June 27-28, 2024 Kingston and Albany

Thursday June 27, 2024   Haverstraw Cove to Kingston, NY - 6.9 hours and 56 miles

Late morning start trying to work the current best as we can.  Timing is "off" this week for us.  Leaving at 10AM had us fighting the current half the day and running with it the other half.  Any earlier and we would have simply been fighting the current for more of the day.    Pleasant day out on the water.  Plenty of sunshine and the 90 degree weather finally broke.   A bit of wind picked up in the afternoon, but for the most part very welcome smooth sailing.   Scenic travel...but a lot of the same.  Cliffs, trees occasional mansion along the river.   Watching the express trains running alongside the river headed to NYC. 

Nice day to be out on the water

Commuter train track runs right alongside the Hudson

Culinary Institute of America

Pass Pollepel Island and the ruins of the old "Bannerman Castle" - a munitions storage facility after the Spanish American War. An explosion in 1920 destroyed portions of it.  Abandoned in the 1930's, a suspicious arson fire in 1967 that burned for 3 days did most of the current major damage.  The island is now part of the NY park system accessible only by boat.

Ruins of Bannerman Castle

Made it to Kingston late afternoon.   Our preferred docking options were unavailable - free overnight dockage at a waterfront restaurant was discontinued this year, dockage at the Maritime Museum was already full.  Only spot available was at the Kingston Municipal Marina. At $4/ft it was the most expensive docking we've done and quite honestly not worth it.  Small town with a long maritime history as it was both a tourist destination for New Yorkers during the steamboat era plus a commercial hub sending coal, building supplies and fresh foods downriver to the city. 

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse - protecting boaters from the
grassy shallows in the background extending far out into the river

Rondout Lighthouse marking the channel into Kingston

Journey for June 27, 2024

Friday June 28, 2024   Kingston to Albany - 6.7 hours and 55 miles

Mid-morning start at 8:45. We'll be fighting outgoing current all day, but will at least arrive in Albany at slack tide for easier docking.   Very cool morning with temps in the upper 50's.  Cool clear sunny day with a NE breeze that added a wind chill as we ran from the flybridge.   Probably should have used the pilothouse - certainly would have been more comfortable today but kept expecting it to get warmer. 

We saw several of these abandoned chimneys along the riverbank.
Researched and discovered they were old ice house factories.

We seem to be on a mission to get to Albany and start into new territory.  When on the loop todays trip took three days with stops to visit Catskill for a night and Shady Harbor Marina for a night. I guess some of the difference is in boat speed but some was also an interest in stopping to play tourist at small towns.   I'm sure we'll get back into that mode as we move forward. 

More lighthouses along the way.  Saugerties Lighthouse

Hudson-Athens Lighthouse

Heading into Albany

Topped off fuel upon arrival at Albany Yacht Club.  Last fill up was Baltimore.  That run on plane up the NJ coast cost us as we took on 400 gallons. Getting ready for a few rainy days. Toured Crailo which is an historic house built by the Rensselaer family and got a history lesson on the original Dutch settlers to the area. Interesting feature on this brick house built partially as a fortress on the river is the gun ports built into the exterior walls. This area started back in the 1600's as part of the Dutch West India Company as a trading post.  Beaver pelts being the primary commodity.

Journey for June 28, 2024