New York/Vermont - June/July 2006
Approaching the Narrows Bridge on the way into New York Harbor.
Once we were in the harbor, we could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance through the mist. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a foggy day when we came into the harbor.
Passing by the Statue of Liberty.
Ellis Island is near the status of Liberty as you enter the harbor. Both of my grandparents on my mother's side came through Ellis Island when they first immigrated to this country - my grandmother from Denmark and my grandfather from Hungary.
The Manhattan city skyline.
The yellow boat is a New York water taxi - painted in the traditional checker cab colors.
We passed by this marina that had a golf driving range built out into the Hudson next door. (John - you would LOVE this - luxury yachts AND golf - what more could you ask for???)
Not sure what they were thinking when they painted this tug. We think it might be some of the folks that used to paint the tail fins on British Airways jets...
We motored up the Hudson to Terrytown where we docked for a couple of days. We took the train back down to Grand Central Station in New York City in order to wander around the city for a few hours. This is a picture of the outside of Grand Central Station.
We walked down Park Avenue and then Broadway toward the Battery, passing Wall Street along the way. There's a beautiful church across Broadway at the foot of Wall Street - I'm guessing A LOT of praying goes on in there depending on what's happening on the street at the time.
We found the brass Bull a bit father down. You're supposed to touch him for good luck in the markets. I opted for the head - Jeremy opted for the 'big brass ones' on the other end.
This memorial for the merchant marines lost at sea is down at the Battery.
This is a monument to the proverbial 'trading NY for a string of beads'. The pillar is inscribed with the words "On the 22nd of April 1626 the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company decreed the establishment of Fort Amsterdam and the creation of 10 adjoining farms. The purchase of the island of Manhattan was accomplished in 1626. Thus was laid the foundation of the city of New York."
After leaving Terrytown and New York City, we continued to head north up the Hudson. We saw lots of logs and debris in the river resulting from the flooding in the northern Hudson - but we were able to navigate around all of it. We also saw this very large tug pulling a barge with two cranes on board. You just never know what you're going to see floating down the Hudson. Jeremy kept looking out for Jimmy Hoffa floating down the river but the authorities can rest easy since we had no sight of him - or any other bodies, thankfully!!
The upper Hudson river is very pretty. Lots of green rolling hills coming down to the water.
A few miles north of Terrytown, we motored past the West Point Military Academy. You used to be able to tie up at their dock and take a tour of the facility, but that is no longer available with the current security concerns.
We anchored behind Pollepel island which contains what looks like the ruins of an old castle. In fact, it's an old arsenal warehouse built by Francis Bannerman between the years 1901and 1918. Bannerman started a business after the Civil War, purchasing military equipment surplus from the U.S. Government at scrap prices, through sealed bids. The business eventually outgrew the Bannerman warehouses in Brooklyn, where large stores of black powder may also have unnerved local residents. Bannerman loved castles, and so he designed the arsenal warehouse to look like an ancient castle. The Bannerman business used the island until the late 1950s, when the Castle was cleared of military surplus and live munitions were deactivated.
Speaking of castles, we passed this rather large and elegant looking building up on the west bank.
There are several lighthouses on the upper Hudson river, including the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse shown below.
We also saw these lighthouses as we traveled up the river. The first is the Middle Hudson River lighthouse and the second is the Kingston lighthouse.
We spent the 4th of July weekend at the town of Catskill, NY - in a marina up Catskill creek. We were a little disappointed that there was not a town parade for the holiday (we were REALLY looking forward to that) - but some of the boaters in the area vindicated the town by putting on a little boat parade.
They did put on a concert and fireworks show at the town park by the riverfront. Very nice! This is picture of the two of us sitting down by the river waiting for the fireworks to start.
Kaboom!! The fireworks show was great. Lasted about 15-20 minutes and set to patriotic music.
We ended up staying in Catskill 4 days - waiting to see what was going to happen with the canals and locks to the north. The Erie canal started to close locks on June 26 due to high water and flooding in that area. Over the next few days, all locks on both the Erie and Champlain canals were closed. We kept hearing that the Champlain would open soon. The Erie, which was the route we had originally intended on taking, had taken substantial damage to Lock 10. The current estimates are that it will take upwards of 8 weeks for that lock to reopen. The Champlain finally opened at noon on July 6 - so we plan to head out July 7 and see how it goes. The Champlain is a considerably longer route (by a few hundred miles) - so we will need to keep moving in order to hit the weather window and be out of Lake Michigan and Chicago before 'the ice burgs start to flow' - as Jeremy would say.
We did lots of walking and wandering around the town of Catskill during the time we were there. Fortunately, Jeremy had his trusty 'palm pilot' that he kept referring to - so how could we get lost???
We saw a few interesting and - shall I say - strange things in town. One was the Henderson Oil and Monument Business. That's right - you can get your oil changed and buy a headstone for your burial plot while you're waiting.
We saw this carved wooden sculpture of an old man down at the end of Main street. The second picture is of Main street in Catskills. Lots and lots of neat old brick buildings.
There were a few old and abandoned fire houses in town - one of which was for sale. Tempting - where else can one get a house complete with a firehouse pole to slide down on the way to work in the morning?? (I confess I peeked through the window - and sure enough, the pole is still there.)
We wandered down a side street and found this pig and duck. Across the street was the 'Rip Van Winkle Auto Repair'. They also do state inspections. Dare I ask how long someone might wait for that??
We wandered across a wooden footbridge that crossed the creek. Good thing we were using the new bridge - that's a picture of the old bridge next to it.
There was a little inn and bar across the street from the marina - called the Pirate Inn and Tavern. The house was built in 1797 and - according to a sign out front - it was where Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States, got married in 1807. There was another sign out front saying that is was the home to Samuel Wilson between 1817 and 1823. I have to say, that of all the pictures I've seen of 'Uncle Sam' - I've never seen one where he looked like the pirate they have standing next to the Uncle Sam sign.
Jeremy made a new friend with the tavern cat, Tony. I had to check the backpack when we got back to the boat to make sure it wasn't wiggling.
Traveling north on the Hudson and the Champlain canal took us though many interesting places - and many, many locks. On the way up the Hudson we saw this portion of a bridge being built off on the side of the river. It didn't look like it was being built for this particular area - there was no construction of roads on either side that looked like it was leading up to a new bridge. We could only guess that it was being built here and that it would be transported up or down the Hudson to where ever its new home.
In order for a sailboat to pass up through either the Erie or Champlain canals, the mast has to come down. There are several fixed bridges on either route. The maximum clearance on the Champlain, which is the route we were all taking since the Erie is closed for at least 2 months due to the flooding damage, is 17 feet. This is a picture of Anthony on his sailboat 'Gaviota' which we was single-handing from Terrytown NY to Canada.
We saw some debris floating in the rivers as well as lots of logs and debris that had washed up on the bridge fenders. We were fortunate that by the time we got into the upper Hudson, most of the larger logs and debris had already washed down the river.
The first lock that you need to pass through when heading for either the Erie or Champlain canals is the Federal Lock at Troy. This is also larger than any of the locks that we subsequently passed through on the Champlain. All of the locks are situated next to a dam. You can see the overflow of water on the dam to the left of the lock in the first picture below. The Troy Federal Lock is designed to raise you 18 feet up from sea level.
The lockmaster uses red and green lights to indicate the status of the lock. If the light is red, the lock is not ready. If the light is green, the lock is ready and you may proceed into the lock. Once inside, the lockmaster usually indicates where he wants you and - in the case of the Troy Federal Dock - you wrap a line attached at the midpoint of your boat to a long pole that goes from the bottom of the lock to the top. The purpose of the line is to keep you in place while the water is raised. You hold both ends and slide the line up the pole as the water rises.
Once at the top, the gates open at the other end and you continue on your way - a little higher in the world than you were before!
Just past the Troy Federal Locks is the sign directing you to either the Erie or Champlain Canal.
We were sad to see this dock floating on the river above the Troy lock. The flooding up here was the worse they have seen in many years. Both Albany and Troy had substantial damage to their docks due to the flooding. We heard a report of a dock coming loose in Albany with 35 boats attached. Fortunately, they were able to 'corral' the dock and none of the boats were lost - although the fate of the dock was another matter.
While the locks on the Champlain are smaller than the one in Troy, they are quite impressive. There are 11 locks on the Champlain river - 8 of which raise you 140 feet above sea level followed by 3 that lower you down to the level of Lake Champlain.
Each lock is situated next to a dam - one of which is shown below as we approached it from the lower level. The white and orange floats on the top of the dam are used as a warning for boats traveling down the canal to prevent them from taking the 'express' down rather than the more gentle lowering in the lock. Fortunately, there are many warning buoys and signs when traveling down a canal to prevent you from accidentally going the wrong way.
This canal was being lowered when we arrived. You can see the light is red (on the right side of the lock) - and also the turbulence as the water is flushed out of the lock and flows under the lock doors.
When the lock had been emptied and was ready, we entered the lock followed by another boat. The Champlain locks differ from the Troy Federal Lock in that there are long lines attached along the lock walls that you can grab and use to hold your boat in position. We found this a lot easier than running a line around the standing pipe. The downside is that the lines are VERY dirty and slimy since they spend much of their lives under water. Fortunately, we had a couple of old pairs of gloves on board - so this was not a problem.
Once the water had been raised in the lock, the doors opened in front and we dropped the lines and were on our way. This is a picture looking back into the lock as we left.
This is a picture of the dam from the top after we cleared the lock and were leaving.
We saw this clever swim platform outside a house on the Champlain canal. They can roll it down to the river when needed and roll it away during the winter when the canal freezes over.
The Champlain canal has a gate on it which can be lowered to completely close off the canal. Not sure why they felt then needed the red and green markers - it's not as if you could go around.
This is a "handyman's special" waterfront property that we may actually be able to afford. Just needs a little work... (David and Kate - for some reason we thought of you guys when we saw this.)
We followed a couple of sailboats between locks 9 and 11 on the Champlain. No point in rushing ahead since we all have to slow down to go through the locks anyway.
We came to a 'fork' in the river which was a little confusing which way to go - fortunately, some kind soul put up a sign to guide us the right way along our path.
We arrived at Whitehall - a town situated at the last lock of the Champlain canal and the entrance to Lake Champlain. They were celebrating Canal Days when we arrived - complete with a waterside concert followed by a spectacular fireworks display.
The town enclosed a portion of the bridge crossing over the lock and turned it into a 'Bridge Theater'.
Whitehall is a really waterfront town. They also provide cruisers a place to tie up for free for 48 hours - complete with electricity and water. Can't ask for more than that. The boat in front of us is 'Another Compromise' - another trawler doing the same Great Loop trip as us.
The two sailboats tied to the wall behind us both crossed over the Atlantic from France earlier this year. We met the family that owns the green boat ('Rocking Chair') in Catskill NY while we were all waiting for the canals to open. Jean-Pierre, his wife Catherine and their lovely 13-year old daughter Claire spent the summer coming up through the Caribbean and the US east coast. They first met the family in the other boat in the middle of the Atlantic during their crossing. They met up again in the Caribbean and again here in Whitehall. It certainly is a small world.
A picture of a bridge crossing the Champlain canal south of the town dock in Whitehall.
Coming into Lake Champlain, we saw a cable ferry passing by. You need to give these guys a wide berth when they are running - since there is a cable stretched just below the surface of the water in front and behind the ferry that is used to pull it across. Once the ferry has passed, it takes a few minutes for the cable to sink down so that it's safe to pass behind.
Lake Champlain is beautiful - surrounded by lush green hills and dotted with small granite islands.
We passed under this bridge that crosses over the southern end of Lake Champlain.
Crown Point Fort is located on the western side of the bridge pictured above.
We were happy to see lots of sailboats out sailing on Lake Champlain, including this one with a pretty multi-colored jib. Sailboats that are continuing on through the lake into Canada will need to keep their masts down on the lake or take them down again at the northern end since the Richelieu river also has low fixed bridge clearances.
We had read about a neat little town of Vergennes Vermont located at the end of a long, narrow and winding creek on the lake. The lake forms the border between Vermont, to the east, and upper New York State, to the west.
We found the creek (called Otter Creek) - with the aid of our GPS chart plotter and started down. The creek is normally a little shallow - but as you can see from the picture below, the water was a bit high when we were there. Another boater we met in Vergennes told us that the lake level is a full 6 feet above normal levels for this time of year.
We saw this blue heron along the banks of Otter Creek. I didn't realize there were blue herons up on Lake Champlain. The last time we saw them was in Florida down in the St. Johns River.
We were rewarded by this sight of the dam at the town of Vergennes after traveling about 7 miles down Otter creek. The buildings above the dam were once part of the Vergennes shipyard. Nine ships were build in Vergennes for the war of 1812 - including the 26 -gun Saratoga, the 17-gun schooner Ticonderoga, the 20-gun brig Eagle, and six 75-foot long gunboats. All of the vessels were supplied from lumber, fittings and shot from the sawmill, forges and furnaces located Otter Creek Falls. It's hard to imagine all of those ships making their way down the narrow and windy Otter Creek after they were built.
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What we didn't know before we headed down the creek was that the town docks in Vergennes were no longer there. We ended up tying up to a sea wall along with a couple of other boats. The town normally has a couple of very nice floating docks for visiting boats situated on either side of the creek.
This is a picture of Tardis and the other boats tied up to the sea wall as seen from the top of the dam across the water.
The town of Vergennes is located up a hill from the creek. Vergennes is the oldest city in Vermont. Like many of the 'oldest' cities we have visited, the town has remained small and is very charming. We wandered the main street and were rewarded with some wonderful ice cream as well as a really nice wine store.
This is a picture of the City Hall and Opera House. Not sure I've seen that combination in a building before.
I found this duckling family at the docks in Burlington, Vermont.
The last town we stopped at on Lake Champlain was Rouses Point New York - located at the very northern end of the lake and the last US town before crossing the border into Canada.
Updated July 11, 2006