Cruising Down the Dirty Hudson

September 27 – 30, 2011
It's about 160 miles from Troy, NY to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.  It takes us 4 days because we can only go 25 miles the first day, there are a limited number of places where we can safely anchor, the tidal current on the Hudson can be severe, and we don't want to do any traveling after dark.  I've decided to take you on a navigation picture story of what we had to deal with. 

We didn't leave Waterford until 9:00 a.m. (late for us) since we planned to only go 25 miles to Schodack Creek  adjacent to Houghtaling Island where we would anchor and put the mast back up.

High water bridge debris

About a mile from the dock we just left, we came to this bridge where all the abutments were piled with debris, indicative of the high water level of the Hudson during Irene.  Notice not only  all the tree debris, but also that big section of dock.  It looked like we were floating in chocolate milk since all the run-off from waters flowing into the Hudson were still full of mud.  Plus, with all the rain, more was being added almost daily.

At Troy Federal Lock

The Federal Lock in Troy was only a couple of miles away.  The standard procedure to enter into the lock is to hail the lock chief on the VHF.  We tried doing that several times, waiting for 15 minutes and never got a reply.  That's very unusual.  So, I called the lock on the phone, and trying to be nice about the situation, explained that we had tried calling on the VHF and had not gotten a reply.  I explained that we had just put up a new antenna and we thought maybe it wasn't working properly.  The guy said, “Oh, I had my radio turned off.  Sorry about that!”  I really wanted to say “Well, duh, doesn't your job need to have the radio ON all the time?!”  So, we had to wait longer for him to prepare the lock.  When we pulled up we could see that the railing all along the top of the lock wall had been damaged when the water was up that high and all the debris was hitting it.  Lots of big trees were still hung up in the dam.  Just downstream from the dam was an overturned boat.

Old building mural

The light was right to be able to get a decent photo of this mural that took up the whole side of the building in the old part of Troy.

No boats at all

The 1400' long Troy public docks, what was left of them, were upside down.  You can see the floatation barrels.  The water had risen over the wall.  We saw several small marinas which had damaged docks, or none at all.

A swim in restaurant

This restaurant, on the Troy waterfront, tried to fend off the rising water with all the orange sandbags.

Half Moon

Albany is only about 7 miles away from Troy.  The replica ship, Half Moon, Henry Hudson's vessel, was docked at a public landing area in front of the present day government buildings.  The calm river water made for an interesting reflection.

We lucked out at Schodack Creek, with the anchor setting on the first try and not having any rain yet.  After lunch, it was time to get the mast put back up before it started raining.  Raising the mast is dangerous and difficult enough without having to do it with everything all wet.  We needed to get it done here because there is no boat traffic and we are protected from the wind.  We can't have FLUKE rocking and rolling when we are pulling the mast back up.  The job went successfully, or so we thought, and FLUKE was ship shape again.  Not having her mast up is like a whale not having a dorsal fin; it just doesn't look right.

Day 2 would take us 50 miles to Roundout Creek, right outside of Kingston, NY.  The sun was only out from 0800-0805 the whole day!   We also found out that the anemometer wasn't working properly.  It sits right on top of the mast we had just put up.  We are hoping that it will “fix” itself, although those things seldom do.  We won't be lowering the mast to fix it before we get back, as much as we would like to have it operating.

Putting debris to good use

We had to be on the lookout all the time for floating debris of all sizes.  Large mats of nasty Chinese waterfoil, usually only found in the shallow water, had been broken loose by the flood waters and were floating free out in the channel, often concealing big chunks of other debris.  Sometimes the mats stretched across the entire channel, and we just had to pick our way through, hoping that we didn't snag anything.

We saw 2 more sunken boats, a 30 yd dumpster (can you imagine hitting that?!), and even heard the tug captains talking to each other about all the crap in the water.

Anchor duty

We dropped the hook, in the rain of course, just south of the jetty for Roundout Creek.  We have always had good holding here, and if it's late enough in the day, you won't be bothered by wakes from boat traffic, other than a couple of tug and barge rigs.

The farther south we moved, the more we were influenced by the tidal flow of the Hudson.  With the engine running at a constant 1500 rpms, our speed varied from 4.3 – 8.7 KTS depending on which direction the tide was flowing.  That is another reason why the river retains so much debris; the garbage remains in a flux state, just getting pulled and pushed up and down the river with the tidal changes instead of getting flushed out to sea.  So, it's possible that the T & B captains could see the same floating debris for weeks on end.  Of course, they just run over everything since they can't move those big barges out of the way very easily. 

Day 3 would take us 55 miles to Croton Point in Haverstraw Bay.  That's where we road out the hailstorm and waterspout when we were headed north, so we knew we would have good holding there.

More mud added

Places where people had cleared the land of the native tree vegetation had landslides after the ground became waterlogged and no roots were there to help hold up the soil.  A couple of places we could see where roads running along the river had been underwashed. 

No ants here

We even passed this floating picnic table.  We heard a couple of tug captains talking about it, so we were on the lookout.

The water keeps coming

Several of the steep rocky areas had waterfalls cascading down between the railroad tracks that run right along the river bank and the solid rock cliff facings.  We could see several areas where the railroad track rock bases had to be repaired with new rock.  We wondered if the tracks had gone underwater in the real low areas.

Can't hide the Highlands

One of the most scenic (on sunny days) areas of the river are the Hudson Highlands.  That's where we have stopped in the past to hike Anthony's Nose and Bear Mountain.  Even in the rain, the Highlands has a mystical quality about it looming in the distance.

West Point is located along this section.  With an exceptional high tide, and still high river waters, the dock area and road adjacent to it, were flooded. 

It wasn't raining when we reached Croton Point, but we had a current conflicting with the wind direction which made setting the anchor difficult.  It took us two tries, and while we felt we had good holding, it was a bumpy night at anchor.  Another rain storm, of course.

The fourth and final day on the Hudson would take us by all the sights that New York is famous for in movies, books, and songs.  Cruising along the New York City waterfront is NEVER boring, and when you think you've seen everything you always see something new. 

Eddie and the Palisades

The light was finally right for me to get some nice photos of the spectacular Palisades.  I could look through the binoculars and see people way up on top, looking down at the river and us, just like I was looking up at them.

Having that sunken feeling

This old boat, converted into a floating restaurant, isn't serving meals these days.  It is another way more junk gets added to the river's debris field.

Not for me

We passed two guys near the Upper West Side who were on stand up paddle boards.  There must be a better place to do this sport.  Plus, we were inside the pilothouse, wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts, and these guys were flopping around in the dirty Hudson with no shirts on!

All kinds of mirrors

This unusual, mirrored building is near the cruise ship docks.  We thought it interesting since it had so many different sizes and colors of mirrors.

The sky cleared enough to be able to get some decent contrasts of Lower Manhattan's buildings.

No one has forgotten

The Freedom Tower is really moving along, and you can get a feel for how it will fit in with the buildings around it.  Note the big flag at the base of the building. 

The most famous skyline

You just can't beat the view of the city from the water, even with Eddie in the picture!

New York Harbor is gigantic.  From just below the Battery, as seen above, we still had another 3 hours to travel to be able to find a safe area to anchor near the south side of Staten Island in Raritan Bay.  It was too rough to go offshore, and we would have to wait for a weather change, days ahead.  Good thing we're not in a hurry. 

The Circle is Completed

September 19 – 26, 2011

This is truly a momentous post for me.  I am writing from the same dock I where I first presented our cruising plan with the June 13 post, meaning we all (sometimes I wasn't sure all of us would be back here together) have come full circle.  Poor FLUKE is dirty and stained,  with a few new scratches and only a couple of missing parts, but she was put to the test and served us well.

Writing in the cold

Also, notice the date.  I've caught back up to the present time!  My crew members thought it would be a hopeless task, which meant I HAD to do it just to prove them wrong.  Of course on June 13 I had the fan blowing on me to try to keep cool, and now I've had to bundle up and sit next to the AC power cord adapter to get some heat.

I think when the day comes when I can't remember a lot of things, I will still be able to remember Waterford, NY.  I love this little town and have cried seeing the flood damage, but have marveled in how quickly the people are getting things cleaned up in the week we've been here and are trying to make everything look normal again. 

Lonely FLUKE

This picture tells a lot.  Ordinarily the whole dock would be full of boats, and most of them would spend at least 2 nights.  Now, only a few boats have stopped here, most for just one night.  I've seen two pull up to the dock and take a look around and just leave.  The power and water are not operational because the floating docks were lifted up over the concrete wall, breaking all the lines.  The water level rose above the top of the yellow dock bars on the left side of the photo.  The WiFi isn't working most days because work is being done on the inside of the Visitor's Center, and the power has to be turned off.  We aren't even worried about the NYS Canal police enforcing the 48 hr. mooring limit.  It's better to have someone here for a week rather than no one at all.

In the background, on the east shore of the Hudson River, you can see one small boat.  There is a marina there that is usually filled with boats.  Many boats were stripped out of their slips and washed 2 miles down to the Federal Lock.  Some of the boats went over the dam, and some got trapped within the lock.

Mohawk River gauge

This is the water gauge under the bridge right across from us.  During the storm event, the water was over the top of the gauge, above the 27 mark.  FLUKE would have been floated up on land.

Land flood level

Right across from where we are is where the bridge base intersects the riverside street, which was totally flooded.  You can see the high water mark above the fire hydrant. 

Mud, dumpsters, and gloom

Mud is everywhere and gets tracked all over everything.  When it dries, it blows all over everything.  The streets have been scraped off, but more mud gets added from all the basements and crawl spaces that are getting pumped out.  Volunteer firemen were out on Sunday with the big fire hoses spraying the streets, trying to corral the mud and wash it away.  It has rained or had heavy fog every day we've been here, so it's been difficult to get things to dry out.

But people are working hard.  Right after we had arrived and tied up the boat, a woman on the bridge yelled hello down to me and asked where we were heading.  I commented how shocked I was to see the damage.  She said “I lost everything I own because the water was 4' high in my house”  I told her how sorry I was, and she went on to say “Hey, I'm starting over.  You can't look back, you have to move forward.  It's all about attitude”.

Speaking of water

Ordinarily this area of the waterfront is a bustle of activity.  Volunteers man the Waterford Harbor Visitor's Center to answer questions from boaters and land tourists who come to see the locks and rivers.  Even the volunteers are lost without having their “jobs” to attend to; some come on a regular basis to see how the clean-up is progressing.

Wayne is pointing to the mud line on the speaker.  To the right, on the wall, you can also see the high water line. 

Not all citizens are being good neighbors in supporting the clean-up effort.  One morning Sherlock Eddie was headed to the dumpster and noticed a “stranger” cutting the electrical cable that runs the power to the dock.  Since we know all the workers, Eddie was suspicious and gave the guy the “detective” eye.  Eddie immediately notified the maintenance chief and by the time (only 3 minutes) they went back to the cable, the thief was gone.  The thief had hoped to be able to sell the copper in the wire to a scrap yard.  2 police officers showed up, and deputized Eddie and told him to call them if the guy came back. 

The lost child comes home

We had a surprise one afternoon when this little tug showed up with the kayak dock that had been washed away during the flood.  If you look in the upper left side of the photo you can see the ramp that was connected to the kayak dock.  Lock 2 of the Erie Canal is ahead.

So, we meet again

One afternoon we saw the Governor Cleveland, The Chief, and a scow come slowly around the corner and head up into Lock 2 to go to the maintenance facility at Lock 3.  We gave a shout out to Capt. Pete and the crew.  Lock 2 has had some “business” because of the NYS fleet going in and out of the yard.  The Erie Canal is no longer navigable all the way between Waterford and Three Rivers (where it intersects the Oswego Canal) because a lock station and bridge was washed away.  So, Fall boaters wishing to take the Erie eastward to the Hudson will have to go the long way around across Lake Ontario and over to the St. Lawrence River to get to Lake Champlain.  As a result, some have elected just to haul their boats out for the winter and not make the trip south.  What's even worse is that it is not known if the Erie Canal will even be able to open next Spring to service the boaters wanting to head West like we did this year.

Even my favorite walking place, Peebles Island State Park (over the bridge above us), was not spared from the flood.   The low areas are covered with mud, and there's lots of standing water.  The continual rains allowed a huge mosquito population to blossom.  You have to keep walking fast or you are a bloodmeal.

It's still coming

Some trees are dropping leaves already.  At least no one has to rake them at the park.  While there are a few picnic tables and hiking trails, it is an unimproved, natural area.  I saw a sign asking people to report any Canada goose nests because they have overpopulated the area, and make too much of a mess.  To help control the population, someone would come out and put corn oil on the eggs which would keep them from hatching, and the goose wouldn't lay more eggs which would happen if the eggs were removed.  There have been steady streams of flocks of the geese landing in the river here.  They honk continuously all day and even all night, making a real racket.  They really go into a panic when the bald eagle makes a fly over!

Forest friend

One day I saw 8 deer, two of which still had their baby spots, probably born this Spring.  They are used to seeing people, but still run away if you stop and stare at them too long.

The big drop

The island has a variable terrain, with big rock formations like this, and other areas where you can walk right down next to the still fast-flowing muddy water.

Making order again

When I came back across the bridge one time I saw the W & E Marine Maintenance Team working on putting the search light back up.  You can see the white satellite dome is already back in place.

It was Eddie's job to have to find someone that could give Wayne a ride to the West Marine store 7 miles away to pick up our new antenna.  He found a guy working on a tug, and he had a van to use which was a good thing since the antenna was in a 14' long box.  Wayne paid the guy $30 for the transport and to have to listen to his life history.  The WEMMT successfully installed the new antenna.

More bees

These honey bees were as busy as my two crewmates.  I was surprised to see the honey bees gathering the juice from these fermenting grapes.  Notice the mud on the grapes.  The vines were on a fence close to the Visitors Center and obviously had been under water.

Speaking of fermenting grapes.  One morning I walked up to Lock 3 to find out about getting the sewer pumped out.  After that, I walked further on to the liquor store and bought a 5 liter box of wine which I carried back to the boat, a round trip of over 3 miles.  For dinner that night I drank 2 beers and asked if I could have one more sip of another one.  The guys jumped all over me and asked what I did to warrant drinking that “much”.  I replied “I worked up a sweat carrying the 5 liter box of wine back to the boat!”.

Several of the local homes have devised unusual ways to channel rain water away from the bases of their homes.

Aerial gutter

Parking is a real problem in the community because most of the homes don't have garages, so cars have to park right on the street.  It's weird that the gutters drain right where the cars park.

The two local grocery stores (about ½ mile away) allow boaters to take the shopping carts back to the town dock.  You have to push the cart through the neighborhood, out in the street because the sidewalks are way too bumpy.  I always feel like a bag lady.  One day Wayne and I had finished shopping, and Wayne went back to one of the stores to pick up another item, and told me to take the cart back by myself and he would catch up with me.  The cart was really loaded, and I pushed it into a rut at the end of someone's driveway, right along side of the main road going back into town.  I kept trying to push it and then tried to lift up the front, but it was too heavy to get out.  I felt like a clown trying to wrestle the cart with all those cars going by, especially because I started laughing about how foolish I must look.  I knew the guys would be yelling at me if they saw me.  I finally was able to back the cart up and go around the rut.

Eddie and I went to the Catholic church's annual rummage sale.  They were selling books (they had thousands) for $1/bag.  I scored big – 30 books for $2!  I also bought a hummingbird feeder for $1.50 and plastic serving platter for $.25.  Eddie bought a sprinkler for the yard, which may or may not work.

Sunset over the Mohawk

Just like when the sky finally cleared enough one day to give us this beautiful sunset, the town of Waterford is clearing up too.  I will have many fond memories of all the time we've spent here and not have the picture “muddied” by the doom left from Irene.   Just like that local said “It's all about attitude”.

FLUKE Finishes the Champlain Canal

September 16 – 18, 2011

Our next planned stop after leaving Lock 7 was the wonderful little town of Mechanicville, located between Lock 2 and Lock 3.  The lowest bridge on the Champlain Canal is between Lock 4 and Lock 3, and we got under it without losing any more boat parts.

At the town wall

This photo shows FLUKE tied up at the town wall.  Eddie is there because I wanted to give you an idea how high the floodwaters rose here during the storm event.  The post top that Eddie's hand is on was what was left sticking out of the high water.  Imagine where FLUKE would be sitting if the water was that high!  If you look down on the paved area you will see all the mud scraped to the side.  There was a big pile that had been scraped off to one end, and the ground was still wet and gooey.  We just couldn't avoid tracking that sticky mud everywhere.  Even Ursa's paws had to be wiped.

That fenced in area holds the sewer pump-out, which had been underwater and was, sadly, still not working when we arrived.  However, the town had managed to get the 30 AMP free electric and potable water back in operation to the happiness of all cruisers who stopped here. 

In 2009 we had traveled as far north as Mechanicville as part of our Hudson River tour, and I posted information about the town then, so I won't try to duplicate.  Not that things have changed much, because the town looked pretty much the same.

Old town scene

The oldest commercial section of town is adjacent to the public docking area.  In fact the back of this set of buildings faces right where the boats dock.  The 1914 Municipal Building also houses the Police Department, so boaters can feel pretty safe.  There is an interesting thrift store in this same complex, and it is fun to browse through all the “stuff” and look for something you don't need, or maybe can even find useful, as turned out for us.

Other services are within easy walking distance:  grocery store, drugstores, auto supply, liquor store,  Mom's laundromat (outstanding!), and several restaurants. 

The original public school

About a block away from the Police Station you will see the old public elementary school, now used to house a private business. 

Early segregation

The first time we were here I laughed when I saw that the public school, which had a grand, prominent front entrance, still required the boys to enter one side, and the girls to enter on the completely opposite side of the building.  I wonder if they even mixed for their classrooms.

A beautiful gray stone church with huge stained glass windows is right next door to the school.  I guess if you were really bad in school, you could go right over to the church and get forgiven.  Ironically, the church is no longer used as a church, but is now the Arts Center.  Public and private functions are held there.  One evening a big catered event took place.  Early the next morning when I took Ursa for a walk, there were 2 big broken wine bottles left behind on the sidewalk in front of the “church”, behavior certainly not in keeping with the original plan.

Birthday Boy

Speaking of parties, Wayne turned 60 on Sept. 18, and the FLUKESTERS had a birthday celebration.  I baked a cake, in time to be eaten at lunch.  Gift shopping resources are limited, not that Wayne really needs anything, but Eddie and I managed to scrape together some surprise birthday goodies.  Note the bag in the photo, Eddie's clever idea of wrapping the peanut M&Ms gift.  The thrift store yielded a thin-bladed spatula and knife sharpener for Wayne's cooking paraphernalia and LED droplight for using under the helm.  Before we left, my Mom had bought him a pair of shorts.  That was a good gift since he had torn another pair on a hinge on the boat.  We topped off the day with everyone's favorite:  taco salad and beer.

URGER

We had lots of company at the town wall.  The tug URGER and the canal schooner, Lois McClure (we met her at Vergennes, VT) were there as part of their summer educational program.  I already posted about the Lois McClure, with Capt. Eric and the rest of the very friendly crew.  We had passed them at Lock 8 and yelled over that we would see them further along the way.

URGER is the ambassador for the fleet of vessels (including the Governor Cleveland and Chief I wrote about at Lock 11) operated by the New York State Canal System.  URGER was  built in 1901 to be used as a fishing boat on Lake Michigan and then was converted to a working tug.  Her new captain, Wendy, cheerfully answered all our questions and gave a detailed tour.  Operating her takes a good working relationship between the captain and engineer.  The captain can only steer the boat from the helm.  She has to rely on the engineer to take the engine out of gear, to stop the boat or go in reverse, or even change the speed.  All of this is communicated from the helm to the engine room by ringing bells.  That system would NEVER work on FLUKE; I know that for sure!

Hiveless bees

These honey bees, without a hive, were on a tree next to the dock area.  The first day I saw them I wondered if they were grouping together to get protection from the 40 degree weather that was coming.  However, they were still there the day we left, and I never saw if anything was under the mass of bee bodies.

The crews of our new friends from the Lois McClure and URGER were on deck when we pulled away from the town wall.  We waved and sounded the big horn, and they all laughed back.  Having suffered through the storm effects, all gave us a common bond.

Lock 2 is only about 2 miles from Mechanicville.  I think it has one of the most beautiful hydroelectric power stations in the NYS canal system.

Lock 2 powerhouse

This 1892 plant operates with big turbines that are turned by the water dropping from the Hudson.  Just look at those pretty, arched windows, typical of a long-ago era.  On the right hand side of the photo, see that big piece of wood?  That is a whole big tree trunk that is jammed in the overflow spillway next to the lock.  There were enormous piles of debris of all sizes that had been removed from the water and parts of the powerhouse, dam, and lock and placed on the ground next to the lock.

4 miles later when we locked through Lock 1, we were dumbfounded to see the muddy high water mark, 12' higher than the present level of the river!  However, even that didn't fully prepare us for what we would see when we pulled into our favorite Hudson River community, Waterford, NY.