In the morning, the Explorers had to pull up their very deep anchor. It took Captain Mark a lot of time and effort, but he finally retrieved it. After that experience, Captain Mark is thinking that an electric windlass may be in our future.
We continued our trip north up the Hudson River. The river is lined with hills and trees. Every once in a while, we would see a huge mansion tucked into the hillside. The trains, Amtrak on one side and commercial on the other continued to run back and forth all day. We motored past several of the cutest little lighthouses, built on tiny islands in the middle of the river.
After a few hours we stopped for fuel and a pumpout in Kingston. We had picked Kingston, because our Navionics had indicated that it was the cheapest fuel around, however, when we arrived, we learned that the prices in Navionics are only as accurate as the boaters that update them. The actual price was quite a bit higher, but since we were already there, we got some diesel anyway. We didn’t fill the tanks as planned, acknowledging to ourselves, that we need to find a better way to verify fuel prices in the future.
The inlet into Kingston was about a mile of twisting waterway that hosted an interesting collection of old rusting vessels: tugboats, ferries, and barges as well as an oddly placed pontoon boat, seemingly grounded on a jetty. We found the marina, found the fuel dock and got our diesel, a pump-out and water for our tanks.
As we were finishing up, another trawler, the “Selah Way” pulled up waiting for the fuel dock. They pulled up close enough for us to chat. We must preface this story by explaining that the prior day, when we were motoring along, we suddenly noticed a motorized dinghy, rushing up to us at a high speed, strangely not deviating from a collision course, when it was clear they could see us. Out of caution, Captain Mark, pulled back the throttle to slow down. The dinghy pulled up next to us, the occupants laughing and apologizing because they thought we were someone else, someone that they knew. We didn’t think much of it. Anyway, fast forward to the fuel station, and the people from the Selah Way identified themselves, Steve and Amy, as the crazy dinghy riders who accosted us. We all got a laugh out of it, chatted a little bit, discovered they were also headed to Lake Champlain, so we might see them again.
We left the fuel dock and motored on to the Town of Hudson, where there was a free daytime parking dock. Captain Mark had called the town ahead of time and asked if overnights were allowed and got a resounding “no”, but we were just planning to explore the town. As it turned out the dock was very small, clearly meant for smaller power boats, but Captain Mark decided to attempt a docking anyway (Sidekick Sue was terrified). On his first attempt, he swung a little wide, too close to some folks fishing on the opposite side of the small channel that housed the dock, and he caught one of their fishing lines. He backed up and pulled in again, this time close enough to the dock and Sidekick Sue tied up while Captain Mark went to address his little snafu. He apologized to the owner of the fishing line we had snagged, and donned his swimming gear and snorkel to go under and inspect where the line was caught. Sure enough, it had wrapped around the propeller. He had to cut the line and apologize again, because he could not get the owner back his hook. He spent a half hour diving on the propeller, cutting all the pieces of fishing line off the propeller shaft to prevent future damage.
After that excitement, we walked into town. Hudson was a lot like Nyack, but on steroids. The exceptionally long main street hosted numerous art galleries, antique shops, fancy cafes and spas. It seemed so out of character for a little town on the Hudson. It was a Monday, and most everything was closed, but we did pop into a few interesting stores (mostly to partake in the air conditioning). It seemed impossible that a little town like this could support so many upscale shops, however, we later came to find out that Hudson has a train station and a reputation for interesting art and décor, so folks travel up from NYC to do their shopping. Mystery solved.
When we got back to the boat, we had a job to take care of. Our trawler has a mast and a boom which can hold a sail that is apparently helpful in stabilizing your boat if you make any open ocean crossings (like to the Carribean). We had not used the sail on this trip, but the mast had remained in place. Well, after the upcoming lock in Troy, there are some low clearance bridges, so it was necessary for the Explorers to lower the folding mast before the next day’s journey in order to fit under the bridges. So they set to work, first tying a rope around the mast, and to pull it forward during removal of the forward stays. They then used the rope to gently lower the folding mast, and released the back stays. Mission accomplished.
The Explorers might have tried to stay the night (regardless of the rules), but we thought our oversized boat on Hudson’s undersized dock might call attention to our presence. Instead, we decided to move across the river to Athens, where there was another dock, much more “in scale” for boats our size. This was another “free dock”, but technically, it is posted as “no overnight” docking. Having read the reviews, it seems widely known that that rule is not enforced, and more of a way for the town to keep people from living there or leaving their boats parked there full time. So, we decided to take our chances. If anyone came to kick us out, there was an anchorage about 200 feet away next to an island, so we could easily move.
As Captain Mark approached the dock, someone radioed to him, asking if he was planning on docking there. Tentatively, he responded “Yes”, not sure if he was about to be turned away or welcomed. The radio voice responded “OK, I think there’s room for you”. As we approached, two couples came out on the dock and helped us with our lines, guiding us it a little cut-out spot next to the main dock. Coincidentally, it turned out to be David and Amy from the Selah Way again, accompanied by Paul and Michelle from the Agape, the very folks that David and Amy had mistaken us for the other day. We chatted with them for awhile and asked them if they were staying overnight in spite of the “no overnight docking” sign and they said not to worry; if anyone came, they would simply say they were too drunk to leave. LOL. We talked about free docks, and they seemed to know every single one between here and Lake Champlain. Amy and David were experienced loopers, while Paul and Michelle, were relatively new like us, but they had been crossing paths with Selah Way since Florida and had become fast friends.
They told us that Athens was a cute town, but nothing was open. Wanting to stretch a bit, we decided to check it out for ourselves. We walked up the main corridor and back down the other side. Sidekick Sue noticed Captain Mark looking longingly at a brewery that appeared to be open, so she offered to buy him a beer. Strangely enough, they were greeted by a hostess who let them know they were only open for trivia night, and apparently that didn’t include us, so we moved on, disappointed, because we were really anticipating that cold beer on a hot day. By the power of Google, we found a Stewarts Convenience store that was open to pick up some beer, OJ and a tiny pint of ice cream.
Our new “neighbors” were amazed to see us with groceries and we were happy to be able to share a little local knowledge (directions to Stewarts) that these seasoned travelers did not know. We continued to talk to Amy at length, trying to absorb all the helpful information she was supplying. There is so much in boating that is passed on via word of mouth (aka “local knowledge”) and we are just skimming the surface right now. Like the other couple we had met in Atlantic Highlands, Amy and David have made the full commitment to boating, having sold their family home and opted to live aboard full time. Based on Amy’s suggestion, we have a recommendation for a new Facebook group and now have an app called Nebo where we can track the Selah Way and the Agape (and they can track us) and send messages if we notice we are in the same area. Both of them shared their “boater cards” (like business cards…. I guess we need to have some made up) so that we have their contact information if we have any questions. This is the first time we really found a connection to the network that we suspected was out there. These folks were different from the others we met so far that are just moving from marina to marina… they are foragers like us, using free docks and anchorages and willing to share a wealth of knowledge.
