Post # 10 Hudson-on-Croton to Albany June 15-25, 2015

Blog Post #10
Croton-on-Hudson to Albany,  June 15-25, 2015

Leaving NYC under the GW bridge in the foggy morning. The flag is our America's Great Loop Cruisers Association burgee. Handy for spotting other Loopers

“In river travel today, perhaps nothing is finer than arrival in the center a town without having go those purgatorial miles of vile sprawl, hideous billboards, and reiterated franchises where we we become fugitives of the ganged chains and endless surround of noplaceness, where the shabbiest of of architectural detritus washes up against the center of a town. To come in by canal or river is to see a genuine demarcation between country and city and to fetch up in the historic heart of things the way travelers once did when they had entered or departed a place.
William Least Heat-Moon, River Horse; A Voyage Across America

Couldn’t have said it better myself :) This entertaining book is about a six month trip from New York to Oregon by boat, He begins in New York, and up the Hudson on a 25 ft C-Dory. We happen to have one, its for sale, if you are interested.

We spent a week in Croton-on-Hudson at Half Moon Bay Marina. We started by visiting Joel’s cousin Sandy and her husband Allen Goldstein who live close by in Yorktown, and ended up staying  a few extra days when we learned that the Clearwater Music Festival was happening a mere mile away.

View from West Point with Allen and Sandy Goldstein

The Hudson from above

Cold Springs

Above Croton, on the Hudson

 Sandy and Allen were most excellent hosts.  Dinners at their lovely home (with laundry privileges ), a chance to catch up with cousin Jack Appel, a trip to West Marine (always) and a drive through West Point. The next day we did a tour up to Hyde Park and Eleanor’s cottage with a stop in Cold Spring.

Eleanor's cottage, Val-Kill. The only real home of her own and much loved by her.

Chatting with the Roosevelts

They lent us a car so I could visit my dear friend and Sangha sister, Doris Balant, who has moved from Maine to her daughter’s house in Carmel NY. Doris and I had a lovely lunch and I got to meet her engaging grandson Eli, and her lovely, although initially barky, dog Rosy, in a delightful old house at the end of a road, in the woods, by a lake. Of course she had just finished a book I am reading, Oliver Sack’s memoir, On the Move; A Life. Doris has continued to be part of our Kennebec River Zen sangha since she moved, via Skype, what else.

Doris Balant & Rosie

We also finally met up with Jon and Lynn on Zendo, our flesh and blood dopplegangers, also doing the Loop, They have same boat we have, but 2 years newer. Joel met them in Indiantown, FL but I never had, so it was great. The name Zendo comes from a combination their two last names, but of course its perfect on another level. I really hope we can catch up to them again, or they to us. The six of us had a fabulous dinner out at Tagine- Moroccan fare in Croton.

The Clearwater Festival was great fun, despite the rainy first day the crowds were big and lively, and on Sunday the sun came out. It's a lot like the Common Ground Fair in Maine except with lots of music and not so many farmers.  Among the many performers; The Blind Boys of Alabama (who really know how to put on a show), David Crosby (biggest disappointment), Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Mike and Ruthie (who we we first saw at Sweet Charity in Maine), Ani de Franco, Tom Paxton, Neko Case, and best new dance band for me, Delhi 2 Dublin, a Vancouver Bollywood Irish fiddle fusion band. The spirit of Pete Seegar was everywhere. His work to clean the Hudson continues through the Clearwater Foundation, and it is swimmable today.

Clear Water Music Festival, still going strong for over 30 years

One of 5 music stages. The sloop is the Clearwater, giving rides

Sandy and Allen joined us for a day trip up the river. And then they can just hop on the train home!

This is the Clearwater as we passed her going to Albany as she returned from the festival

Saying good bye to Sandy and Allen at the Poughkeepsie train station.

My book for this area has been T.C.Boyle’s World’s End which spans the history from 1600’s through the 60’s, One of the pivotal scenes in the book is the 1949 Peekskill riots, when the locals violently protested a Paul Robeson, (most well known Negro in the country at the time) concert in Peekskill. This was just the beginning of the communist witch hunts, and it combined nicely with the racist and anti-semitic fervor of the time. Many were injured, police turned a blind eye. There was a successful rescheduling if the concert, but when those concert goers left the venue they were attacked, including Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie who had their car stoned with Pete's infant children inside.

Westchester County locals raging against a Paul Robeson concert 1949

Pete Seegar and the Clearwater, lightly fictionalized, also appear in World's End.

Off to visit the home town, East Aurora NY, by car, and a family reunion, then a quick trip to Maine before re-boating.

The Catskills come into view. Good to see mountains once more.

Cheers
Sarah & Joel

Post # 9 Chesapeake Bay to NYC

Blog Post #9 The Eastern Shore to NYC
June 5 to June 15
 
Up the Choptank River, to the Tred Avon to Trippe Creek to visit our friends Sarah and Ken Sadler in Easton.

Ken & Sarah Sadler in Easton MD

We met them in Maine at the Sweet Chariot Festival on Swan’s Island a number of years ago, they used to regularly sail to  Maine for the summer. Back when they still had kids at home they chucked the corporate life and took off in a 51 ft sailboat with three out of five kids, two dogs and two cats for two years, and they haven’t stopped adventuring since.

From Sadler's backyard, their "Skedaddle" and our "Snow Goose"

This is the area of the Chesapeake where most of the action in James Michener’s “Chesapeake“ takes place, a massive sprawling novel that begins in the 1600’s and goes through Watergate in the mid 1970’s. Great read for history if you are in the area, but I am relieved to have reached the last page.

Nice (and narrow) passage through Tilghman Island,where they still have the classic skipjacks and lots of other working boats.

Classic skipjack at Tilghman Island Canal

In Annapolis, another very beautiful city, we meet Sarah and Ken again for adventures at the Apple Store, Home Depot and a dinner at wonderful Indian restaurant.

Alex Haley brings along the younger generation. Annapolis is where he did his research for "Roots"

Up to Worten Creek, back again on the Eastern Shore, a quiet spot for kayak and rowing and an after dark swim.

Worton Creek , a quiet anchorage on the Eastern Shore. Working fish weir on right

Farewell to Chesapeake Bay as we head down the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. We spent the night anchored in the in the basin at Chesapeake City, which is actually a very cute 19th century town. 

Chesapeake City street garden

Our longest travel day so far, 65 miles,  down the Delware River Bay to Cape May NJ.

Sunrise on the C&D Canal. Up extra early to catch the tide.

The beach at Cape May

Cape May, NJ. I’ll wager there are more quaint Victorian B& B’s per sq mile than any other spot in the country.

Cape May, long a summer resort, still quaint

Now we begin the dreaded New Jersey passage. The ICW does go through NJ, but there is much shoaling and many warnings about going aground. The other choice is to go “outside” as in open ocean.  I’m not too keen on this, but it does seem the better option provided the weather is good, and it is, so we go.
First stop, Atlantic City, a place we would have avoided if possible. But our little marina, Kammerman’s, was quite leafy and laid-back, far enough from the casino life, and in an interesting neighborhood- in transition.

Our marina in the other Atlantic City.

There aren’t that many places to safely pull in along the Jersey coast, so we we didn’t have a lot of choice about coming into Manasquan  River for the next night. According to our trusty Skipper Bob, “The Great Circle Route” a particularly narrow rail road bridge plus a swift current and a very busy waterway make this spot "one of the most dangerous parts of the ICW on the East Coast”, and there are lots of warnings in Active Captain about going in only at slack tide to avoid the current. Of course we arrived when the current was full strength. Thankfully  Hoffman’s Marina is just before the bridge, but all the other conditions applied. It took four dock hands a good while to get us into the slip, and they were working hard. Snow Goose is a single engine boat, and while that has a number of advantages, one of the distinct disadvantages is in maneuverability  in docking situations.  The help was competent and cheerful, they kept assuring us that this happened all the time.  One of them made a point to tell me later that my husband had done an amazing job holding the boat so they could get it in, given the single screw, he was impressed. There was another trawler coming right after us, and for this one the marina folks asked them come along side the fuel dock  (much easier than a slip) and they put three deck hands on the boat, one of whom took the helm, and another on the dock. Even so it took them two tries to get in.  Wish we had been the second boat.

Next day all the way to New York Harbor which is thrilling to approach by water.

NYC!

What is it? If any one knows let me know. We watched this appear over the Hudson, line by line, with no visible casual agent.

New World Trade Center

We stayed on the Jersey side and took a short water taxi ride across to the World Trade Center to see the new building and the 9 11 memorial. It works, it is very moving. There are two of these tower footprints. Water flows over the sides into the center opening. From no point can you see the bottom of that hole.

9 11 Memorial

Chris Gardner, who's name appears above, was the previous owner of our sailboat Evening Star. We never met, but we inherited his log along with the boat, and he and Joel chatted on line in the Freedom boat forum. It was amazing that Joel found his name among the 3000 inscribed.

Double Check by Seward Johnson, ©1982 The Sculpture Foundation. After 9 11

On a lighter note, Joel visited Double Check, in Zuccotti Park no less (Occupy Wall Street), now in happier days. Resiliency in action

More advice imparted

On the 15th we left early in the foggy morning and rode the considerable
tide up the river to Croton - on - Hudson, to Half Moon Bay Marina.

Blog # 8 The Potomac River

Blog #: The Potomac
May  23 - June 4th
First, here is a map of everywhere we have been so far if you are interested https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z9lhWtsm6sNQ.kk5KoaqHMNEw&usp=sharing
If someone knows how to copy the map into the blog let me know.
 
Traveling up the western shore of the Chesapeake to the town of Reedville, famous for its Maine (born in Brooklin) founder, Elijah Reed. He came down in 1865 and established the town and the menhaden fishery and made a killing doing so. There is still a menhaden industry today, but not what it was.

Reedville is still fishing

We didn’t actually see the town that day as our very pleasant Buzzards Point Marina was up the creek and and on the far side from town, so we biked the nearby roads and ate aboard. 

Buzzard's Point Marina, Reedville. Another Snow Goose here, but owners not aboard

The wheat is coming in around Reedville

However the next morning when we left the sheltering river and went round Smith Point into the Chesapeake we encountered some pretty unpleasant choppy swells, just not fun, so we put in at the closest spot, which was a very narrow channel into a lovely protected bay and the Smith Point Marina. It was a beautiful day and we took our bikes back into Reedville which was only 5 miles away by road. There is a fine Fisherman’s Museum and a great ice cream store, which also sells delicious clam chowder by the quart (dinner!) and it is altogether a lovely quiet town.
Monday the 24th, Memorial Day, we left at 6:15 am (a record for us) hoping to take advantage of lower morning winds in light of small craft advisory warnings. This time we were pleasantly surprised. We had thought to go only 15 or 20 miles in expectation of high winds but ended up going much farther. We made it to Colonial Beach around 3:00, a long day for us, and it was a challenge getting into our 4 piling, quarter finger slip pier with an on shore wind. The calm and helpful owner of the Boat House Marina, Bill, was wonderfully patient and we liked the place once secure. The  town has water on both sides and is filled with little modest houses, simple and sweet with a good community feel.

The beach at Colonial Beach

We joined Bill and friends and other Loopers we had met before for a Memorial Day cookout pot luck. The other Loopers boat is named Quo Vadimus (which, in case your latin is weak, translates as “where you going?”, and they registered it in “Nowhere, OK” which is a real place.

Next stop Occaquan, again farther than we thought we would get. It is reportedly a pretty quaint town. Our Marina was up the river, but not all the way up to the town. We tried to bike the one mile up to the but I freaked out, it was on Route 1, with heavy traffic and no sidewalks or bike lanes and way too much civilization. We turned back and never saw the place.

Mt Vernon by water is definitely the way to visit ”the most visited historical home in America”! 

View of Mt Vernon from the boat

 We anchored right in front of the mansion. We were the only boat there all afternoon and night, and there were no signs of development on either shore. There were hordes touring the grounds, 5000 school children scheduled during the day we were there, plus the rest of us, but even so you could find empty gardens and vistas. 

Mt Vernon gardens

George was a self taught architect. This is a 3 hole "necessary" on the grounds

The big house

Empty roadway, closed, but we didn't know that, beneath Mt Vernon, our boat to right

meticulous gardens

The Washington's view- preserved!

We saw the bed George died in, of a mysterious sore throat that nobody can figure out for sure, but the copious bleeding inflicted by the doctors didn’t help. He slowly asphyxiated over 2 days at age 67. We, however, had a glorious still night with fabulous clouds and sunset, communing with the founding family and their slaves.

Mt Vernon sunset from the boat

On to Washington and the Capital Yacht Club for a few days, right downtown and close to everything. 

Washington's Monument, from the boat. A far cry from George's Mt Vernon

Courtney & her Uncle Joel, beer before noon!

 The best part was getting to see the Davis girls, Courtney & Sara, our nieces & Helene Cognacca, niece-in law.

Hangin' on Snow Goose, Courtney, Sara, Julie & Helene

Sarah & Sara at the Newseum

Our Parkinson's display, we put it in the Capital Yacht Club lounge for a few days and Joel had some conversations

The first night Courtney came by after work and we got to see her beautiful new condo in Georgetown. She is still moving in, but the place is lovely, with the National Observatory out her windows, which means all big green trees and quiet. Nice dinner in the ever so charming ‘hood, and she took us grocery shopping to boot. Sara came on Friday, and Helene and sister-in law Julie came on Saturday. Friday Joel got a shipment of meat from Central Maine Meats, a business in Gardiner he has been helping out while aboard, and we had filet Mignon on the boat.
We had a great time at the Newseum, Sara and I saw a striking exhibit by the Iranian photographer and film maker Shirin Neshat at the Hirshorn. 

Sara and I at the National Gallery for lunch

Thanks to Sara’s connections we were able to get Saturday night reservations at Zaytinya’s. She works with the wife of the chef there, and not only did we get a good table, he came out and chatted, and comped us all desert. 

Helene, Sara, Courtney, Julie & Joel at Zaytinya's

It was truly a spectacular meal, with a lively and passionate waiter, we highly recommend this place. As an added bonus we glimpsed the Presidential motorcade as the Obamas went out to dinner nearby, to another restaurant also owned by Jose Andres. It was wonderful spending some time with these delightful engaged and engaging young women, what a great family!

Sunday we started back down the Potomac River with our dear Julie, glad for the breeze on the water. Its been very hot and very humid the last few days. We got Julie on board because she came to Washington to attend the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity. She has been to these before, but this time she and her colleagues were presenting the great work they have done at Colby to address race and to support students of color.

We pulled into Potomac Creek to anchor in the afternoon and enjoyed a swim off the boat and more filet Mignon with new potatoes and asparagus fresh from the farmers market in DC. Next day to Breton Bay and the Combs Creek Marina. 

Breton Bay. Just before the rain hit the water in the river turned a wonderful green

We have seen a ton of Osprey’s on this trip, but there were five full nests within sight of the boat, and a pair just beginning a new nest on top of flat topped boat  a few docks down. Those owners are going to be some surprised. 

Leaving Combs Creek Marina

No internet and barely phone service, and the only restaurant within miles not open. So we got another Julie feast of pasta prima whats-on-hand, followed by canasta, of course. Still hot and sticky.

Next day was comfortably cool and cloudy and we motored up the winding pastoral St Mary’s River to the dock at the college of St Mary’s, next to Historic St Mary’s. St Mary’s College is the honors college of the U of Maryland, small, and active from the looks of it. Sailing is part of the curriculum and lots of small boats and kayaks on the shore. The town was for a short time the capital of Maryland in the late 1600’s until they moved it to Annapolis, where upon it pretty much died until resurrected as a living history museum, complete with a reproduction of one of the ships the earliest English settlers came over in.

This guy has been in stocks for a long time...

Julie in the graveyard at St Mary's

A history tour with Julie is an education within an education. She is brilliant at gently engaging any and all, in this case docents, archeologists, scholars and school teachers, on questions of how slavery and race are researched and portrayed. We got a variety of somewhat contradictory responses but the bottom line seemed to be that yes a better job could be done, and should be, but it didn’t seem to be anyone’s top priority. We also learned about Margaret Brent, first woman to ask for the right to vote in 1648. She didn’t get it.  She probably also stopped a mutiny by making sure soldiers got paid after a skirmish and skillfully executing her brother's estate.

We finished the day back down the river a piece to Dennis Point Marina where again the Restaurant was closed and again chef Julie came up with some pretty tasty enchiladas, followed by … canasta. Next morning Julie got shuttled back to the airport and we are now vistor-less once more.

The Dove, came with the first Maryland English settlers in 1637

Heading north once more on the Chesapeake
Sarah & Joel