Week 4 America's Great Loop

Week 4 Aug 4-11

Monday

No need for a 5 am wake up today. Woot woot! We were heading up the Hudson River and didn't have to worry about tides or currents.

It was such a beautiful smooth cruise. It's fun to see new York city from the water. The temperature was in the blissful 80s. Right after you leave the city there's sheer cliffs. It's gorgeous. We drove 34 nautical miles to half moon bay. We dropped anchor in this beautiful bay. Ed went to work on the hatch again. Hopefully third time's a charm. After the bumpy ocean voyage yesterday, we had soggy bedding again. I gave the boat a bath. The outside was covered with salt. Using the river water, the outside got a good rinse.

We got the dingy down and went for a little cruise around this huge bay. We weren't going to a marina or dock, so we felt safe testing out the dingy. Using the dingy I was able to go around the bottom part of the boat and scrub at the brown tea looking stains we picked up in the dismal swamp. The swamp is full of tannins, so it looks like our boat had been sitting in tea. Boric acid works really great to get it white again.

Then we practiced getting the antenna pole down. On a sailboat it's called stepping the mast. I guess on our boat it's stepping the davot/antennae pole thingy. We'll have to lower it to get under the low fixed bridges that are coming up in a few days. It's heavy and takes both of us to do it. But it's a relief to know how, and that we can.

It was a good day to get many things accomplished while sitting in this beautiful bay.

Tuesday

We had another leisure cruise today. We passed by west point military academy. It's very impressive from the water. They used to let you tie up and take a tour, but now you have to sign up way in advance and you can't come from the water. We were disappointed in that. On the roof of a building it says beat air force. West point was a fort before it became a school and it looks like a fortress.

We went by a cool light house. We saw beautiful scenery and homes. On Pollepel Island is an old castle looking structure. Branniman built it in the 1940's. After he died the state of New York bought it. There was a fire in 1969 with severe roof and floor damage. New York just closed it to the public.

We tied up at the Rondout marina near Kingston New York. We went about 50 nautical miles today. The water was like glass most of the time. The Hudson has a 5 ft tidal swing even 100 miles up from the sea. Love those floating docks!

We walked 2 miles into Kingston for dinner and then got an Uber to the grocery. We've decided it's probably cheaper to have Amazon deliver our groceries than pay for an Uber. We'll be figuring that out in the next little bit. Kingston is a really old town. I didn't see any new construction. It looks like a new England fishing town.

We met this cute couple about our age that live in a commune. They were so open and friendly. They live the law of consecration. Bruderhof is the name and they have settlements all over the world. They follow the Bible. These two were born into it. Their parents were both members. It was fascinating talking to them. They give all to the commune and a committee divided it up. If you join, you give them your IRA, house, cash and income, etc. Very dedicated people and what a sacrifice. Early LDS church members tried it without a lot of success. Very hard to live.

Our stereo broke today. We're disappointed because we listen to talks, music, and a book. One more thing to fix.

Wednesday

We are 100 miles up the Hudson and there is still a tide swing of 5 feet. Amazing. We left the dock around 8am and had very smooth water up to Catskill New York. We timed it just right to be going with the Northward current. It was such a beautiful peaceful cruise. We stopped for lunch at a riverside seafood restaurant and then taught our institute class. The water was so nice and virtually no wind, so we decided to do the next leg of the trip after class. We stopped for the night at Donovan's Shady Harbor marina, in the town near New Baltimore. The people are just so nice and helpful. We asked if there was a grocery nearby, they said it was several miles away and offered to get the marina harbor host to give us a ride. Not all marinas have a host. This is the first time we've used one. Bob and Diane Grabo are their names. Yesterday's grocery was more a small market and we couldn't get everything. We need to load up before we hit the Erie canal.

After dinner we went to Bob and Diane's boat to visit for an hour. They printed out some info on all the locks in the Eire canal and gave us some very helpful info on other parts of the loop.

I was able to get on zoom with Milani and we read a boxcar book together for about 45 min. I was surprised she remembered doing that when we were in Peru and really liked the book. We didn't finish it while I was in Peru. It was fun to do it again and really rewarding that she was the one who asked to do it. Technology is amazing that I can get on zoom with the laptop, then get on zoom with my phone, pull up the book on my phone and share the screen.

Thursday

We spent several hours this morning getting ready for the Erie canal. Our mast had to be stepped, we got a pump out, Ed checked the strainers and engine compartment. We have a very small leak in the shaft seal when we go fast. We'll have to fix that at some point. All is well to go on ahead. The weather looks like it should be perfect for the next 4 days, which is about how long it will take us to get through the canal. It's the 200th anniversary of the canal, so it's free to pass through. Usually you have to buy a permit.

Before we started through the flight or steps as they call them, we took a walk along the old canal. In 1860 they built a new canal and lock system to accommodate much bigger boats and trade commerce. Waterford is the little town we stopped in. It's the oldest continuously incorporated township in the U.S. the houses are narrow but deep.

We went through 6 locks for an elevation increase of 184 feet. It's incredible how these locks work.

After lock 6 we came out on a portion on the Mohawk River. It's super nice and peaceful. Most of the route is wakeless. There's marinas, houses, and they want to preserve the banks. It is slow going but beautiful.

We tied up along a public wall for the night after lock 7 and guard gate 2. We got a little rain shower. When it cleared, we went for a walk to see the waterfall over the dam.

We actually had time to turn on Netflix and watch a movie, but we only made it 30 min before we were too tired. 😀 We traveled about 26 nautical miles today.

Friday

We left at 8 this morning to keep going up the Mohawk River. We went through 7 locks for a vertical rise of about 110 feet. We now feel like we are pros at the locks. We were very fortunate we never had to wait. In fact one lock master knew we were coming and waited for us. So it was very smooth. We made good time today. We traveled 59 nautical miles today.

We stopped for the night at a little town called Canajoharie. It is a mohawk word meaning boiling pots. We tied up to the wall that has free docking. The town has this stop light right in the middle of the intersection. It has a small village green and 3 huge churches on church street. The locals call it canjo. It's super cute.

We walked to the main street to have dinner and then another one and a half mile to see the boiling pots. We didn't really see any boiling pots, but some small cascading falls. It was just a couple of miles round trip.

We were notified today that lock 22 is closed until further notice. It needs some repair. Divers are going down on Monday to see what the problem is. We were supposed to get there tomorrow. We are at lock 14 tonight. We'll just have to take our time tomorrow and go slow and hope the lock gets fixed by Tues or Wed.

We met our first fellow loopers. We helped them tie up and got to talking. They are in the same boat as us. We both left about 6 weeks late, so we're trying to hurry to get to Chicago. Their boat goes a lot slower than ours, so not likely we'll be buddy boats.

Saturday

We went through 4 locks this morning. At lock 17, the last one we went through, we had to wait 30 min before we could go in. This is a really unique lock. It has the highest rise in the Erie canal at 40.5 feet. But what's really interesting is the gate we entered went up like a guillotine instead of opening inward or outward.

We pulled up to Little Falls rotary park. They have a nice small dock with water, electric, laundry, and showers. It's really clean and nice. And very inexpensive.

We got the scooters down to ride into town. It was canal days festival. There were several different locations where venders were set up selling their crafts. W stopped at a cute diner for a late lunch. We were able to find a municipal park that had free tennis courts!!! I have been itching to play for weeks. I was starting to get the shakes! 😀. It was the hottest time of the day to play, but compared to Chocowinity, it wasn't so bad.

We were able to do laundry and hang out in their lounge watching their t.v. while we waited for the dryer. This is a nice clean facility. We walked down the dock after the sun went down. We found 2 more looper boats!!! They're trying to do what we are. We visited with Liz and Pat for almost an hour. They're delightful!

We found out the radio isn't broken. We're pretty happy about that. It was locked to Allison's phone Bluetooth and would respond to buttons but Allison played sound on her phone and it blasted out the stereo. One less thing to fix!

We traveled only 20 nautical miles today due to broken lock 22 ahead of us. Boats are stacking up and filling dockage.

Sunday

We are staying here in little falls until they open lock 22. We really wanted to go to church and the closest one is in Herkimer. It's just a bunch of really small towns around here. We weren't sure if there would be an Uber. In fact one local guy said there wouldn't be any. But we said a prayer. We missed last week and really wanted to go. I kept thinking, it's in God's hands. If He really wants us to go, He will make it happen. We started trying for an Uber 40 min before church started. We finally got one and we were only 10 min late!!! It's about a 20 min drive.

My favorite talk was the analogy of how the Lord is building a mansion for us. He wants us all to come live there. The Lord was a carpenter in his mortal life. He's a builder of people.

There were only about 33 people in sacrament, counting leaders and speakers. We stayed for relief society/priesthood. They needed a chorister and when no one volunteered I said I would do it. The lesson was great and the women were really friendly. Our badges are great ice breakers! Ed mentioned in priesthood that if anyone was headed back to Little Falls, we sure would appreciate a ride. The bishop's grandmother gave us a ride back to the boat. Sister Bunker. It was a wonderful experience this morning.

Funny thing: I boiled corn on the cob and fried up all the bacon to use for the week and it made the boat smell like brownies!!! Don't ask us how but that combo in a small space smells like brownies! Now we're craving brownies.

We went for a really nice scooter ride on a beautiful bike path. We went to see the Herkimer mansion. He was a commander in the revolutionary war. His win changed the course of the battle up in these parts. He died from a war wound. The mansion was fun to see. There's always something fun and historical to see.