Jul 14, 2015 | Flotsam
This is a day about what we did,
rather than where we went.
We have now headed back up the Hudson River
eventually to reach the Erie Canal.
It was a very hot and steamy day,
blistering sun,
no wind,
humidity very high.
The canopy between the dodger
and biminy was installed to cut down on the intense heat.
We passed another of those super yachts…
…and you would think that after 4 or 5 times of open fore-hatch swamping
and wet bed linens we would have learned…
…for the first time we decided to anchor mid-day
using the boom as our drying rack for the duvet…
…and the cabin for the sheets.
…the best part,
we dipped in the river.
It was pure heaven,
water 72 °,
like a day at the spa.
We continued on once the current direction had changed.
Francois cooked dinner on the barbecue while underway, another first
(the underway part, not the cooking part)
while I took the helm.
By the time we had reached our anchorage for the night,
dishes were done (a treat from the Captain)
another dip in the river taken to cool off
and a beautiful sunset to bid us good night.
The simple pleasures sailing.
POST SCRIPT
It seems I have reached my Blog Spot photo limit
so until I can sort out what to do
you can if you wish visit our R.E.D. sails FaceBook page
here
I will post a few of our pictures there for now.
Not a very happy Kat today
Jul 12, 2015 | Flotsam
The area of the East River known as Hell Gate
was originally termed Hellegat
a Dutch term meaning
clear opening.
If you misjudge the tides it’s anything but
This time we, or in truth François made sure we got it right
We left a little after sunrise,
me at the helm
because of the getting back on the horse thing, Francois told me.
At least one of us was confident…
For you Law & Order fans,
here’s one of the buildings on Rykers Island
that we passed on our way to Hell Gate.
At 07:00 we reached Hell Gate Bridge
just before slack tide….
Barely a ripple.
I have to say I was kind of disappointed
that we didn’t run into some turbulence at least.
Not even a cruise ship or water taxi to dodge.
I was so ready for it.
But we cruised through without incident
thanks to François’ good planning
and scheduling.
Making really good progress,
we covered 48 nautical miles today.
Past Nyack and the Tappan Zee Bridge
we stopped for the night at Haverstraw.
You may be wondering why this next picture of a super crane,
brought all the way from California
to aid in the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge,
so they could tear down the original to eventually rebuild it?
And you may also be wondering how I know all this interesting trivia
about the Tappan Zee Bridge?
Because we were boarded AGAIN .
and during the boarding of 2 Customs & Boarder Protection agents
2 coast Guards and 2 Westchester County Officers,
fillled us in on all the local news while they checked our papers…
and warned us that we couldn’t anchor near the bridge.
…a fact of which we were very well aware.
Jun 30, 2015 | Flotsam
After leaving our anchorage,
we pulled up to the Nyack Boat Club.
They had no problem with us docking there
so we could walk the few minutes to a little grocery store on North Broadway.
Ducking under the Tappen Zee Bridge
we unfurled the sails.
…but then the fairly calm day turned frisky.
By mid afternoon, and kissed with a good deal of salt spray,
we found an anchorage near the
George Washington Bridge.
We now need to check tide levels,
a range of about 5′ from high to low
and just to be sure we are secure for the night
François set our second anchor.
It’s going to be a rock ‘n roll night.
And with a view of the New York skyline
we close another day of our little adventure.