Onward to Erie Canal





 

From Croton-on-the-Hudson’s Half Moon Bay Marina, we rented a car and drove to Wallkill for a barbeque at the home of Marian and Jim, my sister and her new hubby.  My nephew Michael picked up my mom from New Windsor – a mini family reunion.  It was a fun time re-meeting all the people who I had met at the April wedding and since forgotten!




Marian and Mom

Jim and Marian

Approaching Bear Mountain Bridge and Anthony's Nose

  

U.S. Military Academy West Point

Bannerman Island

 

The following day we continued up the Hudson to an anchorage behind Pollepel Island, also known as Bannerman Island.  Frank Bannerman became the world’s largest buyer of surplus military equipment and his store in Brooklyn occupied an entire block.  As his accumulation of equipment, ammunition and very volatile black powder grew, Mr. Bannerman had to look outside the city for storage.  In 1900 he purchased the island as a storage site and shortly thereafter began construction of a simulated Scottish castle as the warehouse.  Time has not been kind to the small rocky island – vandalism, neglect, decay and fires in 1920 and 1969 destroyed much of the structures leaving only a small portion of the exterior walls standing. 

Fleet of kayakers floating by at Bannerman Island

The island was easy to spot and we dropped anchor without any problem.  It was Father’s Day so there was plenty of boat traffic on the river and the anchorage afforded no protection from the wakes of speed boaters and jet skiers.  But the worst was yet to come.  I had commented upon our arrival that the air was “so calm and a good breeze would certainly be appreciated.”  I got my wish and so much more as the wind suddenly started to blow from the south at 20 MPH!!!  That was not in the forecast and definitely not in my plan for the evening.  We were buffeted for hours before the winds calmed near midnight.  The winds combined with the whistles from the commuter trains barreling along the eastern shore of the river did not make for a peaceful evening.

          

 

 

Moving right along up the Hudson we stopped next at Hyde Park Marina.  From there it was a 20 minute walk to the campus of the CIA – Culinary Institute of America – where 2,300 students study the culinary, baking and pastry arts.  We enjoyed a late lunch at Apple Pie Bakery Café, the only one of the four student-staffed restaurants open for business this Monday afternoon.   It was tough deciding what main dish to choose from their menu (the quiche of the day won there) but dessert was even tougher as each offering was tantalizingly showcased. But I am happy to report that the key lime éclair was delicious!



Old Diamondsides
In 2014 artist John Sendelbach created this 12-foot sculpture of a sturgeon, an important species of fish in the Hudson River.  Old Diamondsides is crafted from salvaged flatware - 700 knives, 400 forks and 600 spoons. Look closely and you can spot Julia Child peering out a CIA window nearby.

 

 

The CIA from the water

 

Tug boat traffic along this stretch of the Hudson kept Lazy W rockin’ and rollin’ through the night.  Paul, the Dockmaster at Hyde Park Marina, indicated that much of that traffic relates to the Tappan Zee Bridge construction as building materials are moving between Albany and the bridge via tug and barge.  We stayed at the dock for much of the morning waiting for the tide to change in our favor and waiting for the captain to repack the port shaft.

 

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse

Rock face north of Kingston

Near Saugerties

Lighthouse near Hudson

Next stop – the friendly Coeymans Landing Marina.  Along the way we once again made contact with Bev and Larry on Canadian Flyer as they slowly made their way north near Saugerties.  Thanks to the rising tide, we managed to cruise at well over 9 knots most of the way to Coeymans!




Approaching Rip Van Winkle Bridge connecting Catskill and Hudson

This is Rip Van Winkle country!  His legend is almost as big as that of Henry Hudson.  Written by Washington Irving in 1819, Rip Van Winkle is the enchanting tale of hen-pecked Rip who wanders into the Catskills to escape his nagging wife for the day.  He soon encounters the ghosts of Hudson’s crew playing a game of ninepin.  After drinking some of their magic potion, Rip falls into a deep slumber lasting 20 years.  He even sleeps through the American Revolution.  When he awakens, he finds his way back to his village only to find that it is unrecognizable and, to the villagers, so is he.  Rip is eventually reunited with his children and is accepted by the villagers despite all his eccentricities.

To enter Coeymans Landing Marina, one must carefully navigate through an extremely narrow channel paralleling the river.  This channel leads you to the fuel dock where we would be fueling up, pumping out and tying up for the night.  After securing Lazy W it was determined that she would have to be turned around so that all the hoses and paraphernalia on the dock would reach her connections.  Seriously, do a U-turn in the channel that is not much wider than our boat?!  The dockhands told us not to worry, they do this all the time.  So we did as we were instructed – throwing stern lines to two dockhands while another jumped in his dinghy and nudged our bow away from the dock.  Sure enough Lazy W spun lazily around, pivoting around the stern line grasped by the dockhands.  I was impressed. Had the dockhands not done this maneuver, we would have had to do it on our own the next morning as, unbeknownst to us at docking time, this channel was one-way!

It  was a chilly day on the water

Approaching Albany

Port of Albany

Albany

The bucolic countryside hugging the Hudson abruptly changes to industrial/commercial as the trees are replaced with massive tanks and unsightly piers at the port of Albany.  We had looked forward to stopping for a day at Troy Town Dock but it had sustained some major storm damage a few years ago and was still not fully operational so we pushed onward to the Federal Lock – the first of many to come.  With fenders and lines strategically placed around Lazy W’s starboard side, we entered the lock, I grabbed a bollard, the gate was closed behind us and we floated uneventfully up fourteen feet.  Lazy W seems somewhat large for two people to handle in the locks (the Captain strongly disagrees with me on this) and I fondly thought back to our 2002 cruise through here on our 37-foot Mainship Sea Venture with Rich Wills and 9-year-old Bryan as added crew.

Approaching Federal Lock

 

In 1817 construction began on the Erie Canal.  This massive undertaking was New York Governor Dewitt Clinton’s dream or, as others derisively called it, “Clinton’s big ditch.”  Completed in 1825, this 363-mile long canal was the first all water link between the Atlantic seaboard and the Great Lakes.  It opened a route to settlement of the interior and countless opportunities for growth resulting in prosperity beyond the young nation’s budding imagination.  The Hudson River linked the canal to New York City which soon surpassed Philadelphia as the nation’s chief seaport and center of world trade. As a result, the Erie Canal has long been considered the most influential waterway in the United States.

The original canal was 4-feet deep and 15-feet wide.  It has been enlarged and rerouted several times and is now 12-feet deep.  In its early days, horses and mules powered the system.  The animals walked along the tow path, pulling the boats along the water and inspiring the 1905 Erie Canal Song. 

I’ve got a mule and her name is Sal,

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

She’s a good old worker and a good old pal,

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.

We’ve hauled some barges in our day

Filled with lumber, coal and hay

And every inch of the way we know

From Albany to Buffalo...

 

 

 

Frank and Sal

 

From dockside at the Waterford Visitor Center we can observe the comings and goings of the boats entering the first lock of the Waterford Flight of Five Locks, the start of the Erie Canal.  This series of locks provides the highest lift (169 feet) in the shortest distance (1.5 miles) of any canal built in the United States. A bateau carrying a crew of seven reenactors gingerly rowed its way into the lock this morning.  We will enter tomorrow.

 

First lock of Waterford Flight
 

Bateau and crew of reenactors

Bateau enters  Waterford Lock on its way to Rotterdam

 

 

 

 

North to the Hudson

Our last restaurant visit while we were 'forced' to stay at St. Michael's was at Ava's Pizzeria and Wine Bar.  Our table was located on the rear patio where this awesome fountain took center stage!

 
Despite a small craft advisory, we left our anchorage on the Chester River in the early morning of June 10^th.  The advisory was forecast to expire at 10AM and we were confident that the Lazy W and her crew would be able to handle an hour’s worth of rough water.  At 9AM we stuck our bow out into the Chesapeake Bay and were greeted with gusty winds and choppy water.  At 9:30AM, SURPRISE, the small craft advisory had been extended until 1 PM!!!  We clocked the winds at 20 MPH and, as waves crashed over the bow, we questioned our decision to travel today.  Fortunately, as we cruised north toward the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, conditions began to improve.  Boat traffic was light but we did cross paths for the third time with the small cruise ship American Star as she headed north to Providence.

American Star zips past Lazy W

 

Entering C&D Canal



In the 17^th century, Bohemian cartographer Augustine Hermann envisioned a canal through the narrow upper end of the Delmarva Peninsula that would connect the Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake Bay.  It wasn’t until 1822 that enough funds were raised to start the big dig.  Seven years later the 14-mile-long, 10-foot-deep, 66-foot wide C&D Canal opened to ship traffic.  Over the years several expansions have culminated in its current depth of 35 feet and width of 400 feet.  As you traverse the canal today, it is hard to imagine that the original canal was built by the labors of more than two thousand men wielding shovels and pick axes.

Aqua Sol sits high on a hill overlooking Summit North Marina
 

 By late afternoon we had arrived at Summit North Marina in Bear, Delaware about midway through the C&D Canal.  We fueled up, docked, and partook in yet another happy hour aboard Lazy W.  A fantastic band was playing on the outside deck of Aqua Sol, the restaurant high on a hill overlooking the marina.  From dockside we were able to enjoy their renditions of the Mamas and the Papas ‘California Dreaming,’ Adele, Heart, Eric Clapton, Meat Loaf, and real oldies from the Beatles.  What a great ending to a l-o-n-g  Friday on the water.!

The next day we traversed the remainder of the C&D Canal.  There was no commercial traffic to dodge along the way.  Our only accompaniment – two other cruisers ahead of us and numerous great blue heron flying overhead.  Upon exiting the canal we braced ourselves for a somewhat lumpy ride down the Delaware Bay to Cape May.  Kyle from Utsch’s Marina called along the way to inform us that a slip had opened up and we enthusiastically accepted it.  What would a stop in Cape May be without a stay at Utsch’s??

Not surprisingly, there were several other looper boats congregating at Utsch’s as we all waited for a favorable weather window to start the journey up the coast of New Jersey.  The crews of Chill Time, Morningstar, Shingebiss, Meander and Toba shared docktails each evening during our stay.  Tom and Barbara from Toba shared stories of their recent cruise to Cuba on Toba, Liz on Shingebiss explained the origin of their boat name (Ojibwa legend), and Mel on Morningstar – well, Mel just told stories!!

The motto of Cape May is “The Nation’s Oldest Seashore Resort.”  Since the mid-eighteenth century when this small town on the southern tip of New Jersey began hosting Philadelphia vacationers, Cape May continues to be a mecca for east coast beach lovers. A fire in 1878 destroyed much of the town and the majority of the replacement homes were built in the Victorian-style architecture.  These “painted ladies” have been preserved and meticulously maintained resulting in the entire city’s 1976 designation as a National Historic Landmark.  With a year-round population of less than 4,000, the city plays host to almost 50,000 summer visitors.  And Cape May has decided to charge each and every one of them a $6 per person daily beach tag fee for the pleasure of walking on their shore!?!?

We awoke on Sunday, June 12^th to the sickening news of the shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.  When will the madness end?

After three beautiful but windy days exploring Cape May, we left with a flotilla of like-minded boaters to cruise to Absecon Inlet at Atlantic City.  Ruth and Herb on their appropriately named American Tug Ancient Mariners seemed a bit timid and were hesitant to leave with us since it was still somewhat windy.  But leave they did.  And once they cleared the Cape May Inlet they put the pedal to the metal, took off and left the rest of us far behind!!  We never did see them in Atlantic City and can only assume that they were already further north in Sandy Hook by the time we anchored near Rum Point.  Go Ancient Mariners!

We could see the amusement park at Wildwood as we headed up the Jersey shore from Cape May

Anchored at Atlantic City with Chill Time, Meander and Shingebiss

 


The view from Atlantic City anchorage - Borgota, The Water Club and Harrah's

 Our two day run up the Jersey coast was smooth and uneventful.  The flotilla of boats stuck together much of the way but broke apart at Sandy Hook.  Some will be cruising the Long Island Sound while others will continue up the Hudson.  We dropped the hook off Atlantic Highlands and enjoyed a quiet night with a spectacular view of New York City and the Verrazano Bridge sparkling in the distance north of us.

To say that traversing New York Harbor in a 43-foot trawler surrounded by behemoth cargo ships, speeding New York Waterway and Staten Island ferries, Circle Line excursion boats, the Anthem of the Sea cruise ship, and countless wayward sailboats is an intimidating experience would be a gross understatement. So with some angst and trepidation, we pulled up the hook after lunch and pushed northward across Sandy Hook Bay.  (Typically our cruising day starts much earlier than noon, but the newly-downloaded app Tidal Currents Trip Planner indicated that an afternoon departure would help Lazy W take advantage of tidal currents along the Hudson.)

The Captain is prepared for New York Harbor

 

Approaching Manhattan

Lady Liberty

Crossing paths with sailboats

Ellis Island

 

Freedom Tower

via57west

We admired all the sights of the city. Further north we noticed an interesting building, via57west.  This visually intriguing building bills itself as a residential oasis “balancing the excitement of the city and the tranquility of nature.” At its center is VIA Garden, a 22,000 square foot lushly planted courtyard whose dimensions mimic the exact proportions of Central Park.  Rents start at $3,600 a month for a studio apartment, $4,650 for a one bedroom unit, and $6,400 for a two bedroom unit!!

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
Passing under the George Washington Bridge
 

Approaching the Tappan Zee Bridge and the construction equipment for its $3.98 billion replacement

 

Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining houses 1,700 prisoners along the Hudson River

 

Our reward after a long day of cruising
 a beautiful sunset over the Hudson across from our anchorage near Croton Point

 

On to St. Michael's

We left Windmill Point Marina on the morning of May 31^st under dreary skies.  The Chesapeake Bay was the calmest we had ever seen it.

Just south of Reedville we had to slightly alter our northward course to avoid interfering with the menhaden fishing fleet.  The menhaden is a foot-long, bony fish crucial to the food chain in the Chesapeake Bay, providing abundant food for eagles, osprey, bluefish and striped bass.  It is also an important player in water quality as the menhaden are filter feeders, like oysters, removing excess nutrients from the water.

Early Native Americans recognized the menhaden’s importance as fertilizer for the corn crop.  Much later, in 1874, Elijah Reed began processing menhaden for its fish oil.  Reedville soon became the Menhaden capital of America.  Today, Omega Protein, the only menhaden reduction plant in operation on the Atlantic coast, processes the fish into fishmeal for use in cosmetics, livestock feed and omega-3 fish oil supplements.  When the plant is ‘cooking’ the menhaden, the air around Reedville is quite odoriferous – we did not plan to anchor nearby!



To catch the menhaden, a purse seine is strung between two boats as seen on the right.  The boats encircle the menhaden in the net and then it is pursed, or closed.  The menhaden are then vacuumed into refrigerated containers on the mother ship, seen on the left, and taken to Reedville.



 

Solomons, Maryland is a major boating center at the mouth of the Patuxent River.  We have a favorite anchorage where we have dropped the hook on several previous visits.  So into Mill Creek we headed.  As we passed the docks where the LNG tugs are usually tied up, I noticed what appeared to be dozens of brown mats floating just below the surface of the water.  Closer examination proved that observation to be wrong – these ‘mats’ were cownose rays!  The cownose ray has a kite-shaped body with a wingspan up to three-feet and an indented snout that resembles a cow’s nose.  Traveling in schools based on sex and age, these rays visit the warm waters of the Chesapeake Bay from May through September.  We passed by several schools of them as we made our way into the anchorage.

Anchored off our favorite spot in Mill Creek where no one ever seems to be home!

 

The friendly staff at the Calvert Marine Museum allows boaters to tie up to their dinghy dock to access the museum.  So we made what felt like our umpteenth visit on June 1^st.  Though small in size, the museum is big on relating the colorful history of the Chesapeake Bay.  And even more amazing is that mega star country singer Toby Keith will be performing here in mid-June! 

There is always something new to learn at CMM, or maybe I just don’t remember things from one visit to the next!  Delaware-born Isaac Solomon purchased Sandy Island in 1865 with the dream of building a commercial empire based on the ‘almighty oyster.’  He amassed an oyster fleet, built a shipyard, a cannery and housing for his workers on the island and renamed his empire Solomon’s Island.  Over the years it has played a major role in American history, from building schooners, sloops and bugeyes in support of the oyster industry to serving as an amphibious invasion training site during World War II.  Commissioned in 1943, the Patuxent River Naval Air Station sits just across the river on its south side.

 

A calm night on Mill Creek




This picture is for you -Tim and Vicki Gardner!
Passing Thomas Point Light on our way to Annapolis

 

On to Annapolis where I learned that my mooring-ball-snagging skills were not as rusty as feared.  I managed to snag a mooring on my first try, woohoo!!  After dinghying into Ego Alley where the few docked boats had been taken over by ducks, we rewarded ourselves with ice cream cones and then happy hour at Pusser’s Caribbean Grille.   Safely back aboard Lazy W we enjoyed watching the junior and senior classes of the very pricey Indian Creek School board the Catherine Marie for their prom.  Dozens of small sailboats zipped around the harbor and launches from the cruise ship American Star ferried passengers from their far anchorage into downtown Annapolis.  It was a beautiful evening to be in Annapolis.  

Annapolis from our mooring ball

 

  

 

 

Prom attendees on Catherine Marie

 

As nice as the weather was now, a storm was forecast to approach the bay on Sunday.  That was our planned day to make the crossing over to St. Michael’s.  Luckily these plans are set in jello!  Instead of spending a second day on the mooring ball we moved Lazy W on Friday to the only available slip at Annapolis Landing Marina where we could do exciting things like laundry and grocery shopping.   Thanks ALM for use of the courtesy car!  We would cross the bay on Saturday.



Passing American Star on our way to Annapolis Landing Marina
 

 

 

As we left Annapolis we came upon an unexpected sight on the bay – a coast guard cutter emblazoned with “Japan Coast Guard” on its side.  The Kojima, the 377-foot Japanese Coast Guard Academy’s training ship, was heading north to Baltimore for a June 5^th event sponsored by Sail Baltimore.  This organization hosts sailing vessels from around the world as an ever-changing Maritime Museum in downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

We have visited St. Michael’s many times over the years but we were drawn back for yet another visit through an invitation to join The Loopers and Cruisers Dock Up at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum on Monday.  This is what happens when you encounter grocery-shopping boaters in the Portsmouth Food Lion and offer them a ride back to North Landing! Thanks to Kenny Beach aboard Daybreak for inviting us to your gathering.

St. Michael’s is known as “the town that fooled the British” during the War of 1812.  The townspeople had been forewarned of an imminent attack on the shipyards – they blacked out their houses and hung lanterns high in the trees and in the masts of the ships. In the dark morning hours of August 10, 1813 the British, deceived by the height of the lights, thought the town was situated on a high bluff and overshot the town.  Only one cannonball struck a house, and to this day that house is known as “the Cannonball House.”

Throughout the day on June 6^th, ten boats in various stages of cruising ‘the Loop’ arrived at the museum docks.  By 4:30 it was time for all of us to meet and exchange boat stories at the 1890 home of Cindy Pease, the owner of The Shops at Sea Captain’s Cottage.  She graciously hosted happy hour even though she only knew one of the boaters in our group.  And what an eclectic group we were!  A Chesapeake Bay pilot and graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, a SUNY Maritime graduate (from across the river from Kings Point) and engineer, a Brooklyn dentist, second-time Loopers from Georgia, first-time Loopers from Alabama, a French Horn player from Delaware.

During dinner at Awful Arthur’s Seafood Restaurant we chatted with Jeff, a retired U.S. naval officer who served a short time on the destroyer USS Blandy around the same time that Frank did his naval reserve duty on the same ship. Jeff and his wife, Susan, had lived in Chesapeake’s Riverwalk community in the late 1990’s.  Well, Peg, my college roommate, just so happens to live in Riverwalk and, after a quick text message back and forth with her, we concluded that, yes, she vaguely remembers Susan and, yes, she plays bunco with their mutual friend, Ardis!!!  What a small world!!!

Our dockmate, the 1912 tug Delaware, at CBMM
 

The Loopers and Cruisers boats docked at various spots at CBMM

 

 

The Hooper Strait Lighthouse.
  Built in 1879 this screw pile lighthouse was moved to CBMM in 1966.

There were many opportunities to mix and mingle with The Loopers and Cruisers crowd.  Docktail parties, dinners, guided tours of St. Michael’s and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, even karaoke night at the Black Thorn Irish Pub.  But all good things must come to an end and it was time for Lazy W to make her way north to the C&D Canal.  Alas, the weather would not cooperate.  A gale warning (wind gusts of 35 knots creating waves of 3 feet) was posted for the northern bay on Wednesday, June 8^th.  Being “fair weather boaters,” we opted to spend another day at the dock surrounded by mating horseshoe crabs!!