Sunday

June 4, 2017

We left New York city yesterday and headed up the Hudson River.  After passing under the Washington Bridge the entire scenery changed.  We enter the 300 to 500-foot thickly wooded Palisades.  It is a striking series of cliffs named after its visual similarity to old, wooden barrier fortifications.  So difficult to describe, you must see for yourself.  Hopefully our pictures will help.

The next two pictures are of West Point.

The next few pictures are of Bannerman's Castle.  Francis Bannerman VI was born in 1851, in Dundee, Scotland and emigrated to the United States with his parents.  They started a military surplus business near the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1867.  They outfitted volunteers for the Spanish-American War.  Francis Bannerman purchased the island in 1900, for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business.  The building looks like a castle but is really his arsenal.   In 1920, tons of shells and powder stored in the arsenal exploded and destroyed a large portion of the complex, but you can still imagine how it looked by what is left.

South side of island

North side of island

Beautiful lighthouse just before we reached Kingston, NY.  We are staying at the Rondout Yacht Basin for at least one night.  If the forecasted rain comes, we will stay longer.

Kingston was previously the capital of New York.  It was burned to the ground by the British, in 1777.

WE ARE NOW OUT OF SALT WATER!!!!!!  TIDAL WATER CONTINUES TO TROY.