After successfully replacing the worn coupling on the propeller shaft. re-aligning the engine and replacing the broken engine mount, we treated ourselves to dinner out in Cape May and then walked over to the Inn of Cape May and had dessert and coffee on the veranda! A real treat! While we were there, we decided if the weather was conducive, we would leave the next day, Saturday, June 7, to sail outside past the coast of New Jersey and possibly anchor in the vicinity of the Statue of Liberty just off the New York Harbour.
The weekend was predicted to have light winds, but no rain or thunder storms predicted until Sunday night, so after a quick trip to the grocery store to replace some of our dairy and fresh produce supplies, we headed out to the Atlantic about 11:30am. The winds were SE and about 10 knots, so we had a lovely, relaxing sail right up until sunset, when the wind died down enough that we resorted to our usual evening sail set....wind behind us, preventer rigged on the main, and the 'iron jib' keeping us moving!! Winds and waves stayed really light and low all night, so the passage was quiet, although we did see a lot of boat traffic! We stayed about 3-5 miles off the coast, which kept us out of the traffic lanes, but the tugs and barges are not obliged to stay in the traffic lanes, so we still had to keep a wary eye out! Interestingly enough, the night time was the only time we did see boat traffic on Saturday! By Sunday morning, however, I think we stumbled upon a fishing tournament, because there were so many sport fishing boats out and about off Sandy Hook! It was downright crowded out there!!! Also - Spoiler Alert! - When the kids were young we read them a story called 'Balloonia', which talked about where balloons went when the string was let go. Well, I have found Balloonia, and it is off the coast of New Jersey!!! Without exaggeration, we saw more balloons in the water than boats our first day sailing! I'm sure they were out there all night too, we just couldn't see them, because as the sun rose the next morning, one of the first things we saw was a balloon! We continued to spot them, even as we progressed up the Hudson River!!
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| sport fishing fleet! (shiny thing in foreground is ....a balloon!) |
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| Sandy Hook |
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| Brooklyn with New York in background |
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| Coney Island |
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| The Narrows |
Sunday morning was practically windless, so we approached New York Harbour with no concerns other than the usual boat traffic and the wake it kicks up! Lots of sailors out in the harbour enjoying an afternoon sail and dodging New York water taxis, Staten Island Ferries, tugs and barges, and tanker ships, not to mention the occasional cruiser making their way toward the Hudson or the Sea!! It was a beautiful sunny day, so a perfect day for a harbour cruise!!
Sailing through the Narrows, we entered the lower Hudson, passing the Battery at the bottom of Manhattan to our right, followed by what used to be the old cruise ship piers, which are now under renovation and being used as museums, and theatres, etc. Because the day was so quiet, we decided to keep moving and take advantage of the relatively calm waters, bypassing our original anchorage site, and continuing up the Hudson about 20 miles. Passing the 79th Street Boat Basin, we waved to my cousin who made the journey from the east side of Manhattan where she lives to the west side just to give us a wave as we sailed by!! It was great to see her and we appreciated the effort she went to! The west side of Manhattan was beautiful to sail by!! So much greenery and lovely buildings poking through. Also, the landscape was beginning to rise dramatically, so we were enjoying seeing hills for the first time in a long time!!
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| old piers on the west side |
Continuing north along the Hudson, to our left we admired the Palisades; high cliffs formed from magma and sandstone that rise dramatically out of the Hudson, while to our right we saw Yonkers. Boat traffic had decreased considerably, so it was much quieter on the river now, although the wind was starting to pick up, which was picking up the water a bit too, although, from the south, so all behind us! We were wary of the wind, as the Hudson is a big river, and a strong north or south wind can really make the water dangerous, so we wanted to get as far north as we could while the winds were still not too strong! We carried on past the Tappen Zee bridge, and anchored in Haverstraw Bay, a lovely spot with a park on the point and lots of protection from the south winds and swell! We were pooped, as we had now been sailing for about 30 hours, so we had an easy supper and an early night!!!
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| The Palisades |
The next day was grey and drizzling, as we entered the stretch of the Hudson that travels through a portion of the Appalachians called the Hudson Highlands. Having spent a good portion of my youth growing up in the Banff Alberta region and the surrounding Canadian Rockies, I find it a bit of a stretch to call these hills 'mountains'. Regardless, they were a sight for sore eyes!! This is such a beautiful part of the river! Even with the cloud cover, we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery! We passed by the 1000' Dunderberg Mountain as we entered the Hudson Highlands, a mountain named after the legendary dwelling of a Dutch goblin that was held responsible for summer storms. We found it somewhat appropriate that we couldn't see the top due to clouds! Carrying on, we also passed Bear Mountain, at a height of 1305', and part of Bear Mountain State Park. Just north of the Bear Mountain bridge, during the Revolutionary War, the Americans strung a chain across the Hudson in an attempt to stop the British from advancing further upstream, however, the British simply dismantled the thing, sent it on to Gibraltar, where they needed it to protect their own harbour, and carried on to burn Kingston NY to the ground!
Our next highlight along this stretch of the Hudson was, of course, West Point. The college opened in 1802 and has been producing American Army officers ever since. It is set right as the river takes a sharp turn to the west and the landscape, again, is lovely!! The mountains rise right up out of the river, which at this point is at it's deepest, reaching as much as 175', but averaging about 100' deep! It is almost 'fjord-like' and really very beautiful. The Americans strung another chain across the river here, too, to stop the British advance, but again, to no avail.
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| West Point (south side of the point) |
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| some homes across the river from West Point |
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| End of the World |
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| West Point (north side of the point, with gym in foreground) |
Once past West Point, the river starts to widen again, and the land slopes back down to hills. As we passed Storm King Mountain, the last of the Hudson Highlands, we could see ahead of us an island with what looked like a medieval castle sitting on it!! Turns out it was built by a gentleman named Bannerman, who was a munitions dealer, and had built the 'castle' as a home and a storage depot in the early 1900's. He eventually moved out, and it became a tourist destination for a couple of years before it burned down. What we were seeing was the superstructure, and as we got closer, we could see that the walls were being supported, but had nothing behind them! Definitely something that looked better from a distance, however, interesting all the same!
That afternoon we picked up a mooring at Hyde Park Landing. There was a quiet village at the water front, and somewhere nearby was President's Roosevelt's estate, however, we had packed up our dingy, so were confined to ship! The winds continued to stay about 5 knots today, so again, a peaceful ride up the river. The owner of the moorings however, told us we had just missed one of the strongest wind and rain storms he had ever seen just last week, during which one of the vessels permanently moored there was struck and badly damaged by lightning! We reflected how maybe the delay we experienced in Cape May was a blessing, as we were about a week behind now, so might have been in the area at that time, had we been 'on schedule'!
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| Hyde Park Landing |
After a quiet night, we headed out to make our way to Catskill, where we were going to take down our mast and prepare for the canal system. Another grey day, but all the rain seems to be coming at night, so no complaints! We are starting to see some pretty spectacular mansions lining the shore at this point! ...Think 'Downton Abbey'!! We also passed what seemed to be convents and/or monasteries looking down from the heights of the hills onto the river! They were huge, and as they were topped with crosses, we couldn't imagine what else they could be....something to look up when we get home! Also some interesting old lighthouses on this portion of the river, one with the date 1871 written on it, so I have to assume the others are of similar vintage.
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| is that Downton Abbey???? |
Now these are really light'houses'!
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| Esopus Meadows Lighthouse |
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| Rondout Lighthouse |
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| Saugerties Lighthouse |
By the time we reached the Riverview Marine Services in Catskill, the sun had come out again and it was very hot and humid!! However, it was also dry, so we took advantage of the sun and folded and packed away all our sails as soon as we docked. The rest of the week was predicted to be rainy and possibly stormy, so we wanted our sails to be put away dry! Also got the forestay boom off as a start on the next day's chores!
Wednesday the clouds returned, but the rain held off for most of the day so a great day for de-rigging. George spent the majority of the day designing and building the two supports we will use for the mast while enroute to Lake Ontario, while I kept myself busy readying the shrouds for loosening, and taking all our running rigging back to the mast. We also took the main boom off before the rain began!
Thursday rained and drizzled all day, as we unhooked all the electrical wires that run up our mast and removed all shrouds from the deck. At 2:00pm the crew was ready for us and we were as ready as we could be! Everything went smoothly despite all the rain, and we were successfully transformed in to a motor boat!! We are happy that we were able to slide the boom in under our bimini and over our dodger, so we still have some protection from the weather in the cockpit!! Finally, we tied all the various shrouds and halyards to the mast, perfected our midship 'pile', made of dingy, and sails, as a mid-mast support, and then headed to the showers to warm up, as we were well and truly soaked by that time!!
Our plan now is to wait until Saturday to head toward the lock system, as there is a threat of thunderstorms on Friday, but we are happy to have the mast safely stowed on deck, as that is a big job, and not one we have had to do with Wyvern before! Meanwhile "the rain is raining all around", and we have hunkered down in our cozy cabin, rented a movie and made a batch of banana muffins!
