Traveling the Hudson

June 22, 2018:  Leaving Jersey City mid-morning, the weather was subdued, mostly cloudy, calm winds and in the low 70’sF.  Until we motored under the George Washington Bridge and out of NY Harbor, ferries and water taxies criss-crossing between the Jersey and New York sides of the river really churned up the water.  After the bridge, all was smooth sailing. 

Upper West Side, Riverside Cathedral and to left, Grant's Tomb

Next we cruised under the Tappan Zee Bridge, which is the longest bridge to span the Hudson River.  Last year, we took pictures of the new spans nearing completion.  Now much of the old bridge spans have been dismantled.  We observed a tug and barge loaded with a section of the steel work from the old bridge northbound ahead of us and the tug captain announced on the marine radio that they were headed to Albany. 

Our destination for the day was an anchorage in Haverstraw Bay, a five-mile long shallow bay on the east shore of the Hudson.  Since the navigation channel hugs the western shore, we were away from any wave action from the passing of other vessels.  Native Americans harvested oysters here and now the bay is surrounded by State parkland with a swimming beach and forest to either side.  It was a very relaxing couple of days.  Only three other boats were anchored overnight the first night and we had the anchorage to ourselves the second night.

June 24, 2018  We began the days cruise with a little light fog and mist on the water, expecting a mix of sun and clouds later with a forecasted thunder storm in the late afternoon hours.  The fog disappeared quickly but it was still mostly cloudy when we entered the Hudson Highlands, a ten-mile stretch of River 40 miles north of NY Harbor.  This section of River includes Bear Mountain and West Point is often compared to Germany’s Rhineland.  The River narrows and makes sharp turns as it cuts through the Appalachian Mountains.  This beautiful area is inspiration for the Hudson River School of landscape painting in the 1800s. 
  

World's longest suspension bridge in 1924 at Bear Mt

 
Our destination for the day is Roundout Yacht Basin in Kingston, NY.  The Dutch settled Kingston in 1653 on land purchased from Native Americans.  A few years later, they built a fort or redoubt and that is thought to be the genesis of the name Roundout.  At the time of the Revolutionary War, Kingston was the Capital of New York and was burned to the ground in 1777 by British sailors arriving on 30 war ships.  The town was rebuilt and in 1828 the Delaware and Hudson Canal was completed from Roundout Creek to Honesdale, Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains.  The canal was 108 miles long and was closed in 1904 when trains became the preferred mode of transportation for goods and people.  The entire length of the Hudson River you are never far from the sound of a train as they travel through communities on both shores of the River.  Surprisingly, we never learned about the Delaware and Hudson Canal during the twelve years we had a cottage in the Poconos, near Honesdale!

Roundout Lighthouse

The tranquil (not captioned) view is taken from
Santorini at the inside face dock at the marina.  We were provided with hours of entertainment by a doe and her fawn, turtles sunning on a log, a Giant Blue Heron coming in to fish and a variety of serenading small birds. 

Kingston is a favorite stop for us to resupply with fresh food from the farmer’s market, visit sites in this history rich area and to visit Donna’s family in northern New Jersey.  The friendly marina also has a lovely pool, laundry facility and a great dockside café open on the weekends.  We have planned a week here and the timing couldn’t be better.  While in Haverstraw Bay, Donna came down with a miserable head cold that kept her coughing and fatigued for three days and now Kapt Karl has succumbed just as Donna is feeling better.  It is good that we do not have to handle cruising the boat for a few days and have a rental car to go to the pharmacy. 

June 29, 2018:  Friday afternoon we drove to Wayne, NJ to visit Donna’s Mom Lorraine and have dinner together along with siblings Debra and Michael, Michael’s wife Colleen and Donna’s Aunt Louise, cousin Val and his wife Barbara.  We stayed at the restaurant until closing and had a wonderful time catching up and laughing at each other’s clever puns and turn of phrase. 

June 30, 2018:  Our last day at Roundout is filled with departure activity including an early morning trip to the farmer’s market, return of the rental car and other exciting stuff like vacuuming, changing out Clio’s litter box, laundry and topping off the fresh water tank.  Tomorrow we leave for a 65-mile cruise to Waterford and the start of the Champlain Canal.  We will leave salt water behind us for a time after transiting the Federal Lock at Troy. 

View looking up Roundout Creek to the rail road bridge