Hudson River and Erie Canal 2023

 As you can see I didn't get this post out before the end of 2023...not even close.

Sooooo after leaving Philadelphia we traveled down the Delaware Bay to Cape May NJ and then along the coast to Staten Island NY. While traveling the Lower Bay near Sandy Hook we heard radio chatter about whales in the area. Jill began scanning the area and, sure enough spotted a whale tail slapping the surface. Unfortunately my concentration was fixed of an oil tanker approaching outbound from Raritan Bay so I have yet to see one. We spent a week Great Kills YC and met up with our friends Bryan & Vickie who flew in to travel up the Hudson with is. Luckily they are brewery fans too!

  Leaving Great Kills we traveled into NY harbor to Liberty Landing in NJ. This is an expensive stop but decided to treat ourselves. The views of Manhattan are amazing. Traveling into the Hudson on a Sunday made it much less stressful as there is less traffic.

We made a swing by the Statue of Liberty so our guests could get the obligatory photo op.

And then on to the marina.

A nice thing about staying on the NJ side is that it's very close to the Empty Sky Memorial for 9/11 and the ferry to NY leaves right from the marina.

After a visit to the city we continued up the Hudson to the town of Croton-On Hudson. It was a perfect weather day to travel and take in the sights along the way.

In Croton we rented a car and went to the Croton dam which was much more impressive than our last visit in 2016 as the water was actually flowing this time. We also took the opportunity to visit a couple of breweries as well!

The next stretch of the trip is the most scenic as the river has mountains on both sides and we travel past West Point. Unfortunately to was grey and threatening rain all day. 

Once we got into Kingston the rain started and continued through the night but we made the best of it!

We stayed an extra day so we could enjoy the town and were even able to find....a brewery! By this point in the trip Jill's knees were really giving here fits. We knew that replacement surgery was in the future, just didn't expect it this soon. With the help of our e-bikes and scooters she was a trouper at keeping up with the fun!

Ask her how she got the name Col. Curby sometime....

Next stop was the fun little town of Catskill NY. This happens to be the home port of our friends on OLOH and they came home from their summer cruise the next day. We were happy to get a chance to catch up with them even for a brief visit.

AJ must be making drinks...

The final leg of the Hudson takes us through Troy NY to Waterford and the start of the Erie Canal.

Troy, NY.

Bryan & Vickie were able to travel the first part of the Erie to Schenectady with us before they had to jump ship and return to the real life. It was great having them and, as fellow boaters they are easy to travel with as they "get" the idea of boat life. 

It was while in Schenectady that I heard about the passing of Jimmy Buffett. This was a shock and a gut punch. Having boated as long as I have JB was the song track that went naturally along with our travels. I can't begin to count the number of his concerts I have attended but some of the best were when we weren't even inside but anchored "backstage" listening from the deck of Chasing 80 and grilling cheeseburgers. The best I could offer in tribute was to fly his Landshark flag for the remainder of the trip.

Fins Up!

It's a pretty easy 4 day trip across the Erie with some nice small towns to visit along the way. We were putting the boat in winter storage near Brewerton NY., a first for us. As we traveled we could see the leaves just starting to change so we knew it was time to "head for the barn".

One of the small towns was Ilion, NY. The home to Remington Arms at that time. We found a funky little pub across from the plant that hosted workers after shift's for decades, called the Crossway's Tavern. I understand the plant has shut down and moved south. I can only hope places like Crossway's can hang on till we visit again!

The last stop before crossing Lake Onida to our winter port was Sylvan Beach. This is a cute stop with an old time amusement park that had already closed for the season (another sign to head south). We found one beach bar open with the perfect sign for us over the bar.

Back at the boat it was confirmed we had made the right decision to not cross the lake today.

The next day was calm and cool for 20 mile run across the lake to Winter Harbor Marina. After spending a few days cleaning up the boat and packing full a rental SUV we said goodbye to Chasing 80 and headed south returning home in mid September.

Jill had already made an appointment with our Ortho who confirmed that it was time. Which one she asked...your call...they're both bad. Well by mid October she had her right knee replaced. We were both amazed at how smoothly it all went and she is already looking forward to having the left done this fall.

That being said...our original plans for this summer had been to travel the Down East Circle Loop (look it up). We decided that may be a bit ambitious for this year so we are putting it off till 2025. The "plan" for this year is now to travel Lake Champlain, the Ottawa River, Rideau Canal back to and around Lake Ontario returning to storage in the same place. This will allow us shorter travel days and more stops to hopefully take some stress off of that left knee!

We hope to be back in the water and ready to start around Memorial Day. The tracker and NEBO will both be on so you can follow along. We'll be heading back east on the Erie to Waterford where we'll go north on the Hudson to the Champlain Canal. Here's hoping Crossway's is still open for a cold one along the way!

Chesapeake Bay 2023

As mentioned last post...way back in June...the plan for this years travels was to slow down and see more places than we did the last time in 2016. This year we're going to spend more time exploring the Chesapeake Bay! 

We finally got to MM 0 on the AICW in early June with our first new stop being Norfolk VA. As you head into the Elizabeth River and pass under a raised railroad bridge the traffic begins to pick up with ocean going vessels taking up much of the narrow channel.

It's not always easy to tell what these ships are doing and they are not really willing to talk to us on the radio as they are pretty busy maneuvering in the river. Our SOP is just to slow down and stay out of the way until their intentions are clear. Case in point is the first ship we saw taking up the center of the channel.

As we slowed to a crawl it became apparent that the 2 tugs were pushing the ship toward a pier on the right. We just waited until they were clear and proceeded on down the river.

A few miles further and after a few more ship dodging events we arrived at MM 0 and the Waterside marina in downtown Norfolk.

Norfolk is easy to explore from this marina with easy access to downtown as well as the light rail system to go a bit farther. One of our stops was the Gen. MacArthur museum and burial site. 

 Norfolk was the home to Douglas MacArthur's mother and the reason he chose to be buried here. 

After a couple of days in port we continued down the river toward the bay. It was a hazy day caused by the smoke from the wildfires burning in Canada we heard so much about during the summer. The last few miles before reaching the James River you pass the impressive US navel base. Being sure to stay in the channel and away from the patrol boats you pass ships of all shapes and sizes. Shortly after crossing the James on the way to Hampton we began to hear radio traffic announcing the need to stay clear of Navy vessels. We looked back to see an outbound carrier meeting an inbound sub! Apparently they were passing on the "two"...

After a short stay in Hampton we entered the bay and made our way north to the Rappahannock River. Up the river a few miles we stopped in the quaint small town of Urbana. Exploring into town we followed the sound of music and found their First Friday festival with a band and food tents as well as a couple of local breweries represented.

While cruising the Bay one morning we saw an amazing cluster of ships showing up as AIS targets on our chart plotter.

In the circle

As we got closer and through the haze this ghost fleet became visible. I can only imagine they were waiting for a pier to open near Baltimore to load or onload their cargo.

Next we headed to the Potomac River and then up the Yeocomico River to Lodge Creek Marina. We stopped here to visit the home port of the MTOA which is a boating club we belong to. It's a very welcoming family owned marina with a pool and a courtesy car available.

We next continued up the Potomac toward my most anticipated stop of the summer, Washington DC. We had reserved a 1 week stay at the Capital Yacht Club and were amazed at how welcoming they were to traveling boaters. After getting tied up and settled in we moved to the front deck for arrival cocktails. Now that I had a chance to relax and enjoy the view I began to appreciate the history that we were surrounded by.

 One of the nice things about this stay is that Jill's sister Amy flew in to spend time with us on the boat. She had spent time here back in her working life and became our tour guide. Our first fun was riding the hop-on/hop-off bus to get the lay of the land.

The bus ride gave us a chance to see all the major sites that we knew we wouldn't be able to cover in a week. The Metro also easily allowed us to travel a bit farther. We rode to see Arlington National Cemetery.

Kennedy Gravesite

And the USMC Memorial for dad.

 I took some time to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space museum while the girls spent sister time. 

As I was exploring the Need for Speed section I was amazed to see a display that featured the fire suit belonging to JR Todd from his days as a Top Fuel dragster pilot. My very early days learning to scuba dive were spent with JR's father Mario and Jill and I got to see JR race once in Indy. A truly small world moment.

I also went out to the Pentagon to see the 9/11 memorial site. It is very well done and very moving.

Another monument we saw sits along the river and off the beaten path a bit. It's dedicated to the hero's of the Titanic who gave their lives so others could have room in the lifeboats. Since we plan to travel to the Canadian Maritimes next year we'll be visiting the areas where the survivors landed.

After a week that went by way too fast we moved a short way down river to Alexandria. It's a fun little town to explore with plenty of good food and shopping opportunities. 

Next we continued back down river past George Washington's Mt. Vernon...

...and returned to Lodge Creek where we had rented a car to take Amy back to DC for her flight home. We were lucky that a planned bridge implosion had been delayed or we could have been stuck above it for awhile. It really didn't look like there was much holding it up anymore!

We decided to keep the car and spend a few weeks in Lodge Creek to get some projects done and do some sightseeing. One of the projects was a top coat of varnish.

After a nice break we resumed our trip and headed across the bay to the nice little town of Onancock. It's a scenic trip up the creek to the marina. We only stayed 1 night but 2 or 3 would have been nice.

Hazy Sunset in Onancock

At the marina in Onancock and again in the next stop of Crisfield I noticed a bit of pink sheen in the water after shutting down. After a bit of head scratching I concluded we had a leak in one of the fuel coolers (like a radiator in a car). We decided that the best option for repair was in Solomon's Island back across the bay and headed there the next day, a Sunday. The next morning I met the salty old yard manager and discussed the problem. He agreed with my diagnoses and was quickly on the phone to a shop that still builds them and had the specs for my model. I ordered 2 since you never know when the other one would let go. In case you wonder what I'm talking about here is a new cooler...

Since we had taken a few weeks off to do other projects there wasn't much to do but wait so we had a dinghy day...

And watched the evening storms roll through...

We were pleasantly surprised that the coolers came in on Friday and Monday morning the mechanic was on board to help install the new one. We were underway Tuesday morning and headed back across the bay to St. Michaels MD. We have met so many boating people who have told us St. Michaels is a "must stop" when cruising the bay. My reaction was...meh...overpriced marina in a touristy town. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice stop and a great cruise to get there but I'm not in a rush to see it again.

Having lost 10 days in Solomon's we decided to forgo a planned stop in Baltimore and head out the top of the bay on the C & D Canal. We took the shortcut from St. Michaels through Piney Narrows to get to the upper bay. When they say narrow they ain't kidding!

Once through the Canal we stopped in Delaware City and then continued up the Delaware river to Philadelphia PA. We found a slip in a small marina right downtown. Exploring was again easy with the subway and bus system as well as plenty of things within walking distance of the boat.

One stop was the Reading Terminal Market to try a famous Philly Cheesesteak sandwich...it did not disappoint. 

Our 3 day stay turned into 4 with a poor weather forecast making the decision to stay easy. They weren't wrong on the forecast...the storm was a doozy!

After our extra day we headed back to Delaware City to stage for our trip down the Delaware bay. Along the way we passed the sad remains of the once proud SS United States. Once the fastest passenger ship she now sits gutted and rusting. Like so many historic places and things, people fight to save them when they are headed to the scrap heap but most times can't find the funding to save them. My guess is this one won't be saved either so at least we were able to cruise past another piece of history before it's too late.

I'll wrap up this part of the trip here as it's gotten a bit long already. Next post will be about our most excellent trip from NYC up to and across the Erie Canal. I'd like to say I'll get it out before the end of the year but that's getting close....

Spoiler Alert: The Where We've Been map to the right has been updated to the end of the trip in case you just can't stand to wait for the next update!