The Jersey Shore

We left Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina at 7:40am on Thursday, 9/23/10. We met several couples who are traveling south and have received so much useful information each time we talk to someone new! The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. We had a delicious pork chop dinner on the way down the coast. Our plan was to take our time, stopping at Barnagat Bay and Atlantic City. We noticed that our mainsail had 3 broken slugs which attach the sail to the boom, so we brought it down and motored. The seas were lumpy by now. Periodic weather checks told us that it was better to make a run staight to Cape May. As we passed Atlantic City, we watched the lights gradually come on. It was a beautiful sight. After leaving Atlantic City about 10 miles astern, we looked back to find that it had disappeared IN THE FOG!! We spent the next 30 miles in this thick, dark soup. We finally reached the entrance to Cape May Inlet at 4am, and after one failed attempt to enter, stayed out until the sun started to come up. The fog was still very thick and visibility was poor. It only takes one missed buoy to put you aground. That's exactly what happened. A combination of thick fog and an exhausted crew, and oops, you're in the mud. Thank God it was mud. Never dreamed we would run aground this far north. We attempted to pull Dalliance off with "Dilly Dally" our dinghy, but Dalliance just toyed with her. Now the fog has cleared and all bouys are visible. The tide was still rising and Dalliance decided it was time to find the dock at Utsch's Marina. Two couples that we met at Atlantin Highlands are here and we had cocktails on the IP45, which is a much bigger version of Dalliance. We walked downtown as we were told that it was only 1.3 miles, but it was at least 2.3miles. We found a restaurant called the Lobster House near the marina and it is awesome. They have a fresh fish market, a lunch counter, and a formal diningroom. We hit them all. We're filling up the freezer with seafood here as it is very reasonable. We planned on leaving today, Monday, but the Delaware Bay is rocking, so we will wait for better weather. Afterall, we have the time. We don't have pictures of the trip down the shore as we were too far off to really see anything clearly. The picture we have is of the Consejo Yacht Club in Belize, our ultimate destination. They put a "gringo" float in the Independence Day Parade.

Hudson River Rock and Roll

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<><><><><><><><><>MORE PIRATES!!

Rondout Creek Anchorage

Wow!  It's been a very busy last two weeks.  Belize was a whirlwind of activity and we got a great deal accomplished.  Despite being slammed by tropical storm Karl we were able to open a bank account, meet with our contractor to review progress, purchase floor tile and bathroom fixtures and finalize the scope of the remaining work on our Casa.  We also submitted our application for residency and we're relieved the government found no problem with the paperwork.  If you knew Belize you'd understand this is very unusual.  We returned to Dalliance at 3am on Saturday 9/18.  Kris told everyone she talked to how we took a taxi to Poughkeepsie, a train to Grand Central, a bus to JFK, a plane to Belize and a car rental to Corozal.  Of course we reversed this travel combination to return home.  Pretty hectic but we had fun!  We had packages mailed to the Roundout Boat Basin while we were in Belize.  The packages contained much needed equipment for the Boat.  After a few hours sleep Saturday morning we opened the packages to complete the installation of a laptop mount on our navigation station and a DC battery charger for the laptop.  This last piece of equipment has created a big problem for us and is the main reason our "blog" postings have been delayed.  We are unable to charge our laptop from the Boat batteries which means we can only use our laptop sparingly while underway.  Most important is checking our electronic charts  followed by important email communications.  We've been posting to our "blog" when we get into port and are able to hook up to AC power. 

The title of this blog is descriptive of the conditions we met on the Hudson River.  We left Kingston on the high tide Sunday morning and made a run for Haverstraw Bay approximately 50 miles down river.  This turned out to be the best run of the entire trip down river.  We caught the tides just right and had a light tail wind getting to an anchorage called Dunderburg Mountain just north of Haverstraw Bay.  The light tail wind and smooth current were the exception and the next day we found ourselves fighting 4-5' swells and winds gusting from the north at 35 miles per hour.  I can tell you this made the passage under the Tappan Zee Bridge very interesting!  On a high note we had our best sailing on the river going across Haverstraw Bay with the winds at our back.  All in all we found the Hudson a challenge and we're happy it's behind us.  Within 50 miles of New York City good anchorages are hard to find.  Special anchorages are located along the east and west shores giving some protection from winds depending on direction.  You won't find any that give you protection from all directions.  Also these anchorages are exposed to boat wakes which can be very rough from commercial boat traffic.  The epitome of our Hudson River Rock and Roll was the 79th street boat basin in Manhatten.  Kris slept well that night by placing small pillows all around her serving as wedges to keep her from falling out of bed.  Waking up in New York City on our boat was a great feeling.  Even greater was the sense of excitement going through NY harbor past Ellis Island and the Statue Of Liberty.  We did the crossing this morning and I have to tell you it was one of the highlights of my life.  My family and a few close friends know that as a small child growing up in Clayville NY on the banks of the mighty Sauquoit Creek I'd spend hours throwing sticks in the water imagining them floating into the Mohawk River to the Hudson River out NY harbor to the sea.  I told Kris this morning passing under the Verrazano Narrows bridge" I was the stick".  What a rush!

We're now in Atlantic Highlands New Jersey on Sandy Hook Bay.  We're taking on provisions,  completing maintenance checks, doing a post to the blog and sending out mail through the US Postal Service. Taking advice from my good friend Sam  now that NYC is behind us we've found a little Italian restaurant where we'll dine tonight and enjoy a bottle of red wine.  You've got to take time to stop and smell the roses.  Tomorrow we plan to leave early and weather permitting sail down the Jersey coast to Cape May.  This will take approximately 22-24 hrs.  We've posted up a number of pictures heading down the Hudson and NYC.  The pictures of West Point are for brother-in-law Mikey.   Enjoy and stay tuned for more adventures from Dalliance's Journey.



Visitors at Dunderburg Mtn



P.S.- We're coming up on our second full moon underway.






Kingston Light



 
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A Near Miss!!

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West Point

Lady Liberty



The Hudson River

Since leaving Castleton Boat Club on Tuesday 9/7 Dalliance has spent a night on the municipal dock in Coxsackie and two nights at anchor in Rondout Creek 2.5 miles west of Kingston NY.  The tidal currents on the Hudson are very strong and we make the best time heading south if we leave shortly before or on the high tide.  Unfortunately the high tides have come between 2- 3am and 3-4pm leaving us only a couple of hours of daylight to take advantage of the tide.  Dalliance is currently docked at the Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston as Kris and I are leaving for Belize early this morning.  We won't rejoin Dalliance until the 17th at which time we'll continue moving south toward NY City.  We'll try to post up some more pictures upon our return.  Stay tuned for updates as the journey continues.

Sylvan Beach to Castleton On Hudson - 9/6/10

Honking Horns

Land BridgeReal Pirates?

Port of Albany

Dalliance has been taking her time moving down that lazy river (the Mohawk).  Since leaving Oswego she has cleared 30 locks.  Seven on the Oswego River and 23 on the Erie Canal.  The 40' drop at Little Falls was pretty impressive.  Equally impressive and some what tiring is the Waterford "flight". The final five locks on the Erie Canal all within a mile and a half.  Each drop is in excess of 30'.  We entered lock #7 exactly at 8AM and arrived in Waterford ( the Hudson River) at 12 noon on Saturday 9/4/10.  Since leaving Sylvan Beach on 8/30/10 Dalliance made stops at Bellamy Park in Rome, the Ilion Marina, St. Johnsville Marina, Riverlink Park in Amsterdam and Schenectady Yacht Club.  Dockage ranged from $1 per foot at Ilion and St. Johnsville to a $1.25 at Riverlink and the Schenectady Yacht Club.  We certainly could have stayed on the wall at most of the locks for free or anchored in a number of spots in the river.  The weather was very hot and we decided a shower and fans on at night more than justified the price.  Schenectady Yacht Club actually has a swimming pool which was nice given the fact that the canal and many parts of the Mohawk River don't look very appealing to go for a swim.  We have kept a very close eye on the weather particularly Earl and Fiona moving up the east coast.  We weren't too anxious to get into the Hudson River and points south until we knew what was happening with these two weather systems.  Upon our arrival in the Hudson River this past Saturday a fairly strong cold front moved through creating very high winds.  Weather forcasts going out 24 - 48 hrs. predicted high winds over that time period.  After a very short stop at the Troy Motor Boat and Canoe Club we made the decision to get to Castleton that afternoon.  The Hudson was just reaching high tide at 12 noon and we were able to catch a ride on the falling tide arriving at Castleton Yacht Club by 4PM.  While at Castleton Yacht Club we have stepped our mast,  washed Dalliance, provisioned and completed a general maintenance check.  Dalliance has been running well and the only mechanical issue has been corrosion on the battery and ignition wire on the starter.  After taking some sandpaper to these connections the problem apepars to be solved.  I met an old friend Rob who is a member at the CYC and Rob, Sue, Kris and I are going out to dinner this evening.   Rob and Sue have done extensive cruising in the Bahamas,  the BVI's and other parts of the Carribean.  We look forward to the information they will share with us.  Finally we just want to share a couple of interesting tidbits we've picked up along the way.  The lock tender at lock #18  knew our boat when it was on Oneida Lake (with the previous owner) and had been aboard.  The wall at St. Johnsville Marina is extremely high making it difficult to get on and off a sailboat.  You can't get away from trains on the Erie Canal.  Cars and trucks on the NYS Thruway honk their horns at us at points where the canal meets the thruway.  We assume they share our dream.  Little Falls and Canajoharie both offer dockage at municipal docks.  Power and water are available.  We've met many people from all over and continue to run into them at various locations as we move along.  Everyone is anxious to help us in any way they can.  They want us to reach Belize.  We plan to drop the hook at several anchorages on the Hudson River.  The members of the CYC can really "party".   The Mohawk River is very beautiful !  You can visit General Herkimer's home by tying up at a dock on the Mohawk River.  General Herkimer was a hero at the battle of Oriskany during the revolutionary war.  Kris and I both marvel at the sense of freedom and independence we're experiencing on this journey.  We also are amazed at the amount of work we're doing to maintain Dalliance, navigate safely and keep an up to date log of our journey.  Please don't hesitate to add comments or let us know what you'd like to see in our blog postings.  We're hoping to do a bit more exploring now that Dalliance is sailing.  Stay tuned.