The Amazing Journey Has Begun

Sunday, July 25, 2004

 

          Our long-awaited Great Loop trip has finally become a reality!   After much nerve-wracking preparation, we set out this morning with some trepidation, due to small craft advisories last night and predicted 3 to 4 foot seas with gusty winds today.  We logged 8.5 engine hours in the passage from New Bedford, MA to New London, CT, and the conditions, were, for the most part, comfortable.

          We were greeted in New London Harbor with all the regalia of the Tall Ships, who were just completing the weekend’s festivities.  Grace held her own amidst the likes of the Spirit of Massachusetts and the Quinnipeac, which were docked along side our mooring.  Many tourists took in the sights, and Grace was the object of many daydreams, I suspect.  How blessed we are to have this time ahead of us, discovering and exploring new places every day.

          The highlight of the day was seeing the Coast Guard ship, the Eagle, a magnificent vessel.  We admired it while on the dock and then were awed by its exit from the harbor, which we watched from our flying bridge.  The sound of bagpipes carried beautifully from Eagle’s bow to ours, and the sight of all the cadets standing at attention, one above the other in the rigging, was a sight that made me proud to be an American.

 

The Big Floating Apple

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

 

          Before today, my mental picture of New York City consisted mainly of large buildings, busy streets, lots of people, with an occasional park for a touch of nature.  Cruising on Grace through New York Harbor today gave me a very different perspective.  It’s called Manhattan Island for a reason!!!  We came up Long Island Sound from Norwalk, CT this morning. It was really exciting to watch the New York City skyline emerge in the distance.  Passing under the Throgs Neck, Whitestone, and Triboro Bridges, we then saw the UN to our starboard.  As we passed under the Brooklyn Bridge, we got our first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty.  We saw some tall ships at South Street Seaport, passed through the turbulent water of Hell’s Gate, where all the rivers converge, and then got some great shots of Governor’s Island, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.  Even through the light rain, her gilt torch sparkled a welcome to us.  I wish I were a painter; the Manhattan skyline in the rain would make a lovely watercolor in pastel pinks, yellows, grays, and blues. 

 

Rockin’ and Rollin’ All Night

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

 

          When Henry Hudson discovered this area, he named it the Zuyder Zee, after the sea in Holland by that name.  That’s because the Hudson River is two miles wide at this point, and is known today as the Tappan Zee, where we were moored just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.  

          If you combine a very wide river, a whopping good rainstorm, Rip Van Winkle bowling in the  mountains, and a mooring about ¼ mile from shore, you end up sleeping in a very bouncy bed.  More than once in the night, I reminded myself, “In whatsoever state I am, in this to be content.” The scripture helped me to be content, but I must admit it was Benedryl combined with sleeping on the couch instead of in our berth below in the bow which finally gave me a good night’s sleep. 

          We had a lovely cruise up the river today, taking in the campus of West Point, with cadets playing war games in the fields. We passed the Culinary Institute of America and confirmed that we had the right place by calling Kristie to be sure that was the place Dan Geraghty goes to school. Quite an impressive building!   We also took in the FDR mansion and the Vanderbilt estate at Hyde Park.

          We’re staying tonight at a cute marina on Rondout Creek, just off the Hudson.  We took a dinghy ride to explore the area and saw great wildlife: green heron, great blue heron, night heron, and a bald eagle!!  Very cool!

Dinner in Kingston town was charming. They are in the process of restoring the waterfront area, where the businesses are all in row houses painted various bright colors. The Hudson River is lovely; tall, rocky and green on both sides of the winding water, and something just a little magical about this domain of Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane.

 

Our First Visitors

July 30,  2004

 

          We were so happy to be able to spend time last night with Will’s future in-laws, Zip and Mary Jane Hughes.    For those of you who don’t know our family, our son Will, aged 25, is engaged to a delightful, pretty, and talented young lady named Sara Hughes.  She’s from Del Mar, NY, just 20 minutes away from Coeyman’s Landing, where we spent last night.

          Zip and Mary Jane joined us for a drink on the boat and then treated us to a great dinner at Yanni’s Restaurant, overlooking the Hudson.  As an after dinner treat, we were chauffeured on a grand tour of the charming town of Del Mar, where we saw Sara’s middle school, the four corners, the place she played her recital, and, most importantly, the church where Will and Sara will be married on July 15, 2005.

          We went to the Hughes house for coffee and dessert and were privileged to meet Chase, who performed the famous “Bijon Buzz” – wow!  Imagine a 20 pound ball of fur FLYING from chair to chair all over the room!!!

          We got a big kick out of some family pictures; (Aaaw, Sara, you were such a cute little girl!), and we came away from our very enjoyable evening feeling so blessed that Will not only found a great future wife, but a wonderful family to be a part of.

          Thanks  Zip and Mary Jane for a great evening!!!!

 

 

Locking: We’ve Got It Locked!!!

 

July 30, 2004

 

          If our friends could see us now!  Just try to imagine this scene: 

          In front of the huge iron gates, the water is churned up and foamy.  To our right is a man-made waterfall.  We are idling in the turbulent water until finally the gates begin to slowly open.  Later, a few boats come out from behind where the gate opened.  Then, the light turns green, and we proceed in Grace through the gate of Erie Canal lock 3, and into the cavernous expanse before us.  Looming up to our right and left are slimy green cement walls 35 feet high.  Searching the starboard side of the lock, we see a green slimy rope hanging from the top.  With gloved hands, Christine grabs the rope, meanwhile fending off the wall with a boat hook.  Meanwhile, Captain Bob valiantly lassos a line around the vertical pipe descending from the top of the lock to the bottom. We hear the rumble as the gates swing shut and then the sound of falling water as the water level in the lock begins to rise.  We pull and tug on our lines to keep the boat in place, so that it will not be caught up by the turbulence caused by the 3 million gallons of water that are filling this huge container in which are floating.  After about 10 min, we have reached the top, and the scenery around us is totally different than it was below.  Gradually, the iron gates swing open again, and Grace exits the lock on a whole new level!  

          Today was our first day on the Erie Canal, and we “locked through” the Troy Federal Lock, followed by the “Waterford Flight,” of locks 2-6, then a 10 mile cruise to lock 7, where we are tied up for the night.  The river is about 1000 feet wide here, and it’s a serene spot, with an immense field of lily pads along the shore. 

          It will be a quiet night for us here in this serene place.  We’re tired after our big day and feel very good about our success!

 

 

Clinton’s Big Ditch

July 31, 2004

 

          As we’ve been reading and learning about the Erie Canal, we’ve really come to appreciate how significant it was in the development and prosperity of our young nation.  When it was built in the early 1800’s, settlers flocked westward, and forests gave way to sawmills and later villages.  Prosperous towns were established along the Great Lakes, and a chain of cities sprang up along the line of the Erie Canal.  The idea for the canal was the dream of Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, and his opponents referred to the project as “Clinton’s Big Ditch.”  (Kind of like Boston’s Big Dig)  Here are Governor Clinton’s words:

 

          As a bond of union between the Atlantic and the Western states, it may prevent the dismemberment of the American Empire. As an organ of communication between the Hudson, the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes of the north and west and their tributary rivers, it will create the greatest inland trade ever witnessed.  The most fertile and extensive regions of America will avail themselves of its facilities for a market.  All their surplus productions, whether of the soil, the forest, the mines, or the water, their fabrics of art and their supplies of foreign commodities, will receive a correspondent encouragement.  The city will, in the course of time, become the granary of the world, the emporium of commerce, the seat of manufactures, the focus of great moneyed operations, and the concentrating point of vast, disposable, and accumulating capitals, which will stimulate, enliven, extend and reward the exertions of human labor and ingenuity, in all their processes and exhibitions.  And before the revolution of a century, the whole island of Manhattan, covered with inhabitants and replenished with a dense population, will constitute one vast city. 

 

People thought he was crazy, but look at Manhattan today!!!