Tuesday

June 6, 2017

Rondout Yacht Basin was remote and we were in need of provisions, so we left Rondout yesterday and headed another 20 miles to the Catskill Marina in Catskill, NY.  Here we went to the wonderful Walmart and stocked up (used to avoid Walmart).   Joell also went to a salon and got her hair cut. We are preparing for Canada.  We will be leaving Catskill tomorrow and heading to Albany.

Another cool light house.  

Joell was driving past this tow and barge.  She used to be worried about passing them, but is becoming used to them now.

Mike is reading the manual for our VHS radio.  We had to bring the vhf radio from our salon up to the flybridge.  The one on the flybridge was having transmit and receive issues, which were the same problems when running with La Linda out on Lake Michigan before we started the Great Loop. We sent the Ray-Marine radio in for repair and has failed again...  Were now using a nice Uniden Vhf...

Elwood is getting bored with Mike reading the manual to him.

Mike and Larry waiting for the grill to warm up.  

Mike and Larry still waiting for the grill to warm up.

Our boat is on the left.  Myron's boat is in the middle and Larry's boat is on the right.

Look at all the plush green trees and grass.  

Now Mike is starting a bon fire.

Myron is helping Mike.

When the three amigos get together anything can happen.

They are cooking up something.  

Joell still doesn't know what their cooking up....

Joell, mix yourself a drink....

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.

Sunday

June 4th, 2017

early edition

We received our photo op pictures of us in front of the Statue of Liberty from Myron and Linda...

See all the people, holly cow!

Our friends took pictures of us as we passed them on the Hudson.

Myron has a better camera then us.  Here is what he calls a second rate photo 😀

Below is a picture of our anchorage at Hook Mountain in Upper Nyack New York state, just before leaving this morning...

Yes that is us.  Our friends took the photo.

Saturday 

June 3rd, 2017

Headed out from Staten Island, past the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson!

This is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.  When it opened in 1962 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  Because of the extreme length, the bridge engineers had to take the curvature of the planet into account in its design.  The tops of the towers are slightly farther apart then the bases.

These have been all pictures of our friends in front of the statue.  When they send us pictures of our boat we will insert them here.

This is Ellis Island.

Looks like a nice party barge in upper Manhattan.

This is the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid.  It is now a Sea, Air and Space Museum.

The George Washington Bridge.  It is a double layer bridge.  It opened in 1931 during the Great Depression.  The lower second deck (known as the "Martha Washington Bridge")  was added 30 years later.

Saturday

June 3, 2017

Yesterday we went shopping at a great Italian grocery store, Frank And Sal's, and then under warm sunny skies we cleaned the boat.  After inexpensive drinks at the Great Kills Yacht Club, we prepared a wonderful pasta meal on the boat.  Fresh baked bread and meatballs with special locally made sauce.  Mmmmm so good!

This morning we woke up and started to prepare for our departure.  Looking at the weather report we saw rain in the picture until 10:30 this morning.  We relaxed and had a cup of coffee.  Heading up the Hudson at 11:00am, if all goes well.