Sailing down the Hudson River to West Point
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
17
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
West Point,
New York,
United States
Saturday, September 8, 2001
Our first night on the Hudson River. I read that we were now in "tidal waters" but reading a word and experiencing it has always been very different experience. We anchored behind an island facing south due to a wind coming from the south, went below for supper and an hour later the south wind was still there but we were facing north. We went out to look and weeds and leaves were passing us by at a good rate and there was even a little wake behind the boat due to the tide going out.
Originally, I intended to anchor in about seven feet of water but not liking the closeness of a weed bed, we went down a little further into twelve feet of water. It wasn't until the next day, when we stopped that I got a tidal chart for this area and found out that there is over a four foot drop in water level between high and low tide. If we had anchored at the first stop we would have been aground and heeled over on our side (we draw four and a half feet). Wouldn't that have been a great introduction to the Hudson!!!
September 5
As we motored down the Hudson, we could see in the distance the famed Catskill Mountains. Ahead was a huge bridge across the Hudson and looking up the name we were surprised to find it was called the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. Motoring up a very protected Catskill Creek, we arrived at our destination Hop-O-Nose Marina. Believe me, Washington Irving would have been at home here as I thought we had entered a time in the past.
A bearded gentleman came down to welcome us. I told him that we'd like to stay the night and have our mast put up in the morning. Then I asked where we should check in and pay our dockage. For the first time at any marina, he said "Don't bother, we'll take care of things tomorrow. Have a good evening." The marina was very rustic but at the back of one of the buildings was a brand new swimming pool - go figure.
September 6
This was a great day. I truly felt we were in Rip Van Winkle land when the dockmaster's assistant showed up. He was an elderly man with an even wilder beard but the two of them certainly were skilled and with minimum fuss our mast was installed. When we finally had all the rigging up and tightened, sails hoisted, bimini and dodger erected it was early afternoon. Finally, we were a sailboat again and we motored out of the creek to put up our sails to head south. Yes, some of you will have guessed that the wind which had been at our backs for the past two days was now right on our nose. No sail - motor again. Mike Tilston, where is your trawler!!!
Anyway having the mast up and off the deck meant that finally we were able to sit in both sides of the cockpit, move freely around the boat and we were able to SEE in all directions. This evening we are tied up at the town docks of historic Kingston. What a friendly place. We certainly were well treated and I can't wait to explore the town tomorrow. The evening ended on a perfect note when I was able for the first time to contact Al Boyd back in Little Current via HAM radio. Al is MR. HAM RADIO for Northern Ontario. He was my instructor who initially peaked my interest in this means of communication and has been of invaluable assistance in setting up my equipment at home and aboard Mystic Loon. Al is an OPP officer who has been called upon by the force throughout Northern Ontario to aid with communications especially when their activities are deep in the bush and other devices are inadequate. I know that I'll have trouble in the Bahamas with our cell phone contact and even in some of the states, as was the case in Ohio and Pennsylvania and the HAM radio contact will be our only means of communication. I have rigged a copper wire from the top of the mast to our davits off the stern and this is all I need to talk around the world for free. Oops!!! Margaret, who proof reads these updates before I send them thought I'd better say that this free talk over this inexpensive copper wire is only possible because of the $2,000 plus equipment that we have on board. A minor oversight on my part folks :-)
September 7
The harbour front at Kingston has been restored to earlier days. In 1777, Kingston was declared the first state capital but the capital was moved upriver to Albany when most of Kingston was burned by British forces during the colonial war. Eight restaurants of every main type of cuisine. At the visitor center and museum this year they were featuring the contribution of firefighters. My brother Roger who is an inspector with the Sudbury Fire Department would have been very interested in seeing artifacts, pictures and equipment dating back to 1876. After a bus tour to the upper town historic area, we had an excellent lunch at the Ship-to-Shore restaurant. Then back to the boat for an exciting day of sailing - NOT.
Wind on the nose again and in addition we had to motor into an upstream tide. At least now I am starting to understand more about tides. Because tides follow the cycle of the moon instead of the sun, a tidal day is 24 hours and 50 minutes. Tides rise and fall twice a day with the time it takes to reach the maximum height or depth to be 6 hours and 12.5 minutes. Depending how far you are from the ocean, determines when the high and the low will be. Therefore, one needs a tidal table to tell the height at a given location and time.
For example, on Saturday Sept. 6 at Hop-O-Nose low tide occurred at 12:08 pm. On the same day here in Kingston, only 24 miles south, low tide occurred at 10:44 am.
Our problem is that for the rest of the next two weeks our optimum cruising time will always take us into the incoming tide which travels at a speed of one and a half knots on the Hudson. Since we cruise at about six knots our true speed is reduced by this amount. In addition, the headwinds take away another half knot so our true speed over the ground is about 4 miles an hour. A very slow way to travel to New York City but it does result in a lot of time to view the magnificent homes along this stretch of waterway.
As we travelled down the Hudson, we passed a number of marinas along the banks of the river. The boats were totally exposed to the wave action of passing boats. No wonder that marinas up tributary creeks are so popular but unfortunately there are very few of this type. Instead of bouncing at a creaking dock for the night we anchored off to the side but fully exposed to the wash of boats travelling up the center of the river. An additional problem with travel on the Hudson is the presence of trains on both sides of the river. They go by every hour and a half and in so many places they have to blow their whistles. Not your quiet North Channel anchorages.
September 8
For the third day in a row, we were faced with south winds and motored yet again. To help we got up quite early and caught a lift from the outgoing tide on our way to Newburgh Yacht Club. When we arrived we were able to obtain dockage behind a breakwater made from two large sunken barges but we were not able to go to our slip for a couple of hours until the tide came in and raised the water level. I was told we would be aground in soft mud and silt at low tide but not to worry about it as it happens to all the sailboats. Interesting!!!
This was a day we had been looking forward to for some time as Margaret's cousin, Allan Madahbee, and his friend, Patti Stevens, from Oxford, Connecticut would be taking us off the boat for a day's touring and most importantly bringing our last three week's mail which had been forwarded to them.
After a short visit aboard our very hot boat, with temperatures in the high 80's, it was a pleasure to sit in Patti's air-conditioned car and let her take us on a tour of the area. We decided to visit West Point. What a magnificent area. Fortress West Point is the oldest continually occupied post of the U.S. Army having its beginnings on January 27, 1778. The U.S. Military Academy also on the site was founded in 1802. The entire site overlooks the Hudson River about 50 miles north of New York City.
We first stopped at the renowned West Point Museum. It contains world class collections of the History of Warfare, American Wars and the History of the U.S. Army. At first we thought we'd spend just a short while looking at man's inhumanity to man but it was so interesting that we stayed until quitting time at 4 pm. You might say what was so interesting? I'll give just a few examples.
I have read so many historical naval books and saw for the first time blunderbusses and what chain shot actually looked like (it was used to cut down sails and rigging on enemy ships). Margaret and I enjoy books by the likes of Deighton and LeCarre and we saw the weapons mentioned so often in these and similar books.
We have all heard of the terrible wounds inflicted by shrapnel and there was a cut-a-way model of the grenade. The most chilling artifact was the casing of "Fat Boy", the first atomic bomb. It is relatively short with a big fat diameter so the name is quite fitting but it was inconceivable that it could have been such a weapon of destruction. There were 2 bombs dropped on Japan. The first at Hiroshima was "Little Boy". The second bomb was scheduled to be dropped at the Kokura arsenal plant but due to bad weather was flown to city of Nagasaki. This was the "Fat Boy" bomb which we viewed. When doing a web search Allan found that the dimensions of this bomb were;
128 in. long, 60.25 in. wide, and weighted 10,300 lbs.
By the way, you don't hear this on radio or TV but there is a gun boat with 3 inch cannons and 50 cal machine guns 10 miles up from us opposite the nuclear power plant. I think this is the boat I saw early this morning. The Coast Guard Auxilary members I spoke with today were told the river may be closed until Sunday. It's crazy to think how concerned they are about this river as if a boat is going to launch the next terrorist attack. Go figure.
Unfortunately we were unable to take a tour bus because of the football game that day, but leaving the museum, Patti drove us through the grounds of West Point and we took our own tour past the imposing "Military Gothic" buildings of the academy and beautiful Victorian villas like the Dean's house.
On our way back we pulled off to view the Hudson from the top of Storm King Mountain. We watched the tiny sailboats travelling the river far below and pictured our boat in a few days time cruising past the same scene.
After stopping at stores to re-provision, we returned to the Yacht Club for dinner to close a perfect day. It was great seeing Allan after such a long time and meeting Patti for the first time. They make an excellent couple and we certainly enjoyed our day with them.
