Deltaville, VA to New York

5/17/13
The last time I updated this journal we were spending some time with Ryan and Kari in Deltaville, VA.  Here's Kari and Karen with a loaf of freshly baked bread.

Kari & Karen with a loaf of French bread.

The next day we said our goodbyes and headed south.  Yes, south.  We're trying to make progress north so we headed south to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to the Atlantic Ocean.  Southerly winds were forecast for the next few days - perfect for heading to NY on the ocean.  If we had continued north up the Chesapeake Bay we still would have to sail south on the Delaware to arrive at the ocean.  The forecast held up and we had a leisurely motor/sail up the coast.  The sails always help move the boat along even in light wind.  A leisurely sail = fairly calm seas (we had a bit of a large, lazy sea swell that rolled us a bit).  We were able to play Scrabble, backgammon and have some aerobic workouts.  There's nothing like an ocean sunrise to start your day.

The sun is almost up.

Sunshine!

Another sunny day.

I turned on the television as we neared NY Harbor and watched the Good Morning America show from NYC featuring the new world trade center spire project.  We were arriving the day the spire was to be affixed to the top.  When we left last fall I had taken a picture of the building being constructed, not realizing what the building was going to be.

Photo taken 11/3/12

Photo taken 5/10/13

Spire construction.

NY Fire Boat

Sail NY Harbor in style!

Another view of the new trade center building & surroundings.

My new camera has a healthy zoom feature.

More views - this from the north.

Statue of Liberty on a cloudy day.

Our passage began at 5 am on Wednesday and continued nonstop to Friday evening when we anchored in the bay at Croton-On-The-Hudson.  63 hours but who's counting.  We enjoyed a quiet, early evening and well-deserved sleep before continuing up the Hudson River.

Scenes from the Hudson River.

A picturesque place to live on the Hudson River.

Clouds move in as we travel the Hudson River.

Our destination - Kingston, NY where we left just after Hurricane Sandy's devastating wake last fall.  Vince at Hideaway Marina welcomed us upon arrival - it felt like we were back home.  Jerry had the opportunity to put on his walking shoes and get back into his walking.  Kingston is either uphill or downhill - a good workout.  Abundant green makes it feel like spring.

A Hudson River view.

A view of the Hudson from the hills of Kingston.

From Kingston we made good time riding with the current and a strong southerly breeze.  What does a sailor do in a strong following breeze when his mast is on deck?  Improvise!  Jerry grabbed an old shower curtain that he uses as a protective sheet when working on projects and clamped it to the arch on the back of the boat.  He called it our stern spinnaker.  It actually helped out quite a bit and we were going 7.5 knots at times (Persephone usually motors around 5 knots).  The shower curtain is clear so our view behind was not obstructed.

Jerry's Stern Spinnaker

Ship traffic on the Hudson.

Hook Place is nice quiet place to stop for the night.  The following morning we were up at 5 am and underway.  Actually, I got up, started the motor and hauled the anchor.  Jerry woke up with a start when the motor started and popped out of bed.  The start of another beautiful day!  The current was in our favor for the morning and the winds were forecast to pipe up - the early bird gets the worm.  Or the early sailor gets the favorable current.

Sunrise as we leave Hook Place near Coeymans on the Hudson.

Today we are at the town dock in Waterford ready to start our travels on the Erie Canal.  If you have a chance before we leave, you may see us at the Waterford Visitor Center's camera at: http://208.125.161.182:7110/view/index.shtml.

Happy Friday!