We noticed that a lot of Loopers had left when we woke up. We’re faster to get to a destination than most so we grab a breakfast and get ready for the last run of the Upper Hudson River.
All the mountains are gone now leaving a clear path of deciduous trees that line the banks of the Upper Hudson River. It’s going to be a hot one today. The winds are already upon us which causes ripples and difficulty seeing the debris that is inevitably there. The debris on the Hudson is everywhere from large cut logs to expansive brush. The ripple just aggravates the vision so both of us are watching for debris. There seems to be less today. A lot of it must have traveled with the tide to the New York Harbour. It takes 120 days for something to travel from the Upper Hudson to the New York Harbour. The rains have subsided lately but the aftermath of the high tributaries and runoff are evident.
We pass a lot of traveling boats. Most came from the same marina but there are more from the other marinas as well. They are heading to the same place as we are in Waterford.
It’s a short run for us today with only about 25 miles to Waterford, NY. As we pass through Albany and its port there are several barges getting ready to move. Their tugs are there anticipating the movement. We pass by slowly and give space. The Port of Albany isn’t as large as some of the ports we’ve seen but it still has the industrial services that those large ones do. Many ocean tankers come here to move wares to and from the NY Harbour.
Entering Troy, NY we are at our first lock of the Erie Canal. We are feeling lucky as the gates are open and another boat is entering. One is behind us so the 3 of us will lock up the 8 feet together. This lock is a mid ship tie on bollards. Super easy to do single handed but Scott helps out with a push or pull of the engine so I have less to pull. The dock at Waterford is about 3 miles up from the Troy Lock. We turn the corner to find Gypies Palace just finishing up her tie. There is another gold Looper here as well that we haven’t met. We all snugly tie to one end of the dock so to leave the rest of it for the other boats that are coming in. By the end of the afternoon we have 11 Looper boats here. Gypies Palace, One Eyed Dog, The Perch, Ellis Island, Last Call, and the rest that I don’t know the names of all had docktails on Gypies Palace. She’s a beauty Catamaran of 47 feet x 25 feet wide. So much space and perfect for 35 people.
Scott went to the park on the other side of the waterway, over the single laned bridge. It’s a beautiful park with picnic facilities, He came out of the path in the forest to find 5 deer having dinner. They didn’t see him as he clicked the camera but knew he was there. It wasn’t until he came out of the forest that they finally saw him and tore off. Scott also found rock cliffs and bluffs to the water’s edge. There is a waterfall and rapids that kayaks were running in. We should have taken the dingys over and had a Looper docktail there with the others that love nature.
Tomorrow we continue the Erie Canal and run the Flight of 5 here in Waterford, NY. Hopefully the temps will drop in the 80’s for awhile when we make the run.
