5 minutes for our train and I don’t think I’ll ever get that sound out of my head.

Our friends Andre and Nathalie
looking from the Empire State Bldg

Marg and I on Times Square

At Ground Zero we experienced the reverence you would expect in church. People of every nationality were there looking, praying and taking pictures. In the meantime, nearly 3000 construction workers toiled to finish the new Trade Tower and the new Tower 7 building. Canal Street was a hoot as usual except I didn’t see as many fakes as the last time we were there. The city must be cracking down. Our timing was perfect for Little Italy. It was the Feast of St. Gennaro and every street in Little Italy was closed to traffic and lined with food vendors. Sausage and Peppers to Zappole, what a treat. The last time I went to the Empire State Building, Janet was 6 and it cost $5 each to take the elevator to the observation deck on the 86^th floor. Now it is $20 and if you want to go to the 102^nd floor, it’s another $25. Plus, it took over 30 minutes on lines just to get to the elevator, plus you had to undergo airport-like screening. It’s a different world than it was 30 years ago.

Marg and I at Grand Central Station

Lady Liberty. Wow!

Our journey down the Hudson was so exciting. Not the least of which was the huge number of Coast Guard vessels and helicopters patrolling the area. We were even contacted by a Coast Guard cutter regarding our destination. I think part of the heightened security was due to the fact that the UN was in session and Mahmud Amanutjob (sp) was addressing the General Assembly. Otherwise, all went well until we got close to the Statue of Liberty. French President Sarkozy decided Thursday would be a great day to commemorate the 125^th anniversary of his country’s gift to the US. I thought it was a cheesy way to avoid listening to Amanutjob and having to walk out with the other 30 nations. But, there were no less than 8 tour boats circling the Statue, kicking up a huge amount of turbulence. It was easily, the roughest water we had been in since Lake Erie.

Hopefully, the rain will let up and the fog will lift so we can be on our way. Now it gets more exciting with open ocean sailing down the coast of New Jersey. Can’t wait to get to the Chesapeake. 

Resuming the Business of Going South

It's been an interesting week since we last posted. We left Lock 3 and proceeded to the Federal Lock. This was the bottleneck for our journey the last two weeks. The Lock was full of debris but we made it through without incident and journeyed down the mighty, muddy Hudson to the Castleton Boat Club where we spent the night, pumped out and fueled up. On Weds, Sept 14th we continued downriver to Riverview Marine Services where we spent the next three days getting our mast up, tuning the rig and re-installing the sails. On Saturday the 17th, we left for the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club where we spent two days. On Saturday evening, we saw our close friends Chris and Sandy Taylor and had dinner at the Hyde Park Brew Pub. They specialized in German food that was delicious. Great food, great friends, great town.
On Monday, we decided to make the big push to Croton-on-Hudson, about 41nm downstream. We called this the Kodak leg of the trip. It was very scenic from beginning to end. We will stay here at the Half Moon Bay Marina, for three days. The marina is adjacent to the Metro North line and we can take the train to NYC in about 45 minutes for $6 each way (that's the senior rate. Gawd, I'm turning into my mother). Right now it is raining but tomorrow (Weds.) it should be nicer. We'll go to the city then. Today, we'll try to get caught up on emails, cleaning, laundry and hair cuts. WiFi has been the big challenge on this trip. There are not very many hot spots and even those are not so hot. 3g Mobile is okay but can get expensive. We still have some figurating to do on that topic. Below are some photos of the journey from Poughkeepsie to Croton.

Sunrise over the Monastery overlooking the Poughkeepsie
Yacht Club and our friend's boat Amuleto

The Culinary Institute over looking the Hudson River

The Coast Guard is resetting all of the navigational aids.
Without them, we are lost.

A beauty shot of the Hudson

Another beauty shot on the Hudson

Magnificent West Pint

The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge near my ancestral home 

Castle ruins on an island south of Newburgh. Anyone
know what this is?? 

The Bear Mountain Bridge, also near my ancestral home

Free at last, Free at last. Good God Almighty we are free at last...



At 1030 Tuesday morning, our incarceration in the Erie Canal came to an end. The Federal Lock reopened and we were allowed to transit through on the Hudson River to places south. We spent a total of 35 days on the canal, 18 of which hunkered down and defending against Irene and Lee. But it wasn't all bad. We met some great folks some of whom we will travel with to Florida. We've included some pictures of some of the people from Lock 3, and some pix of what we saw as we departed the Erie Canal and entered the Hudson.

Meet Leroy, First Commodore of the
Lock 3 Yacht Club and the best Lock
Keeper in the world

The Charter Members of  the Lock 3
Yacht Club

The first annual Lock 3 Yacht Club
cocktail party 



Good bye Erie Canal. Leaving Lock 2





Hello Hudson River. Entering the
Federal Lock

Check out the dock on the bridge pier

One of many trees growing in the Hudson

We were stunned by the amount of destruction the storms caused but at the same time, the sky was blue and the river placid. We're at the Castleton Boat Club now and will be heading to Riverview at Catskill tomorrow to get our mast back up and start looking like a sailboat once again instead of a lumber yard. By the way, the Albany Times Union newspaper stopped by yesterday to do an article on the stranded boaters. It was interesting reading. You can follow this link if you want to read all about it.   http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Boaters-don-t-make-waves-about-delay-2167493.php

One last comment for today... Some of you have asked about my referring to Peggy as Marg or Margaret. To clarify, Peg fell overboard about 4 weeks ago and I met this hotty named Margaret. Okay, that's not true. Peg was named after her grandmother for whom Peg had a great deal of admiration. Although she was named Margaret, everyone called her Peg or Peggy. Since we have embarked on a new life after retirement, she thought it appropriate to adopt the handle she preferred, hence she is now Margaret. Remembering that after 44 years of Peggy is no small feat so don't worry if you call her Peggy and she doesn't respond. Actually, it could have been worse. She might have wanted to be called Misty Rain.

Thanks for reading and we'll post again soon. 

The Saga Continues

Marg surveying the scene from the
Lock house... in the rain.

Alize sandwiched between the tugs

at Lock 3

We no more than dried out from Irene and along comes Lee. The lock operator at Lock 7 advised us that we had to evacuate... again... because the rains that we coming would flood the Mohawk ... again... and the surge would send us over the lock wall. So we packed up and headed down river, escorted by the tug Waterford, for the 7 mile trip to Lock 3. Our new home is in the middle of the "flight", 5 locks that stairstep us down to Waterford and the Hudson River. Once we go through locks 3 and 2 we only have to negotiate the Federal Lock (lock 1) and we can resume our trip down the Hudson and beyond. The problem is the Federal Lock. It sustained significant damage and is currently filled with debris from the Mohawk and Champlaign Rivers. No boats are allowed to procede until the Federal Lock reopens because there is nowhere to go after exiting Lock 2. All the marinas were destroyed during the floods. When we arrived here on Tuesday, we were told that the Federal Lock would open on Friday. On Thursday we were told it would open on Monday. On Friday we were told it would open on Weds. We'll see. In the meantime, the canal corporation is providing us with fresh water, electricity, coffee and some transportation.

Speaking of transportation, some of the boats here at Lock 3 have been here a couple of weeks and provisions are running low for all of us. The canal corp provided a bus yesterday to take us to the grocery store. When the bus arrived, it was a senior citizen's transport bus. Oh, the humiliation. The nearest casino is only 1/2 an hour away and the driver said he takes seniors there on Tuesdays. It's a thought.

Not all boring. This drydock facility
can handle boats up to 400' long.

This is what is left of the Waterford
Visitor's Center looking back to Lock 2

There are about twenty boats here at Lock 3. One of the fellows decided to create the Lock 3 Yacht Club. The T shirts arrived yesterday. Marg and I haven't gotten ours yet but they will be a cherished remembrance of our stay here.

So, signing off from Stalag 3, until next time. Happy Birthday Dana. Wish we could be there with you.

Lock 7

Good bye Schenectady Yacht Club

Leaving Schenectady Yacht Club was bittersweet. We had hung together through an epic weather event. I felt like we were leaving without doing the dishes or helping to clean up but the river levels were dropping, yes dropping, so fast that by 1000 on Thursday morning our boat was hard on the mud. We had to leave. So with the help of two substantial power boats, we were dragged off the bottom and on our way downstream, 4.5 miles to Lock 7. Milt Bloomer, captain of the Nordic Tug Aloha, led Marg and I and Ken and Sally in the Nordic Tug Digby. Milt has been a member of the club for 35 years and knows every inch of the river. He also knows Fred Ford Smith. Despite that, I felt confident in his ability to lead downstream. All the nav aids had been washed away and who knew what lurked just under the water. We fired up the forward looking sonar after a hasty reading of the instruction booklet, and pulled up the electronic charts and gps in hopes that the bouy placement would be accurate. After some tearful goodbyes, hugs and exchange of gifts, we left at 1300 for the short trip to Lock 7.

The dark area is where the water
had risen

Although the river was still very murky - the color and consistency of chocolate milk - it had receded well below where it had been. There was very little debris that we could see and the short trip was generally uneventful. We arrived at the lock about 1400 and tied up on the south wall just west of the lock, in between Aloha and Digby. The first thing I did was to get a hose and turn on the washdown pump and clean all the mud off the boat. If I never see mud again it will be too soon.

Alize comforably sandwiched between
Digby, left and Aloha

Friday morning began peacefully. Marg and I decided to take a walk and check out the park next to the lock. Before we got very far, a string of cars arrived and a bunch of suits emerged looking very concerned armed with clip boards and pocket cameras. I thought perhaps I could finally find out what was going on downstream and when we might be able to contine our trip. I approached the one who looked the most important and introduced myself. He turned out to be Brian Stratton, Director of the Canal Corporation and Governor Cuomo's representative. Also in the group was John Callahan, Director of Lock Operations and Joe Landry, the local town supervisor. I had hit the mother lode. We learned that the clog in the system was the Federal Lock in Troy. This 600' lock was filled with debris including trees, boats, parts of houses, picnic tables, cows and whatever. Plus, tons of debris was piled up against the lock gates. They estimated that the lock would be closed until mid next week. Once it opened we would be able to go. I then told Brian that we had two immediate problems - fresh drinking water and bathroom facilities. There is no potable water at the lock and our holding tanks were within a week of being full. That afternoon, 30 five gallon jugs of water showed up along with port-a-potties and the use of the lock keepers building which had a bathroom. Life got a whole lot better.

Today, Saturday, a lady we had talked to yesterday, came by to see how we were doing. She took Marg grocery shopping. $150 and two hours later she returned and we felt reasonably sure we would not starve to death. I had food, water and a place to recycle them. Life continues to get better. So now we settle down to enjoy our surroundings and enjoy the Labor Day weekend. One last thing, Ohio State 42, Akron 0. Go Bucks.