Croton-on-Hudson to Kingston, NY

The Hudson River is spectacularly beautiful and if you ever get a chance to see it on a boat, do so.

This is our fifth time sailing under the Bear Mountain Bridge into the Hudson River highlands and it never disappoints.



 

Passing the Esopus Meadows light, now a familiar sight, we know we are only a short distance from Kingston, NY and our stop for the night.

We arrived here at Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston, where we met up with a merry group of "Loopers", or people who are doing the Great Loop.  Some have been living and cruising on their boats for as long as a year and a half, while some take breaks and go home now and then. 

We'll stay here for at least one more day while we catch up on the housekeeping chores.

Through Hells Gate - Norwalk to Croton-on-Hudson

The trip through the western end of L.I. Sound, down the East River, through Hells Gate and up the Harlem River to the Hudson is always exciting.

The barges are large and scary, but predictable.

 

 

Michael and Xuan, who joined us in Norwalk, rode on the bow and took pictures of everything.

 

 
The New Jersey Palisades.
 

 

After 60 nautical miles we reached our destination and settled in for the night at Half Moon Bay Marina.

Captain's Supplement:

Most cruising visitors to New York harbor travel down the East River, around The Battery, and up the Hudson River but the Harlem River (a short-cut to the Hudson coming from the Long Island Sound) provides an intimate New York experience apart from the time honored views of the city.

Having timed slack tide for Hell's Gate we had a smooth ride passed Mill Rock.

Along the way here's some of the sights.

At the junction of the Hudson River is the "very low" Spuyten Duyvill railroad swing bridge.
 

Old Lyme to Norwalk Cove

Waking up early on the water is almost always good for bird watching. There are ospreys and cormorants fishing, egrets hunting down breakfast, geese and their families just hanging out. We got off by 8:30 and headed down the sound. Most of the time we had the entire sound to ourselves. 


So, what are the chances that a freighter would park itself right in the pathway of our autopilot? 

 Turns out it was transferring cargo to a smaller ship.

 

The entryway to Norwalk Cove is beautiful, with the colorful oyster boats going in and out of the harbor. 
 



Portland CT to Old Lyme - Day One

Our first day started with heavy rain and a forecast to last most of the day. We left Portland, CT in the rain and headed down the Connecticut River, 3 days later than planned. With a favorable tide and not another boat anywhere we had the river entirely to ourselves. All things considered a pretty nice ride.

 

We'll spend the night at the Old Lyme Dock Co., between the I-95 Baldwin Bridge and the bascule railroad bridge, and head for Norwalk first thing tomorrow morning. We're on the "outside" dock, and it promises to be a rockin' and rollin' night.
 

New paint for Dunworkin