07/26 – 07/29/23 The End of the Erie Canal and our First Days on the Hudson River

On Wednesday we traveled from MM39, Amsterdam, to MM0, Waterford and finished our time on the Erie Canal! We passed through ten locks in one day, Lock #11 Amsterdam, Lock #10 Cranesville, Lock #9 Rotterdam, Lock #8 Scotia, Lock #7 Vischer Ferry, and then the last “Flight of Five” Lock #6 Crescent, Lock #5 Waterford, Lock #4 Waterford, Lock #3 Waterford and Lock #2 Waterford. We pulled to the wall in downtown Waterford just outside the last lock and decided to stay two nights at this quiet spot to relax, get some supplies and also avoid some weather that was moving in for Thursday. We walked across the Hudson River via a lovely bridge and got a few groceries and made a stop at Walgreens for an eye drop Rx for George (he does not like them at all and really won’t let us put them in)

Thursday was a bit stormy and HOT! Is it hot where you are? It has been brutal hot for the past week. In between storms we rode bikes to Ace Hardware and the all important wine store! In NY State you cannot buy wine at grocery stores, how sad for New Yorkers lolllll. We grilled on our back porch and George got a shower 🙂 His eye is not getting better and we are concerned. Looking into options.

Friday morning we said hello to the Hudson River! We had one last lock at Troy, this is the Federal Lock and very similar to the canal locks. We had big smiles as we exited the doors, very happy to be done with locks! But wait, Bob has informed Julie that there is one lock in Virginia, but we don’t need to deal with that one until October! From the Troy Lock we will travel 153 miles to Battery Park, NYC. We both cannot wait to see the city from the water and eventually head up the East River and into Long Island Sound. But we have a few days run down the Hudson River and boy is it beautiful. Here’s a collage of our Friday sites.

Friday we made it about 23 miles to Shady Harbor Marina where we stayed for the night. We spent the very hot, late afternoon putting the mast back up since bridge height is no longer an issue. After cleaning up we walked up to the restaurant, had the most beautiful meal and listened to a great jazz band (with xylophone!) while catching the sunset 🙂

Saturday at 6:30 am we headed South for 35 miles to Kingston, NY with plans to stay at the Hudson River Maritime Museum dock. We pulled in around noon to the very welcome site of Bob’s fraternity brothers John Lobosco and Bob Brindley and John’s wife Sue. They were close by for a wedding Saturday evening and drove up to visit with us for a couple hours. Lots of fun catching up. We are very grateful that the timing worked so perfectly for us all to get together.

Saturday late afternoon we called an Uber Pet to take us to an Animal Hospital nearby. BUT almost 5 hours later we arrived back at the boat without seeing a doctor! It was a very long wait which turned into a ridiculous situation so we decided to give up and try to make an appointment to see a vet on Monday when we are near NYC.

Today we are headed down river about 36 miles to an anchorage just south of West Point. It is a beautiful, calm, and peaceful ride on this sunny Sunday. Can’t wait to share some pics of the amazing views we are seeing today along the Hudson River Valley. Good Sunday afternoon to everyone!