Day 284: Saturday, June 15, 2013
Port to Port: Plum Point to Mariners On The Hudson
Underway: 10:46 am Motor Off: 3:15 pm Miles Traveled: 18/17 Stayed At: Free Dock
First Things First: First time walking over the Hudson River.
Mile 94 to Mile 77: After a quiet night at anchor we had a leisurely morning waiting for the low tide. We made a real breakfast of scrambled eggs and bran muffins (finally decided to use them up after carrying the package for months). We had an ugly line of brown gunk along our waterline so I spent some time in the dinghy scrubbing whatever it was off (luckily it came off easy). We still have an eyebrow on the hull but it doesn’t pay to clean that off till we get to the Trent Severn Canal System and clean water.
We grew impatient waiting for the tide to switch so we left a little early and paid for it by going less than 4 mph for a couple hours before the current finally started to switch. We weren’t suffering thought since it was a beautiful sunny warm day and we making progress north. Our biggest challenge was dodging all the debris in the water. With all the recent rains, lots of logs, branches, leaves and trash has been flushed into the river and it all ends up going downstream. Some of the logs are 10-15 feet long and could do serious damage. At least it keeps you alert.
The boat traffic on the river was very light even though it is a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Kind of strange but we don’t mind having the river to ourselves. We were originally planning to keep going a couple hours but, with no where to go until the locks open, we decided to stop at Mariners on the Hudson – a restaurant right on the water that lets you stay at the dock overnight if you eat at there. What a deal! We got tied up behind an old wooden T-dock and decided to go for a walk before dinner. We had passed under a tall rusty old RR bridge that has been turned into a park/ walking path called the Walkway Over the Hudson. After a long uphill walk we found the entrance to the walkway and were amazed. There were hundreds of people walking, running and biking across the bridge. And what a view. You could see miles up and down river from this vantage point 200+ feet above the spot we passed underneath a couple hours ago. We are so glad we stopped. This old bridge could have ended up an eyesore and hazard but, because a bunch of people saw the potential, it is now a unique and valuable community asset. They expected 230,000 visitors a year but are getting over 750,000 visitors a year.
After our amazing walk across the Hudson, we returned to the boat and noticed another cruise boat parked on the dock. We didn’t recognize the boat name, “Auk” but they had a Looper flag off their bow so we had to say hi. Well, before you could say “Auk”, Ken and Ellen (and Rosie, a quiet, friendly, golden lab) had invited us aboard their 36’ Krogen for wine and conversation. They have been traveling part time for 5 or 6 years and have finished one loop and are now heading home toward Wisconsin (almost our neighbors). We had a great time chatting and finally decided to move the party over to the restaurant where we enjoyed some decent food, average service and wonderful stories (the classic story about emergency anchor raising in a thunderstorm while naked was the best) before finally saying goodnight until we meet again. Hopefully sooner rather than later. (Thanks Ken, Ellen and Rosie for the wonderful evening).
