Hudson River

We left New York City on Tuesday, May 29th to head up the Hudson River. We passed under the George Washington bridge. This was the first bridge we have seen that has two levels.

We headed to our first anchorage at Pollepel Island. Along the way we saw many large homes along the river and then passed by the US Military Academy at West Point. After 9-11, no one can dock at West Point any longer so we did not tour the campus.

We reached our anchorage behind Pollepel Island. This island is famous for a man named Frank Bannerman that built a "Castle" on the island. It is locally known as Bannerman's Island since he put that name on the side of his castle.

In actuality, the castle is a warehouse with a separate residence. Bannerman started a military equipment company after the Civil War and bought surplus military supplies from the U.S. Government. He had warehouses in New York City and built this castle as a series of warehouses. The state acquired it in 1967 and there was a mysterious fire in 1969. We could not land on the island but we did take the dinghys over and had a close look. Chuck had to wade through the mud to push his dinghy along since the water was very low around the island.

We were under a full moon for the evening and we left the next morning to head to Catskill Creek where we were able to get on a free dock at a restaurant (you must eat at the restaurant). We toured the town and they had cats all over town decorated by local artists.

The next morning we left to head to Waterford, NY and the beginning of the Erie Canal. Along the way we started noticing different types of lighthouses. It seems that everywhere we go we see different styles.

We arrived in Waterford and we were all able to get on the docks there. This town is set up for boaters. You can stay for free for two nights on the docks with electricity and water and then it is only $10/night for additional days.

On Saturday we signed up for the Old Champlain Canal walk. We walked along the old canal and saw a couple of displays where there were people that had family history on the canals.

This was the area where the mules pulled the barges through the canals. The walking path was the old mule path but there would have been no trees then. After the walk we all received Tee shirts and they had hot dogs for us. Like I said, this town goes all out to make you feel welcome.

After the walk Stacy walked to the grocery store to reprovision prior to our trip on the Erie.

Tomorrow morning we are planning to leave to go through the first of the Erie. We will pass through 5 locks in the first 2 miles.

We will update what we find on the canals in the next blog entry.