Hudson River in Pictures

We took a bunch of pictures as we headed up the Hudson so the plan is to let them do most of the talking in this post. We'll pick up where we left off, in lower Manhattan.

Empire State Building

Fire Boat 343, number if firefighters killed on 9/11

Intrepid museum

There was much less ship traffic as we got farther up the river so the sightseeing was more relaxing. Next landmark was the George Washington Bridge and the end of the skyscrapers. The shoreline became much taller as we got further up river.

George Washington Bridge

GW Bridge Lighthouse

The Palisades

We stopped in Croton-on-Hudson for almost a week and did some tourist trips. Kathy's husband Ron drove up to take her home so we made good use of their truck while he was here. One trip was to the New Croton Dam which is supposed to be the 3rd largest masonry structure in the world after the Great Wall of China and the Great Pyramid of Giza...that's pretty big!

Sing Sing, looking for Hudson Hawk

Kathy & Ron

 After 6 days it was time to get moving again. The river only takes about 3 days to get to Albany so we could take our time. The scenery is amazing all the way up.

One last Sunset at Croton-on-Hudson

FDR Rose Garden & Grave

FDR House at Hyde Park

The river got much more narrow and deep as we left Croton and the mountains came right up to the shore. We didn't see any bear at Bear Mt. but I did spot an elk.

Bear Mountain.

See the elk??

Now???

We also saw several Bald Eagles along the way but most were very camera shy.

One very cool sight was rounding a bend and seeing West Point. Just past here was the deepest water we've seen in the entire trip. Zoom in on the picture of the chart plotter to see what the area is called. Glad we made it through safely.

West Point

Worlds End...Really???

We also passed the Culinary Institute of America. Friends had dinner there and said it was excellent, $$$$$

We were in Kingston NY for the much talked about "Strawberry Moon" and I was very surprised to see the color, how did it know??

Our last stop was a small marina in the little town of New Baltimore NY. I only mention this because it is in the middle of nowhere but one of the nicest places we've stopped at. They have a buy 2 get 1 night free deal and a pool to boot. We would stop here again for sure. It is also the first campfire we've had on the trip!!

We are now in Waterford NY which marks the beginning (or end) of the Erie canal. We will start the canal tomorrow and be around Lake Ontario by the 4th of July. Tune in to the Locate Us link Sunday as we start locking up the Erie.

We'll leave you with a few more pictures of the lighthouses of the Hudson River. All are very cool and well maintained buildings.

Trip Through NYC

Thought I'd post a quick blog with some of the pictures taken as we passed through NYC last Tuesday. We traveled with 2 other boats so we could all take turns having our pictures taken as we passed the Statue of Liberty.

We started from Staten Island that morning and before long were approaching the Verrazano-Narrows bridge at the entrance to the Hudson River. Our AIS was lit up with targets. You really have to have your head on a swivel as you head toward Manhattan. Some targets are moving some are anchored and many are moving really fast!!! The targets turn red if there is a threat of collision.

Targets Everywhere

More Targets

We traveled up the east side of the river along Brooklyn which kept us out of most of the traffic until we got close to the East River. At that point we cut back across the river to get to the statue.

Liquid Assets and Manhattan

East River and Brooklyn Bridge

We were lucky to get there between the times the big ferry boats were there and had a bit of a calm spell to take pictures.

Soon enough it was time to move on up the Hudson where the traffic really thinned out and made the sightseeing much more enjoyable.

Ellis Island

Less Traffic Finally

Thanks to Liquid Assets and Goosechase for getting some really great pictures of Chasing 80. It's not often we get a chance to have pictures taken of the boat underway.

We are now at Croton-on-Hudson and have been for several days. We will be moving further up the Hudson starting tomorrow and should be at the start of the Erie Canal by next weekend. Won't be long and we'll be in fresh water for the remainder of the loop.

Great Picture!!

Baltimore to NYC

After spending a week in Solomons and getting most of the boat waxed along with a few other projects it was time to get moving. We set off up the Chesapeake Bay on a grey morning heading for Baltimore. It never really did clear up that day but it made for calm conditions on the bay.

At Baltimore we found a slip right in the Inner Harbor in the heart of downtown. The hustle and bustle of a big city environment was a bit of a shock on our systems. We had been visiting small towns for a couple of months but really enjoyed all we got to take in in the few days we were there.

One thing we did take in was my sister Kathy who flew in to spend some travel time with us. Here she is in our typical "crossing the state border" selfie as we go from Maryland to Delaware on the C & D canal.

I think Delaware will be the winner of our "least time spent" award as we were in the state for all of one night. The late spring weather had been bringing cold fronts through the area with storms followed by several days of windy weather. You have a brief calm spell before the pattern repeats so you have to move when you can. After Delaware City we ran down Delaware Bay to Cape May New Jersey. We got in just a few hours ahead of the next cold front and heard from those who came in later that it was getting nasty on the bay.

We spent a few days in Cape May getting a few more projects done and doing some sightseeing. It's a cute little town with some true Jersey Shore characters around.

When we left Cape May the plan was to go in the Atlantic until Atlantic City then pick up the NJICW inside from there. The ICW is too shallow between Cape May and Atlantic City for us to use. Once we got close to Atlantic City we decided to keep going outside to the next available inlet since the conditions were so good. We entered Manasquan Inlet about 6:00 after covering 100 miles, a very long day for us. Kathy is really getting her money's worth. The long run made for an easy 40 mile day into New York where we are now on Staten Island at the Great Kills Yacht Club.

This is a true blue collar yacht club and I've found many of the members are active or retired NYPD or FDNY. Having a few drinks with these fellas is a real hoot!!

Yesterday we took the Staten Island Ferry into lower Manhattan and toured the 9/11 memorial. I must say that this is a very impressive and moving memorial. Everything was very tastefully done in my opinion. On the way over we passed the Statue of Liberty. We will be passing there in our boat tomorrow and will be traveling with a few other boats so we can have a photo op.

 
The park at the memorial is amazing with the footprints of each tower now being cascading water falls. I've seen it on TV but you really feel it when you're there in person.

South Tower

The memorial is right below the new Freedom Tower which is a sight all it's own.

The picture shows just a bit of the memorial centering on the "last beam" which was cut down in a special ceremony that many of the responders returned to attend. The base of the memorial is the bottom level or base of the towers.

One section housed a collection of photographs taken by the official FEMA/USAR photographer. I didn't even know there was one (I don't think she worked the night shift). They are asking for help in identifying the people in the pictures and I found one of 3 OHTF-1 members but you can't see the faces. Anyone remember who had a red helmet? Looks like a search guy since he has a search-cam battery on his back, maybe Joey??? I have no clues on the others.

Not sure how many of my old Task Force pals follow the blog but I thought you may like to know that our BoO is looking much better these days. I was even able to get money out of the ATM this time!! Merc, is that you???

Before

After

Well, that's it for this installment...tune in tomorrow as we head up the Hudson River toward the Erie Canal.