First Light didn't need to be underway at first light yesterday as the fuel dock didn't open until 0900. For some reason Deb and I were up around 0600 anyway. Habit maybe. Around 1000 the fuel tanks were full, the holding tank was empty, and we were idling down the creek and out into the Hudson once again. As we turned the corner, I looked out to see a river filled with white caps, the winds blowing 20 and a little more. But the waves would be on the bow and what kind of weenie sailor runs and hides in the face of 20 knot winds and 2 foot seas? Besides, for the first part of the day the current would be behind us. Weird in a river right? Until this trip I figured rivers only flowed one way. If it doesn't, it isn't a river. But the Hudson was called “The River that Flows Both Ways” by the Native Americans that lived here when the white dudes showed up. It has a tidal flow so far inland from the New York Harbor as to be near unbelievable.
So we bumped along still making seven plus knots. At one point we were passed by an enormous freighter heading up the river. I never knew those behemoths went up rivers. Big boats on the Mississippi around St. Louis are tugs pushing astonishing numbers of rafted together barges through the water. The freighter wasn't throwing much of a wake. My guess is that they go at a much slower speed up the narrow channel of a river. In any case, it was a painless passing. Passing big boats in small channels is another fresh water riverboat pilot skill to master.
Mid day we caught up to our friends Nils and Frances in M/V Pivot and were able to do a little photo shoot for them against the Catskills mountains.
The mountains are stunningly beautiful and reminded us so much of the Allegheny mountains from our home state of Pennsylvania.
The last few hours of the trip were a bit slower because the river had turned around and started to flow the other way. We still managed to reach our destination anchorage around 1430. It is described as being the most popular anchorage on the Hudson river. First Light was the only boat there, which was kind of cool. We thought that others might show up before nightfall, though our various river traffic tracking apps don't show any behind us. We are, though not the last, kind of at the end of the line of Loopers heading North. In any case, riding to anchor after a good day's travel in a spot all to one's self? That is a treat that is hard to beat.
This morning we were looking at a short day's travel. We were up and about early anyway, pulling the hook out of the bottom at 0600 once again. Unlike yesterday, there was near zero wind, making for a smooth ride all the way. Today there was a lot of industry along the shore as we putted through Albany. There were “NO WAKE” signs along the way, which seemed kind of silly to me. First Light couldn't make a wake big enough to bother any of the stuff we saw along shore no matter how fast she was going. But we are in no hurry so we slowed down.
At the end of the travel day, we encountered the first of many locks. There was only one other boat ahead of us so it wasn't very crowded. We managed to lock through without leaving a new battle scar on the boat so we have to say It went okay, but from now on we will be setting fenders differently. Just few minutes after following our lock buddy back out into the river, we both swung to port, leaving the Hudson River phase of the trip to take a free dock at the very beginning of the Erie Canal phase of the trip. The next lock is about 200 yards from our bow and is the first of the five locks in a row that they call The Flight of Five because it’s like a flight of five stairs that raises you up over 140 feet. It sounds like a bit of a challenge—more river boat pilot training. Locks and barges and currents...oh my.
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