Albany Yacht Club

Albany is the capital of the mighty state of New York?? Really?? And this is a YACHT CLUB?? So how come we are by both a bridge and the interstate and our sunset view is of the multi-story public storage building??? OK, so it wasn't the Ritz-Carlton but at least the docks were in good shape, the dockmaster was pleasant and hey, we were on the boat!

All day we dodged severe storm warnings, tornado watches and heavy rain. We were tied down just in time to sit back and enjoy a rest while a rainstorm/cold front passed through. The weather folks are predicting cooler temps for the rest of the week.

Timing is Everything!

Planning to spend one night in Kingston, we ended up spending three. What a great town! Kingston was the first capital of NY, so appointed in 1777. It is located on Rondout Creek, the terminus of the D & H Canal. Never heard of the D & H Canal? Neither had we. It was a canal that was dug with private funding, connecting the Delaware River with the Hudson River. Then along came the Erie Canal and the D & H canal was filled in to make way for the D & H Railroad, still running to this day.

Kingston was planning a Tyme Fest for the weekend (think old timey pirates,ice cream social, costume ball, etc), Farmer's Market in the historic uptown area, period-costumed citizens at the oldl Senate House, arrival of the Hudson sloop Clearwater (whose existence is funded by folk singer Pete Seeger) and so much more that so we had to stay and join in. The townspeople accepted us as one of their own and for a short period of time, we become "Kingstonians".

As fate would have it, Litenup III was berthed at the foot of Broadway, basking in the glow of the newly christened waterfront park, surrounded by the festivities.

To top it all off, we were joined by friends Don and Carol Schneider who drove up from Westport, CT to spend the day with us! Wehave rarely seen them since Terry, Tom and Don all worked for Frank B. Hall so there was lots of catching up to do.

Cruising the Hudson Valley

The Hudson River from Croton-on-Hudson to Kingston, NY provided plenty of sights: West Point, the Vanderbilt Mansion, Bannerman Castle, the Mid-Hudson Bridge next to the Walkway over the Hudson, farm land, beautiful homes, lighthouses framed by the Catskill Mountains. Pictures are better than words.

Walkway Over the Hudson

In 1888, the Poughkeepskie Railroad Bridge opened as the first bridge across the Hudson River from the ocean all the way to Albany, NY. Opening shortly after the Brooklyn Bridge, it was an engineering marvel. It is higher above the water than the Brooklyn Bridge (212 ft) and longer than the Brooklyn Bridge (1.25 miles). Unfortunately, its railroad career ended in 1974 when a fire severely damaged the tracks. A group of forward thinking individuals raised money to aquire the bridge. It re-opened in 2009 as The Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park, marking the transformation of the Poughkeepskie-Highland Railroad Bridge into a new 1.25 mile linear park in the sky. It offers outstanding panoramic views of the river. We parked on the Highland side and walked across the river and of course, back. Just south of the walkway is the Mid-Hudson, FDR Bridge. We are fortunate to view both bridges from their decks today and tomorrow will see them from the water.

West Point

Using Croton-on-Hudson as our base, we rented a car and drove north to West Point. Since Sept 11, 2001, the facility has been closed to visitors other than those on an organized tour. We elected to take the one-hour tour and were 3 of the 6 Americans on the 30 passenger bus; the remainder were Chinese tourists. The Chinese tourists simply did NOT understand the tour guide when she said "NO pictures, except in designated areas, and absolutely NO VIDEOS or the MP's will take your cameras!" After a translation from someone in their group and several VERY stern warnings, they got the message. West Point is a beautiful campus. It is situated on a precipace overlooking the Hudson River and offers what they term the "million dollar view" and believe me, it is just that. We were fortunate to witness the parachute team practicing on the parade ground.

West Point was the first university to gift their students with a class ring. "Firsties", members of the sophomore class, receive their class ring at a special ceremony early in the school year. Rings which are no longer worn (because the West Point grad passed away), are often donated back to the school. Those rings are melted down and the metal is incorporated into the new rings. When a West Point grad is facing an especially difficult time, he or she will look at their ring and see that they are not facing the challenge alone; they are always backed by someone who has gone before them. Very moving.

We were able to visit the main cadet chapel (there are 5 chapels on campus). The main chapel is a non-denominational Protestant chapel. It is built in the shape of the cross and looks much like a traditional cathedral. The stained glass windows are magnificent! Cadets are not allowed to marry or have any dependents while they are at West Point or any of the military academies. We were told that on the Saturday after graduation, weddings are scheduled at the chapel every hour, on the hour. Once again, a pew is always set aside in remembrance of the POW's and MIA's.

Crew Change

After being on board since our departure on April 15th, Margaret and Jon departed for home on June 1st. They will rejoin us in Burlington, Vermont. As we exchanged hugs and a few tears with Margaret and Jon, a taxi delivered our new crew member, Atlanta's Tom Coker. Brief introductions all around and the Fullertons were off to catch their plane and we departed Liberty Landing.

Since Tom had not sailed into the harbor with us, a harbor cruise was in order. We cruised past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, up the East River, under the Brooklyn Bridge, back around lower Manhattan and began our trip up the Hudson River, picking our way through a myriad of ferries. We were surprised that it didn't take long for the concrete of NYC to give way to open, forested land, high cliffs and quaint towns. A few miles north of the Tappan Zee bridge, we pulled into the Half Moon Bay Marina at Croton-on-Hudson.

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

On Memorial Day, we toured Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The ferry terminal is in Liberty State Park, just a short walk from our boat. The terminal was originally a train station and still had the old train platforms with the destination placards still intact.

Pictures really don’t adequately show the scale, majesty and beauty of Lady Liberty. She is magnificent and awe-inspiring! It was very interesting to visit Ellis Island. The main processing building is ornate both inside and out. More than 12 million people entered the USA through Ellis Island from the time it opened in 1892 until the 1920’s. At both parks we took audio tours which provided details we would not have known otherwise. The parks were replete with an international crowd and offered excellent people-watching opportunities. All of us had been to New York City many times but had never visited either site. Both are well worth the time.