SOUTHBOUND ON THE DREARY HUDSON

Color on the Hudson

October 5,6 2009

We had one final hooray on the canal system. When we got to Lock 1 we had to wait for a northbound vessel to exit the lock. Imagine our surprise when the Governor Cleveland, our favorite tug, popped out of the lock. We ran out on our upper deck and waved at Captain Pete whom we could see in the tug's pilothouse. He called us on the radio and told us not to spear all the fish in the Bahamas!

Henry Hudson Replica Ship

We had to wait for this replica ship to exit the Troy Federal Lock before we could lock through for our final, southbound, passage. Like the Dutch canal ships, other replica ships participated in the 400 year celebration of Henry Hudson's discovery of the Hudson River throughout the summer boating season. Now that Fall is in progress, all boating activities are coming to an end before the winter brings freezing conditions to the river area. People will be ice fishing right by where we were docked at the Waterford Visitor's Center.

When we traveled through the port area of Albany, we were treated to the sight of the fleet of the Dutch canal boats getting loaded onto the freighter for their trip back across the Atlantic Ocean. While we thought the Vrouwe Cornelia had been a beautiful ship, we could see several more with as much character and beauty of their own.

Waiting For the Ride Home

The cold dreary weather has continued to persist, and with no sun at all, it gets really cold on FLUKE. We are always hoping for the sun to peak through and warm up the boat. Plus, I'd like to be able to get some nice photos as we travel along, and it's difficult to do that when it is drizzling and cloudy. We can see bands of color in the Catskill Mountains which are visible from the river and they are so much prettier when the sun shines on them.

Goodbye Catskills

We are continuing to see lots of water fowl in the shallow areas where there are aquatic weeds for them to forage through. Eagles, bald and golden, have been flying over the river in search of fish or fowl. We have seen them swooping down towards ducks, and one time we saw a golden eagle picking at a goose it had killed; feathers were flying.

Colorful View

The Fall foliage colors were most pronounced in areas north of Poughkeepsie, NY. We were hoping that they would change more by the time we got to the Bear Mountain area. Leaf peeping Hudson River cruise ships passed us on several occasions. These ships were higher and wider than those others we had seen on the canals; they wouldn't be able to fit through the locks or get under the bridges. We had not seen any of these ships on our way north. However, we are seeing quite a few cruisers, once 6 boats in a row, headed south like us.

The American Star

We ended up anchoring at Shodack Creek the first night after leaving Mechanicville. This was the same place we had stopped on our northbound trek to put the mast down, and we had stopped here again to put the mast back up and reposition the dinghy. The procedure took 1.5 hours and went smoothly despite some drizzly weather. It felt good to have all the pieces put back together in their proper order (and work correctly!) and restore FLUKE to her rightful appearance.

The Hudson River valley and its spectacular mountain and river views has been chosen by many prominent classical writers and artists, politicians, and architects as places of retreat, motivation, and to impress and entertain. As you travel on the river you can see some of these spectacular homes nestled high up on the river banks. Several have been turned into parks and places of historical interest and are open to the public. Here are just a few to share with you:

Stately Columns

Peaks on the Peak

Wanting To See the Hudson

The above house also had a separate piece of property down along the river bank for an architecturally unique boathouse, gazebo, and picnic area:

Pass the Grey Poupon

Across From West Point

Getting the Point

When we passed West Point again it looked like they had the football spirit:

Team Spirit

As we passed Storm King Mountain and West Point the wind was really blowing hard out of the north with gusts up to 30 KTS, enough to make waves on the river. We were hoping that we could get out of the wind enough to be able to anchor at Bear Mountain again because we had big plans for another land adventure. See what happens on the next posting!