Meandering on the Mohawk

It is totally incredible, but we cruised from Waterford to Fort Hunter, NY today. Would you believe, that is lock #2 through lock #12. It was a busy, busy day for us and we are somewhat exhausted tonight but the scenery has been breathtaking on the Mohawk River. We encountered the tug above which began life as the "Henry J. Donbos" and was constructed in the Johnston Brothers Shipyard in Ferrysburg, Michigan near Lake Michigan. She was originally registered on July 18, 1901 to a family which operated a commeracial fishing business. After some major repairs and a new coat of bright blue and yellow paint, she was renamed the Urger and began a new life as a floating museum and classroom. In 1991, the Urger sailed the length of the Erie Canal encouraging people to celebrate New York State waterways by learning their history and folklore from the time when Native Americans paddled the rivers in canoes to the modern era of barges and tugboats on man-made canals. Wouldn't you love to join that class!!!!!

Tonight we are tied up to the walls right after lock #12 and plan to head out for Canajoharie first thing in the morning. From what we have read, it sounds like a great place to disembark and do some sight seeing.

We can see the bright, shiny moon and its reflection on the water as we write this. Wish all of you who are reading this could see it. It is a perfect example of the kind of beauty Hopkins describes in his poem, "God's Grandeur".

Still in Waterford, NH

The weather here is perfect today. We took a very long walk to visit the Waterford Museum. On the way Gail posed at the confluence of the Erie Canal and the old Champlain Canal which was built at the same time as the original Erie Canal.

Along the towpath they have re-created the footprints of a mule driver and his mule in cement.

John was of course intrigued by the electrical and mechanical aspect of the Lock which the Lockmaster at Lock #2 was kind enough to explain in detail and even open up the cabinets to allow pictures.

The Waterford Museum is a must see for any one visiting, either by boat or car. It is easily reachable by car, but more interestingly, you can walk the old original tow path for the Champlain Canal from Lock #2 right to the museum. The director was more than accomodating to these visitors who mistakenly walked by a much longer route only to find the museum closed on Tuesday. However the director was there having a meeting, and not only did he give us a personal tour, but gave these weary travelers a ride back to the boat!

This is a picture of the opening ceremonies for the "new" canal, called the barge canal in 1915. Note the first boat with the flag from the flagstaff and the bridge in the background.

This is the same view in 2007 with a restored canal boat followed by a sailboat with his mast down, and third in line, Monarch. Note the bridge!

Tomorrow we start the Erie.

Low Bridge Everybody Down

Our stay at Saugerties was very pleasant. We were anchored in a wide spot in the creek, surrounded by many nice river homes. Though we were right in their backyards, nobody seemed to mind, and they all waved cheerily.

The forcast called for thunderstorms for the next day, possible in the morning, probable in the afternoon. We arose before dawn, pulled the anchor and got on our way. We are now tieing a line to the head of our anchor with a clorox bottle buoy to help retrieve it if it gets caught on something in one of these creeks or rivers.

We called a marina on Coeymans Creek and made sure they had room for us. The thunderstorms did not develop as we approache Coeymans, so we called Albany Yacht Club and they said they had room for us. That put first lock just 9 miles away, so we proceeded to Albany.

The marina is in downtown Albany. Durelle called and described the post cards that she has that Mum-Mum sent her mother in the years 1910 to 1914. She told us one of them was a picture of the state capitol in Albany. We said, "Durelle, we are looking at that very building as we speak." We snapped a picture of it as we left Albany this morning.

About 9 miles up the Hudson we came to Troy lock in Troy, New York. Shortly after leaving that lock we turned left into the Erie Canal.

We have just watched the sun set at a beautiful park, and gazed in wonder at the confluence of the Hudson River, Mohawk River and the Erie Canal!

As the song says;

Low bridge, everybody down, Low bridge, for we're coming to a town.

And you'll always know your neighbor, you'll always know your pal,

If you've ever navigated the Erie Canal.

Later tonight we are going to read some more from a novel called "Rome Haul." which is about a young man who goes to work on the Erie canal as a driver of the mules that pulled the barges and went on to own his own barge.

We plan to stay several days here in Waterford. You can visit the lock, see some of the original locks and spend some time in a museum with many exhibits on the history of the canal.

The Beautiful Hudson Highlands

A couple of the promised pictures from yesterday when we passed along the west of Manhattan. It is overwhelming to see if from the water and to recognize so many of the sites we have already visited via. land.

Mark and Sheila will recognize this ipicture. We crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge so very many times heading south. It looks a little different from this vantage point!

United States Military Academy At West Point-commonly called the Gibralter of America because of its strategic situation. In sailing days, ships had to change course here because of the sharp bends in the river, and virtually came to a hault. In the narrow waters, they became easy targets for guns on shore. Early in the Revolution, fortifications were built both on West Point and Constitution Island on the opposite shore.Today the cadets live a strick military life in an atmosphere of learning. All cadets receive considerable basic military instruction, particularly in the last two years. The curricululm includes much mathematics, physics, and engineering and leads to a B.S. degree.

When we were anchored bihind Pollapel Island we heard trains all night, but we weren't bothered. The ruins of Bannerman Castle are evident on the island. Bannerman was an arms deler who bought up all the Union's military supplies left over after the Civil War and stored them in a warehouse in New York City. He published a mail order catalog of his holdings and became the Sears Roebuck of munitions. Most of the world's rebellions from 1880 through 1910 were fought with Bannerman supplied weapons. The city fathers did not look kindly on his storing munitions in mid-town and convinced him to move. He bought Pollepel Island and stored them there and carried on his trade. It seems that the Hudson valley gets more than its share of thunderstorms, (we may test this theory tomorrow), and the arsenal caught fire and blew up on several occasions. Some of the turrets of the castle are located in the river far from the building!

We got a fairly early start this morning and headed for Kingston, NY. I think some of John's forbears had a hand in settling that community, so it had a personal interest. It turns out, however that Kingston is a very popular boating destination: this holiday weekend brought out all the boaters. We bypassed Kingston in favor of an anchorage in Saugerties, NY.








While we didn't see Kingston, we did get a good look at Poughkeepsie, NY. The guide book mentioned one of the earliest homes at that community, which was built by Baltus Van Kleek. It turns out he was one of John's many-great grandfathers as well.

We passed the home Franklin Roosevelt was born in at Hyde Park, as well as the CIA, Culinary Institute of America and some of the finest homes we have ever seen.

The CIA facility was once St. Andrews-on-the-Hudson, a Jesuit seminary and monastery.The famous French scientist and philosopher Peirre Teilhard de Chardin is buried on the grounds in the old Jesuit cemetary, still beautifully maintained by the Institute, and this site has become a pilgrimage site for those interested in the philosophy of science and religion.

ENTRANCE TO OUR HOME

FOR THE NIGHT!

In the wake of Mum-Mum

Well we are getting behind, so no pictures tonight. I wish I had my apple. This PC needs a lot of attention.

Any way we spent the last night in Sleepy Hollow. Well they call it Tarrytown now, but is was where Washington Irving lived when he wrote about Ichabod Crane and his adventures.

The area we cruised through was the setting of the story of Bendict Arnold and his treason against our country during the Revolutionary War.

Tonight we are anchored behind Pollapel Island where a Mr. Bannerman built a castle that lies in rather impressive ruins. We will include a picture soon.

The big news is that Durelle found a post card from Mum-Mum sent in 1913 when she travelled the Hudson River by boat from Albany to New York, exactly the route we are travelling, in reverse. She passed right by where we lay at anchor 95 years ago. Gail's mother Shiela would have been 2 years old then. Where was she? At any rate it is rather overwhelming to learn this news while are actually travelling the waters she traveled!

In the Shadow of the Lady

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma Lazarus

Yep, this is where we were anchored last night. It was a really inspiritional experience.

The trip up from Manasquan inlet was uneventful: passed many boats of many different types, getting bigger and bigger as we approached New York harbor.

The seas got quite rough as we turned for the Verazano bridge, and steering was a chore as they were directly from our stern, but we soon reached the Verazaanno Narrows bridge.

Coney Island!

And Manhattan!

After negotiating the upper harbor with all its trafic, we got to Liberty Park. A bottle of champagne seemed appropriate to celebrate John's birthday and our cozy historical anchorage. We could hear the trains running on the same tracks as those who carried millions of immigrants from this place to all parts of our nation.

We are now waiting for the tidal current of the Hudson to turn in our favor for our first day on that great river.

Continuing The Atlantic Adventure

Our anchorage in a little creek off the Atlantic City Inlet was the best yet. The water was so clear you could see the anchor line at least nine or ten feet. There were a multitude of great white herons that kept us company. It was quite a contrast to the bright lights of the Atlantic City we have heard so much about. From the boat we could see all the neon but know we were in a better place than those $300.00 a night rooms. There were only two other boats in the creek - both from Canada.

The Atlantic was wonderfully calm and beautiful today. The sea was filled with long rolling waves and we had the wind at our back.

Arrived at Manasquan around 3:30pm (John navigated the entrance beautifully - the current was REALLY strong) and checked into a marina right on the New Jersey intracoastal waterway complete with a draw bridge off our bow for the commuter train. We rode our bikes into town, had supper and did a little grocery shopping. If you have been keeping up with the blog, you will know that this was our sixth day aboard the boat and we needed essentials like milk, juice, bread and eggs! We have been on long enough to have that "Im still rocking" feeling even on land!

We are both a little punchy tonight but it is a nice exhaustion from a busy but rewarding day. We're beginning to feel like real explorers!

Tomorrow we will be heading back out into the Atlantic for the last time. After rounding Sandy Hook we will head for the western shore of the lower bay and find the anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty.

Blue Water

After a great night anchored next to a huge revovery vessel in a tiny creek called Lower Thoro, listening to the squawking of about a million sea birds in the flats on the other side of us, we survived another anchoring "adventure."

We elected to leave at 0700, as that would be a slack current, and would make recovering our anchor easier. Glad we did. As the anchor came up, it brought with it a tangled mess of discarded crab trap, some line, and about a ton of river mud. The windlass got it to the surface, but couldn't raise it clear of the water. John had to heave on the chain to help out the windlass, then reach over and haul the crab trap off the anchor, then reach over again to cut the lines tangled in the anchor. He has a pulled muscle to remind him of the affair.



This is our wake after we cleared the bridge leading to the Cape May inlet. Shortly after taking this picture, Gail whooped and ran to the rail. A pod of Dolphins had joined the boat. One of them, at least 8' long took station on our port quarter, right where Gail was standing. He stayed there a long time as Gail talked to him and thanked him for escorting us out into the blue water of the North Atlantic. She convinced John to leave the helm and see the porpoise, but the porpoise took one look at him and parted company.

After a glorious cruise up the coast, between one and two miles off shore, we sighted the tall buildings of Atlantic City, NJ.

Atlantic City has a light house right down town.

Neither of us had seen the boardwalk in Atlantic City, now we have.

Right now we are bobbing at anchor with the lights of the casinos twinkling in the distance.

Tomorrow, Manasquan inlet at Point Pleasant, NJ

The "Treacherous" Deleware Bay Conquered!

We left Chesapeake City bright and early this morning and reentered the C&D Canal headed for Cape May New Jersey.

There were a multitude of large vessels again today that fascinate us as they pass. Their size and the countries from which they have travelled are overwhelming.

After exiting the canal we traveled on the Deleware River for about an hour. We both commented on the fact that we don't know a whole lot about this river other than the fact that Washington crossed it during the Revolutionary War. If slack time ever hits us we will do some research or if any of you know who explored it, etc, you could post it in the comments!

One special treat was a lighthouse named for John! It is formally called the Ship John Lighthouse. Gail decided that it is the best looking lighthouse she has ever seen!

Crossing the Deleware Bay was much smoother than we had anticipated. Every boater we have talked to about crossing it has told some kind of horror story about it. It is usually a chore to cross but we found it very beautiful. It was fun to actually be out of sight of land for awhile.

While talking to Durelle on the phone as we were about to approach Cape May, we commented on the fact that the water actually reminded us of Pensacola Bay but that we had not seen any dolphins. Low and behold, a pod of them jumped just off our bow as we said that.....they must have heard us. As we continued on two more pods welcomed us to the shores of Cape May. Upon arrival, we entered the Cape May Canal where we were waked a multitude of times and then were unsuccessful in finding a good anchorage due to high winds, shallow waters, and strong currents. On our third attempt, we discovered Lower Thoro creek and have settled in nicely among the shrimp boats.This is a fascinating community, reputed to be the first resort city in the country. They fish for marlin, tuna, crabs and lobster. We have read that whale watching is a favorite pastime, so we are excited to see if we can spot one when we, weather permitting, make our first leg of the trip off-shore tomorrow.

Monarch has been performing splendidly. The new equipment; inverter, flo-scan fuel monitoring system and electronics are all working to perfection and making life on the water much more comfortable. Its also nice that the engine starts on the first push of the starter button, purrs contentedly all day and burns not a drop of oil.

As if all our days adventures weren't enough, God treated us to one last gift for the day. As the sun was setting there were a thousand gulls settling into the sweet grass flats right across from the boat. Their "night prayers of praise" can still be heard as we write this. Among them there are two very majestic white heron who have claimed a very large space as their dwelling place for the night.

It doesnt seem possible that we haven't set foot on land for three days and feel more comfortable with the boat each day!!

Elk Lake to the C & D Canal

The pictures will speak for themselves!

We saw a multitude of sights as we went across the Chesapeake and entered the Elk River. Our trip across was wild. The wind was howling and the waves as rough as Gail has ever experienced. Every single thing on the boat was moving. As we entered the Elk River, however, things were much smoother and much more pleasant. The above tow was one of the first things that greeted us. It is amazing to have them in the same channel with us!

The next surprise was this huge ship that even cast a shadow on us as it approached. The picture below is looking back at the entry to the C & D Canal as we left the Elk. The C&D opened for business in 1829. At that time it was 13 miles long with a waterline width of 667 feet, a bottom width of 36 feet, and a depth of 10 feet. The present channel was deepened to 35 feet under a long-term improvement program. The canal is government owned and toll free, a vital link of the Intercoastal Waterway that connects the Chesapeake and Delaware bays.

We were headed for an anchorage off the canal in South Chesapeake City.It is an embarkation point where ships transiting the Bay pick up a pilot, Chesapeake City serves thousands of small craft every year. An amazing number are sharing a little basin with us tonight. The bridge we passed under is within sight of our boat for the night.

Our boom under the bridge!!!!

It is a little difficult to see but there is a mama osprey on the marker protecting her babies. As we have mentioned before, they are everywhere.

The end of our crusing for today - John tending the anchor, and tending the anchor, and tending the anchor. We were in a silt bottom and had a "little" difficulty holding. It is about 9:00pm and John is still working on charts for tomorrows adventure.

Monarch On the Move!

After an early start this morning and a trip to the dump-station and the fuel dock in Deale, we headed out into the Chesapeake Bay under bright skies and calm seas. Needless to say, we were overjoyed to head Monarch north. We passed some great sights: Annapolis, the Thomas Shoal Light, the Severn Bridge, wonderful landscapes and homes. As we passed Annapolis we thought of John McVay and wished he could see it as we were seeing it!

There are many beautiful lighthouses along the way. The Sandy Point Light to your left is just one that we saw today.

Not too long after we were treated to this sight we arrived at the Magothy River and entered the Sillery Bay where we are anchored for the night. There are several small islands around; one called Dobbins Island which is totally uninhabited and Little Island which has a huge house with a built-in light house next to it. The only drawback is that they have planted a plastic palm tree in the front yard!!!

Canada Goose visited us and we have reentered the world of the Osprey. They are all around us searching for food.

John is having great fun using his new GPS equipment. He already has all our waypoints marked for tomorrows voyage.

From the Other Side!

We traveled by land yesterday to view the places we had already seen from the water as we traveled the Little Choptank off the Chesapeake. We were able to view things up close and personal and were delighted with what we saw and experienced. Below is a picture of Trinity Church probably built between 1670 and 1680.


As you can see, it is a diminutive Flemish bond structure that was restored in 1953 and services are held there each Sunday. The church yard unfolds like a page from history. Beneath its spread of cedars, sycamores, elms, and wild cherries lie the bodies of Thomas King Carroll, one time governor of Maryland, and his illustrious daughter Anna Ella Carroll, one of Abraham Lincoln's confidants.

A pair of giant millstones taken from a nearby 18th century gristmill mark a miller's grave. Soldiers from the American Revolution rest in the shadows alongside veterans from every other war in U.S. history.

We traveled northwest to Spocott Windmill on Grays Creek. (We ran aground with Marco the day we were trying to see this from the water!!!) On the same site there is Llolyd's Country Store Museum, The Castle Haven School and the origional Spocott tenant house. Each were unattended by anyone (open 24 hours a day!) and all were filled with treasures that made you want to stay a very long time.

The school house was particularly appealing to Gail who found some old books with wise words on teaching children to read published in early 1900.

John ,on the other hand ,was completely fascinated with the windmill. The gears are hand-carved and we were able to climb to the very top to examine them. Dad LeRoy would have loved it!

After a short tour of the quaint town of Cambridge, our final stop for the day was a wonderful restaurant in Oxford right on the Tred Avon River. That of course put us in mind of the bard, and our favorite English Professor, Sheila. We dined outside and watched a sailing regata as the sun was setting. Of course, we both had Maryland crab and enjoyed every mouthful.