Cruising in the Adirondacks

Deep smooth water, large old growth hardwood trees, hill and mountain vistas, very little boat traffic, fun new friends, sensory overload. How good can it get?

We finally got into "prime time" on the Hudson and the Erie canal with a number of great evenings swapping stories with fellow cruisers on the dock or wall and short day runs of 3-4 hours to delightful new spots. We continue to have a "storm of the day" but we have gotten used to them and they present little problem in this sheltered water.

It is difficult to describe in words all of the emotions encompassed in our days afloat. Highs, lows, fatigue, exhilaration, fear and many other emotions cycle by in a kaleidoscopic blur. Our usual overly large batch of pictures tell the story better than we can. picasaweb.google.com/lropka

Fuel prices have clearly impacted boaters and today for example from lock 7 on the Erie for 30 miles to Amsterdam NY we virtually had the Mohawk River to ourselves. We were the only boat in the four locks that lifted us.

Perhaps the biggest "downer" is to walk the streets of these old industrial towns and see the huge number of empty homes, store fronts and factories. They are struggling and most have cared for parks and public areas but the surrounding decay is truly sad.

We are really slowing down with about 100 miles to go to lake Ontario and up to two weeks to get there. Top priority now is to find a haven from the Fourth of July water madness.

A lot of water under the keel

Sorry to be so long, too much going on to take time to blog.

To catch up, we had a beautiful outside (in the Atlantic) 5 hour run from Atlantic City to Manasquan Inlet and a restful night at anchor. Then onto Great Kills harbor in fine conditions for the worst stop since leaving the Solomons. Great Kills is a man made (WPA) harbor on the SE shore of Staten Island with 4 marinas and other services. On arrival we were informed that all shore facilities were private and we could not land our dinghy anywhere.
The Captain dinghyed into a small marina to beg for mercy which failed so he told the proprietor that Great Kills was a disgrace to the boating community. Must have hit a nerve and he offered a slip at a discount ($30) on the fuel dock. We got to stroll around town and found if full of hyper New Jersey'ns.

Onward the next day for our long awaited leg through the heart of New York City. It is hard to describe the emotions of awe and anxiety swirling around in a mix of fast current , ferries and ships. Actually it went quite smoothly and nobody ran over us. We had a rather long day continuing 50 miles up the Hudson to an anchorage 3 miles north of West Point.

Somewhat worn by the trek through NJ we threw out the anchor and decided to just hang out the next day. We were anchored by one of the most unusual "castles" ever seen and smooth river conditions allowed us to scoot in the dinghy down to Cold Springs, a really charming small town and up to Newburgh a not so charming city. The pictures at picsaweb.google.com/lropka in album Hudson River tell the story of these adventures.

Onward (upward?) on Sunday 22nd to the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club for a very warm welcome and a delightful evening of boat talk and conversation. Further on Monday to the neat little village of Catskill where the main street is lined with 4' cat statues in every conceivable decor. The Admiral wheedled a free dock out of a restaurant owner and we had a great time strolling the streets. (Adrmiral's Note: Had to buy a dinner ....;-) smart bargain huh!)

The tide (current) in contrary so we are going to stay here today and catch the current north at 5 am tomorrow for Troy and the entrance to the Erie Canal system, about 500 miles since leaving the Solomons.

Some fun and serious cruising

A real sailor comes into Havre de Grace having been through a storm.

Our voyage from Baltimore to Havre de Grace, Md was a joy and our two day stay there even better. We slid easily onto the end of the first T dock to find ourselves welcomed by cruisers on adjacent boats. As usual the Admirals first question was "where is the best place for breakfast". An enjoyable evening of cruising tales and information was followed by a morning walk through old homes on tree canopied streets to a charming coffee shop for muffins and bagels recommended by Bob and Jean DuBois, our dock mates. It was a very relaxing day visiting with new friends Bob And DoraTurner who joined us the next morning for another visit to the the coffee shop before we set off on the "strenuous" 2 1/2 hour run to Chesapeake City at the head end of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.

Chesapeake City proved to be a charming little village and took more than 30 minutes to walk all of the streets. That was followed by lingering over cool drinks on the deck of a neat restaurant overlooking the small harbor. Off at daybreak for the remaining 12 miles of the C&D canal and the 40 miles down the notorious Delaware Bay. The Bay could not have been kinder being almost flat and with a 1.5 kt boosting current we were in Cape May soon after lunch. We topped off our fuel at the last reasonable price going north and proceeded up the ICW 2 miles to Sunset Lake (you could row across it in 2 minutes) and anchored for the night. The Atlantic was rough the following morning so we elected to proceed up the "Inside" a little earlier than the recommended "half tide rising". Long story short, we saw lots of water less than 5' (we draw 4.5") and a snake like course that took 9 hours to go 40 miles and 30 as the crow flies. It was a very stressful day but God sent 3 Angels at critical times that got us through. On the first occasion we were lightly aground seemingly in the channel (not much wider than the boat) not knowing whether to push left or right. A small runabout came up from behind and saw our dilemma and zigzagged to locate the channel and proceeded to lead us the next mile or so in the very narrow and shallow area. Nearing the end of the day we were very tired and getting desperate for a place to anchor. We saw a number of boats anchored off in a pond listed as 8-10' deep. We joyously headed for it and as we passed another small boat the chap, dropped his cell phone in mid sentence, shouting to us that it was too shallow for us to get over the bar and instead recommended a spot on down. We pressed on and found a sizable area on the south side of Atlantic City and threw out the hook only to find the area alive with jet skis and water skiers. Shortly after anchoring another boater came along and hailed us to say we should move about a mile east to a very small pond where we would be much more comfortable. We did the next morning and we were much more comfortable. We spent the afternoon riding the bus to the grocery store for much need supplies.

This morning (Sunday) we ran 5 miles to an anchorage near the mouth of the Abscom Inlet at Atlantic City in anticipation of jumping off outside (in the ocean, weather permitting) tomorrow for Manasquan Inlet about 5 hours north and 30 miles short of Sandy Hook, the entrance to New York Harbor.

We are still healing up from our Intra Coastal adventure and look forward to a few hours looking at something other than the depth sounder. Also we need a long period to replenish our adrenalin stores.

After all the traumas of the past couple of days, the Admiral declared a day off to explore Atlantic City. We dinghyed across the Inlet in rough waters, found the city dock, tied up, had lunch, found transportation into town, found the boardwalk and the beach, noticed how black the sky was, walked through a casino back to the bus stop, jumped into a wet dinghy and made it back to the boat in time for thunder and lightening all within an hour or two. Tour report: If you get a chance to come to Atlantic City ... don't.

For tooooooo many pictures go to picasaweb.google.com/lropka

These are found in Havre de Grace to Atlantic City

On the road (Bay) again

We finally got good weather and got out of Dodge (Solomons) last Thursday (5 Jun) with a major three hour cruise to Annapolis. We picked up a mooring ball about 100 yards from Ego Alley (name is very appropriate as everyone cruises the alley with their new boats and looking as good as one can) and felt like two little kids on their first trip to the city. There was stuff going on everywhere you looked. Kinda like being seated at center stage in a large theater in the round. At dark the east wind kicked up and the refracted waves made for a rolly night. Fri morning we moved up Spa Creek (in the heart of Annapolis to a much more placid mooring field. Fri evening we were treated to a magnificent dinner at THE Annapolis Yacht Club by Larry's cousin, Bill and his wife, Monica Kearns. A beautiful dining room overlooking a sea of boats in the harbor and most excellent food well presented.

Sat morning we moved out to the Severn River intending to head for Baltimore when the fog lifted per the forecast at 8AM. At 9 we retreated to the Annapolis Harbor and hung on a ball until 10:30 watching the fog thicken. At 11 with many large plastic wake makers cued to move out we retreated to Spa Creek once more for a lite lunch and a long nap. The thermometer rose to about 95 in the PM so we had opportunity to run the generator and A/C for four hours in a beautiful sunset setting. After a short thunder shower after dark the delightful aroma of honey suckle settled heavily over our little home on the creek.

Sunday dawned calm and clear for an almost perfect three hour run to Baltimore arriving before lunch. After anchoring by ourselves surrounded by waterfront condos in the Canton district , a stones throw from the Inner Harbor, Larry's internet list friends, Wayne and Lynn Flatt motored over for a first and delightful visit. The Flatts have cruised 40,000 miles and are a goldmine of information and beyond that just fun people. We plan join them for a hole in the wall dinner this evening at a near by bistro and then off tomorrow (Mon) to Havre de Grace and a waterborne trip down memory lane and the water playground of Larry's youth.

Pictures are posted at picasaweb.google.com/lropka

Admiral's note: The Captain and crew have gotten into the cruising mode rather quickly this year. Just discovered that two sets of pictures full of adventures were not sent up nor noted. So now they are noted and sent up. The captions tell the story of all the excitement that you can't live without knowing. We are having a ball, enjoying it all, even the extreme heat ... well ........