The Hudson River to Waterford, NY

The historic and scenic Hudson River travels 134 miles from the Atlantic Ocean in lower Manhattan to the Troy Lock in Troy, NY. Just north of the Troy Lock, at Waterford, there is a "crossroads" sign indicating that the Erie Canal is to the left and the Champlain Canal is straight ahead. 2009 is the 400th anniversary of the explorer's Hudson and Champlain voyages along the river and lake that bears their names.

We departed Half Moon Marina at Croton, at mile marker 33, in the early morning (early as ususal - kind of see a pattern?) in a low hanging fog. Visibility was good and the fog made for some beautiful pictures. This part of the Hudson River is as beautiful as The Waccamaw River in SC and/or some of the Sounds in Eastern NC. At mile marker 45, we approached West Point on our port side and were able to take some great pictures of the Army Military College. It is hard to decide which of the 2 academies we have seen, Army or Navy, is most impressive. As you would expect, West Point looks like a fortress from the water and has a strong history of defending itself from enemy attack. Unfortunately, boats can no longer tie up to the dock to visit the academy from the water thanks to 9-11!

The scenery continued to be spectacular as we made progress up the waterway. This picture was taken of the mountains with the foggy mist in the air. You can see "Just Relax" and "Happy Clamz" in the distance. This picture does not do the beauty justice.

One thing we have learned is that the waterways can be trecherous with debrie and we remain on constant lookout for limbs and trees that can do damage to the props. This picture has to be the biggest debrie we have seen so far and, if you will zoom in, you will notice the birds that have hitched a ride down the river.

Another sight we are fascinated with is the many lighthouses along the River - all shapes and sizes but all intriguing and most continuing to work. Here are a couple of lighthouse pictures taken before we arrived in Poughkeepsie.

On Thursday night, all three in our flotilla made it to Poughkeepsie at mile marker 66 and tied up to a restaurant marina with the promise that we would spend money at the restaurant in order to stay the night for free. No problem - we immediately went to the bar for snacks and drinks and went back to the restaurant after having dinner on the boat for desert. Here is a picture of Mariners marina in Poughkeepsie.

We departed on Friday for the 30+ mile trip to Catskill, NY. We arrived at Hop-O-Nose Marina in Catskill on Friday afternoon with plans to spend the weekend in this charming little village. As we approached Catskill, one more picture that depicts the progress we have made since leaving Charleston, 7 short weeks ago. Our first view of a barge or tug early in the trip caused a tremendous amount of stress but, as we become more comfortable, we seem to adjust to the commercial traffic. Jack made this picture just before Catskill as Pia was at the helm and we passed a tug/barge on the waterway. Notice the laid back demeanor and the ship approaching on our post side.

We arrived at the marina in Catskill at mile marker 99 and spent Friday and Saturday night. This is a picture of us at the dock. We had dinner at the marina restaurant on Friday night, toured the downtown and marina museum on Saturday, and went to the local movie theatre to see "Angels and Demons" on Saturday night. A great weekend! On Sunday morning, we left for Waterford where we plan to spend a couple of days tied to the town dock. When we leave Waterford, our traveling companions will head up the Erie Canal and we will continue to the Champlain Canal. This final picture on this post is the sign on the waterway that indicates the the junction of the two canals. On the next post, I will download pictures of Waterford.