Cruising on the Hudson

Sunday, September 14th

(I forgot to transfer my pictures to the computer so I'll post my pictures at the next opportunity)

We are traveling down the Hudson River on our way to the Riverside Marina, Catskill, to have our mast put up again. There are 6 masts waiting there and six boats arriving soon, and we were told that if we could get there before the boats arrive, they'll put ours up - if it's not raining. Right now the skies are cloudy, it has rained and threatens more. We're keeping our fingers crossed and hope to be at the marina by noon.

Yesterday, when we left our overnight dock along the wall at Guy Park, near Amsterdam NY, it was raining lightly and we were both dressed warmly but as we cruised along the Mohawk River, the skies cleared, the sun came out and we began to peel off layers of clothes. The Mohawk is wide and meandering with trees leaning over the water's edge so that even on a misty day it is lovely to travel on.

By mid-afternoon the day had become warm and sunny - fortunate weather for our descent through the "The Waterford Flight" - a set of five locks strung one after the other with a combined drop of 150 ft. The waterways and holding ponds were glassy with all shades of green reflected and forested hills beyond. It was quite beautiful. Once "locked through" the Flight, we were on the Hudson River and had one last lock before a quick run to the marina that Bob had picked out for our night's stay.

Thankfully we arrived at the marina just before dark. Just as we were settling in, Eileen phoned to tell us that they had been stopped by the "Sheriff" as they were cruising down the Hudson and asked if they had phoned in to customs to announce their arrival. Since, like us, the Woolseys bought a cruising permit in Oswego which allows us to cruise in the US for a year without continually checking in, they had not phoned in. The Sheriff did not care about their cruising permit and reiterated the need to phone in at each "port of entry" (!!??). He also checked all of their safety equipment.

To be on the safe side, Bob called the number that Eileen had been given by the Sheriff. The customs officer he spoke to had no clue about any of the documentation required for cruisers since he dealt mostly with commercial ships. It was a long and frustrating conversation as no database that this fellow had access to contained any of the numbers that Bob could give him - boat decal, cruising permit, radio license, boat registration. Finally Bob phoned someone from the customs department that issued the cruising permit who assured him that the permit negated the necessity of having to check in. Bob recorded the call in his boat log (an official document) and will show this to anyone who might choose to question us. This kind of thing has happened to other cruisers. The US government has poor coordination between their agencies and it is difficult to comply with all of their various and conflicting requirements. Bob says - doesn't the sheriff have anything better to do than stopping a cruiser flying the Canadian flag. Are we really that much of a risk?

1:20 p.m. The sun is out and it's hot, hot. The mast is up - Bob will complete the rigging, put the radar back up, and then we'll add the sails tomorrow. The marina here is on a creek just off the Hudson - it's pretty and quiet. We'll stay the night and enjoy the change from last night's clanking dock directly on the Hudson. We're thinking we'll put the dinghy in the water and go up the creek to the Creek View Grill for dinner. The ship's stores are getting low, the heat in the boat has killed our enthusiasm for cooking, and it will be fun to see what else is further up this pretty waterway.

Monday, September 15th


Work on the boat is completed. We took a taxi to the Price Chopper in Catskill - what a nice store! - and as we were pulling out of the shopping centre, Bob saw an A T & T store so we went in and bought a SIM card for our phone. Both Sean and David M. had good suggestions for reasonable phone alternatives but we have found that we have very limited access to places of business - we're really in small town USA these days - if we happen to be near a town at all! Once we get to New York, we will of course have much better access but then we still have to locate and get to places that sell the SIM cards. We have purchased a pay as you go plan and the price per minute is not bad. I'll be sending our new phone number out by email in case any one needs to phone us.

We are going to stay here another night. This will be the first time that have been in one place more than one night. It's nice to slow down just a little! If we leave in the early part of the day tomorrow, we can catch the current going our way and make good time. We have two or three more days before joining the Woolseys in New York city.