A Cruise around Manhattan and Up the Hudson

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May 23-27, 2024: I take some old friends around Manhattan Island, partly in a thunderstorm, and then head north up the Hudson River with a friend on board for part of the trip.

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I spent two nights at Hudson Point Marina. It was a great, somewhat affordable dog-friendly stop that was conveniently located near two different ferries and the PATH train. While I was there, I went to Manhattan two days in a row and walked until I was ready to drop.

My first day, I went to Chinatown for some dim sum (with lots of leftovers) and Ferrara’s in Little Italy for a dose of much-missed Italian pastry. Along the way, I walked the streets where I’d worked in the early 1980s.

My second day, I went to the Museum of the American Indian in the old Custom House Building — mostly to take in the architecture of that building — and then visited the fort in Battery Park, where I chatted with a ranger who was very knowledgeable about all Gateway Area parks. On the way back to the boat, I stopped at the Apple Store in the Oculus shopping center to check out a new iPad Pro. (I later ordered one from Apple and had it delivered to a friend I was visiting the following week.)

Although I really don’t like the exterior of the Oculus shopping center/train station at the World Trade Center site, I love the bright, open airiness of its interior.

Lots of folks on the Loop seem to cruise right through this area and that’s a real shame. I’m sure cost has a lot to do with it — marina overnight rates range from $4/foot to $7/foot or more. But New York City is the greatest city in the world and you really ought to explore it a bit when you’re in the area.

The Manhattan Boat Tour

A lot of people ask me how I got into boating, and I tell them all the same story: when I was a kid living in Bergen County, NJ (that’s pretty much right over the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan), my parents had a small boat on a trailer. They would launch it at the boat ramp under the George Washington bridge and we would either go up the river as far as the Tappan Zee or Bear Mountain Bridge or West Point or down the river to the Statue of Liberty. Sometimes, we’d go around Manhattan Island — I think I’ve been around the island more than anyone I know. It had been many years since I’d taken that boat ride and I was ready to do it again — in my own boat.

I also wanted to meet up with my friends Fred and Cheri. They’d been my wasband’s friends back when I met him in July 1982 and I’d met them about two weeks later on a camping trip at Lake George. We’d done numerous vacations with them, including houseboating on Lake Powell and a rafting trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon back in the late 80s/early 90s. Somehow, when the dust settled from our crazy divorce, they wound up more on my side of the fence than his. (This is, in part, from his absurd paranoia, which told him that they were plotting against him somehow. They weren’t. I believe that, like me, they suspect he has lost his mind.) I hadn’t seen Fred and Cheri since my last Loop trip in the area with Captain Paul in 2021. They’d met up with us in Kingston, NY and had dinner with us.

So over the course of about a month before my arrival, I worked via text with Cheri to come up with a plan. That plan came together on Thursday, May 23. They’d meet me at the marina in Jersey City, climb aboard, and do a trip around Manhattan Island with me. I’d bring them back, drop off Fred, and take Cheri with me on a cruise up the Hudson as far as Saugerties, NY.

And that’s what we did. I spent the morning prepping the boat and walking to (unfortunately) a Dunkin’ Donuts to get an easy breakfast nosh for us. (I could go off on a tangent about how I wound up there and how disappointing it was, but I won’t.) I also rigged up a GoPro on the port side rail outside the boat so I could capture footage of our cruise.

They arrived at 9:30 — I’d been specific about the time because I wanted to arrive at Hells Gate at or near slack water — and parked the car. That was a challenge. Fred called from parking to ask if we’d be back by 1 PM when his spot became a No Parking zone. I assured him we would. That gave us a little more than 3 hours to do about 25 nautical miles. I fully expected to get the boat up to speed on the way back down the Hudson.

But it also meant we couldn’t delay our departure. And that was tricky because the sky was dark to the west and there was a storm on weather radar. How bad could it be?

We discovered exactly how bad it could be when we were just south of Battery Park, amid ferries and other commercial vessels. Visibility dropped down to a few hundred feet in driving rain that managed to get my back door wet. (That has never happened before.) I had my position lights and radar on. I sounded the horn every 2 minutes. AIS made it easy to see traffic and the chartplotter made it easy to navigate. But the water churned and bounced us around.

I did what I’d always done with passengers aboard the helicopter when things got rough: I acted like it wasn’t a big deal. I think it worked. Cheri was uneasy but I don’t think she was frightened and Fred was laughing like a kid on an amusement park ride. And then the storm was past and the sky brightened and visibility returned to normal. We passed under the Brooklyn Bridge in a drizzle. The rain had stopped completely by the time we got to the Williamsburg Bridge.

Of course, my camera, which was out in the rain, was soaking wet. I didn’t think it was worth turning it on.

The rest of the tour was uneventful — but highly recommended if you can spare the time. We saw a lot of things that Fred and Cheri — more than me — were very familiar with, having lived their entire lives in the New York Metro area. They really enjoyed it. And I did, too. So much of it was so old to me that it was new.

And then we got to the train bridge at Spuyten Duyvil. That bridge is what stands between the Harlem River and Hudson River at the very top end of Manhattan Island. Waterway Guide says it should be open unless a train is coming. It was closed.

I asked for an opening. I was told it would be 15 to 20 minutes.

25 minutes later, another boat called. It was the Circle Line sightseeing boat, which had followed the same route as us up the rivers. The bridge operator told the captain a train was coming and they should slow down. That was a good thing because we’d been circling in a very tight spot — with a current — that certainly would not fit both of us. A train went by. The bridge started to rotate. The bridge operator told the Circle Line to continue on.

I slipped through the bridge opening before they could arrive.

Now we were running late. I turned south down the river and set RPM to about 90% to give us a good cruising speed. We passed the George Washington Bridge doing about 15 knots with the Circle Line boat off our port stern. It was tense as we watched the clock. But I finally reached the channel into the marinas at Jersey City and slowed down. I delivered Fred to the dock with five minutes to spare.

Jersey City, NJ to Cortlandt, NY

When Fred had said his goodbyes and left us, I maneuvered across the channel to Liberty Landing. I needed fuel, propane, and a pumpout. (I was having a problem with my propane system, which only fuels the stove; more on that in another post.) We spent about a half hour there getting things done. Cheri picked up the tab for the fuel, which I really appreciated. (Thanks, Cheri!)

As a result, we left the New York area on our trip up the Hudson River at about 1:30 PM, when the current was most definitely against us. Our destination that day was the Cortlandt Yacht Club and I promised the folks there that I’d do my best to arrive before 5 PM.

I moved the GoPro, in wide view mode, to my side of the boat as we headed up river. These are two of the still shots I pulled from the video. The Empire State Building looks tiny in the second shot.

Cortlandt is just a little past Half Moon Bay where just about all the Loopers stay. I’d stayed in HMB on my first two nights with Captain Paul back in 2021. I had not been impressed. All I could remember was it being crazy hot and humid with a long walk to town past a delicious-looking pool we could not use. There was a great Greek restaurant in town and a pharmacy where I bought earplugs to block the sound of my cabin mate’s snoring.

Cortlandt Yacht Club was offering a special deal for Loopers until June 1: $2/foot/night. Although I preferred anchoring out somewhere, I decided that a marina would be a good first night stop with a companion on board. And I knew I’d be tired and it would be great to stay someplace easy.

The trip up the Hudson went by in a blur. We got about 10 knots, fighting the current, which yielded a terrible fuel economy of about 1 mile per gallon. But if I didn’t put the pedal to the metal, I wouldn’t get there on time. And this wasn’t exactly my favorite part of the river. The river south of Half Moon Bay was wide without much to see on shore. We did note the lilacs growing along the lower cliffs of the Palisades and how well they’d removed the original Tappan Zee Bridge when they’d built the new one. The river narrowed a bit after that but was still wide. There were fewer buildings and more trees along either side of the river.

Here’s a look at the “new” Tappan Zee Bridge from my window as we passed. The old one was being dismantled when I came through the area with Capt Paul in 2021. This bridge actually has a different name, but New Yorkers don’t use it.

It was about 4:30 PM when I arrived at the channel to the yacht club. I was pleased to see a sturdy breakwater between the slips and the river; that would ensure us a night free of wake. I was guided to a slip near the end of one dock and, since the finger piers were short, I had to back in. Two people were on hand to grab our lines. The boat was secured in no time.

I was completely exhausted.

At Cortlandt Yacht Club

We got the information we needed about bathroom access and the wifi password. I was ready to take it easy and to make us a dinner on board. But Cheri wanted to go for a walk and decided to go into town. I took my pups for a walk and then just relaxed in my cabin for a while. It was hot and humid.

Cheri came back an hour later with a pizza box containing two slices. (Yes, in New York you can buy pizza by the slice.) She was totally sweated up and exhausted. Apparently, the person who had told us the pizza place was half a mile away was wrong. And then she’d missed a turn on her way back and had gotten lost.

We sat outside on the aft deck and ate. I had a salad with sardines; I really didn’t feel like pizza that was likely to be cold. Cheri ate the pizza. Afterwards, she took a shower to get all that sweat off her.

The place was surprisingly active. Memorial Day was that weekend and it was the opening of the season for the Yacht Club. The pool, which we could use, was open and a new concessionaire was setting up in the snack bar area. A lot of members were around, sprucing the place up. There would be a big party that weekend and there was a lot to do. When I took my pups for their last walk of the day, I spent some time chatting with folks who wanted to know more about the loop and were surprised that I was doing it (mostly) on my own. If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I might have checked out the food samples at the snack bar.

I think we were both in bed by 9 PM.

I woke early, as usual, and made my coffee as quietly as I could. Cheri got up a while later. I made us clafoutis for breakfast with blueberries and strawberries. Cheri said it was like a dutch pancake. We did some morning stuff and I jumped in the shower. I was determined to go upriver with the current that day, hoping to improve my fuel efficiency while traveling at a more leisurely pace. That meant leaving the marina by 11 AM.

We left at 10:20.

I sent the drone up that morning before we left. It was a nice facility — much nicer than Half Moon Bay — and there were so many friendly people there.

Cortlandt to Poughkeepsie, NY

It was a beautiful day and, before leaving, we’d put up the bimini top on my command bridge. Cheri, my pups, and I climbed upstairs and I steered us away from the dock from up there. It was great to be back up there for the first time since maybe Georgia several months before.

It was warm and shady with just the right amount of breeze. It was probably about slack tide when we departed, but soon we were moving with the tide. I dialed in 2200 RPMs and that put us at about 10 knots — the same speed we got the previous day fighting the tidal current at 3000 RPM. My fuel efficiency was much better, too.

We were now in the Hudson Valley in all its springtime splendor. We went under the Bear Mountain Bridge — the third Hudson River bridge crossing up from New York City — and eventually passed West Point and its stately architecture. The river got narrower and narrower and seemed to grow more friendly. There were lots of trees and hills on either side. And trains — both sides of the river had train tracks.

West Point always looks amazing from the River.

We were now farther than my family had come on those day trips years and years ago. I’d only been up this far once on a boat and that was with Captain Paul back in the late summer of 2021.

Finally, at around 1:30 PM, the double bridges at Poughkeepsie came into view. The marina we were staying at, Shadows, was on the starboard side just downriver from the first bridge. I called on the radio and was told to park on a long dock parallel to the river, in front of a sailboat. Port tie, the guy on the radio told me. That meant he wanted me to turn around and face downriver, which made a lot of sense with the current moving the way it was. So I went past my spot, turned around, and came in for a landing.

Here we are, docked at Shadows marina. Being on an outside dock is never my favorite setup, but things were calm enough that night.

The dockmaster — I’m thinking his name was Keith? — had plenty of experience tying up boats on that dock. He had me bring my rudder to neutral, which I did as well as I could, and made sure my fenders were in place. Before I knew it, he had four lines tied to cleats — one of which he moved so it was in a better spot. (This was the first marina I’d been to that had movable cleats.) Then, seeing a typically inconsiderate boater whizzing by on the river, he put two more big ball fenders between the dock and my boat. That didn’t stop the guy’s wake from nearly knocking over Cheri, who was still on board.

What a difference from the previous night’s well-protected anchorage! I had to hope that the traffic would end at night and that the wind wasn’t going to kick up. Keith advised us to take a walk. He suggested the pedestrian bridge farther up the river and told us an elevator would take us up.

But we had more pressing matters. We were hungry and my dogs needed pee break.

At Poughkeepsie

I took my pups for a quick walk and brought them back to the boat. Meanwhile, Cheri went up to the Shadows Restaurant overlooking the marina and river and got us a table. I joined her.

The place was posh. Or trying to be. The menu certainly was. Cheri was treating and I felt guilty ordering a $23 hamburger. But it was good. And filling. We would not need dinner.

Afterward, we went back to the boat where I grabbed the dogs and their leashes and threw a few things in my little backpack, including water and some snacks. I also put on appropriate footwear for a long walk. Then we set out toward the pedestrian bridge, which was the second bridge upriver from us.

It was a long walk. We tried doing it all along the shore, but there was a spot we had to go around. We kind of fumbled our way through brush until we climbed a hill and wound up near some apartment complexes. From there, we followed roads back down to the river and got on a path that looked like it went to the base of the pedestrian bridge.

Neither Cheri nor I really believed there was an elevator to go up to the top of the bridge. But we passed someone on the path and Cheri asked him. Yes, he said. If it’s working.

We found it and it was working. We waited a short while for the car to descend. Inside was a young man sitting on a bench in front of the controls with his phone in one hand. He did not respond to any greeting. He may have had earbuds in. Who knows. It was actually kind of rude. But he took us up to the walkway level of the bridge and we started walking west.

Here’s a look across the bridge from west to east. That’s Cheri on the right.

The Walkway Over the Hudson is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge. From the History page on its website:

Walkway Over the Hudson (formerly known as the Poughkeepsie Bridge, Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie–Highland Railroad Bridge, and High Bridge) is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, on the east bank and Highland, New York, on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

It was taken out of service on May 8, 1974, after it was damaged by fire. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and its entry updated in 2008. The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009.

It was reopened on October 3, 2009, as a pedestrian walkway as part of the new Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park. The New York State Bridge Authority owns and is charged with maintaining the bridge structure (as directed by the Governor and Legislature in July, 2010). The park is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In 2017, the walkway hosted 593,868 visitors. The park connects the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in Highland to the William R. Steinhaus Dutchess Rail Trail, and forms part of the Empire State Trail.

There was a nice breeze up there and great views up and down the river. There were also quite a few walkers and bikers, including some folks with dogs. Although we were all already tired, we walked all the way to the far side of the bridge and all the way back. We stopped a few times for water breaks; my pups were definitely very thirsty. I admit that I did not look forward to the long walk back to the boat.

Here’s a view of the car bridge (with the marina visible below it) from the pedestrian bridge.

We took the elevator back down. Again, the kid at the controls didn’t acknowledge or respond to any of the passengers. We went back a slightly more direct route. I was very glad to be back at the boat.

We sat up on the command bridge with evening drinks, chatting about this and that. Boat traffic on the river was mostly gone and the boat wasn’t kicked around so much. It was a pleasant evening. Although I could have used a shower, I was too tired to take one in the boat or in the horrible trailer-based shower facility the marina offered. I realized somewhat belatedly that the marina was primarily a local facility for annual tenants and “dock and dine” boaters; it really wasn’t set up for transients.

Once again, I was dead asleep before 10 PM.

And I was up early again in the morning, woken before dawn by the sound of the thrusters on the Fleming yacht that had come in behind us the previous afternoon. I made my coffee as stealthily as possible at 5 AM, watching the much larger boat motor up the river until it was out of sight.

When Cheri woke up, she started texting with her friend Janet, who she’d been in touch with the day before. I knew Janet from the old days; I don’t think I’d seen her in about 25-30 years. Janet lived in the area. She came to see the boat and then took us to breakfast at Kelly’s Bakery in town.

We had a great breakfast of coffee and various breakfast pastries. We chatted about all kinds of things. It was nice to be with old friends, even though Janet and I had never been close. She made me feel as if we’d just seen each other a few months before instead of dozens of years.

Janet drove us back to the boat and we had hugs all around. She drove off and Cheri and I walked down the dock to the boat. I took my pups for a last walk. Then we cast off with the current. It was 11:10 AM.

Poughkeepsie to Saugerties

Once again, we drove from up on the command bridge and once again, I set the RPMs at 2200 for a leisurely cruise. I was not in a hurry and we only had 24 miles to go.

Cheri drove for a while. I don’t know if she liked it. I think it made her nervous. I took a picture of her. She sent it to my wasband’s niece — is she my niece, too? — and told her she was “with Maria on her boat.” The response was, “Maria who?” Cheri and I had a good laugh over that. (I guess she’s not my niece anymore.)

I know Cheri was worried about me not getting a reservation at a marina at Saugerties. I’d called the marina there but no one answered and there was no answering machine. But that really didn’t bother me. I didn’t want a marina. I’d spent the previous four nights at marinas and it was time to save some money. There was an anchorage in Saugerties pretty far up Esopus Creek with dingy access to a park. That’s where I was aiming for.

So we just cruised up the river, passing various points of interest along the way. It was the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and, in certain places, there were a lot of day trippers out in their boats. The mouth of Rondout Creek in Kingston, NY was one of those places. I’d originally wanted to stay in Kingston but was not prepared to pay their new dock rates. And I honestly hadn’t been very impressed with the dockmaster during our one conversation earlier that month. Now, seeing the boats going in and out of the creek, I was glad I’d decided to skip it. I really do hate crowds.

One of the few surviving lighthouses on the upper Hudson River. This one is on an island near Hyde Park.

We passed under the Kingston-Rhinebeck Bridge and eventually reached Esopus Creek. I turned in, slowing down considerably. The creek was narrow and didn’t seem big enough for my boat. But there was plenty of depth. I passed the marina I’d called and was glad again that I hadn’t gotten through. We kept going. The anchorage was in a little sheltered basin in front of Tina Chorvas Waterfront Park. As we glided in, we saw Fred on the dock. We all waved.

Then I was maneuvering to the middle of the basin, away from the lines of the fishermen in the park. And dropping the anchor. The water was only about 10 feet deep and there was very little current so I only put out about 50 feet of chain. The boat swung gently. I killed the engine. We had arrived.

In Saugerties

Cheri got her things together while I launched the dinghy. Then she and I got into the little boat with all her bags and my pups. I motored us over to the little floating dock and tied up on the far side, away from where others might want to park. We got everything out of the dinghy and I took my pups for a quick walk in the park.

We were hungry so after stowing Cheri’s bags in the car, we climbed in and drove into town. I’d been to Saugerties before — many years ago — and it was nothing like I remembered. It was incredibly vibrant with lots of open shops and restaurants and lots of people walking around. We found a restaurant with outdoor dining and shade and had lunch.

It was great being with these two old friends. I was sad when it was time to part. Who knows when I’ll be in this area again? We’re all getting older. Fred’s had some heart issues. Who knows if I’ll ever see them again?

They brought me back down to the park and watched me row the dinghy back to my boat. I rowed because it was so close I felt silly starting the motor. Once I was back on board, we waved one last time. I watched them leave the dock and climb back through the park to the car. And then they were gone.

I spent the afternoon relaxing. After a while, I loaded my pups back in the dinghy and motored farther up the creek until I could see the waterfall. There were folks around there fishing and other folks kayaking around the area. I went back to the boat.

I flew my drone. I’m getting pretty good at launching it from my solar panel.

I napped. I woke at 7 PM. I fed my pups and took them for another walk in the park. Then I went back to the boat and spent the rest of the evening catching up on my journal entries, which I had been neglecting while I had company on board.

The anchorage was dead calm and quiet all night long.

In the morning, it felt weird to not have to be quiet. (It’s always like that the morning after a boat guest leaves.) I made coffee and had some cereal with the last of the fruit. I was out of granola.

First light looked absolutely amazing on this brick building I could see from my boat. The water was glassy calm.

After one last walk in the park with my pups, I secured the dinghy, pulled up the anchor, and backtracked down the Esopus to the Hudson.

It was 10:30 AM.

Saugerties to Athens to Coxsackie, NY

I was no longer able to travel with the incoming current unless I left much later in the day — which I didn’t want to do. I had one or two stops to make along the way.

You see, when I came up this way with Captain Paul back in 2021, he was on a pretty strict schedule. We stopped for two days in Kingston and then went all the way to Waterford on the Erie Canal. We didn’t stop anywhere in between.

But I wanted to make more stops. I knew there were free docks in Athens and Cocksackie, two small towns on the west side of the river north of Saugerties. I figured I’d check them out.

Keep in mind that it was Sunday on Memorial Day Weekend. There were a lot of people out and about in boats, especially near destination towns. Lots of folks passed me — I was cruising at about 8 knots from up on the command bridge. I was in no hurry.

I got to Athens, NY and was surprised to find the free dock wide open. I came around, pointed into the current, and made a soft landing on the starboard side. I hurried down the stairs and grabbed a midship line as I stepped off onto the dock. I didn’t need the thruster remote to keep the boat close to the dock while I secured it.

I shut down the engine, put my dogs on leashes, and set off through a small park to explore the town. There wasn’t much to explore. Two restaurants were open but not busy. Nothing else was open.

There was a restaurant near the water called the River Grill. It had outdoor seating, so I went over with my pups and got a seat. The menu was very limited and I was surprised to see a note at the bottom saying, “4% Kitchen Appreciation Fee on All Checks.” (WTF?) I ordered smoked trout with cabbage and soba noodles. What arrived a few minutes later was a very large paper bowl with a lid on it — like something that had been premade to go — about 1/3 filled with food. Seriously: the portion looked like some sort of joke, especially in a bowl that large. And the price was $17 plus 4% plus a tip?

I ate it as quickly as you might imagine. It was tasty but it didn’t come anywhere near to satisfying me. (I could have eaten four of them without feeling full.) When the server came back to ask me if I wanted anything else, I told her no, I was going back to my boat to eat lunch because what she’d given me wasn’t enough food to satisfy anyone. I then told her I didn’t understand why I had to subsidize the kitchen staff with a 4% surcharge on my meal. Weren’t they being paid enough? “Just give me my bill,” I finished tiredly.

She went away and when she came back she told me the manager had comped my meal. She told me that lots of people complain about the portion size. I told her that cabbage and soba noodles don’t cost that much; they could put more in the dish. They could also put it in a smaller dish so it didn’t look so absurdly tiny. She agreed with everything I said.

I left.

I was going to heat up some leftovers on the boat, but my pups didn’t want to get back on the boat. They wanted to lounge on the grass. I felt bad for them — other than our long walk the two days before, they hadn’t had much time off the boat. So I got some cheese and crackers from the boat and had them at one of the picnic tables there in the park with a bottle of water Cheri had left behind.

Eventually, we all got back on the boat and I cast off, continuing upriver.

Coxsackie was only another 8 or so miles up the river. This town had a pair of docks that looked brand new. Each one was large enough to hold two boats like mine. Once again, I pointed into the current and brought the boat into the dock. I secured a few lines and shut everything down.

Here’s Do It Now docked at Coxsackie. Once again, I was pointed downriver.

This town had a lot more going on. There was a big park at the dock and lots of people there. Boaters were coming and going at the free dock. I decided to leave my pups behind and walk around town alone.

Coxsackie had more open — although still not a lot. There were some shops and restaurants. I treated myself to a fig flavor ice cream cone at the Coxsackie Creamery. Then I walked back to the boat and took the girls out for a quick walk in the park. I climbed back on board for an afternoon nap.

The unfortunate thing was that there were a lot of boaters in the area, including a family on a boat that had two kids on Waverunners. They had apparently never taught their kids about courtesy near docked boats. It was their wake bouncing my boat around that woke me. I put up with them and a few other inconsiderate idiots for about an hour before they finally left.

Then the weather turned stormy and everyone left. For a while it rained hard. I was secure on the dock, but the dock was open to the river so there was a lot of bouncing around as the storm blew through. It got dark, the rain stopped, and it got quiet.

I was in bed dead asleep by 9 PM.

Coxsackie to Albany to Troy, NY

I woke up at 4 AM. When I went into the galley to make my coffee, I saw a sailboat with two sails up sailing up the river in the dark. That reminded me that the upbound current was early. I checked my chartplotter for exact information. If I wanted to catch any of it, I should leave as early as possible. At 5:30 AM it would be light enough to go.

Here’s the current chart on my chartplotter for that day. The curves in the top graph indicate the speed of the upriver (blue) and downriver (red) currents. Where the graph turns from red to blue is slack. The current was already running upriver near peak and would be slowing for the next one hour and 46 minutes. The sooner I left, the more current I’d have in my favor.

I hustled. I got dressed, fed my pups, and took them for a walk in the park. Then I got them settled at the main helm station — the weather was too iffy to drive from up on the command bridge — and started the engine. When it was sufficiently warmed up, I cast us off and drove off, away from Coxsackie.

I needed fuel and Albany Yacht Club’s advertised price was $4.20/gallon. That was a pretty decent price. Trouble is, they didn’t open until 8 AM. So I set my speed to get us there at exactly 8.

It was a pleasant enough cruise. Dawn was pretty much a non-event with lots of clouds in the sky blocking the sun. I eventually caught up with that sailboat just as it was dropping its sails near New Baltimore. I passed, wondering if he was going to drop anchor or go into the marina, possibly to get his mast taken down for an Erie or Champlain Canal trip.

I arrived at Albany Yacht Club at exactly 8 AM. There was a guy there working at the fuel pump. It wasn’t until I was pumping diesel into the tank that I realized the price on the sign was $4.95/gallon. He’d been in the middle of raising the price when I came along. Fortunately, the price in the pump’s computer was still $4.20/gallon, so that’s what he let me pay.

While I was there, securely tied up to the dock, I took a few minutes to fold up my bimini top and put its cover on. The weather was supposed to get bad and it was already windy. The top was dry so I didn’t risk mold or mildew by stowing it. It only took a few minutes and is easy enough to do on my own. (It’s opening the top that requires a second person.)

Then I cast off and continued up the river. The tidal current had turned right around the time I reached Albany and now it was against me. That was okay; I didn’t have far to go. Troy was a short ride up the river. I took some photos of downtown Albany as I passed through.

Here’s a view of Albany from the Hudson River as I passed. You can see the weather was a bit threatening that morning.

There were two places to stay at Troy. One was the Troy Free Day Dock. The trouble was, there was no consensus in the reviews on whether they allowed overnight stays or whether there was a fee. The other was the Troy Downtown Marina, which was definitely not free. I had not been able to get anyone at the marina on the phone.

So when I arrived at the Troy Free Day Dock, I pulled the boat in and docked. The long floating dock was parallel to the river so I parked facing into it. A guy named Dean on a demasted sailboat parked at the end of the dock came out to grab lines, which was probably a good thing given that the current was pretty swift and the wind was blowing hard. Dean said that he’d been there for a few nights and it was free. He also mentioned that he was having engine trouble and wasn’t sure when he’d be able to move on.

I put my pups on leashes, locked the boat, and walked up to the marina. It was on the other side of a bridge and was set up the same as the dock I was on: a floating dock parallel to the river. The only difference between the two facilities was that the marina had power and water and the dock I was at did not. But I didn’t need power or water. My batteries were charged during my cruise to Troy and I’d taken on water at Poughkeepsie. Did I really want to spend $64 to stay at the marina? No.

I brought my pups back to the boat and secured them inside. Then I checked my lines and went back up to the street. I wanted to explore Troy, which I’d heard good things about.

Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day, a Monday, and all the shops that may have been open on the weekend were definitely closed on Monday. So there weren’t many things to look at. I wound up going to a funky little coffee place named Little Pecks and ordering a grilled macaroni and cheese — a life changing experience. I ate it in an outdoor seating area that seemed to be what was left of a burned out building.

For the record, I can’t express how disappointed that I am that I missed the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Troy. Everyone I know who has been there has raved about it. But I just couldn’t get my timing right to be in Troy on a Saturday.

Meanwhile, I was texting back and forth with my friend Tom, who lives in Vermont. He and his wife were driving to New Jersey that day and they’d drive through Troy. We were working out a plan to meet up at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which was right by where my boat was parked. They’d be there around 2:30 PM.

I walked back to the boat, glad I’d had a small meal since I’d be having a larger one in only a few hours.

Back on the boat, I cleaned up a bit and spent some time reading and relaxing. When I got Tom’s text that they were in Troy, I left my pups on the boat, locked up again, and went up to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que to meet them for what would be an early dinner.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is a chain with locations throughout New York State. I’d been to all of them except the ones in Brooklyn and Troy. I like BBQ and had planned to go there whether I met Tom and Tammy there or not.

I am a total sucker for BBQ and Dinosaur has some of the best.

We greeted each other with big hugs — I hadn’t seen them since an autumn vacation to Vermont that I’d done in 2018. Tom is one of my oldest friends — we met back in New Jersey in the early 1990s, not long after I’d started my freelance writing and computer consulting career. He and I were bulletin board (BBS) system operators (sysops) in the days before the average person knew what the Internet was. We’d often meet up just to geek out on new Apple operating systems and hardware. Years later, I went to his wedding to Tammy. They’d since moved to Vermont with their three sons and I’d moved to Arizona with my future wasband. But we stayed in touch throughout the years.

We had a great meal and made plans to meet up again when they got back from New Jersey. I’d be in Whitehall, at the top end of the Champlain Canal. They’d pick me and my dogs up for a few days with them at their house. That was the plan, anyway.

They came with me down to the boat to take a quick look at it. (I planned on taking them for a ride later in the week.) Tom seemed to like it a lot. (What’s not to like?) I walked back up to the sidewalk with them and my dogs just as it started to rain. More goodbye hugs. Then they were on their way to their car and I was hurrying back to the boat with my pups.

The sky opened up right after that and I was glad to be snug inside the boat for the rest of the day.

The next day, I’d start my trip up the Champlain Canal. But that’s another story.