CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (9)

   CODA : Still on the Jersey side of the Hudson River

30 September 2024

Edgewater Municipal Marina, Edgewater, New Jersey

Out the rear of CODA at 07:00

(Edgewater to 39th Street Manhattan Ferry, and a rather large bird overhead.)

Marc-  A  rather colorful morning here in Edgewater.  IT's great access if you need to take a ferry to the City to have it next door.  Unfortunately it creates a rather large wake each time it appears.  Stephanie took the ferry to work at 08:45 and she was not late.  We plan on taking the ferry over Thursday morning in order to get to the Amtrak train station for our trip up to Boston for my nephew Andy Nason's wedding this weekend.  

Morning view of NYC out the front of the Pilot House.

It was a beautiful day here with sunny skies and warmer temperatures replacing the rain and cool windy weather of the past few days.  The next two days' weather is for cloudy with winds from the East 10-15 knots gusting to 20 and 6 foot seas possible.  Friday is improved with East winds of 5 knots with 3 foot seas.  Saturday looks perfect with Northwest winds 5-10 knots and 3-4 foot seas.  

Today I did laundry and had a special visitor, John Foley.  John lives here in New Jersey but does his boating mostly in Lake Champlain. He does have knowledge of the Jersey Shore that was helpful in my planning our next leg of the journey.  There are only two usable inlets going down the coast:  Atlantic City and Cape May.  Both have "short term anchorages" and marinas.  It was great to see John again.  Lastly I did not find an ice cream parlor here and had settle for Whole Foods Mint Chip Ice Cream.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (8)

  CODA : Jersey side of the Hudson River

29 September 2024

Edgewater Municipal Marina, Edgewater, New Jersey

A new crew member: Steph.

Marc-  No travel by boat today as it was a miserable wet and windy day and we needed to move Steph out of her apartment in Brooklyn.  Michael Gilmartin, with his truck, was a Saint driving his truck through the busy street of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx to pick up Steph.  We only arrived about two hours late.  Michael does better than the navigation apps. in NYC.  Back in Edgewater I cooked up some pasta for lunch and then went off walked over a block or so to Whole Foods Market for more supplies. Steph and I walked around the waterfront and took in the view of NYC across the Hudson.

Edgewater Marina Office.

Edgewater Marina weekend staff.

It never really gets dark around here.

Steph is working this week and will be taking the ferry.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (7)

 CODA : down on the lower Hudson River

28 September 2024

Edgewater Municipal Marina, Edgewater, New Jersey

View of Manhattan from our slip (NYC literally glows in the dark).

Marc-  Michael and I started the day off with the usual scrambled eggs, English muffins and coffee.  Then we were on our way again but this time with favorable wind and tide.  I raised both the main and genoa and by the time we reached Haverstraw Bay we no longer needed the engine.  We did take the sails down to refuel at Panco Marine.  Very neat place behind a NY City Fireboat. Michael and I discussed where to spend the night and his first thought was Edgewater (MIchael was born and raised in Edgewater).  A few phone calls later we had arranged for a slip at the Edgewater Municipal Marina (MIchael went to school with both the Mayor and the Marina Manager).  I will tell the rest of the story through my photos.

Our first place of interest were these intake pipes just above West Point on the Hudson River.  

This is part of NYC's water supply intake in an emergency (apparently the 

Hudson is fresh water above West Point).

West Point Military Academy

Cadet's in training on the lawn.

Sailing on the Hudson

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant (now inactive) and a freight dock.  

Visibility greatly decreased after the Tappen Zee Bridge due to fog and rain.  

The wind also increased to 15 to 20 knots.

Out of the mist sailed Pete Seeger's magnificent sloop Clearwater.  The Clearwater was, and still is, part of an effort to clean up the Hudson River.  Pete Seeger is a famous folk singer with many hits such as "If I had a hammer",  "This land is your land",  "Turn Turn! Turn!, and dozens of others.  Seeger planted the seed that started Hudson River Sloop Clearwater when he and a few friends, decided to “build a boat to save the river” with the belief that a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries would bring people to the river where they could experience its beauty and be moved to preserve it.   The sloop sails the Hudson River from New York City to Albany as a “Sailing Classroom”, laboratory, and musical stage. 

I thought it was a pirate ship sailing out of a fog bank.

The George Washington Bridge crossing the Hudson River from NYC to Edgewater ,New Jersey (on a clearer day than today).  The Municipal Marina is one mile South of the Bridge.  The Marina Manager strongly suggested that we arrive at half tide or better.  We found our slip and became a bit stuck in the mud six feet from the dock.  Fortunately CODA has a large propeller and diesel engine that backed us out and then back into the slip despite the mud.  A good thing about soft mud is that waves no longer toss the boat much.  We will plan on leaving this place at high tide.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (6)

CODA : onward on the Hudson River

27 September 2024

Pollapel Island, a/k/a, Bannerman's Island, anchorage, New York  

We anchored behind the castle.

Marc-  Michael and I had a good breakfast of scrambled eggs and waffles with some fresh fruit and tea.

We left Catskill at 08:15 with a light Northerly breeze and a sunny sky.  Great day for traveling on the Hudson River at first against the current and then using it to our advantage until it turned against us after we anchored.  There were more beautiful lighthouses and some impressive private homes along the way.  Even the power cable project has reached the Hudson with some interesting ships (rather larger than the tugs and barges on Lake Champlain).  It was easy to reach the anchorage with the comments provided on the Navionics software even without any bouys or lights to guide us.  We could see West Point Military Academy in the distance as we anchored.

Saugerties Lighthouse

Kingston Lighthouse

Culinary Institute of America

Cable Laying Ship Ariadne

The cables will be buried under the riverbed in a single pass using a towed burial tool called a jet plow. The jet plow uses high-powered streams of water to carve a trench and simultaneously lay cable. The cables will be buried at least seven feet below the sediment as required by the US Army Corps of Engineers issued in 2015.

White Seal motorsailing

CODA motorsailing

Anchored behind the castle.

View of Storm King Mountain from our anchorage.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (5)

CODA : a day off for a quick return to Vermont

26 September 2024

Hop-O-Nose Marina, Catskill, New York 

Marc-  Today was a different kind of travel day with a quick return to Vermont by train and a return care of Sue and our big blue truck.  Just a medical appointment that would be difficult to reschedule.  All is well.  Michael Gilmartin, new crew member, came up with his daughter Kerry and husband Brandon.  It was a rather nasty rainy day but good friends help a lot.

Rip-Van-Winkle, Guardian of Catskill, guarded CODA while we were away.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (4)

 CODA : on the move again

25 September 2024

Hop-O-Nose Marina, Catskill, New York 

Catskill is famous for its cat statue competition that runs from Memorial Day to the second week of September.  The cats are along the streets where the parking meters normally are located and they are auctioned off at the end of the season.  Probably worth a few quarters.  

Marc-  Another excellent breakfast with Charlie L. aboard CODA this morning during a bit of rain.  The rain ended about 09:00 and Charlie returned to White Seal while I headed out solo to Catskill.  It was just me and the autopilot dealing with tugboats and barges.  The most interesting tugboat was pushing 9 barges, three sets of three, and took most of the river channel.  I had no trouble getting to Catskill and found my assigned slip at Hop-O-Nose Marina easily.  The staff came over in a work boat to see me and remembered CODA  and me from last June.  This was fantastic since I have apparently been promoting them and word had gotten back to them.  The result was a half price rate for my 2 night stay.  

The Cats below were all in the Town Clerk's Office at City Hall.  Apparently Catskill would not auction off these cats.

Brings a whole new meaning to the term "Catboat".

The Champ.

Traveling cat.

The only sad part of the day was not finding an open ice cream parlor.  I went back to the boat to do a few chores and to pack for my short train trip back to Vermont.  An hour before the train was to depart Hudson I summoned  Lyft on my phone App.   The initial response was good with a car to arrive in ten minutes.  Unfortunately the driver decided to do another run before me and I was still waiting in the rain 20 minutes later.  A man walking his dog stopped by when I commented that he had a cross between a poodle and a Cockapoo.  The next thing I knew he was driving me to the train station and would not accept gas money,  He drove me through some very beautiful homes only a few streets up from Main Street.  I also learned that my driver regularly runs in the Burlington, VT Marathon.  At the Hudson Train Station I ran into my new boating friends:  Nicholas and his Mom Patricia.  Patricia is taking the train to back home to Montreal.  The train left Hudson at 16:30 and will arrive at Vergennes  at 21:05 for a reasonable cost of $37.00.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (3)

 CODA : getting reconnected

24 September 2024

Castleton Boat Club, Castleton-On-Hudson, New York 

We are not in Lake Champlain any more.  A cargo ship passing CODA while I am reassembling rigging and electronics on deck. (Note the absence of any wake while doing 12 knots.) 

Size comparison of Mary's White Seal and the Cargo Ship Patagonia.

Marc-  We three sailboats spent a second day at Castleton-On-Hudson getting re-rigged as sailboats and putting on sails among other necessary maintenance items.  The Hudson River is surprisingly calm in this area unless a large powerboat zooms nearby.  We saw several sailboats today that just passed through presumably going on to have masts re-stepped downstream at Hop-O-Nose marina in Catskill.  I made reservations there for a two night stay while I take the Amtrak train back to Vergennes.  The train is a great deal at $45 roundtrip.  Unfortunately I will need to add two cab fares to that since the passenger trains only pass on the opposite side of the Hudson from Catskill in Hudson, NY.  The weather has been great - warm days and cool nights.

There is quite a bit of commercial barge traffic on the Hudson fortunately having minimal impact on us.  We do have to keep a sharp lookout when crossing over to the Boat Club by dinghy.

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (2)

 CODA : on the move to become a sailboat again

23 September 2024

Castleton Boat Club, Castleton-On-Hudson, New York 

Passing through the Federal Lock at Troy, NY 

(Owned and operated by

 the US Army Corps of Engineers). 

Mast up at the end of the day on a mooring.

Marc- Sue and I went off to do some last minute food shopping at the local Hannaford's supermarket this morning.  Sue helped organize the boat and then headed off to Vermont with the truck.  I stayed behind to move the boat South and to get the mast raised.  I never could have done this without the help of Charlie Langworthy, Mary Langworthy and a few other boaters.  We left Waterford as a three boat convoy for mast raising at the Castleton Boat Club.  It has always been a great deal for sailboaters but the pprices haave increased to $ 100 for use of the mast crane and $ 30 for a mooring.  The Club members are most welcoming and helpful but the boaters do the actual work.  A solo sailer from Montreal named Nicholas was also a major help and we raised his mast as well.  Tomorrow morning we will raise White Seal's mast.  I cooked up some burgers on the gas grill for dinner.

Mary operated the mast crane.

The boat before us at the mast crane.

Night traffic on the Hudson River near us (virtually no wake).

CODA BAHAMAS BOUND 2024-2025 (1)

 CODA : still at Waterford

22 September 2024

Waterford Visitors Center, Waterford, New York 

Martha's Vineyard Ferry

Marc- We took a week off our cruising to attend a wedding in Martha's Vineyard, MA.  This place is great even in stormy weather.  The wedding went off without a problem despite 25-30 knot winds, 6-8 foot seas and heavy rain.  These islanders are tough.  We enjoyed being back at one of our favorite ports that we visited often when we kept a boat in nearby Buzzards Bay.

favorite ice cream

Favorite carousel of Sara and Steph.

One of many gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs.

The Black Dog boats Vineyard Haven.

Nice boats eh.

The unscheduled freight boat that we took to get to and from the Island.

Once back at Waterford we loaded up CODA with additional gear and supplies. My cousin Armand came over to visit and then joined us for dinner with Charlie Langworthy who had docked aboard White Seal.  We plan on doing some grocery shopping in the morning and then head down to the Castleton Boat Club to raise our masts.

One of my cousin Armand's drawings.